On My Calendar: Little Boy

This little boy is so smart and so willing, but for some reason his school has not taught him how to read. Therefore, I'm training one of my students to tutor him. Today, I had the privilege of teaching him and demonstrating how to teach effectively. Oh, what fun it was. It's going to be very hard for me to step aside and let my student do her job. It's going to be very hard not to ease my way into the office and slip behind the desk and take the books and pencils from of her hands. It's because this little boy is a very special little boy (He even pushed his chair in after the lesson). So, this little boy is on my calendar. I wonder how long I can sit back and watch without interfering.

Time Out

A lot of what I read about is behavior modification and setting up environments so children can learn. What I read this time, however, was a little bit of a surprise and a little different. At first, I was totally taken aback, but then I thought about it. Do you know in some Native American tribes when there was a child who misbehaved, a strong male, a notable important man in their society, was selected. A rope was tied around his waist and the child's waist. Everywhere the man went the child went also. The child and the man were never out of sight. In this way, the child was mentored. I wonder if in our society, something like this would work. Well, I'm not advocating for ropes tied around anyone. But the analogy is the same. We often use timeout as a punishment (e.g., go to your room, a classroom that is separate from other kids, juvenal hall), an opportunity for the child to think about his wickedness, and then rejoin society. I wonder if mentoring is the answer instead. I just wonder. And I wonder what kind of selflessness it would take for a man to tie himself to a young man, even in a metamorphic sense, and everywhere that man should go, the child should surely follow. I think it's a beautiful idea. I don't know if it would work. But, it's a beautiful idea.

Learning Styles: Fact or Fantasy

Wishful thinking

Wouldn't it be wonderful if each one of us learned in our OWN unique way. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a key that could unlock our creativity, our learning, our minds. Sometimes educators suggest that they have such a key. They suggest that they can figure out if we are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners. They suggest that there is a test that can determine which is our learning style. They suggest that they can  prepare the kinds of lessons based upon this test that is specifically tailored to that learning style, and then we will succeed. Well, this is a nice fantasy. (And there's a lot of  propaganda out there that makes you think it is possible. But that particular line of thought is flawed.) 

The problem is tests that are created to determine learning styles are not reliable. This means that the first time a person takes the test, he might be an auditory learner. And the next time he takes the test, he might be a visual learner.  This is truly problematic.  This is a problem in another way. Educators who think a person is a visual learner may pander to that one sense and ignore the other senses. In addition, when experts looked at the results of interventions that matched the participants learning style, such as auditory lessons for auditory learners, there was no difference in amount learned than lessons that did not match, for instance auditory lessons for visual learners. 

Now here's the good news. The good news is that we learn through every single sense we have. We know that learning which incorporates seeing, hearing, and doing is far more effective for children than learning through just one sense. Lessons for children need to use all of the senses as much as possible. 

Reading: Too good to be true?

“Grandma can I play my game now?” Headsprout is one of the cutest computer programs that I have ever seen for the purpose of teaching kids how to read, designed for early readers four through seven. ZZ had just turned four, and he loved it. I was testing the program for a specific educational purpose and ZZ was a perfect test subject. (And let me say right up front that I do like many of the features in this program and overall the design. I'm still investigating.) The first few lessons were great, but he needed to repeat lessons at times. I chalked that up to the fact that he was at the extreme lower limit of the recommended age range. Soon the concepts in the lessons became harder and moved faster. Well, I canned the program for ZZ for now. Now this is not saying that when he is older that he won't benefit from the program or that other kids couldn’t benefit. (I might even try again when he’s closer to five.) My point, however, is that there are many, many computer programs, TV commercials, etc. that promise that you can teach your kids, especially babies, to read. I’m sure that these will work with some kids (because kids are very unique, and you will always find some kids and some parents who can make it happen), but I provide information for the general population and what works for most kids. And for most kids, it’s just not that easy. One thing that is easy, though, is the parting of money for parents who are eager to help their children succeed.  So, watch out parents. There’s an old maxim that says – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. 

Dyslexia: It would be wonderful (4)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone with reading difficulty could use something like a camera and take a picture of the words and have those words converted into speech? It would be wonderful, and there is! One very smart inventor who is also dyslexic created one. This technology is not entirely new, however. For many years we have had  computer software that scans written material and reads the words on the page out loud. Some programs even highlight the word one at a time so the reader can read along. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Dyslexia is cured. Right? Not so fast. What we have found is that reading is not just getting the words off the page. Reading is the process of gaining meaning from print. Many students with reading difficulty have trouble on two fronts: figuring out what the words mean as well as figuring out how to say the words. And sometimes figuring out what the words mean all together is more problematic than decoding itself. Now, for some people, just figuring out the words on the page is very, very helpful. For others, it is just a piece of the pie. So when we think about the use of technology, we cannot see it as a panacea. We need to remediate the underlying causes as well as selecting assistive technology that can make life a little easier. Now, this camera thing is certainly helpful. And I applaud the inventor. But, we still need to teach kids how to read. 

Dyslexia: My Child Can't Read (3)

Not every child who is having difficulty learning to read is what we would term ‘dyslexic,’ which is a language-based disability. Some children just haven’t had the experiences with language and letters that other children have had. This can happen for many reasons. For instance, some children haven’t been to pre-school. Some children come from homes that have limited books around the house. Some children like to be outside and have little tolerance for sitting still and ‘reading’ books with their families. And finally some children have not received systematic instruction in letter/sound correspondence or phonics. Sometimes, children who have limited experiences for whatever reason are termed at-risk. That means that if they don’t catch up with their peers, they ‘may’ have difficulty in school later on. (The operative word here is ‘may’ because every child is an individual, and some defy the odds, in essence pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.) At-risk is serious and needs to be addressed with the same focus and energy as teaching for children with disabilities. So, what can we as parents and educators do to help these at-risk kids? The first thing is to recognize that there is not a minute to lose. The kids are behind and need to catch up quickly. They do not have the time to figure it out for themselves because the other kids in the class are moving ahead very rapidly. Kids at-risk need to not only to keep up with the other kids in the class, they need to CATCH up. That means that they may need to accomplish 1½ times to 2 times a much learning in one year, and sometimes even more, much more than the other children in class. So, parents and educators need to be cognizant of the type of instruction that will most benefit children at-risk. The good news is that many times, the same kind of instruction, explicit and systematic, that works with children with ‘dyslexia’ works just as well with children at-risk. The difference is that children at-risk usually make the connections easier and make progress at a faster rate. So, parents if your child is behind in reading, for whatever reason, steps need to be taken to address the situation, and the earlier the better! 

Dyslexia: My Child Can't Read (2)

I'm going to use the term reading difficulty instead of dyslexia because the term dyslexia conjures up, in so many parents minds, images of kids reading words backwards (which is totally erroneous). Reading difficulty is not a simple construct. And it appears from research that it really has nothing at all to do with intelligence. It can occur in children who are cognitively delayed (low- IQ) to those who are gifted and talented (high-IQ). That's something that we as parents have just got to get out of our heads. The idea that since my child can't read, he or she (because it occurs just as often in girls as it does in boys) is not very smart.

Let me assure you parents that many, many children with learning disabilities are very, very smart. When I was a fourth grade teacher, a little cowboy was in my class. He could not read. He came to me not reading, and he left my class without learning how to read (That wouldn't happen now. Believe me! but then I didn't have the know-how like I do now. And this little boy's face still haunts me because I could not help him over 20 years ago.) Anyway, back to the story. He may not have been able to read. But he could ride. The kid was the top rodeo star in his age group for the entire western U.S. He knew more about horses and ranches than most adults. Smart, smart kid with a great generous personality to match. I felt totally dumb next to him when talking about things that he was really GOOD at. So, parents, your kids who are having difficulty reading, celebrate what they can do well. Then just get them the help they need to read.