less stress

April 14, 2014

Encouraging a Struggling Learner – (Part 2)

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Parenting Views less stress, Parenting, Series

Doggie boy posing for the camera

In Part 1 of this post I outlined the difficulties that Doggie boy had in learning. Focusing on using his Auditory learning skills wasn’t really working well so I needed to change my tact with him. As Doggie boy isn’t able to absorb a lot of information at one sitting I have to break it down into parts for him. A longer time frame is needed for the same amount of information to be taught.

Here is how I go about teaching him a complex subject/topic by breaking it up into a different parts ( depending on the length and complexity of the topic involved).

The Study Flow Chart

Last week I went through the times table with Doggie boy. He has to learn his 2-6 times table as they are doing times table this term. He needs to be able to memorise the times table so that he will be able to calculate and solve the mathematical questions which will be given to him in the upcoming test.

We started off with learning the 2 times table on Monday morning. On Monday night we moved on and learned the 3 times table and revised the 2 times table. On Tuesday morning I revised the 3 times table with him and we learned the 4 times table.

On Wednesday we revised his 2 to 4 times table. On Thursday we did the 5 and 6 times tables together while on Friday we revised all the times table that we have learned that week from 2 to 6.

Constant revision and learning in chunks seems to be working better for him as he can recall the information that was thought to him longer. He is also more able to apply what he has learned in different “test” situations.

To let Doggie boy have fun learning his times table I installed some Multiplication Apps on my iPad like Maths Evolve, Sushi Monster for him to try out.

Screenshot of Math’s Evolve App

Sushi Monster Screenshot

Playing these games help him practice his multiplication tables and make him count faster while having fun. It makes learning less intimidating for him . Doggie boy was not able to get every question correct on the first few tries however his speed and accuracy in solving multiplication questions has certainly improved since using this new method of learning.He is less frustrated and now even looks forward to study time with me when he comes back from school.

Using this new method of teaching him has certainly improved his confidence level in learning new things and his marks in school has improved as a result.

In the next post in this series I will be opening up to you the challenges that I currently face with my youngest – Tiger girl.

Post in this series

– Parenting with Less Stress ( An Introduction)

– Teaching Kids about coping with the fear of Failure (Part 1)

– Teaching Kids about coping with the fear of Failure (Part 2)

– Encouraging a Struggling Learner (Part 1)

– Encouraging a Struggling Learner (Part 2)

-Dealing with a Strong Willed Child (Part 1)

– Dealing with a Strong Willed Child( Part 2)

– An Update on Monkey Boy

April 7, 2014

Encouraging a Struggling Learner- (Part One)

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Parenting Views less stress, Parenting, Series

Doggie boy riding a horse

A Struggling Learner

– A child which takes a longer time and
effort to learn as compared to their peers.

Doggie boy has been a late developer as compared to his elder brother. It takes him quite a long time to process certain information and has difficulties transferring information learned in one situation to another situation.

Application of concepts doesn’t come as naturally for him and he needs to be shown step by step ( and sometime repeatedly) before he is able to understand what is being taught.

Doggie boys way of processing information is very different from his elder brother. He is more visual and tactile while Monkey boy is able to understand perfectly well by just having text or verbal instructions. You can say that he is a more “hands on ” person and needs to be able to physically internalize any instruction before taking action on it.

He gets frustrated rather easily and have been having problems expressing himself clearly to others. He can get lost if the instructions are too lengthy or if they come in multiple steps.

Even though he is hardworking and willing to try he has difficult retaining the information taught. Previously I have tried building up his Auditory skills by focusing on the tips suggested by Thinkerbox when we went for an assessment last year. I have been trying audio books with him but it didn’t really seem to work.

Intently listening and focusing on certain key items while listening is not something that is easy for Doggie boy. Although there is a wide selection of Audio books within the library many of them are rather lengthy and I feel that it makes it more difficult to train his listening skills using this audio tool.

Doggie boy might be better of reading the passage or article aloud and listen to his own voice as the listening to the audio books were not helping him.

It is not that he is unwilling to learn but he simply can’t and it has been frustrating both him and me.

In the next part of this post I will be sharing the what I have been doing with Doggie boy to improve on his memory and learning ability.