I have been homeschooling my daughter since Kindergarten. She is now 12 and doing mostly 4th-6th grade work. She is behind academically due to a long term illness which kept her hospitalized for the greater part of two years. Our biggest problem is she doesnt seem to actually comprehend what she is learning. Especially with science and history, she remembers just enough to pass the test but then forgets almost immediately after. For math, she forgets the steps (with larger numbers) especially with multiple digit multiplication and division. I have even had to go back to carrying and borrowing a few times now. With language arts, she does pretty good, reading is something she is very strong in, as is writing. She has written many short stories, poems, etc. though she cannot seem to get sentence diagramming. She has a diagnosis of ADHD but is not on any meds. Currently, we are using Math U see for math, though in the past we have used both Saxon and lifepac. For english, we are using easy grammar, and just finished the complete handwriting without tears program. For Science, we have no curriculum currently, though we finished a 4th grade public school text from Mcgraw Hill. Before that, we did several unit studies, and have used lifepacs as well. We are trying living books for history, startign with the American Girl books as she really likes them. I am hoping that will help. Any ideas on how to teach this girl?
I think you will see improvement with using the Math-U-See. I hope you started with Gamma (or lower if need be, but no higher than Gamma). I did some math tutoring and find a lot of frustration when kids have done Saxon and such as it teaches children to just remember the steps and not to understand why. If they understand why, it helps with retention of the steps. Think of it this way. If you give directions to someplace, with no idea as to the bigger picture of where they are going, they are not likely to remember all the steps. But, if you show them a map, show them the end result and what they hope to accomplish..as in..where they are going..they are more likely going to remember the big picture and the whole thing. Easy Grammar is a great choice!!! I think you are doing great for science and history too. Living books really are the best way to go. I also added in a Maps book, but you do not need to do that. But it was painless to do and was something extra.
We did start with Gamma and were seeing lots of improvement until we got to long division. We have been working on long division for about 4 months now and dont seem much closer than we were when we started. I really dont know what to do for science, looking into real science 4 kids or maybe NOEO, has anyone had any experience with these?
Frankly, I wouldn't worry about sentence diagramming; I've never really understood their purpose anyway. While I'm known as being an excellent writer and communicator (sorry - don't mean to sound boastful), I was never taught diagramming and would never want to learn. In business, we're always taught to feed strength and cut weakness. I know it's not quite the same when teaching our children, because they must be well-rounded, but I'd feed your daughter's strength in language arts. I'm sure, over time, she'll begin to grasp the other topics.
I've done courses on study skills and how to learn. There are three basic barriers to understanding: 1. Too steep of a gradient. This means she didn't fully understand an earlier topic, therefore the later topics are understood less. The solution for that is to go back and review as far back as you need to. A friend of mine said he had to go all the way back to SECOND GRADE MATH with his 7th grader. He had him work through the lower level books all the way up to 7th grade. He did some of the books in 1 day. BUT once he made it back up to 7th grade math he was fine! Just go back to the last place she was doing well on the subject. The part she didn't get was shortly BEFORE she started doing poor. 2. Lack of Mass. This is nothing more than she's trying to learn about something she can't picture. I have to use lots of pictures and demonstrations with my stepdaughter. Thank goodness for the internet! She was in tears over some spelling words when I finally realized that she didn't know what a garden hoe was, or how it was used. I had to find a YouTube video of someone using one, and then all of the sudden she was fine! Sometimes I have her draw pictures, or I draw them. She's a visual learner and that's how she learns. 3. Misunderstood Word. This is the tricky one, but also the most dangerous. If your child is reading and she becomes squirmy, wants to quit, or can't remember what she learned that means she has not fully defined all the words she read. With my SD I'm very careful to make sure she knows all the words. I can tell if there's a word she didn't know because she has no understanding of the subject we read about, or a partial understanding. These barriers are explained here: http://www.studytechnology.org/special/ntrpg.htm in more detail. They have been the salvation of many frustrated teachers all over the world! I GUARANTEE that they will help your daughter. Also, she may not have ADD. She may just be encountering too many study barriers. My SD was told she probably has ADHD. She does not. Not if you make sure she defines all her words and she has lots of pictures. She's just slower to learn than some kids. Hope this helps! I had my SD in a "learning how to learn" class and it helped us tremendously. Now she knows to ask if she has a misunderstood word, if we're going to fast, or she doesn't understand something!
Any kind of writing, even on kid forums will give her practice to improve her writing skills and have fun doing it.
it sounds to me like you are getting great advice here. She sounds a lot like my oldest was in learning, there are things that dont always stick but like someone mentioned when they learn how to let you know when its getting hard to remember or to grasp it that will help. Another of my children had a hard time because he was trying to rush through and get caught up on work. Not a good idea either, take your time you are homeschooling there is no rush! relax.. my ds had to go over everything from 3rd grade up in one month at one point becuase he missed a spot. Try some of the apptitude tests or assessment tests out there and see if you can find the spot she is missing that will click it all in place. That is what eventuallly helped my ds, we worked with Life Paks too, so going back was easy! I figured what he was missing and we went back got a Scholastiics 3rd grade math book, went through it, he thought it was fun and it helped his confidence, that made tons of difference!
I'd add that if you suspect ADD then explore meds. There's nothing more frustrating then constantly failing to meet other people's expectations or even your own because of something that's out of your control. Eventually you start thinking there's something wrong in terms of intelligence or character. I was diagnosed with ADD as a teen and meds were a great help not just in school work but in seeing that I wasn't lazy or stupid. Other then that I'd say you're on the right track with getting a math program that concentrates more on concepts. I'd second the recommendation to ditch diagramming. It's not the only way to approach grammar and for some people it simply doesn't make sense. Winston Basic Grammar might be a really good program esp. with an ADD child. It's got an original approach and it's a mastery based program. Stick with mastery programs and don't move on until she dreams about a subject. Forget the ground you have to make up and just move at the pace you need to. I think you're on the right track with subjects too. She needs a foundation right now, math and English. Other stuff can wait or be approached informally. There are lots of great science and history books, documentaries, magazines, shows, etc. that would probably peek her interest without adding to her (and your) workload. The last thing I'd suggest is that you stick with us for support as you work through this. It sounds like a challenge but one that you're equal too and have already got a handle on.
Thanks for the advice. Dawn- She has an ADHD diagnosis, was DX back in Kindergarten through our school system. Currently, we cannot explore meds due to the fact our dd had a transplant 2 years ago and is on antirejection meds. We have been told by her physicians that these meds do not work with ADD meds, the risk is just to great. To help with her attention, we stop after each subject and do somethign physical for 15 minutes or so.
Sl, does Fishoil work for her? it worked for my friends adhd child for a while, not forever mind you but that was one year of less meds for the child.
First, it sounds to me like you are very in tune with her strengths and weaknesses and want to build a strong foundation instead of meeting preset standards. I can also tell you want to have a positive, encouraging school situation rather than one that focuses on the difficulties of teaching a student with ADHD. Also, I am no doctor, but in the years I taught, out of all the many supposed cases of ADHD that sat in my classroom on medication, I can honestly say that I think only one of them truly needed the meds. I believe ADHD is a real condition, but I am all for going a different route than meds if possible, so I applaud you in that area! You probably already know and accomodate for this, but many students diagnosed with ADHD struggle with distractions when trying to concentrate, so minimizing potential distractions helps to set them up for success. Also, breaking assignments into smaller pieces is another strategy. Others in this forum have suggested reading material concerning strategies and I highly recommend ongoing research of what is working for others, especially as you come to the teen years. I believe it is important to instill within the student the ability to use effective study strategies that combat the negatives of ADHD; don't just use the strategies yourself--explain what you're doing and give lots of opportunities for the student to practice using these strategies, too. In my experience of tutoring students with learning disabilities, eye contact was key to holding their attention, as well as not allowing the conversation to veer to rabbit trails. This is something else--it always bothered me when parents began the school year by telling me within their children's hearing that teaching them would be a challenge because of the ADHD, thereby expressing to the child their own low expectations and giving the child a ready excuse for not reaching their potential. Yes, acknowledge there is an obstacle but emphasize finding ways to succeed at getting over the obstacle. Also, we are promised that when we ask for wisdom, God gives it generously (James 1:5). Anyhow, I am far from being an expert, but I can pray God blesses you and your child in this area.
If someone checks what they're writing! I see mistakes here as well as over on Atoz, so this could be a way to improve, if mistakes are caught. And I mean no insults, ok?
