by Sarah Major M.Ed.
By now, everyone has fallen into a daily routine for school and it has become apparent the areas your child may be struggling in. The good news is that even if your child doesn’t perform as well as you had hoped, there is good reason to be optimistic! What we need to do is be prepared and be ready to carry out a good plan of action should his or her academic performance be less than stellar.
Ideas to consider:
Start by evaluating the situation to determine what is going on, focusing on what you know about your child. It always helps me process if I actually list my thoughts on paper.
1. List what is easy for her, what she’s good at, and how she’s smart. In what areas do you feel she is capable, confident, and focused? Be very specific both in general characteristics (such as creativity, inventiveness, compassion and empathy) as well as those things that relate to school.
2. Identify in like manner what is hard for your child. Be very specific in terms of general characteristics (such as disorganized with belongings, following directions, etc.) as well as specific things relating to the classroom that are hard for him. What were the specific skills the identified as weak?
3. What are the solutions to your child’s learning struggles? More of the same curriculum or could the solution very different? Consider if you are willing to try something that is vastly different that could change his outlook on the subjects he finds difficult.
What does poor performance show?
What if poor performance is simply the result of a mismatch between learning style and curriculum? Actually, the brain is designed to learn; it wants to learn. I have seen many situations in which children were failing until the presentation of material changed. Suddenly learning was easy.
If your child is struggling, it is highly likely that he or she is a visual, right-brained learner who needs materials designed for that brain-strength.
• Traditional classrooms present material in a left-brained manner
• Roughly 66% of children prefer a right-brained approach (or an approach that takes the left-brained content and presents it within right-brained elements for learning)
• Testing will primarily reveal how successful your child is at performing within a left-brained environment
What I want you to come away with is a sense of confidence that you know your child and that you can trust your judgment in choosing a way to help her. I want you to embrace your child with his particular learning gifts, knowing that if he can’t learn the way another child learns it doesn’t mean he is incapable. I want you to know that learning is easy when we get the method right.
Reading
Common problem areas in reading:
1. Letters and Sounds A few years ago, children in kindergarten were able to focus on essential social skills, but now the academic bar is high. I hear about children failing kindergarten on a regular basis because they are not able to learn their letters and sounds.
2. Common reading challenges:
a. Difficulty sounding out words
b. Guessing at words and getting them wrong
c. Tedious reading – it is just plain too hard
d. Trying to sound out every word
e. Difficulty memorizing sight words
f. Sounds out a word but can’t remember it short minutes later
g. Reads, but has no idea what he’s read
h. Not understanding verbal directions
i. Forgetting what you tell her
j. Difficulty verbalizing what he wants to say
k. Poor spelling
l. Illegible writing
As you read through the list, please identify those skills that are difficult for your child and then add anything else you are aware of that is not on that list.
All the skills noted above tend to be difficult for visual/right-brained children. This is good news! It isn’t that your child can’t learn, it is that the way the material is presented doesn’t mesh with his or her learning strengths. Once you have your hands on materials that are designed for him, your child will learn quickly.
Here are some ways you can help:
1. The best, most effective way you can help your child learn letters and their sounds without it seeming like schoolwork is to read Alphabet Tales. Your child will listen to charming stories and enjoy colorful illustrations, and magically the needed information will go into their memory in a way they will remember. Without tears.
2. For reading issues a - g and k - l above, use SnapWords® cards. Each word is delivered via a colorful image, includes a body motion for an extra learning aid, and is used in a sentence which brings comprehension. Once your child has learned all the SnapWords® he or she will read with far greater fluency, will stop trying to sound out words, and will find reading much easier. Our kits include the books that will guide you a step at a time in exactly how to help your child.
3. Receptive and expressive language issues can be helped by doing some simple activities daily. The reason your child might have difficulties with listening and speaking is because visual/right-brained children think in pictures, not words. If a visual child is under stress, tired, put on the spot, is upset, feels incapable, her ability to receive and use words will be greatly diminished.
Here are some simple but effective ideas that will help:
a. Make sure your child knows he is a picture thinker and that that is a good thing! It is not a weakness, but he needs to understand that when speaking and listening, he will be turning those mental pictures into words.
b. If your child likes to draw, get into the habit of having her draw a picture of anything she wants, then write a brief story about what she drew. If she is too young to write much, have her tell you verbally what she drew and write her words for her.
c. When your child is having trouble expressing himself, encourage him to be calm. There is no hurry. Next ask him what he sees? What is the main thing he can see? Have him turn the focus away from his inability to pull out words and towards the picture he can see in his head. Let him begin to describe what he sees.
d. Identify a picture that is interesting, maybe from a picture book she likes, and have her describe it to you in words. First identify the main object or person in the picture, and then have her using describing words: size, color, shape, etc.
e. If your child has difficulty following verbal directions, practice daily. Explain that you will say two things you want him to do, and for each, he will make a picture in his mind of what you said. He will picture the thing involved or picture himself doing it. For example, if you say, “Please hang up your jacket and put your shoes in your room,” your child will picture his jacket then then his shoes. If you practice this skill daily, you will be surprised at the difference it will make and how it will strengthen your child’s ability to process verbal directions by linking them to images.
Math
The reason math is hard for so many children is that math is taught in a hyper left-brained fashion. Given that roughly 66% of children prefer a right-brained approach to learning, it is no wonder that math has gotten such a bad rap with kids. What right-brained kids need and thrive on include understanding the meaning behind what they are doing, relevance to their own lives, images showing what is happening, patterns that exist in arrays of numbers and so forth.
Math is normally taught in ways that appeal to the 33% of students who prefer left-brained approaches to learning
1. Memorization is the primary mode of learning procedures, number facts, and math vocabulary
2. Math is taught in steps and sequences: first do this, next do this, then do this
3. Math is all about symbols that represent other real things; on their own they carry no meaning
4. Math is full of large vocabulary words that they need to memorize (integer, denominator, addend, etc.)
Math is rich, it can be understood through images and stories, and children who are visual, right-brained CAN learn math easily if it is designed in a way that makes sense to their brains.
In our resources, children will find math presented in ways that marry left-brained symbols with right-brained vehicles for learning and understanding such as stories, images, and patterns. The presentation makes all the difference!
If you have any specific questions, please call us at 800-881-0912 or email info@child1st.com. We would love to talk with you about how best to support your child.
Sarah Major, CEO of Child1st Publications, grew up on the mission field with her four siblings, all of whom her mother homeschooled. As an adult, Sarah has homeschooled a small group of children in collaboration with their parents, and has taught from preschool age to adult. Sarah has been the Title 1 director and program developer for grades K-7, an ESOL teacher, and a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate student, Sarah attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. and then received her M.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2006 Sarah resigned from fulltime teaching in order to devote more time to Child1st, publisher of the best-selling SnapWords™ stylized sight word cards. In her spare time Sarah enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, quilting, and spending time with her family.
Child1st Publications, LLC
www.child1st.com
800-881-0912
By now, everyone has fallen into a daily routine for school and it has become apparent the areas your child may be struggling in. The good news is that even if your child doesn’t perform as well as you had hoped, there is good reason to be optimistic! What we need to do is be prepared and be ready to carry out a good plan of action should his or her academic performance be less than stellar.
Ideas to consider:
Start by evaluating the situation to determine what is going on, focusing on what you know about your child. It always helps me process if I actually list my thoughts on paper.
1. List what is easy for her, what she’s good at, and how she’s smart. In what areas do you feel she is capable, confident, and focused? Be very specific both in general characteristics (such as creativity, inventiveness, compassion and empathy) as well as those things that relate to school.
2. Identify in like manner what is hard for your child. Be very specific in terms of general characteristics (such as disorganized with belongings, following directions, etc.) as well as specific things relating to the classroom that are hard for him. What were the specific skills the identified as weak?
3. What are the solutions to your child’s learning struggles? More of the same curriculum or could the solution very different? Consider if you are willing to try something that is vastly different that could change his outlook on the subjects he finds difficult.
What does poor performance show?
What if poor performance is simply the result of a mismatch between learning style and curriculum? Actually, the brain is designed to learn; it wants to learn. I have seen many situations in which children were failing until the presentation of material changed. Suddenly learning was easy.
If your child is struggling, it is highly likely that he or she is a visual, right-brained learner who needs materials designed for that brain-strength.
• Traditional classrooms present material in a left-brained manner
• Roughly 66% of children prefer a right-brained approach (or an approach that takes the left-brained content and presents it within right-brained elements for learning)
• Testing will primarily reveal how successful your child is at performing within a left-brained environment
What I want you to come away with is a sense of confidence that you know your child and that you can trust your judgment in choosing a way to help her. I want you to embrace your child with his particular learning gifts, knowing that if he can’t learn the way another child learns it doesn’t mean he is incapable. I want you to know that learning is easy when we get the method right.
Reading
Common problem areas in reading:
1. Letters and Sounds A few years ago, children in kindergarten were able to focus on essential social skills, but now the academic bar is high. I hear about children failing kindergarten on a regular basis because they are not able to learn their letters and sounds.
2. Common reading challenges:
a. Difficulty sounding out words
b. Guessing at words and getting them wrong
c. Tedious reading – it is just plain too hard
d. Trying to sound out every word
e. Difficulty memorizing sight words
f. Sounds out a word but can’t remember it short minutes later
g. Reads, but has no idea what he’s read
h. Not understanding verbal directions
i. Forgetting what you tell her
j. Difficulty verbalizing what he wants to say
k. Poor spelling
l. Illegible writing
As you read through the list, please identify those skills that are difficult for your child and then add anything else you are aware of that is not on that list.
All the skills noted above tend to be difficult for visual/right-brained children. This is good news! It isn’t that your child can’t learn, it is that the way the material is presented doesn’t mesh with his or her learning strengths. Once you have your hands on materials that are designed for him, your child will learn quickly.
Here are some ways you can help:
1. The best, most effective way you can help your child learn letters and their sounds without it seeming like schoolwork is to read Alphabet Tales. Your child will listen to charming stories and enjoy colorful illustrations, and magically the needed information will go into their memory in a way they will remember. Without tears.
2. For reading issues a - g and k - l above, use SnapWords® cards. Each word is delivered via a colorful image, includes a body motion for an extra learning aid, and is used in a sentence which brings comprehension. Once your child has learned all the SnapWords® he or she will read with far greater fluency, will stop trying to sound out words, and will find reading much easier. Our kits include the books that will guide you a step at a time in exactly how to help your child.
3. Receptive and expressive language issues can be helped by doing some simple activities daily. The reason your child might have difficulties with listening and speaking is because visual/right-brained children think in pictures, not words. If a visual child is under stress, tired, put on the spot, is upset, feels incapable, her ability to receive and use words will be greatly diminished.
Here are some simple but effective ideas that will help:
a. Make sure your child knows he is a picture thinker and that that is a good thing! It is not a weakness, but he needs to understand that when speaking and listening, he will be turning those mental pictures into words.
b. If your child likes to draw, get into the habit of having her draw a picture of anything she wants, then write a brief story about what she drew. If she is too young to write much, have her tell you verbally what she drew and write her words for her.
c. When your child is having trouble expressing himself, encourage him to be calm. There is no hurry. Next ask him what he sees? What is the main thing he can see? Have him turn the focus away from his inability to pull out words and towards the picture he can see in his head. Let him begin to describe what he sees.
d. Identify a picture that is interesting, maybe from a picture book she likes, and have her describe it to you in words. First identify the main object or person in the picture, and then have her using describing words: size, color, shape, etc.
e. If your child has difficulty following verbal directions, practice daily. Explain that you will say two things you want him to do, and for each, he will make a picture in his mind of what you said. He will picture the thing involved or picture himself doing it. For example, if you say, “Please hang up your jacket and put your shoes in your room,” your child will picture his jacket then then his shoes. If you practice this skill daily, you will be surprised at the difference it will make and how it will strengthen your child’s ability to process verbal directions by linking them to images.
Math
The reason math is hard for so many children is that math is taught in a hyper left-brained fashion. Given that roughly 66% of children prefer a right-brained approach to learning, it is no wonder that math has gotten such a bad rap with kids. What right-brained kids need and thrive on include understanding the meaning behind what they are doing, relevance to their own lives, images showing what is happening, patterns that exist in arrays of numbers and so forth.
Math is normally taught in ways that appeal to the 33% of students who prefer left-brained approaches to learning
1. Memorization is the primary mode of learning procedures, number facts, and math vocabulary
2. Math is taught in steps and sequences: first do this, next do this, then do this
3. Math is all about symbols that represent other real things; on their own they carry no meaning
4. Math is full of large vocabulary words that they need to memorize (integer, denominator, addend, etc.)
Math is rich, it can be understood through images and stories, and children who are visual, right-brained CAN learn math easily if it is designed in a way that makes sense to their brains.
In our resources, children will find math presented in ways that marry left-brained symbols with right-brained vehicles for learning and understanding such as stories, images, and patterns. The presentation makes all the difference!
If you have any specific questions, please call us at 800-881-0912 or email info@child1st.com. We would love to talk with you about how best to support your child.
Sarah Major, CEO of Child1st Publications, grew up on the mission field with her four siblings, all of whom her mother homeschooled. As an adult, Sarah has homeschooled a small group of children in collaboration with their parents, and has taught from preschool age to adult. Sarah has been the Title 1 director and program developer for grades K-7, an ESOL teacher, and a classroom teacher. As an undergraduate student, Sarah attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. and then received her M.Ed. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. In 2006 Sarah resigned from fulltime teaching in order to devote more time to Child1st, publisher of the best-selling SnapWords™ stylized sight word cards. In her spare time Sarah enjoys gardening, cooking, pottery, quilting, and spending time with her family.
Child1st Publications, LLC
www.child1st.com
800-881-0912
