[I'm devoting my Monday blog posts to the topic of Learners with Special Needs, which, I find, describes us all in some way or another.] 

I work part time at a school for students with all kinds of special needs. In addition to the usual academic subjects, kids also take classes in such topics as executive function, sensory integration and behavior therapy.

I’ve been fascinated by how simple and useful a lot of the instruction is, and how applicable it is to all of us!

[I'm going to devote my Thursday blog posts to the topic of All Things Academic: reading, writing, 'rithmetic and the other school subjects.]

Last week I said that I see value in having kids (and all learners) memorize a certain amount of factual information.

I also said that I’m not a fan of rote memorization of multiplication “facts.” Kids should also be learning when and how to apply all of the four operations to various situations.

I’m going to try devoting my Thursday blog posts to the topic of All Things Academic: reading, writing, ‘rithmetic and the other school subjects.

A home school mom of four writes:

The learning material that I struggle with is just that: motivation verses memorization. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around alternative methods to memorizing times tables and science facts and history dates. It just seems like there should be better ways to learn/teach.

Kids (and all people) learn best when information is relevant and interesting. Random facts that don’t connect with anything the student finds familiar or meaningful are tedious to memorize and soon forgotten.

I just finished doing a talk at one of my local libraries, called Tons of Tips to Help Your Child Learn Better!

My favorite tip is the simplest: HELP THEM.

It’s pretty amazing how parents hesitate to just sit down next to their child and offer some basic assistance. It’s usually for one of two reasons:

I’m preparing to give a talk entitled Tons of Tips to Help Your Child Learn Better!
Here are five of my favorites:

1. Read to them. Kids of all ages love to be read to.  I even read to my SAT-prep students (11th graders!). I read them practice SAT passages and have them follow along with their eyes; this lets them hear what the passage is supposed to sound like and how to pronounce unfamiliar vocab words. Then we talk about the passage and make sure they understand it. I also often read to kids who get bogged down by their history or science texts. Often we take turns reading sections to one another. It moves them through the material, makes the content come alive and helps it make more sense.
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This fall, I’m going to be doing some talks at various schools, on the subject of “special needs” learners.

I find that all learners, be they child, adult, “gifted,” “average,” or “special needs” (whatever these labels might mean), need the same things:

Practice. There’s a mystique about the gifted: that they “get” everything automatically, without studying. In fact, the smart kids in the class study more. They tend to read more, and they think about intellectual subject matter as they move through their day, even when they’re not actually pouring over a textbook.

We often excuse struggling learners from practice, cut their homework load down, set lower expectations…and the result is that they miss out on the practice they need, and they fall further and further behind.

I love my work, but sometimes, especially during final exam season, it can be exhausting!

I loved rediscovering this little parable the other day; it really kept me going as I sat with student after student, plowing through the same chemistry review packet over and over and over…

Three brick layers were busy at work, and a passerby stopped and asked each what he was doing.

I’m laying bricks, said the first.

I’m making my living, said the second.

I’m building a cathedral, said the third.

I’ve been blogging about trust this week, and I’ll be back to talking about trust and romantic relationships next time.

But tomorrow I’m giving  a talk entitled Math Success for All Students, and here’s what I plan on saying about trust as it relates to kids and parents:

Openness, visibility, day-to-day intimacy, fosters TRUST.

Back in 1990 I read Iron John, and Robert Bly’s theory about fathers and sons stuck with me. Bly suggested that throughout most of human history, children could see the work that their parents and other adults did. Hunter-gatherer societies were very public and transparent.

Bly believes that there is a basic developmental need for children to work next to their parents, see what their parents do and how they think and solve problems

Many students and parents face this decision now, at the beginning of the second semester:

• The student signed up for too many classes first semester
• or the classes were harder than expected
• or extra-curricular activities or jobs or personal issues entered in.

And so:

• Grades were lower than desired
• and/or the workload was stressful and felt overwhelming.

I recognize that every situation is different, but here’s my general advice:

I wrote about what kids really mean when they complain Why do I have to learn this stuff?

J Morgan replied:

For me at school, it meant, “I really can’t stand this topic and I can’t see a bit enough benefit to justify suffering through it,” as well as finding it difficult.

I mostly agree with J Morgan, but I hasten to add that, unfortunately, lots of extremely important subject matter is very, very hard and not much fun.