Welcome to the end of the year! So how has the year been? Loaded question I know. You want to say “It’s been great! Little Susie is beginning manuscript and physics. Johnny is acing all his classes and he sits and completes every last assignment without me nagging!” Okay if that is you Yoo Hoo! you are excused. If like me there were moments of brilliance and moments that can only be a kin to the agony-of-defeat skier as he face plants in the snow at mach OUCH!
How do we as concerned teacher/parents discern what is working and what isn’t. I don’t believe it is as easy as he doesn’t know multiplication there for math was a failure. Each child has his or hers strengths and weaknesses that must be addressed.
First did you write down goals at the beginning of the year? Goals can often put the year into perspective. As the year progresses we see that our child can handle more and more information so we push. Then the end of the year comes and the desire to show proof we worked sneaks in, and you push harder. Goals can bring reality back and around here this year I was pleased when looking at the goals even though there was a large medical setback. The was progress all across the board!
Now to look closely at where your child’s progress is. Is your child working at grade level? Better question is your child working at the level YOU think they are capable of? If not then write out a list of areas of concern, be specific.
Annie is adding and subtracting but she is not memorizing the multiplication facts.
Here you know what your child is doing well. Praise the good. If memorization of math facts is the problem try teaching it in another way. I allowed my daughter who has a poor math memory for multiplication to go a extra year with her color coded multiplication table. She began memorizing through repeated use. I can now take it away from her during work time and she light heartedly grumbles.
Laser point the problem. Then you are going to be able to adjust to fix it for next year.
Don’t make it a fight. Careful a child’s sense of worth is tightly wrapped in what they can do. Children are solid thinkers. If you point out there failure in math or reading at every turn or talk about it to others in front of them you may inadvertantly be making the problem worse. I talk to my kids about the problems we face calmly and in relaxed informal setting.
Your problems are either made part of life or your life becomes the problem!
There is a lot of talk about learning styles. Learning styles are your child’s preferred way to enter information into that lovely brain. There are several ways information gets in AUDIO (hearing) VISUAL (watching) KINETIC (hands on doing) If one or more of these pathways is blocked than you have a learning disability. It will profit you to know what type of a learner your child is, and note any disability. This way you can use their preferred way to teach the hardest subjects. While using there problem learning style for the easiest. Creating a better all around learning experience.
I will be talking about learning styles in more depth in the coming days. So stick around and if there are any questions feel free to let me know! God bless!