Hi -
I am so grateful to have found this site. We just started homeschooling our 7 yo son (ADD, fine motor delays, speech delay). He seems to be much more relaxed, able to attend to things that hold his interest longer, and is doing better socially. We are trying to really focus on his strengths and follow his interests right now. My question is this: While some things seem to be getting much much better, at the same time other areas, such as memory, seem to have plateaued. For example, he sometimes seems to forget his letters (when looking at them on a page) even though this seemed to be a skill he mastered last summer. He has a lot of strengths - very verbal, imaginative, a real storyteller, loves science experiments, etc. But I am wondering if others have seen this type of thing - He really seems to be struggling with the visual perception skills to the point that it seems like he is forgetting some of the basics. We are working with an OT and a tutor but thought I’d ask you all for your thoughts. He is tired of the computer games we played to help with these skills. I did just order Handwriting Without Tears to give that a try. Thanks so much.
overteach, overteach, overteach
The thing I’ve seen work best for kids is to figure out what they *need* to know and then do a little bit of it *every day* — at a high success rate. Basically, never assume that it’s in there “For good” — so always go back and review about 20 times as often as you might think necessary (okay, that’s what it felt like to me — but when I did that, the long term results at the end of the school year were consistently better). So a good 10 minutes a day was “quick practice” of basic stuff to keep it right on top of their memories — but again, practice at a high success level.
For lots of these kids, the more meaning involved, the easier it is to remember. Remember the name of a letter is like a piece of lint in the wind — and they left their static cling at home. Remembering the *sound* for the letter — and a word to go with it — can be easier to remember and is basically more important. A bit of daily practice with the sequence (have the alphabet on a piece of paper & cover up a letter or two & see if he can fill in the blank without hveing to recite the whole thing… teach him to start in the middle if necessary…) can help too. I’ve done this kind of exercise with middle schoolers who ended up succeeding in college — these memory glitches are funny things.
Here’s a neat list of “memorable” associations to connect letters and sounds: http://www.auburn.edu/~murraba/spellings.html
Re: memory problems
I dont have any answers I am so frustrated with homeschooling and trying to teach him. I started him in a reading clinic, but they started teaching him touch math and now he’s forgotten all that he knew about adding up to 20 he almost had it memmorized now he cant add 6+3. I am having him tested, but that scares me to, because I don’t trust doctors or psychyatrist etiher and then I worry they will insist I do a certain thing like placing him somewhere against my will. I find games have helped along with the computer, because he hates to write, I make him write some, but by the time he is done 1 page his hand is sweaty and says its tired and wont write anymore. I am doing homeschool because he got so frustrated in K that he threw a rock and broke the teachers window out of her car. He doesnt get along with other kids so I avoid it unless it is real structured program. I feel like I am going in circles and dont know what curriculum to use that I dont waste my money on.
Re: memory problems
Janet,
Please don’t give up! I know it’s not easy. I don’t know what your son’s LD is or how old he is, but we just found out that our 9yod is dyslexic. She to hates to write and gets tired from it. So I just have her write a little at a time, just a few sentences. It has helped some, she still doesn’t enjoy it much. I hope in time she will get better at it. She also has alot of trouble understanding what she reads and with phonics. She still gets short and long vowels confused, so we are really concentrating on those now. She also has trouble with following directions. I found another homeschool mom in our group that has a dyslexic 13 yod. I met with her and she showed me what the therapist uses and some other ideas that I could do myself. We can’t afford to take her to a therapist so I’m doing what I can myself. We use books from www.epsbooks.com and Weekly Reader at 1-800-446-3355. We just started using them a few weeks ago. I think that they will be helpful. Another book that might be helpful that I got and it is a very good book. The Parents Guide To Attention Deficit Disorder from www.lifetimebooksandgifts.com. You also might check out this website:www.joyceherzog.com.
I hope it gets better for you!
Re: memory problems
Audiblox is a fairly inexpensive home therapy program that often helps. You would need the video and book (about $50, I think). Website is http://www.audiblox2000.com Audiblox requires 1/2 to 1 hour per day of one-on-one work with the child, and it can take 6 weeks to see significant gains, but it is often very helpful.
For example, one of the exercises is to strengthen the hands for writing. All that is needed is an old telephone book. The child crumples a page at a time in each hand, eventually working up to a certain number of pages using both hands. The video shows exactly how the exercise is to be done.
There are many other exercises that work on developing coordination, directionality, visual processing, pattern recognition, auditory processing, reasoning, etc.
The advantage of using a program such as Audiblox is that it works on underlying deficits. If underlying deficits can be reduced, academic learning becomes much easier.
Another approach I recommend for reading is the book Reading Reflex by Carmen & Geoffrey McGuiness. The book is about $16 at bookstores, and provides all the information you need to tutor a child very effectively in reading.
Mary
In general, memory problems are caused by underlying deficits in one or more of three areas — motor development, the visual system, and the auditory system. I would recommend that you research a number of different approaches. Here are a few to check out:
Interactive Metronome (http://www.interactivemetronome.com) for his ADD. This also helps motor planning, which can impact gross and fine motor skills. It was recently written up in the professional journal for OT’s.
If he has visual processing problems, get him evaluated by a developmental optometrist. Developmental vision delays are a common cause of visual memory problems. You can find certified developmental optometrists at http://www.covd.org. (Regular optometrists and opthalmologists do not have training in developmental vision problems. This is a specialty area.) If he has developmental vision delays, he may need vision therapy.
Symptoms of ADD can be caused by auditory processing problems. It would be a good idea to get a CAPD eval by an audiologist who specializes in this area. (Again, this is a specialty area, and regular audiologists do not have the training.) You can find qualified audiologists in your area at http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/ If he is diagnosed with the subtype of CAPD called Auditory Decoding Deficit, then FastForWord is likely to help a lot (http://www.scilearn.com).
Once vision therapy and CAPD are either ruled out or treated, PACE can be extremely helpful. Website is http://www.learninginfo.com
Audiblox is an inexpensive alternative to PACE (about $80 to start, as you need at least the book and video). Website is http://www.audiblox2000.com. This is a therapy that could be incorporated into your homeschooling on a daily basis right away. It works on a lot of vision skills first, and then moves into auditory skills.
I really like Handwriting Without Tears. It worked well for us.
Computer programs, in my experience, have extremely limited value. With a very few exceptions, a child is better off working with a live adult one-on-one.
I would also recommend getting a copy of Reading Reflex by McGuiness (about $16 at bookstores). A child really does not need to know letter names in order to read. It’s much better to focus on sounds first. Website for this approach is http://www.readamerica.net
Kudo’s to you for homeschooling! Our daughter made dramatic gains the year we homeschooled full-time, as we were able to provide her with several therapies in addition to academics.
Mary