Non-auditory learners?

[rumkimom]

Hi, We have been trying to use Bigger, but have had problems this fall (including us being sick for several weeks, then I was pregant/contantly tired and miscarried at 7 weeks, then sick again), so are WAY behind already. I wanted to have my girls do the same work, but it just is not working at all, so now the older one (age 10) is reading most of the Bigger books herself so I can work with the younger one (age 7) on basics.

Problem is HOD does not seem to work for her at all (she loved doing the science notebooking as she loves drawing, but really did not know what she was doing). Most of the lessons is me reading to them and my 7 year old gets NOTHING if I just read to her. We believe that she had a combination of Auditory Processing Disorder and/or Asperger Syndrome...along with Sensory Integration Issues (we plan to get her tested). She can't answer simple questions such as "who is the story about?" if I read it and might be able to if she reads it. I am trying to figure out what will work for her and don't really know yet. For reading we are doing the emerging reader, but the questions don't work for her either...I usually had to say them in different ways than suggested before she understands the questions (usually she answer the simple questions), but she is reading quite well (on target for her age).

BTW, it does seem to help some if I let her read with me when I am reading, but then I can read only things that are at her level of reading (so that does not help much for the history/science reading with bigger). We dropped down to doing the science book for LHFHG that we used 2 years ago, but now SHE is reading it (that is a K/first grade level book). The second grade book has just way too much reading for her yet.

Any suggestions?

Wendy C.
Mommy to Emily (India-10), Melody (China-7) & Steven (China-3)
using Bigger with Emily (she LOVES the extention books!!)

[Carrie]

Wendy,

I'm so sorry to hear about your tough start to your year. I understand what you're saying about being pregnant and sick and then sick after a miscarriage, as we have had a similar experience. I know it can make you feel overwhelmed and long to feel good again. I do want to encourage you that it will get better and life will return to more of a "normal" pattern.

I also want to encourage you that school will also settle into more of a "normal" routine, once your life gets back to a more consistent pattern. Don't worry about being behind. Even children who go to public school have teachers who are gone for maternity leave and a host of other health issues, and those children still progress on to the next grade just fine. Just focus on where you are now and move forward a bit each day at a steady pace. There's no need to play catch-up, as long as the 3 R's are in place.

I'm so glad that your 10 year old is thriving with Bigger Hearts and seems to be appropriately placed. That is a good thing! As far as your 7 year old goes, I'm wondering where she places on the placement chart linked here:
http://www.heartofdakota.com/placing-your-child.php

In order for a 7 year old to flourish in Bigger, the child needs to be secure in the 3 R's and have solid listening skills. I'd love to hear your thoughts as to where your 7 year old places on the placement chart, as I'm thinking it sounds like LHFHG would most likely be a better fit, or possibly Beyond.

Especially if your little sweetie has some processing issues, it will be important to target things at her level so she can be successful.

I look forward to hearing from you when you get a chance.

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Wendy,
I want to encourage you as well, as I've been through similar circumstances, that life will be back to a more "normal" pattern with time. You are so right to step back and consider what is now best, as situations change, and it's good to be flexible. I'm glad Bigger is a good fit for your older child, and continuing with that wherever you are in it will be good. I also would love to hear your thoughts about your younger dd after you look at the placement chart Carrie linked you to. I think you'd find it much easier to do 2 HOD programs and have your younger dd working in the program that fits her the best. Could you please share your thoughts after checking out the placement chart? In the meantime, I have prayed for you - May God lift you up, Wendy, and renew your strength in spirit and in health!

In Christ,
Julie

[yayadaisy]

I am so sorry to hear about all the sickness and miscarriage. I to had one at nine weeks and it takes some time to get back to normal. I ended up putting my kids in ps for fear that they would just get so behind. Worst thing I could of done. We just took them out again and are home schooling again. They are more confused now because of the difference in what they taught and what I did. We are finally getting into a new routine. I encourage you to wait some time and just get settled into a routine. Try different things with your dd, see what works for your family. I have one that is really mostly hands-on so if we do something that is more seat work stuff I try to find a way to make it more hands on for some portion of it. But it is also good for him to learn to sit for brief periods and where better then learn at home where you have their best interest at heart. I sure hope your family stays healthy now. We have had our times with sickness too!

Sheila

[rumkimom]

Thanks....

As far as the placement chart….she is an emergent reader (doing Explode the Code book 4 for Phonics) so would fit into either Beyond or Bigger. With writing and Grammar, she is in Bigger (she doing Rod & Staff Grade 2 Grammar and is doing well in it; she also does really well with the dictation that we are doing for spelling and is able to write sentences on her own). With Math she is doing Bigger (Singapore Grade 2 book….and doing well). So according to the first chart she should be able to do Bigger. I guess the chart just does not work for a child with Auditory problems. Right now we are using the Science that we got with LHFHG and reading Rod and Staff Social Studies. That seems to be working for now.

The big problem is read-a-louds (which is what all of them do for History, Science and storytime) do not work for her. I guess I will continue to do at grade level grammar, math, phonics and dictation and below grade level history & science (so she can read them with me). How could I help her with her listening skills? That is where the big problem is.

Our other problem is keeping a 3 year old BOY busy and out of trouble while we do school work.

[deltagal]

Wendy,

My heart is so heavy for you. I'm so sorry for your loss. I too, have been there, more times than I care to count. And you need time. Time to heal. Time to find joy. Time to dream...again. And God will continue to work wonders with your children while you are healing. Trust that. Don't fear getting off track. Enjoy this time with them, let them be a part of your healing.

[mamaloves4]

Hi,

I have a non-auditory learner and I feel for you. It has been a frustrating, but rewarding journey with our oldest dd. We noticed it way back when she was little. She couldn't seem to follow a series of directions, couldn't tell me back what I said and to be honest we still have struggles with it, but those are improving. One thing I have learned is to give her information in small, tiny bites, let her digest/process it, then give her more information. Oral narration has been difficult and there have been times that I would read 2-3 sentences and let her narrate and so on through the passage. In fact, just this week she needed to narrate out of child's History of the World and I read the chapter in three sections and she did much better. It has also helped if I let her know that she needs to 'repeat' the things I am reading her in head--she seems to lose that 'silent voice' and cannot hear it. (a classic example of auditory processing issues). I also give her a few moments to collect her thoughts before asking her to narrate/repeat back what I read, it has seemed to take the pressure off of 'performing'. I will tell her the 'Key' Idea from the plans before starting and that helps her or I will give her key words to listen for and ask her to pay attention to how they relate to one another in the reading. And I have summarized it for her (more often a couple of years ago) to show her an example of what I am looking for and it has helped her to have an example to follow. She has improved quite a bit in the last two years and as long as I take the time to do some of those things we have successful school days. Sometimes she wants to read over my shoulder (she does great if she can read it herself) and I will let her, but I want to see her auditory skills improve so I make her just listen, which she sometimes balks at, BUT listening is a skill she will need and helping her learn to listen at home is one of our goals rather than having some hard experiences out of our home. (which has happened and resulted in a melt down of fear and tears!!--and embarrassment for me)

On a more personal note--this has been a journey for me in surrendering to God's ways. I am stronger with auditory skills and so couldn't understand her inability to 'get' what I was saying ( (or her other issues of anxiety/perfectionism) and I am sad to say I did not always behave in a godly way, however! God has been a faithful, forgiving God who takes my feeble attempts and brings wisdom so that we have learned over time what works for our dd and in the process He is using this situation to keep me before Him, relying on Him to work in my heart and her heart. So, with all that, I want to encourage you to try some of the things we have tried, give grace to your daughter (and to you), and let her mature and let God work--His arm is neither too short nor His strength not enough!

God bless you,
Jess

[Carrie]

rumkimom,

All kiddos will have a preferred style of learning, which is their strong suit. They also will often have a style of learning in which they are weak. The HOD guides have the visual, kinesthetic, and auditory styles all covered within each day of plans so that no matter what type of learner you have there are lessons throughout the day that will hit upon their preferred style of learning. It also means that some of the lessons will hit upon a style of learning in which they're weak.

It looks like the riight side of the HOD guide is working well for your little sweetie in her preferred style of learning (either visual or kinesthetic). It also sounds like you've correctly identified your little sweetie's weakest style of learning, which is auditory learning.

It's good to know that all kiddos can learn to improve their weak styles of learning through practice. Sometimes as parents we feel we want to switch all tasks to our child's preferred style of learning to make it easier for them and for us. This is alright some of the time, but isn't a good overall solution. Working through things that do not come naturally to our kiddos is necessary for them to grow as a learner and to be able to be successful later in life. Much of life requires auditory skills, from the sermons in church, to presentations given at work, to lectures given at college. So, it is a skill worth taking the pains and time to develop. mamaloves4 gave you some outstanding tips on ways to help your little learner gain more success as an auditory learner. Those are ideas you can implement as you go through the years.

It does sound like your daughter fits in Bigger Hearts for the language arts and math portion of the placment chart. I don't know if you've had a chance to go through the other 2 pages of the placement chart, but those pages would help show that your little honey would most likely fit in LHFHG or Beyond for the history, science, and storytime portions of the guide (due to the skills and understanding needed for oral narration, vocabulary study, science readings, storytime literature discussion, and comprehension of read-alouds etc.). I will tell you that we have many moms using Bigger Hearts with older students and finding it to be plenty meaty. There is a shift into higher level skills that comes with Bigger. My own son used Bigger as a third grader and found it plenty meaty, and he is a strong learner all around. With your daughter being on the very youngest age-range recommended for Bigger Hearts, I would definitely expect Bigger to be tough for her.

Often moms find that their child needs the right side of plans from one guide and the left side of the plans from another to be a perfect fit when first beginning HOD. This is usually because as parents we've focused so much on the 3 R's in the early years that the child is strong in those skills, however the skills of listening to read-alouds, science, history, literature study etc. have often not been covered to the degree that the 3 R's were, so the child needs to back up to hit some needed skills in those areas.

So, first of all, feel good that your daughter is doing well in the 3 R's. Those are the MOST important skills in the scope of schooling. You've done a good job in those areas and need to take a moment to celebrate that!

Next, I would recommend that your little sweetie keep going as she is in the 3 R's but that she back up to either LHFGH or Beyond for the left side of the plans and for storytime. Think of it as filling in some gaps that she may have and also as taking needed time to work on strengthening her areas of weakness. I'd also continue to work on reading out loud to her to work on strengthening her auditory skills.

In choosing between LHFHG and Beyond for the left side and the storytime, take a candid look at what your daughter can honestly do in the 2nd and 3rd pages of the placement chart. You'll be relieved when you get her correctly placed in those areas, as you won't be asking her to jump into skills that are over her head. While she certainly may have some auditory processing issues, backing up in the difficulty of the material would be what I would recommend regaurdless of any learning issues. You want to give your little sweetie every chance to succeed (which is why you'll see a 7 year old can place in LHFHG, Beyond, or Bigger). When weighing your choices, ask yourself, would you rather have your daughter on the very youngest age level of the HOD guides as you go through the years, or the oldest? Which one gives her more of a chance of success?

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Wendy - I had an entire post here, and I am not sure what I did, but it is gone! I think you've identified what your dd needs help with - listening skills. The good news is she's doing well in many other areas. First of all, if she's doing better with LHFHG materials, but you've already done it, I'd suggest doing the Beyond... plans for history. Whether you choose that or not, as far as listening skills, there are a few things that have worked with my dc.
1. Read the key idea before you start. Have your dd following along in the guide, so she can see the Key Idea's words as you read them. She sounds visual - so that will help.
2. Tell her you will be asking her questions about what was read, so she needs to listen carefully. (Think how differently WE listen when we know we'll have to retell what we heard to someone else. )
3. Read 1/2 of the page, and stop to look her in the eyes (maybe put your arm around - touch like that seems to keep my ds focused), asking a question about what may happen first. My son's doing Beyond, and I just did this today, saying, "Oh, so the Pilgrims are leaving Holland today. That must be kind of exciting, but hard to do too. I wonder how that will go? Let's read to find out!" Then, after reading what happened, I said something like, "Oh, it was hard! I could tell. How could you tell they were having a tough time leaving Holland?" If you get an "I don't know" or a stare - give them a starter, like "Remember when that boy was running along the ship waving as they left? I wonder why he was doing that?" For girls especially, linking to emotions is a good idea always. Modeling what you are thinking as you read the story will help her begin to realize she needs to be thinking along those lines too.
4. Keep your discussions like this short. Start with her just getting the big idea with your help.
5. Ask her to share 3 things she remembers about the reading. Say, "DING! One point for that!" (I know this sounds corny, but my dc love to hear 3 DINGS!) You can increase it to 5 when she's ready. Accept anything that goes with the story.
6. Jot down 3 short sentences on a marker board after you are done. One for what happened at the beginning of the reading, one for the middle, and one for the end. Have her read them and add a detail after each, so as to help her to begin to retell the story. I would only do this for oral narration days. She should not have to retell everything she has heard. You probably want to count on the activities she'll do after the reading to reinforce what she heard rather than always having her accountable for retelling it.
7. The narrating tips in Beyond would be helpful to follow if you get that guide.

I think if you give the great tips Jess gave a try, and some of these, you will see a change over time. Keep on trying, you are wise to have identified this concern, and I know that your dd will keep improving with your help. My ds is finally able to listen better, but it took awhile. Just be patient and as encouraging as you can - she will come along!
In Christ,
Julie

P.S. I see Carrie and I were typing at the same time and had some of the same thoughts. I sense God's hand in this, Wendy!