More thoughts on homeschooling
Thoughts that are a little more eloquent than “UGH.”
When Bug refuses to do her work, I can think of a few reasons why. She is bored. She is tired. She is being defiant.
I do notice that she tends to get more defiant when she doesn’t feel like she can do something, or a task feels overwhelming. I was thinking about this last night. Yesterday she had to do an assignment that she should have done but didn’t. She had to finish it all yesterday because we had to mail it into her teacher.
She had to write three or four paragraphs about something that had happened to her. But she had to do pre-writing, a rough draft, an edited version, and a final draft.
And she quit. That was too much, the school was stupid, she wasn’t doing it and she was going to bed.
And I was pissed.
Looking at it now, I think she was just overwhelmed. She gets frustrated with writing. She doesn’t understand why she can’t just throw down some words. She doesn’t care if things aren’t spelled correctly or if there is no punctuation.
She also tends to give up when she feels that there are too many “hard” words. We’ve been having this problem in science.
Here are some things I’ve realized about homeschooling Bug:
She does much better when she takes her ADD medication, although she hates to take it. Deal is that she can have a soda if she takes her medicine.
I do not care about memorization. I don’t care if she knows the exact date that so and so did this, or what the name of the tubes leading to the lungs are. If she needs to know, she can google it or look it up in a book. I care much more about her understanding the big picture. I want her to understand how her respiratory system works, but if she can’t remember the exact names of every piece, then Oh well.
I want her to understand cause and effect. Why did the US get involved in Vietnam? Why did the colonists not want a strong central government? I want her to be able to think critically and formulate ideas, not just spit out facts that she will forget in a month.
I think it is very important for her to be able to read well and put her thoughts down on paper.
I want her to have her own opinions about things, and not be forced into one school of thought simply because a textbook tells her so.
I’ve also learned that Bug needs to be taught certain ways. She is an avid reader, but has difficulty understanding textbooks. If she is read the material, she understands it immediately. She does very well in a “lecture” style class, rather than a class where she is expected to read the text on her own and understand it. She fails tests if she is expected to read them to herself silently. If the test is read to her or she can read the questions outloud, she aces it. She does very well if subjects are taught in blocks. All history for a month, then all science.
I had trouble in college because I can not stand the lecture format. Give me a book, and I’ll read it and tell you all about it. But I can not stand for you to stand up there and tell me facts. It doesn’t stick in my brain, especially if you are just reading the text out loud. I don’t do well when things are read to me, even when someone is telling me a phone number. I have trouble writing it down when someone calls it out, or when someone spells a word out.
Bug still needs to put out more effort, and she needs to take more pride in her work. She still doesn’t feel that school is important or that it matters what her grades are.
But together, we are trying to figure out a solution that will work for her.
March 4th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Hey! Can we help? Maybe Bug could do her writing for the blog. She will have to spell words correctly because otherwise we would not know what she is trying to tell us. Punctuation will be important so that we can understand her meaning. Then when she has something wonderful for us - a responding, encouraging audience, you guys can print it out and submit it as her schoolwork. Maybe?
March 4th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Just a thought, but has she been tested for dyslexia? A lot of the problems Bug is having are problems I had and dyslexia was the root of most of them.
Textbooks are written so differently than novels that if a dyslexic brain is already filling in the “conversational” gaps in a novel, we can’t do that in textbooks. And hearing questions read is easier than reading them to ourselves. And memorization without context is nigh impossible.
I imgine she might have a host of other things cropping up (like her ADD and other situational issues) but some of those basic ones are exactly what I deal with as a dyslexic.
Anyway, just a thought. And my thoughts to you… teaching is hard.
March 4th, 2008 at 9:49 am
on the “facts” question: I teach social studies. And I agree that we want students to be able to understand cause and effect as opposed to spewing facts. However, if they don’t know at least a few facts, it’s hard for them to put together a causal relationship. That’s one reason why elementary curriculums put so much emphasis on learning “what happened.” Most of them also want students to be able to explain why, but this is a higher order skill that can’t be reached without the building blocks (see “Bloom’s Taxonomy”)
March 4th, 2008 at 9:57 am
That was my thought too, Peach. If you read by word recognition instead of by phonetics texts with lots of new words in them are very difficult. The combination of avid reader with trouble writing sounds like dyslexia my IANAD ears. Might be worth checking out.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Hmm, I’m going to slightly disagree with the above commenters because Bug sounds like she is a visual learner like me and my son, whereas you are more of an aural learner. She should be tested for LD, not just ADD, since this is a separate set of tests. (And if she has been tested before, then you should get them redone, results can change over time and with meds.)
A different learning format, like say, videos of lectures on DVD or tape, or a different method of teaching could dramatically change her ability to comprehend the information.
My son also was more willing to take the medication when we discussed more ways in which it works, (he’s a science fiend) and when I started pointing out specific times when the medication was helping him and when he was off it and had problems. I assume that you do the same, but perhaps she needs a more complicated higher level discussion?
March 4th, 2008 at 10:33 am
SB..I understand what you are saying, and by facts I mean, I don’t care if she knows the exact date the Boston Tea Party occured as long as she understands that is happened during this time period and what happened there etc. I can’t tell you the exact year that it happened, but I could get it within a year or two. That’s what I would like her to be able to do. The what happened part is very important to me, the “What was George Washington’s dog’s name?” type questions are less important to me.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Aurelia..Bug can’t tell a difference in herself when she takes the medication, although everyone else can. One thing that does help her is knowing I take medication. She doesn’t want to take the Adderall because she says it doesn’t do anything, but everyone else sees a difference. The doctor and her are working together to see if they can reach a compromise where Bug can see a difference.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I give you a lot of credit, Miss B, for knowing this about Buggy and doing something about it. Kids all learn SO differently, and you should really pat yourself on the back for understanding how Miss Buggy learns.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Bug would do really well in our school. It would exactly fit her style of learning and your goals for what you want for her. We teach critical thinking. We know children learn in different ways. We think kids need to have motivation to learn- so we teach in ways that are interesting to them. For instance when they are learning about the respitory system we have them go through and do a brochure about different things that can impact it (smoking, asthma, etc) so they really know how it works. When my 4th grader was learning about westward migration and the displacement of Indian Americans, she learned dates and places- but she also learned enough that she was able to ask “Does anyone own land really? Is it right to own land?” She came up with that on her own. She is 10. Kids can think and they should be encouraged to rather than to regurgitate and memorize. We use no text books.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I’m not criticizing I’m just curious. How come you are homeschooling Bug instead of sending her into a regular school environment?
March 4th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
hey there baggage,
i agree that getting bug tested for dyslexia might be a good thing. i read your description and thought, hey, perhaps she’s dyslexic. if not, no harm done. if so, you can help her even more.
i also agree about the ‘thinking’ aspects of school vs. the rote memorization ones. i do horribly at games like trivial pursuit, but i am great at research and can think logically and in a critical manner. to me, that’s more important, and has served me well.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
You really are an amazing mom. One would think you have a degree in education, you are so good at recognising things. I myself am pretty bad at retaining facts when it comes aurally, whereas on paper I am better at it. And yes, the narrative of fiction does help with retention… knowing HOW a story unfolds really helps remember dates, names etc… I know that is how it is in my own life… “ahhh, it must have been 2001 cuz I broke up with so and so after the great rains of summer 2000, and when such and such happened we weren’t together anymore”.. etc. Best of luck with it all. I have no great ideas.
March 4th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I’m constantly amazed at how well you understand Bug and how hard you work to make learning enjoyable and effective for her. I know it must be frustrating from time to time, but in my opinion, you’re doing an amazing job.
March 4th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Adderall? That’s exactly what I’m on… and I hate taking it too. Not because of results or lack thereof, but it tastes SO BAD I’ve nearly thrown up when I didn’t swallow it fast enough, and due to its shape, size, and lack of coating that’s FAR TOO COMMON. -shudders-
If you don’t mind yet more assvice, would some kind of computer program that reads out loud help? I had one last semester after being diagnosed learning-disabled… though I was too impatient with it to use the thing nearly as much as I claimed. ^^ Mine was Kurzweil 2000/3000/something like that; you scan in text (or copy text off a website), open the file with Kurzweil, and it reads out loud while highlighting each word as it goes along. It has its limitations, though; I was taking college-level biology (…supposedly… worst community college I’ve ever attended) and it mispronounced stuff even I knew how to say. For English, history, etc. it’s just fine, but some science words really give it trouble. At this grade level, hopefully not so much. (And you can tell it how to say stuff. I did out of sheer frustration a few times.)
March 4th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Just wondering if you have thought about books on tape. I know that LD people can get access to them also.
http://www.rfbd.org/pr_satcher.htm
March 4th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
would it help if you make a text in the same way for her. One in which she can see how it helps with readfing someting if it is wel written?
March 4th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
What if you have her tested for being a pre-teen? LOL! Sorry if that was sassy, but sometimes, I think people forget that kids are like that, especially kids with Bugs history. I get frustrated everyday with my daughter and schoolwork and all the whining and tantrums. They can’t see the big picture, the product of hard work. It is extremely frustrating and emotionally draining. I like that you vent about the same things I’m going through.
March 4th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
As a parent with ADD kids along with working in Special Ed for the past twenty years, we have discussed many different learning styles. I know many kids do better with material read to them. We even us the CD’s with my Science students. They listen, some look at the words, they do look at the pictures and then they are given hard copies of the notes. We highlight the information they really need to know and do as much hands on as possible. Like making time lines, flip charts, etc.
Each child needs to speak up for themselves as to what works best for them. I feel that when they understand that, it opens the door to wanting to learn.
I have worked with Bug many times and understand her frustration. She doesn’t think she can do well because she hasn’t in the past. She needs the confidence in herself. This is also part of being a preteen. I think Baggage working with her has helped so much. She has improved in every subject but has a way to go. Taking her meds on a regular base would also help.
As a teacher, it takes time and most importantly, showing you care and honestly believing that the student can succeed. We know she can.
Nana of Bug
March 5th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Wow … it’s great that you are willing to put out the effort to help Bug. Sounds like a frustrating situation though. It seems, at least with me and my sibs, that as we get older and keep practicing with school we do better. Hopefully you and Bug will continue to see results from your efforts.