Helping Children Love to Read

Making reading into a step by step chore takes the fun out of reading.  Sure we all need to learn some reading skills so we can read, but learning to love reading can't be taught. As adult,s we can not give it to a child, or force them into it. All we can do is put out our hands to gently shield the small spark until it becomes a fame -- a true love of reading. Brad Wilcox, a BYU education professor, wrote the best article I have ever read on how to encourage children to love to read.

12 Things Not to Say to Young Readers
https://magazine.byu.edu/article/12-things-not-to-say-to-young-readers/

Reading Together

I have found that one of the most effective and least stressful ways to improve a child's reading ability is to read together. Reading with the child helps the child learn words in context, increases sight words and vocabulary, helps them learn the patterns of language and stories, and is fun!

Once I tutored a girl who was not up to her third grade reading level. After reading together for several months, she was reading at a sixth grade level! Reading with a child is one of the most effective ways I know to not only help children learn to read, but to love reading.

Helping Children Learn to Read the Right Way

Lets face it, we live in a culture where left brain skills are valued in our schools, even though the right brained skills of creativity and problem solving are most needed by adults. Most of elementary school is spent in memorizing details and practicing processes. Since most young children learn in a more right brain way through action, pictures, music, and the whole picture, teaching in a left brained manner requires hours of ineffective, boring drill work such as filling in workbook pages. Some children naturally prefer to use their left brain (memorization, numbers, sequencing, listening to lectures). These children are the ones who do well in elementary school. The more gifted a child is physically (athletic), or visually (visual-spacial, creative), the further they will be from the prevalent teaching style of most elementary school teachers. These are the children who will have trouble learning to read. It is not that they are "defective" or "slow", but simply that they are not being taught in the way that they learn. Just as an orange is not a defective apple, these right brained children are not defective left-brained children. The solution is to teach right brained children to read in their natural right brain way.*

This isn't hard, in fact it is fun. It doesn't require special training, just a love for the child and an understanding of the types of learning styles that fit a right brained person.

Helping "Those Kids"

When a child is falling behind is school, the first thing I do is assume is that I am dealing with a person who is a bit different from the norm; a person who is having trouble coping with an establishment which does not nurture or even recognize his unique gifts, but instead

"Those Kids"

By now most teachers have their class running pretty smoothly-- except for “those kids”.  What about “those kids”?  Perhaps he refuses to do his assignments, she might sit with a dreamy look on her face, he wiggles incessantly and plays with things in his desk, she talks constantly no matter where you put her, and what about the quiet boy who doesn’t want to go out at recess? As a teacher you want to help each child, but how? Nothing seems to be working.

Surviving Math Class--Just Barely!

Surviving Math Class– Just Barely!

Well I made it, but I have been reduced to a tearful puddle. I feel tired and stressed. What happened? I just spent two days in a math class. I took it to keep up my elementary teaching credential. It was a worthwhile class with knowledgeable teachers, and everyone there was kind and friendly. We even spent much of the time playing games, then why am I so stressed?

Helping Your Struggling Student - Questionnaire

Helping Your Struggling Student
What is your child like?

Does your child have trouble in school? Do they hate math, spelling, reading, and writing?

Can he add up the same math problem and come up with a different answer each time?

Is her spelling “creative” and unfathomable?

Does his handwriting look like a dizzy chicken wandered across his page?

When he reads aloud does he often skip or substitute words?

Does he have trouble following oral directions?

Helping Your Struggling Student - Characteristics of a Visual-Spatial Learner

Characteristics of a Visual Spatial Learner

This is a style of learning.

Often visual spatial learners use the right side of their brain to gather and process information.

Though people use both hands, they prefer to use one hand over the other. This is their dominate hand. It is the same with our brain. We use both sides of our brain, but usually we have a dominant side we prefer to use to deal with life.

Helping Your Struggling Student - Visual Spatial Learning Approach

Visual-Spatial Learners Approach to Learning

A visual-spatial learner is a person who predominate uses sight as their preferred way to learn. They learn by seeing things. It can involve sight only, or they can “see” and understand a concept through their experiences.

Helping Your Struggling Student - General Helpful Ideas

Specific Ideas on How to Help Your Struggling Learner

Think positive and appreciate their gifts.

Help the child realize and develop their gifts.

Do not try to change your child to make them like other children.

Focus on their gifts, but help them to cope with their areas of weakness.

Realize that people are different and we have been given unique gifts.

Accept that there is no one way all people should be. Your child is “normal” for a visual-spatial person.

Helping Your Struggling Student - Positive View

Positive View of Visual-Spatial People

Keep in mind that in reality probably only 2% to 3% of children actually have a physical problem with their brain. The rest of the “problems” are actually visual-spatial learners or emotional problems. Often the stress visual-spatial learners are under in a school environment causes them to experience emotional problems. When these children are given adequate support

Helping Your Struggling Student - Basic Ideas for Teaching

Specific Ideas to Teach a Visual-Spatial Learner

Remember that the visual-spatial learner learns visually. Anything that helps them visualize what they are learning will help them to understand and remember it. Multi-sensory (things they can see, touch, hear) experiences are great. Since visualizing is a right brain function (in most people) humor, color, rhythm and music will also aid the child’s learning.

Helping Your Struggling Student - Lectures

Coping with Lectures

They will not be able to learn easily from lectures, but if the lectures use pictures and charts etc. it will help the child visualize the material.

It will also help if

Helping Your Struggling Student - Reading

Phonetic reading requires the ability to sequence small sound groups to form a whole word, then words into sentences. Visual-spatial people learn best when they learn works in context (in sentences).

It is crucial to have

Helping Your Struggling Student - Math

Visual-spacial learners need to experience math. They need to be able to visualize what each number means. They need to “see” the story problem. Drawing pictures, using manipulate (things to count etc), charts, graphs, and pictures can help them learn.

Helping Your Struggling Student - Spelling

If their visual memory is strong enough, have them visualize the word in their mind, then write what they see. Others may need more help such as:

Helping Your Struggling Student - Test Taking

Visual-spatial children may have considerable difficulty with tests in school since most are designed to evaluate auditory-sequential strengths.

Visual-spatial students can improve in their test taking results if they

Helping Your Struggling Student - Reports

Some may be able to do written reports, but may need help in writing down their information and organizing it. Here are other ways to help them with a report:

Helping Your Struggling Student - Handwriting

Often the visual-spatial child’s handwriting is poor. Sometimes they “hook” their hand around when writing. This is not a matter of physical coordination

Helping Your Struggling Student - Creative Writing

Almost all creative writers are visual-spatial people. They have the ability to “see” a story, idea, place, or character in their mind and use words to enable others to become a part of that world. They can become adept at sharing their experiences through words.

Since creative writers are visual-spatial people they need