Teaching Students with Learning Differences

​We all know about the many learning differences that are identified these days. There is a regular alphabet soup of letters that describe many different conditions and so-called disabilities. I have worked with children who learn differently over the years. I have read and studied about different techniques and approaches and strategies that have worked for people who have difficulty organizing or remembering information and those who have irregular behaviors and thinking patterns that cause them to have trouble with retention of new information or making connections with prior knowledge.

But I am concerned about the quickness to assume that a child has a learning problem or difference at a very young age just because he has not hit a milestone by a certain age. My concern is that a child will be labeled and limited because of a diagnosis that is not necessarily correct

Read the book “Different” by Sally and Nathan Clarkson.

For dyslexia, there is a series called Dyslexia Games by Sarah Janisse Brown. She has a daughter with dyslexia, so she designed books and games to help her. They worked so well that they published them for others to be able to use, too. They are homeschoolers, so when you buy their books, you are supporting a fellow homeschooling family who happen to be missionaries who have adopted several orphans.

One of the tricks to try for dyslexia is to put a color transparency over the page the child is reading. Experiment with different colors like yellow, red, blue, maybe green, purple or orange, and see if the colored background makes the letters stop moving around on the page, which is what many children with dyslexia see.

Learning Disabilities or Differences

We are all aware of the many learning differences and so-called disabilities that plague so many children these days. Many of them have been assigned acronyms such as ADD, ADHD, APD, OCD, ODD, etc. And there are other differences in ways of thinking that fall under the categories of autism, asperger’s syndrome, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, sensory integration dysfunction, and processing problems that interfere with learning basic skills.

Remember that there are multiple intelligences. Just because a child does not do well with academics doesn’t mean that he has a learning disability.

Learning Differences

I have worked with children who learn differently over the years. I have read and studied about different techniques and approaches and strategies that have worked for people who have difficulty organizing or remembering information. Some have irregular behaviors and thinking patterns that cause them to have trouble with retention of new information or making connections with prior knowledge. These children may need adaptive techniques to help them put the knowledge or information in a form that they can easily take in. They may also have problems with social interaction and relationships.

A Caution

But I am concerned about the quickness to assume that a child has a learning problem or difference at a very young age just because he has not hit a milestone by a certain age. My concern is that a child will be labeled and limited because of a diagnosis that is not necessarily correct. Remember that there are multiple intelligences. Just because a child does not do well with academic subjects does not mean that he has a learning disability.

And children who learn differently don’t necessarily have to go to a school. You can do the research and find out the best methods to use with your child. Or you can have an expert teach you how to teach your child, and then you can do the teaching at home. A learning difference does not have to mean that you cannot homeschool your child.

Children Who Have to Work Too Hard to Learn

There may be other factors at play. A learning expert, Dianne Craft, talks about kids who have to work too hard to learn. She is a former special education teacher, homeschool mom, and nutritionist. She talks about the possible causes for learning problems. She helps parents to discover which of the 4 learning gates are blocked and how to unblock them. She also covers the gamut of learning problems from mild to severe. She helps parents to identify what is going on with their child and what to do to help them. Sometimes a child is right-brained and is struggling with a left-brained curriculum. The parent may need to change or adapt the curriculum to better meet the child’s needs. Dianne helps the parent to find out if the child’s struggle comes from a real learning disability or a character issue. Are they just not trying hard enough?

Strategies to Help Children Who Struggle with Math

For some students math can be very difficult. Many teachers will have the child say the multiplication facts over and over again, but children who do not have strong auditory processing skills will not do very well with this approach. Others will have a child write the facts over and over again. But this will not work for a child who has dysgraphia or a blocked writing gate. Dianne Craft has a system for learning math facts that incorporates visual aids, pictures, that help the child memorize which numbers go together. Another system that uses this technique is called Times Tales. These use stories and pictures to help children embed the facts in the right brain because of the use of stories and pictures. This is helpful for right-brained learners.

I have also used Leapfrog DVD’s and songs that teach different math concepts and facts. I also help my students to make connections with prior knowledge and use their understanding of how numbers work to help them find the answer even if they have difficulty memorizing. For example, if they have 4x5=20 memorized, then they can find the answer to 4x6 by adding 4 more to the previous answer of 20. So the answer is 24. If they understand how multiplication works, then they can use some facts as anchors to help them figure out pretty quickly the answer to a fact that they have not yet memorized.

Dianne Craft also has a Phonics program for right-brained learners. It uses pictures to help them remember the letter sounds.

Teach the Child, not the Subjects

Another special needs teacher, Joyce Herzog, developed “The Scaredy Cat Reading System” for children who are struggling with learning to read. Her website is called “Ability Based Learning”. She also wrote a book called “Learning in Spite of Labels”. In it she says that we were all meant to learn. And she says that it’s time to stop teaching subjects and start teaching children. Her message is that we’re all labeled in some way. We are all good at some things and not so good at others. Realizing that we’re all “labeled” helps us to work with those who have difficulties in areas that we don’t struggle.

Another way of Thinking about Learning Disabilities

For a different perspective on learning disabilities, I would recommend listening to Dr. Caroline Leaf. She has lots of videos on YouTube. She is a cognitive neuroscientist who has studied the Mind-Brain connection for 30 years and has worked with thousands of patients with learning disabilities and other brain issues. She has had great success in helping them detox and develop their brains. She has developed an original theory on the science of thought as well as tools and processes based on her research. Her techniques have transformed the lives of many people with learning problems. She has a website and has written several books. She covers ADD and ADHD in depth in some of her videos on YouTube.

Brain Training

In order to give your child the best chance of developing a brain that functions well, there are some activities that you should watch for and engage your child in that will enhance the development of important processes that their brain needs to go through. Crossing the midline is something that is important in developing brain integration. “By the age of 3 or 4 years old, a child should have mastered the bilateral skill (using both sides of the body together) called “crossing the midline”. This is the ability to move one hand, foot, or eye into the space of the other hand, foot or eye. We cross midline when we scratch an elbow, cross our ankles, and read left to right. Crossing the midline of your body helps build pathways in the brain and is an important prerequisite skill required for the appropriate development of various motor and cognitive skills. Children who have difficulty crossing the body’s midline often have trouble with skills such as reading, writing, completing self care skills and participating in sports & physical activities. These skills require a type of coordination that comes from experience with “cross-lateral motion,” which is movement involving the left arm and right leg, or the right arm and left leg at the same time.”https://nspt4kids.com/parenting/help-your-child-develop-the-crossing-the-midline-skill/

“On the brain level, a lack of midline crossing may indicate that the left and right sides of the brain (the left and right hemispheres) are not communicating well together. The left and right brain hemispheres communicate across a mass of tissue called the corpus callosum. Because each hemisphere carries out different tasks, it is important for each hemisphere to communicate with the other across the corpus callosum in order to coordinate learning and movement.” https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/crossing-the-midline.html

There are many videos on YouTube that show how to get your kids to cross the midline in a fun way.

The Learning Station channel on YouTube has many fun songs that are called Brain Breaks. Their purpose is to give your child a chance to take a break from focused attention on academics. From their website: “Exercise and learning go hand in hand. Regular brain breaks enhance learning, attentiveness, concentration and focus. They accelerate learning by allowing children to release their energy, anxiety, and stress. Brain breaks also increase circulation, promote physical fitness and coordination.”

Whatever struggle your child may face in their learning life, please be gentle with them. Remember that everything they are doing is new to them.

Wonderful Resources to help with your “different” child:

Read the book “Different” by Sally and Nathan Clarkson.

Dr. Caroline Leaf - www.drleaf.com - and her book Switch on Your Brain

Joyce Herzog - www.abilitybasedlearning.com and her book Learning in Spite of Labels

Penny Rogers - autism - www.autismparentingmagazine.com

Marianne Sunderland - dyslexia - www.homeschoolingwithdyslexia.com

Dianne Craft - www.diannecraft.org - Brain Integration Therapy Manual - lots of good info on YouTube

Michelle Cannon - www.Heartofmichelle.com - mental illness

Times Tales - www.timestales.com - A Trigger Memory System

Special Needs Homeschooling with Heather Laurie @

http://specialneedshomeschooling.com

The Brain Guy - Terry Small at www.terrysmall.com

Resources about Crossing the Midline

Here is a song and dance to help your child cross the midline to help both hemispheres of the brain to work together:

The Learning Station - Kids Songs and Nursery Rhymes is a good YouTube channel which is mentioned above.

Here’s a really fun song from The Learning Station

Dr. Jean also has some good videos on YouTube that get kids to cross the midline.

Shawna Wingert talks about special needs, homeschooling, ADHD, Autism, SPD, and Anxiety at

http://www.nottheformerthings.com

For some wonderful inspiration watch this!https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=homeschooling%20with%20dyslexia

This is an excellent article about helping struggling learners. It’s a quick read.

https://www.crosswalk.com/family/homeschool/tips-for-the-struggling-young-reader-1326552.html

Find YouTube videos about movement, such as this one:

<h1 class=”title style-scope ytd-video-primary-info-renderer”>Catch A Brain Wave - Children’s “brain-based” fitness workout</h1>

This one looks like fun!

Action steps:

1. Find out what you can about whatever learning difference you suspect. Learn what others do to help support and overcome the accompanying struggles.

2. If you find that by the age of 9 or 10, your child is still struggling, you may want to seek professional help.

3. Try not to worry about learning problems in very young children. Realize that everything is brand new to them. Give them plenty of time to develop and try and practice things before worrying that they may have a learning difference that requires intervention.

4. Keep an upbeat, positive attitude as your children are learning new information and acquiring new skills. This gives them more of a chance of developing at their natural and best pace.

5. Try some of the exercises in the videos presented in this course. Try other exercises to get the brain thinking and working in new ways. Try the books and curriculum that are developed with specific learning differences in mind.