School Success:
What's worked for us
(What works for you?)
After a long day at school, homework is the last thing most children (or parents) want to do. Parents of children with Tourette Syndrome will often be told by teachers that their child displays very little evidence of a tic disorder at school (as children often suppress tics at school) however, once at home, the child may tic all afternoon and evening, making it especially difficult to complete homework. Ease the burden of homework, for you and your child, by discovering how your child learns best and following these basic tips for successful studying.
Learning Styles
Teachers are gaining awareness about students' Learning Styles and many are adjusting their teaching style to meet all students' needs at some point in each lesson, thanks to educational research by Rita Dunn, Bernice McCarthy and others. Teachers have been taught to verbalize directions while the students read them, and then have students demonstrate the task as well, meeting the needs of the auditory, visual and tactile learners. At home, parents can be even more effective as they focus only on their child's learning style preference for homework and study methods and can help their child to help himself. Here's an example: Your son, an auditory learner, needs to get started on his homework assignment. How could you best help him get going? Would you (A) Point to the directions on the page and ask him to read them to himself twice before he begins the assignment? or (B) Slowly read aloud to him the directions at the top of the assignment while he follows along, wait a moment, and then repeat them? As an auditory learner, your son would benefit most by hearing the directions read to him.
How does your child learn best? Discover together!
Read the following descriptions and try to decide which learning style preference most applies to your child. Review them again with your child to get his input.
Is your child a Visual Learner?
Is your son the first person in the family to notice your new haircut? Is your daughter a strong, fast reader and an excellent speller of words she has seen before? Visual Learners need to see the whole picture and are very detail oriented. They notice details and changes, (like a new outfit or changes in a room), and tend to be able to find things that others have lost, as they have a strong memory for where they last saw something. Visual learners like things to be orderly and neat and they can organize themselves. Handwriting comes easy and they assign importance to the appearance of their work. When being spoken to they usually pay keen attention to the speaker's face. They like to read on their own, rather than being read to. Mastering puzzles is a strength. Visual learners are typically not very talkative, they would rather observe. Noise is not usually a distracter. They can read directions, find pages in a book, and begin working before others.
Is your child an Auditory Learner?
Is your son a talker who loves to tell a story in a sequential way~and just has to finish the story once he has started? Is he funny too? Does your daughter love music and can she memorize the words to a song after hearing it only a few times? Auditory learners learn by hearing. They spell phonetically, often have poor handwriting, but enjoy reading aloud and have good word attack skills. They are easily distracted and often talk to themselves, or need to talk themselves through a task. Auditory learners tend to score lower than expected on intelligence tests. Ability is almost always higher than test results indicate. Math and writing may be difficult to learn, as is the perception of time and spatial relationships.
Is your child a Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner?
Does she have to touch everything that she passes in a store? Does he stack the salt and pepper shakers, fold his napkin into an airplane and ride his toys across his plate while he waits a minute for you to serve dinner? Tactile/ Kinesthetic learners need to experience their environment through touch. They learn by doing. They need to use concrete objects to count and grasp an understanding of how something works. They are able to take mechanical objects apart and put them back together. You may often find yourself asking them to keep their hands to themselves. Children may tap on each piece of furniture as they pass and run their hands along hallway walls. Tactile learners are often good at sports and enjoy physical activities. They may be considered hyperactive, as they often have trouble sitting still for long periods of time and a recommendation for medication is often made by school personnel.
How to help children with TS learn -- their way
Does your child fit exactly into one of the categories above? Probably not. Research shows that most people can learn through a variety of methods, although they usually prefer and actually learn new material best by one or sometimes two modes. (Categories and descriptions of learning modalities vary slightly depending on researchers.)
Learning Style vs. Learning Disability
It is estimated that 30-40% of children with Tourette Syndrome have associated learning disabilities. The bases of learning styles is different than learning disabilities though there may be some connections. Because many children with TS display weak visual-motor skills and better verbal skills, it is not likely that they, as a group, would be strongest in visual learning. When reviewing the common traits of the various types of learners, take into account your child's cognitive strengths and weaknesses, as well as tics or associated disorders such as OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) that may interfere with suggested learning strategies and try to adapt the recommendations as necessary.
Getting started
Help your child select a comfortable place that to study that can be used regularly. Some children prefer a desk and chair, but many find these too confining and prefer either working at a large table where they can spread out, or lying on their bed or the floor. If your child chooses the floor or a bed, allow this for a while and see if it works. A bean bag chair on the floor may be a good compromise. Here, your child may actually work best while able to move freely. Fill a bin with school supplies; paper (lined and unlined), pens, pencils, highlighters, markers, scissors, ruler, calculator, dictionary, thesaurus. Have your child chose a location to store the bin when not in use.
The Visual Learner at work.
Younger children can be given lots of visual cues to begin work, written directions and a demonstration of the task to be completed. Beginning readers can be shown written words and then asked to try to find them in magazines or books. This can be done with spelling lists as a way to practice "seeing" the words. Typical flash cards work well for a visual learner, as do flash cards with prefixes, suffixes, root words, and blends that can be interchanged. Color coded study materials, notebooks, divider tabs, and book covers are very helpful. When studying material for a test, teach your child to organize information into charts, tables or graphic organizers. Separate notes on a page into sections by using a thick marker line to divide the sections. Number items in each section. Color code notes when helpful. For math concepts teach child to use a number line, ruler and objects to count, add, subtract, multiply and divide.
The Auditory Learner at Work.
Auditory learners need a quiet place to study. Soft, instrumental background music is often helpful to help keep a child on task. Some children benefit by covering their ears to concentrate on something that is not being done orally, i.e. silent reading. Teach young children rhyming games, songs, books. Play oral games with prefixes, suffixes, roots words and blends. For math concepts encourage child to talk himself through the steps of a task. If you must use flash cards for basic math concepts, i.e.. multiplication tables, have child read aloud the problem on the card and then answer.
Tape record...Tape record...Tape record.
Organize a special "homework tape case" by purchasing several inexpensive audio tapes and labeling them by class subject. For younger children, tape record their spelling words by first telling them what the words have in common, if anything. Often spelling lists are made up of say "compound words", "words that have a silent letter", or "words with a double consonant". Say the word, spell the word and then say the word again. At the end of the list ask your child to tell you what the words have in common. Don't require children to write the words while listening but have them read along and point to each letter as it is spoken. As a way of studying a little each night, have your child sit with you while you read and tape his notes from that day in as few words as possible. Some children may prefer to draw or doodle while they listen to their lessons ~ allow this, as it may help them "take in" what they are hearing. Pause occasionally and ask questions for him to respond to orally. In doing so, your child has just heard his notes again and can replay them as needed for test studying when the time comes to review material. This is extremely beneficial and much more effective for him then re-reading mass quantities of text and notes.
The Tactile/Kinesthetic Learner at work.
Your child needs a break after school (as if you hadn't noticed)! Don't require that homework be done immediately. Also, your child needs a cooling down period between physical activity and quiet study time. This is a great time for a nutritious snack and a talk about his day and yours. Next? Time to study! Small productive time periods will work best. Start by requiring a set amount of study time and providing a clock so that your child knows when he will get a break. Increase or decrease the time to meet your child's needs. Study one subject at a session. For young tactile learners, rote counting and singing the alphabet have little meaning. Your child needs to have objects to count and letters to hold in order to gain meaning for these abstract symbols. Using 3-D wooden letters from an alphabet puzzle or drawing letters in sand while they sing the alphabet will be more meaningful, as will physically counting large wooden beads or stones or tracing sandpaper letters. Use as may "manipulatives" as possible for learning. Hands-on science kits and experiments with household items are great. Allow them to "walk" with their fingers on a number line, or jump on a number line on the floor, to help understand fact concepts. Have your child "act out words" as he spells them. Allow him to touch the first letter of each word as he reads along, or even follow with his finger, this is okay and helpful for him! (You can tell his teacher I said so.) Also, if your child's knee is shaking or finger is tapping, (not in the form of a tic- just for movement) ignore it. Students who need to move and are allowed to move when learning, learn better. If you can't ignore it, encourage your child to chew gum while studying. This might just be enough movement to keep him on task.
Tactile/Kinesthetic learners have a difficult transition from elementary to middle and high school as learning becomes less "hand-on" and more lecture and note taking. You can help them greatly by making sure that their daily schedule alternates between physically active and passive courses i.e. ( English, Art, Math, Gym, Lunch, Science Lab. History, etc.) Try to schedule gym class before lunch or an active class, as your child may have trouble going right from gym to a quiet lecture class.
Is it really best to focus on our what comes easiest for your child, instead of trying to strengthen his weaknesses?
I believe it is, for homework and study needs. Children have experiences all day at school that utilize both their strengths and weaknesses. All children, especially those with special needs, must know their strengths and learn to use them to compensate for areas in which they are weak. They need to know how they learn best and how to adapt their study habits. Many students learn this in college, when they spend endless hours of studying their freshman year only to receive average grades. As they discover how to study, they find that they can spend less time studying and actually know the material more thoroughly. Why wait when you can help your child now, discover how to learn...his way. Give it a try! And let us know ~ "What works for you?"
Julie L. Swenson, M.Ed (send email to this author) |
