"Why Johnny Can't Learn and His Mom has quit Homeschool"
before pen is put to paper. This is completely distracting to Jasper. We have to separate to do any composition, with me sitting by Jasper to provide him with the quiet company he needs to keep focused on his work. When he has to rest his hands, I go into the other room to answer the ten bazillion questions Isaac asks pertaining to the assignment. I am also subjected to the twelve different "takes" he could do on the story. Then I go back in and work with Jasper. By the time composition work is done, I feel ten pounds lighter!
It is important to study learning styles because we tend to teach the same way we learn. I am a Visual learner, which is why all my pretty texts were totally wasted on Jasper, the Auditory learner. When it came time to teach TWO children, the curriculum had to be further tweaked to include Isaac's learning style. I am convinced that if a student cannot learn, the teacher has to check their teaching style, and make sure it is not just a mismatch in styles. I think many homeschool teachers give up when faced with what at first appearance seems to be an unimprovable situation. It just might be salvageable when the student and teacher's styles are investigated and a compromise reached. I had to come to terms with the idea that writing most of Jasper's work out for him was not cheating him in some way. Sometimes math concepts have to be repeated ad infinitum. He requires more than just the one page that is usually devoted to a new concept in a math text. Does it really matter if he doesn't do all of his reading himself? The point is to get the knowledge inside of him, not how did it get there. He still does some writing and reading, more now that he has gained confidence in his work and has developed his coping skills. If a homeschool cannot mold itself to fit the child, what school can?
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