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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: April 08 2013 at 3:52pm | IP Logged
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My boys are lacking on some basic skills and I need some ideas on how to work with them on this skills. The first is following directions. It's been suggested that a cooking project, scavenger hunt, and game playing would help on this. The problem is they are much better at following directions when doing these fun things. It's school work that they can't seem to follow directions. It's a huge problem. Younger ds does 90% of all his independent work wrong because he won't take the time to read and understand directions. The problem isn't as bad in the oldest ds, but he still could use some help on this skill. I'm going to post another question about ds 8 because his narration are (I think) awful so it could be a reading comprehension problem.
The second is thinking skills. I can't get my boys to think a problem through and come up with solutions to fix it. In life and in school work. I usually refuse to answer saying that this is something they are able to think through and solve. Whining and crying follows after this. This does get the answer out of me 50% of the time.  At times I will walk them through the problem and they space out and once the answer is found they ask again what it was because they weren't listening to anything I said and was just waiting for the answer. 
Any ideas?
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: April 08 2013 at 4:35pm | IP Logged
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I'm not sure it would work at home.. but I remember in 4th grade my teacher was talking about this.. and handed out these slim work book/tests. The first direction said to read everything before you started any work. A few of us had clued into actually following this.. and read it through rather quickly and the last direction was to write your name on the front and turn it in. The questions were rather difficult too. And I remember the shocked looks of the kids who were busy trying to work the problems to see others already handing in the tests.. I think a lot of it was seeing that others were turning them in and whispered hints about reading to the end.. so that everyone "got it". I don't think it would work so well if you were inclined to not read the directions and didn't get the hint from others.
My only thought was to keep sending them back to read the directions and do it right. It might take a long time when you can't "rescue" them. Until they figure out that it takes a lot less time to read it in the first place.
Now sometimes, knowing what to do with the information can be the difficulty. I had one child that I finally made a "cheat sheet" with how to figure out fractions in math. Like if you're multiplying fractions you multiply straight across. If you're dividing you invert the second number and multiply straight across.. etc. Because she was forever forgetting how to get those. Today SUCCESS.. I watched her do a variety of fraction problems and know what to do with each. I think taking the pressure off her and giving her a tool to look it up every time meant that she was doing it right every time instead of guessing and improved her ability to remember it correctly where before because she was guessing so often she couldn't remember the right way.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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guitarnan
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| Posted: April 08 2013 at 5:13pm | IP Logged
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I had to resort to asking my children to read the problems/questions out loud...and it worked, a majority of the time. They are forced, when reading aloud, to read every word instead of skipping information or assuming they know what the problem is asking for.
Another thing I've done (which I learned to do in Catholic school, way back in the dark days before VHS tapes and Nintendo  ) was to teach my children to either memorize and recite problem-solving methodologies. What type of problem is this? What is the formula for this problem? (If it's math or science.) What is Step One for this type of problem? And so on.
Critical thinking takes longer, and you do have to invest some time in building upon basic think-it-through skills. I ask a lot of questions (the Socratic Method!) when I teach, and refer back to previous lessons and the questions I asked then.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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SallyT
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| Posted: April 08 2013 at 7:32pm | IP Logged
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I too have had my children read directions aloud to me until I was satisfied that they could follow them independently.
I also follow a basic model that I learned as a classroom teacher:
1. Introduction
2. Guided Practice
3. Independent Practice
4. ? Can't remember. I think we were supposed to end each lesson by saying, "Today we have . . . ," but I don't really do that at home!
Anyway, I would think of reading the directions aloud, and maybe talking about them, as the "introduction." Then I would do a question/problem or two together, to be sure the child understands what to do. Once he's practiced with some guidance from me, then he can practice more on his own to solidify the skill or concept.
I just did this today, in fact, with my 10-year-old and "division with remainders." He was flipping out just a little at first, but once we had gone through the directions and then done some problems together, he was able to do a few more on his own. Tomorrow we'll maybe do one together to ensure that he remembers what he learned today, and then he can do a good 15 minutes' worth more on his own.
Re thinking things through, if a child asks me how to do something which there's a reasonable probability of his being able to figure out, I respond by asking questions: "What do you think you'd do first? Where would you have to start? Then what would need to happen?" and so on. This, too, is sometimes really irritating to, say, the 10-year-old mind ("Aarrrgh, why won't you just TELL me??"), but it's a way of pushing some critical thinking without leaving him totally adrift. I can't think of a good concrete example of this kind of situation off the top of my head, but often a few "guiding" or "prodding" questions are all that's needed before the child in question figures out the rest.
Sally
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Castle in the Sea
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sunshinyliving
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| Posted: April 11 2013 at 7:03am | IP Logged
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For these ages (especially for the 8yo), I think it is important for the parent to "teach" the lesson's concept and then *briefly* go through the instructions with the child before turning him loose on an assignment(just like a teacher would in a traditional school). In my opinion, most third graders are still too young to be expected to learn totally independently and to easily figure out directions on their own.
(I don't think there is much value in forcing a young child to figure out what the "question" is before age 11yrs or so. This is a skill for an older child whose abstract thinking is beginning to kick in.)
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Diana, wife to Brad, Mom to dd18, dd16, dd13, ds10, dd7, ds5
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: April 11 2013 at 9:05pm | IP Logged
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Thanks everyone for your ideas. They are being pondered.
sunshinyliving wrote:
For these ages (especially for the 8yo), I think it is important for the parent to "teach" the lesson's concept and then *briefly* go through the instructions with the child before turning him loose on an assignment(just like a teacher would in a traditional school). In my opinion, most third graders are still too young to be expected to learn totally independently and to easily figure out directions on their own.
(I don't think there is much value in forcing a young child to figure out what the "question" is before age 11yrs or so. This is a skill for an older child whose abstract thinking is beginning to kick in.) |
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Yet, reminded again that I expect too much out of my 8 year old.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Help me with these unmastered skills!
