“Treat a child as though he already is the person he’s capable of becoming”
- Haim Ginott
I very much want to pass this advice along to 11’s teachers.
If you follow my dear wife, Knowledgesponge, you may know of some of the difficulties we have with 11’s education. He has a learning disability that makes reading and writing difficult for him. Aside from that, he is bright, and funny, and very self aware.
It’s hard to find the right teachers and educators who understand what 11 needs to be a successful learner. With his new school placing, we are watching very closely to make sure that he doesn’t get into a tough situation.
Last night, he had two pieces of homework from two different teachers.
The first required him to write down three questions the teacher asked, and answer them at home. He managed the the first, garbled the second, and did not get the third written down. We managed to figure out what the first two questions meant, and I scribed his answers for him. His answers were insightful and showed he understood the lesson as presented. Forcing him to write out questions on the fly like that is just setting him up for failure.
The second piece of homework from the other teacher was worse.
It was a colouring assignment. With crayons.
He’s 11. He knows he has a learning disability. He knows when he is being patronized.
Please, please teachers…don’t teach down to him. Find a different way.
Push him, challenge him, give him work that is appropriate for his grade level. Allow him to use the tech and tools he has been trained to use to help him compensate. Build on his strengths.
Recognize his disabilities, but please, teach to his capabilities.
