by PRIDE Reading Program Admin | Dec 5, 2017 | A PRIDE Post, Homeschool
Californian schools are doing a great job of providing support to those with learning differences. In the academic year 2015-16, over 700,000 students were given extra support at no extra cost. However, schools can only do so much. It is important to create a home learning environment that builds on the knowledge they gain from schools and learning centers. Here’s how you can improve your child’s education at home, when they’re away from their regular tutor.
Fostering Creativity
All schools will have some creative time, especially for younger students, but there is still a strong focus on conformity over individuality. With an average elementary school class size ranging from 22 in the younger years to 28 in the older years, it is understandable that teachers cannot spend time fully exploring each child’s unique creativity.
This is why it is especially important to work on creative projects at home. While a dyslexic child may not want to write long essays, they may get enjoyment from putting together a comic strip. With exams and tests dominating the schedule, creativity is one of many skills not taught in school and artistic needs could be better served from a home education.
Maintaining Strong Health
Once again, schools are trying to teach about mental and physical wellbeing, but may simply not be equipped to deal with these topics. It can be a safety hazard to take dozens of kids out of school, so they are left confined to a classroom or playing field. As a parent, you can take your child deep into the countryside, where they can learn the importance of movement in an environment that piques their curiosity.
Well specialist schools can help with their reading, writing and comprehension, the home environment is perfect to teach them how to live well. From where they can get the right nutrition to how to build strong relationships, all aspects of mental, physical and emotional health are best taught at home.
Exploring Why Learning is Important
At school, it is taken as a given that kids need to learn the material. But if your child thinks differently, they may spend a lot of time thinking ‘what’s the point?’ It is your job as a parent to explain to them the point. This involves showing the practical uses of their subjects or even why knowledge is important for its own sake. This will help motivate them when they get back behind their desks.
The home and school learning environments should complement and support each other. Teachers lack the resources to give attention to every child on those big questions of creativity, health and the underlying principles of learning. As a parent, you can fill in the gaps by building a strong home education and learning environment.
Thank you so much to our guest blogger, Jocelyn Brown for providing us with this really informative Home Education insight today!
For more posts by Jocelyn, you might enjoy reading the blog post Dogs and Reading: an Alternative Method to Boost Confidence.
To learn more about homeschooling curriculum for children with learning differences and more tips and suggestions, please visit our website here.
Thank you so much for visiting my blog today!
by PRIDE Reading Program Admin | Mar 27, 2017 | A PRIDE Post, Reading Skills
Any parent of a child with reading difficulties will undoubtedly be able to catalogue a whole host of approaches and methods they’ve tried over the years to encourage and develop their loved one. There are many successful methods out there, but as we know, every child is different – and sometimes a combined approach can be a good idea. If this sounds like you and your child, then perhaps you should consider investigating reading with dogs.
Paws for thought
Well known for their ability to assist those with physical disabilities, dogs are also increasingly being used for those with mental difficulties. Research has been conducted which shows that interaction with a friendly therapy dog reduces levels of stress hormones and blood pressure; and that this is more effective than interaction with a friendly human. Reading with dogs helps to create a calming and relaxing environment for the development of your child’s reading skills.
Dogs are non-judgemental, and not being able to read themselves means they do not appear superior to the child, as an adult might. Reading with dogs allows the child to dictate the pace and progress of a session, and does not react to minor mistakes of pronunciation that an adult reflexively might.
They provide unconditional support and love, which is valuable for children with self-esteem issues connected to their reading ability. The focus of the session becomes the dog, rather than the child themselves; many parents report that their child is much more motivated and excited to read because it means spending time and reading with the dog.
Moving forward
This means that your child has the opportunity to create new, positive memories associated with reading and speaking aloud, which can help to overcome previous bad experiences of embarrassment or bullying they may have encountered. A growing confidence in themselves and their abilities also shows in their overall self-worth, as well as their social skills and ability to interact with others calmly and patiently and respectfully; skills they pick up from reading with the dogs.
If this sounds like something which would benefit your child, then look into where you might be able to access a therapy reading dog locally. Reading to dogs is growing in popularity, but is still not necessarily available everywhere. In this situation, think about what the key benefits are and how you can achieve these in a different but similar setting. As long as you have an animal happy to sit quietly while the child reads, it doesn’t need to be a fully trained therapy dog: ask neighbors or friends with calm and sensible cats or dogs if you can visit with your child for a reading session.
Learn more about the New PRIDE Reading Program
________________________________________________________________________________________
Jocelyn Brown is a professional freelancer writer and mother. She loves the freedom that comes with freelancing and the versatility it allows her in covering many different topics and themes. When not at work she enjoys running, hikes in the country and making the most of family time.
