Time Management with a Struggling Learner: A Personal Testimony
By Pam Gates, CLS, CNHP
Certified Learning Specialist in the Dianne Craft “Right Brain” Learning System
As a homeschooling mom of six, one of the most challenging situations that arose was having a struggling learner who needed one-on-one time with me. I did as much of my homeschooling as possible with all of us working together. Even with math, which is so individualized, I preferred to have everyone working at the same time so I could move easily from one child to the next, helping where necessary. Our day was full, so the thought of spending an hour to an hour and a half with just one child seemed difficult at best. The reality is, though, that one-on-one time is crucial for the struggling learner.
Up to the time I began my third child’s “more formal” education, I thought I must be a pretty amazing teacher. My two sons had no struggles academically. My daughter is very bright, so it was a surprise to me when I began noticing her difficulty grasping even “simple things”. She wanted so badly to learn. But by the age of seven she was already considerably behind. She could not count to ten comfortably. She could not say the alphabet (even with the song). She could write her name but was unable to name each of the letters in it consistently. She could not remember phonics, so reading was nonexistent. I scheduled a consultation with Dianne Craft who explained that my daughter had symptoms of severe auditory processing dyslexia. She outlined a daily schedule for us to follow and taught me specific teaching methods (most of them right brain strategies). She also taught me therapy designed specifically to open my daughter’s blocked learning gates and guided me through a nutritional plan found to work particularly well with children with dyslexia. I left the appointment relieved and excited, but somewhat overwhelmed. Frankly, at this point, educating my daughter had become so frustrating for both of us that we had drastically reduced the amount of time we spent on it. But I went home determined to prayerfully carve out the time she needed.
Please take this in the spirit it is intended. I know how difficult the task is and how the enemy tries to cripple us with guilt, so I want to share practical advice to help those of you who find yourselves in a similar situation. With our schedule as it was, how could I possibly give my daughter the individual time she needed, continue my sons’ education, and manage my four-year-old, two-year-old, and newborn’s schedules?
Following are some suggestions for your consideration:
- Set your priorities. The first milestone was the realization that teaching my daughter to read was the most important thing to focus on at that time. Her two big brothers could afford to take a break, if necessary, while I concentrated on her for awhile. I found that my children who are not struggling can catch up in a short time. You may decide that it is necessary to ease up on the amount of curriculum you cover with them during the school year and spend some of the summer break working to pick up the slack.
- Realistically look at your daily schedule. What activities could we drop, or at least put on hold for a while? Music lessons, sports, field trips, even extra church activities may need to be set aside, remembering that this is not a permanent situation. It is often more difficult for us as mothers to give the extra activities up than it is for our children.
- Extend your teaching time. For me this meant getting up earlier in the morning. It is much more productive for me to get myself to bed earlier and have more hours in the morning than to plan to get things done after the children have been put to bed. The energy I hope to have in the evening hours is somehow nonexistent. As for my children, I began making sure they were up, breakfasted, and ready for the school day by 8:00. Look at your schedule to see what works best for your family.
- Delegate within the family. My husband encouraged me to look at my daily tasks and determine which of my responsibilities I could turn over to the children. For example, we set up a simple breakfast and lunch menu and my older three (10- and 8- and 7-year-olds) were each responsible for one day a week. As a mother, your time is more stretched. It is important to free yourself from some of the more repetitive tasks. Generally, our children can take on a lot more responsibility than we give them credit for. Once the initial (rather messy) training period is completed, this turns out to be a real blessing.
- Delegate outside of the family. A friend suggested hiring a home-schooled teen in the area to come over for an hour a day to do some of the teaching with the other children. It is important to note that I, as parent, am the one who needs to be focusing on my struggling learner. If funds are tight, consider instead checking history, science, and literature videos out at the library to keep your other children productively entertained during the tutoring sessions.
The individual time invested with my daughter was invaluable. We would not have been able to accomplish all we set out to do by keeping her constantly in the family teaching setting. She had to have some time free of distractions with me. After about six months of more concentrated time with her, she had made incredible progress and was able to work alongside the other children most of the time. We continued to use the teaching strategies found to work best for her along with the at-home therapy and nutritional interventions. It was a long, sometimes laborious, process, but well worth it. Because we were able to get at the root of her learning issues, she was reading at grade level by the end of the school year. She was very successful in college (graduating summa cum laude) and went on to receive her Master’s Degree in Education and Human Development.
Just as with homeschooling in general, this is obviously a very personal situation. I encourage you to pray for wisdom and patience to accomplish the task God has placed before you.
Pamela Gates is a Certified Learning Specialist in Dianne Craft’s Learning System. She has 18 years’ experience working with bright, hard-working, but struggling students. She is a popular speaker at homeschool conferences, bringing hope to families with children who struggle with learning. Pam’s workshops are filled with practical teaching strategies that parents find are easy to implement the next day. Kids will love them and begin to feel as smart as they really are! Parents find Pam’s workshops to be lighthearted and life changing. She is also an Educational Consultant, conducting Personal Consultations with families virtually from her home in Denver, Colorado. As a homeschooling mother of six, Pam had an 8-year-old daughter with Dyslexia who was unable to remember letter sounds or spell her name. Using unique, alternative teaching methods, her daughter overcame her dyslexia. She now has her Master’s Degree in Education and Human Development.