Reluctant Reader but Powerful God

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I have a struggling learner, a very bright little boy that makes my heart smile but with a few special ingredients that are different from his sisters!  After many frustrating home school days, which often left me exhausted and him frustrated, I decided that something needed to change.

I needed to learn what was going on inside his little head.  I begged the Father for help because I felt hopeless.  I knew that He had called us to this schooling at home adventure but the doubts surfaced.  Could I keep doing this?  I could no longer keep doing it in this way.

This is our story; this is how I learned to homeschool my seven-year-old son:

I requested a mommy’s day out.  My husband is always willing to say yes {I think he knows if I ask, I really need it.}  I grabbed a notebook, stuffed it in my purse along with my pocket Bible and headed out to the library, just me, no children.  This felt very weird, walking in just a mommy!

I sat on the floor where the books on learning and disabilities were located.  I felt overwhelmed and cringed at the titles: Dyslexia, ADHD, and Autism. I scanned through them all, listing the things that I saw in my little guy.  I would read about a sign or characteristic and scribble it down on the lined pages.  I asked the Father to lead me where the answers were, to open my eyes and heart to the right words. I read what others suggested regarding those areas that my little man needed more work on and wrote them down.

We don’t like labels and so, I will not give him one here but you can never go wrong with educating yourself on your children.

I came home with a treasure of a book called Homeschooling the Challenging Child by Christine M. Field.  It was in the pages of this book that I discovered what one of my problems was.

I was not teaching him in the way that the Father had created him to learn.  I have heard others talk about learning styles but never gave much attention to it because I have never really had to.  Both of my girls picked up on reading pretty easily.  But now, now I had to find a different way to teach.  My method wasn’t working.  I needed to figure out his learning style.  I needed to take his learning “pulse.” Ends up I have a kinesthetic learning little boy on my hands.

I emailed a few wonderful friends about other tips that they would recommend for this mama that is handicapped when it comes to hands on learning.  One friend suggested playing reading games.  I decided to add a touch of I Spy in our reading.  After we finish a sentence I will occasionally say, “I spy the word ___.”  He gets a big grin and searches the page for the treasure.

You see, I’m not a kinesthetic learner by any means but he is.  He needs to touch, to have a relationship with what he is learning.  He needs to play in order to learn.  I’m just a book girl, give me a book and I will learn.  I cannot change the way that the Father created me and neither can I change the way that the Father created Him.  I kneel and ask for His guidance each morning before beginning lessons.  I ask Him to give me patience and a gentle spirit when it comes to this chapter in our story.  I ask for creativity.

Never underestimate the power of prayer.

We have been struggling through the reading curriculum: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.  The little man would not focus, kept getting distracted UNTIL I felt compelled to make him hold the book.  I encouraged him to touch the letters, to point at the words.  To follow the dots underneath them like you are supposed to.  And now… he has moved forward!  We are making progress.

He is remembering.  He is excited.

And nothing that I did has changed.  The Father has given my heart a wake up call and answered this frustrated mother’s prayer for help because I could not do it alone.  He brought the right book into my hands, He brought the idea of games after I bravely opened up to friends about my struggle and He brought successful reading lessons.

What are my tips for teaching struggling learners?  Mommas, get on your knees and ask Him to lead you and then follow.

I’m off to find some play dough to pass out while we read our read aloud and then devour more kinesthetic learning tips!

Heather is a NC girl that married her best friend almost 12 years ago.  Her and her husband are both home school graduates and have carried on to the next generation.  She spends her time at home educating her three children ages 10,8 and 7, preferably outdoors.  She blogs about their family adventures at Mattern Family and enjoys writing poetry at Raining Silence .