WWE level 1 question.

[Catherine]

At the beginning of January, I started WWE level 1 with my 8 yo third grader. This child is bright, but has some learning difficulties, slow processing and poor working memory, and he is officially diagnosed as having dysgraphia, though I have my doubts. I am trying to go double pace through WWE level 1, but at week 14 now he is having more trouble remembering the details from the selections. I'm needing to read them 3-5 times for him to answer all of the questions, though what actually happens is that he listens until I reach the part with the answer to the question I've asked and then he blurts it out : \

 

Have any of you faced a similar problem? How do you drill your child to help him or her remember? I've tried to help him to form visual pictures of what I've read, to help him to recall, but he's not very good at visualizing at all. Any other strategies? I am concerned that he can't even manage a first grade curriculum.

[Mom0012]

Have you tried having him read the passage himself instead of reading it out loud to him? Maybe he is a weak auditory learner?

 

Lisa

[Catherine]

Good thought! I haven't, but will try that tomorrow. Anyone else? WWE users, do your children consistently answer the questions after the first, or maybe second, reading?

[lionfamily1999]

When ds started doing that, I started having him read the passages. He can listen, but once I go for so long (especially on those short chunks we use for WWE) his mind wanders ;)

 

Did you do the evaluation before you started? Just curious :)

[paojava]

We have that EXACT same problem...might be a boy thing, LOL.

 

Usually it depends on what we are reading and how "girly" it is. When we have to go back through, make him read the part with the answer.

 

Sometimes I just make him read the whole thing though.

 

DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!!

[Jumping In Puddles]

Good thought! I haven't, but will try that tomorrow. Anyone else? WWE users, do your children consistently answer the questions after the first, or maybe second, reading?

 

My child does consistently answer on the first question BUT he is an extremely auditory learner. (He sometimes closes his eyes during a movie or tv because he prefers to listen).

 

Maybe give him something to do while he listens? Some children can retain more when they are doodling or playing with legos.

[jentancalann]

We started WWE2 this year and after the one dictation lesson that took us an HOUR (midway, week 18 or so), I shelved it. He has the same problems- can't remember/answer questions, can't spell up to this level, can't remember/repeat what I've just said. I LOVE this program so I may try to pick it up again next year. I just couldn't do it anymore, there were tears each and every time. There's a thread around here somewhere from that (frustrating) day with some very good encouragement and ideas.

[Catherine]

He *cannot* keep more than one thing in his head at a time. When I've tried letting him play, often, he retains almost nothing. That's a part of his difficulty.

 

I may actually contact PHP about this question and see if they have some ideas. It may be that plugging along is the best way to develop those faculties.

 

I had an idea based on what one of you said though-I may ask him to listen with his eyes closed. I'll also try having him read the passage.

[lionfamily1999]

He *cannot* keep more than one thing in his head at a time. When I've tried letting him play, often, he retains almost nothing. That's a part of his difficulty.

 

I may actually contact PHP about this question and see if they have some ideas. It may be that plugging along is the best way to develop those faculties.

 

I had an idea based on what one of you said though-I may ask him to listen with his eyes closed. I'll also try having him read the passage.

With my ds, I could put him into an isolation chamber where the only outside information he could get would be my voice and he's still manage to let his mind wander (probably wondering how the isolation chamber works :lol:).

[Capt_Uhura]

I was listening to a MP3 by Pudewa about how boys and girls are different. Boys hearing is much less developed than girls. They found that when boys were not paying attention in class or not getting/retaining what the teacher was saying, was that the boys were only hearing bits and pieces whereas the girls heard every word. Are there any noise distractions? Are you reading loudly enough? That is an issue at my house w/ my 3yr old singing right next to us when I'm reading.

 

If you don't mind saying, how low is his WMI and PSI?

 

Not having any experience in this, what I would do is to pre-read, mark the questions that are in the first half of the passage and read the first half then ask those questions. Then read the 2nd half and ask those questions. once he does well with half, start extending the reading. I would certainly try having him read it himself first and see if that is the key but I would still continue to work on listening skills as it's an important skill to hone.

 

Capt_uhura

[Jim]

:iagree:

 

Exactly what I was thinking. It may take a few extra minutes to prepare for the lesson but itn't that an improvement over making little progress.

 

Later, you can stretch the length of the passage without anyone noticing.

[Catherine]

Low. His working memory and processing speed measured less than the fifth percentile for his age group.

[lionfamily1999]

Low. His working memory and processing speed measured less than the fifth percentile for his age group.

Those things will be worked on during dictation, though. Augh, is that what you were talking about all along? I assumed you were talking about narration passages.

[Catherine]

We haven't gotten up to any dictation passages yet. We do dictation for spelling (AAS) and he does OK with that-one sentence at a time.

[lionfamily1999]

We haven't gotten up to any dictation passages yet. We do dictation for spelling (AAS) and he does OK with that-one sentence at a time.

Okay, now I know where you are!

 

For narration, I'd be fine with him reading the passage aloud. I would not let him read it to himself just yet. See if that helps. His memory and things will improve with dictation.

[hornblower]

, but at week 14 now he is having more trouble remembering the details from the selections. I'm needing to read them 3-5 times for him to answer all of the questions, though what actually happens is that he listens until I reach the part with the answer to the question I've asked and then he blurts it out : \

 

Have any of you faced a similar problem? How do you drill your child to help him or her remember?

 

First off, I'd say he's showing a great tenacity and trying to find an adaptation which works for him. Good for him! He's taking a question, focusing on it & listening for that topic in the reading selection. It's not a bad strategy.

 

I think clearly he needs more support in this & I don't think you can drill this. I think this is a developmental skill which has to be nourished. The fact is that it takes practice and lots of time to figure out what the 'important bits' in a particular story are.

 

Has anyone else done the 'brain teaser puzzle' in which people tell you about a bus driver and they tell you 5 people get on, 2 get off, then 3 get off and 10 get on and it goes on & on & on and most folks spend their time adding & subtracting b/e they assume the questions will be about # of passengers, but then the actual question is "what color were the bus driver's eyes?"

 

It takes time to find the important things & retain them.

 

I would do a couple things.

 

1) figure out whether this retention is better when listening to you read or when he reads silently to himself or when he reads out loud. Or maybe it's best when he does all 3, in which case I would do all three in whichever order seems to work best.

 

2) during exercises like this, I'd stop at each sentence & rephrase it & draw attn to the important bits.

 

e.g. sentence: "Jane went down the steep hill to the creek."

mom: "So we're hearing about this girl called Jane and she's had to go down a steep hill, and she's going to the creek."

 

you can add some speculative word pictures: "I wonder if she slid on her bum down the hill. I hope she didn't land in the water."

 

Gradually transition to reading more sentences in a row before doing a sum-up and gradually transition to getting him involved in the sum-up.

 

3) read more picture books. I think he needs more cues about what is happening in the text. You could do WWE exercises with a different text. If you use non-fiction books (science,history etc) there are lots of selections with good illustrations and intelligent text. But I'd also not hesistate to use lots of illustrated fiction, even stories he already knows, to work on this skill.

[siloam]

At the beginning of January, I started WWE level 1 with my 8 yo third grader. This child is bright, but has some learning difficulties, slow processing and poor working memory, and he is officially diagnosed as having dysgraphia, though I have my doubts. I am trying to go double pace through WWE level 1, but at week 14 now he is having more trouble remembering the details from the selections. I'm needing to read them 3-5 times for him to answer all of the questions, though what actually happens is that he listens until I reach the part with the answer to the question I've asked and then he blurts it out : \

 

Have any of you faced a similar problem? How do you drill your child to help him or her remember? I've tried to help him to form visual pictures of what I've read, to help him to recall, but he's not very good at visualizing at all. Any other strategies? I am concerned that he can't even manage a first grade curriculum.

 

Ok first WWE (and I skimmed all the other posts, so if I miss something let me know-skimming is not my strong suit). I go ahead when my dd gets something wrong and re-read just the sentences that includes the answer. Despite basically giving her the answer she has improved overall in comprehension. I think, in part, she just needed to learn to listen.

 

Some kids, especially dyslexic (or sub sets of dyslexia) need to be doing something menial with their hands/body. It helps them focus. I am one of those odd people (and am dyslexic, and my kids are too). For example I can focus on the sermon better if I do copywork out of my Bible while I listen. Why? Because I am not thinking about the environment around me (Sue's hat, the pretty pink blouse, ect...). Even when doing work I will choose to keep music on because it blocks out other sounds that distract me. I can tune out the music. With my ds in particular I try to allow him to use my exercise ball as much as possible, so he bounces through his way through lessons.

 

Last there is a program called Visualizing and Verbalizing that specializes in teaching a child to see pictures in their mind for the purpose of comprehension. I am not sure you would need the whole program, though it would be easier that way. Just the manual would give you tools to use with WWE.

 

Last, if he is struggling with both spelling and comprehension I would consider doing WWE at regular pace. Dyslexic and LD children in general are often "behind". In fact I am not even going to start WWE 1 until my ds starts 2nd grade. They really need a slow, repetitive pace, and over time they can do just as well. They just really need time to "get it".

 

Heather