Gifted visual-spatial learners

[Embassy]

I recently had my son tested and the testing showed that his academic abilities are a bit lower than his cognitive abilities. The report actually states "his academic skill development does not reflect his advanced mental abilities". I've integrated visual elements into several subjects and hands-on activities where appropriate. I have also not let rote memorization hold him back conceptually. We have typically gone deep and wide with our learning, but maybe charging ahead in some areas would be better? I'm thinking I really need to change things up for him, but could use some ideas. He does not have any LD to explain the discrepancy. The examiner said that it was a result of his learning style.

 

The examiner had some good recommendations like more reading (whole to part task) that will influence things like writing and spelling and a spelling program that teaches according to pattern like Sequential Spelling. He also recommended a visual mapping approach to tackling writing. But beyond that he didn't have many ideas.

 

I think I might need to totally change my perspective with him. Any ideas?

[rafiki]

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[2smartones]

See if your library has a copy of "Upside-Down Brilliance" by Dr. Silverman. (I highly doubt it, but it's worth a shot.)

 

Here are some articles that may help you. http://www.visualspatial.org/articles.php

 

I'll second the recommendation for Sequential Spelling. Have you taught outlining yet? That will definitely help with writing skills, too. Using various colors of highlighters will help when studying new material (any subject). Put important information on posters in various places around the room, so that when it needs to be recalled, your son can close his eyes and simply read the information he still "sees" on the poster. Have you seen the book series called "Vocabulary Cartoons?" That's great for visual learners. My son was struggling a little with vocabulary (even though he was a very early reader) until someone told me about those. He'd finished all three books (and retained the information) by the time he was 5. It taught him how to use the same tricks for other words. With math, step it up a level. Hand him a question and answer, and see if he can figured out how you got the answer. Allow him to work backwards and/or come up with his own method to find the answers. If he's able to give you answers but can't write out the steps, that's ok. There's no reason to require the steps unless he's making mistakes.

Edited May 30, 2012 by 2smartones

[Embassy]

Thanks. You both have been very helpful.

 

I haven't really done any writing instruction yet, so no outlining. We have been focusing on handwriting and almost have that beast tackled. He does love the Vocabulary Cartoons book he has so I might be getting more of them.

[Beth in SW WA]

Dd9 is slightly vsl. Not sure about gifted. Probably. She draws pictures of moments in her life. Yesterday she drew a picture of what is going on inside her mind w/ gears and such. She sees in pictures and has a photographic memory. She reads everything. Words and numbers are her best friends.

 

For math, I read that Mortenson Math methods (Crewton Ramone, MUS) along w/ Hands On Equations are quite effective for VSLs. :iagree: as they have been quite effective here. She also enjoys TT for the bells/whistles/visuals. She has read most of the upper levels of LOF. Her collection is growing. She reads them with a lightwedge at night and then dreams of Fred.

 

She likes the old Calvert Spelling cds and now Wordsmart (my recent splurge for older dc for SAT prep). Thankfully all my dc can use Wordsmart.

 

She loves chemistry labs and Scratch for programming. She spent an hour today with the Basher periodic table flashcards. A month ago she pastelled the periodic table.

 

She loves art. Here are some of her creations.

 

Her favorite Bibles are graphic-style. The Action Bible is her current obsession. The questions she asks me about old testament battles. Oh, dear. :tongue_smilie:

 

She is enjoying drawing Chinese characters these days for her Mandarin class.

 

I could go on. Let me know if you need more scoop.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Beth in SW WA
link

[wapiti]

See if your library has a copy of "Upside-Down Brilliance" by Dr. Silverman. (I highly doubt it, but it's worth a shot.)

 

Here are some articles that may help you. http://www.visualspatial.org/articles.php

 

:iagree: (definitely check your library; ours has a copy with a long waiting list, though I got my own when we did testing through the author's office a few years ago)

 

I'd aim for big picture/context before the details and whole-brain involvement (i.e., engaging materials). I think this may be much more important than merely presenting information visually.

 

There have been some situations in which I've presented lessons sort of backwards, discussing the end first.

 

I'd stick with BA (and later aops) as much as possible.

 

Have you taught outlining yet? That will definitely help with writing skills, too.

:iagree:

Edited May 30, 2012 by wapiti

[Embassy]

Dd9 is slightly vsl. Not sure about gifted. Probably. She draws pictures of moments in her life. Yesterday she drew a picture of what is going on inside her mind w/ gears and such. She sees in pictures and has a photographic memory. She reads everything. Words and numbers are her best friends.

 

For math, I read that Mortenson Math methods (Crewton Ramone, MUS) along w/ Hands On Equations are quite effective for VSLs. :iagree: as they have been quite effective here. She also enjoys TT for the bells/whistles/visuals. She has read most of the upper levels of LOF. Her collection is growing. She reads them with a lightwedge at night and then dreams of Fred.

 

She likes the old Calvert Spelling cds and now Wordsmart (my recent splurge for older dc for SAT prep). Thankfully all my dc can use Wordsmart.

 

She loves chemistry labs and Scratch for programming. She spent an hour today with the Basher periodic table flashcards. A month ago she pastelled the periodic table.

 

She loves art. Here are some of her creations.

 

Her favorite Bibles are graphic-style. The Action Bible is her current obsession. The questions she asks me about old testament battles. Oh, dear. :tongue_smilie:

 

She is enjoying drawing Chinese characters these days for her Mandarin class.

 

I could go on. Let me know if you need more scoop.

 

What a great artist you have there!

 

I'm using Hands-On Equations with him and he does enjoy that. I haven't tried the other ones though. I'm thinking I may need to compact the deep and wide approach to math and move forward at a quicker pace. I asked him today to tell me what parts are school were hard and he told that nothing was hard (except for reading - we are on the right level for that one).:confused:

 

Where did you find the Calvert Spelling cds? I didn't know Basher has flashcards. He loves Basher books!

Edited May 30, 2012 by Wehomeschool

[Embassy]

:iagree: (definitely check your library; ours has a copy with a long waiting list, though I got my own when we did testing through the author's office a few years ago)

 

I'd aim for big picture/context before the details and whole-brain involvement (i.e., engaging materials). I think this may be much more important than merely presenting information visually.

 

There have been some situations in which I've presented lessons sort of backwards, discussing the end first.

 

I'd stick with BA (and later aops) as much as possible.

 

 

:iagree:

 

Unfortunately, not in my library. I can't believe the prices on Amazon! Backwards lessons sound interesting. Can you give me an example? I can't quite picture that.

 

BA looks great. I wish they had the 4 or 5 books ready.

[wapiti]

Unfortunately, not in my library. I can't believe the prices on Amazon! Backwards lessons sound interesting. Can you give me an example? I can't quite picture that.

 

BA looks great. I wish they had the 4 or 5 books ready.

 

It appears the GDC (the author's office) is once again selling this book, now for $37 plus 8 shipping, paypal. That's not cheap either, but a little better than Amazon, plus they're new.

http://www.gifteddevelopment.net/xcart/product.php?productid=16325

 

I found it to be a great book in terms of the perspective it brings. For more practical ideas, consider Freed's Right Brained book and perhaps The Dyslexic Advantage, which discusses dyslexic strengths (e.g., I've been told that one of my kids has a "dyslexic processing" style even though he is not dyslexic, and as I interpret that, that's primarily VSL strengths).

 

On backwards lessons, I'll have to see if I can remember an example (it would involve showing where you are going with the lesson before you go there), but I can give you a different sort of backwards example that's really about another VSL angle, hard-is-easy and easy-is-hard. Or, maybe I'll just link this old thread on that.

[2smartones]

Yes, I got my copy in person, and she told me she prefers to sell limited quantities of the book, one per family, only to people who come to GDC for a consultation (phone or in person). Not sure why, but that's what she said. They DID recently get another shipment, though. I can vouch for that.

[Runningmom80]

Dd9 is slightly vsl. Not sure about gifted. Probably. She draws pictures of moments in her life. Yesterday she drew a picture of what is going on inside her mind w/ gears and such. She sees in pictures and has a photographic memory. She reads everything. Words and numbers are her best friends.

 

For math, I read that Mortenson Math methods (Crewton Ramone, MUS) along w/ Hands On Equations are quite effective for VSLs. :iagree: as they have been quite effective here. She also enjoys TT for the bells/whistles/visuals. She has read most of the upper levels of LOF. Her collection is growing. She reads them with a lightwedge at night and then dreams of Fred.

 

She likes the old Calvert Spelling cds and now Wordsmart (my recent splurge for older dc for SAT prep). Thankfully all my dc can use Wordsmart.

 

She loves chemistry labs and Scratch for programming. She spent an hour today with the Basher periodic table flashcards. A month ago she pastelled the periodic table.

 

She loves art. Here are some of her creations.

 

Her favorite Bibles are graphic-style. The Action Bible is her current obsession. The questions she asks me about old testament battles. Oh, dear. :tongue_smilie:

 

She is enjoying drawing Chinese characters these days for her Mandarin class.

 

I could go on. Let me know if you need more scoop.

 

 

How cute is she? I love her periodic table!

 

I'm still trying to tease out if my DS is a VSL, I'll be watching this thread!

Edited May 31, 2012 by Runningmom80

[Embassy]

It appears the GDC (the author's office) is once again selling this book, now for $37 plus 8 shipping, paypal. That's not cheap either, but a little better than Amazon, plus they're new.

http://www.gifteddevelopment.net/xcart/product.php?productid=16325

 

I found it to be a great book in terms of the perspective it brings. For more practical ideas, consider Freed's Right Brained book and perhaps The Dyslexic Advantage, which discusses dyslexic strengths (e.g., I've been told that one of my kids has a "dyslexic processing" style even though he is not dyslexic, and as I interpret that, that's primarily VSL strengths).

 

On backwards lessons, I'll have to see if I can remember an example (it would involve showing where you are going with the lesson before you go there), but I can give you a different sort of backwards example that's really about another VSL angle, hard-is-easy and easy-is-hard. Or, maybe I'll just link this old thread on that.

 

Thanks! That price is a little better. I've read those other books and agree with you that many dyslexic strategies work well. Thanks for the link to the previous thread. I need to reread it.

 

I am wondering about the backwards lessons. Don't these kids tend to do well with a discovery method (i.e. AOPS)? I haven't used AOPS yet, but wouldn't the discovery method not fit with the backwards thing? Or would it? Now, I know my kid always wants to look ahead in the book he is reading, but I haven't allowed it. He would read the end before he starts the book if I let him. Should I allow that?

[TippyCanoe]

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[wapiti]

I am wondering about the backwards lessons. Don't these kids tend to do well with a discovery method (i.e. AOPS)? I haven't used AOPS yet, but wouldn't the discovery method not fit with the backwards thing? Or would it? Now, I know my kid always wants to look ahead in the book he is reading, but I haven't allowed it. He would read the end before he starts the book if I let him. Should I allow that?

 

This is a good question that I'll have to chew on for a bit (and I need to go out right now). All I can say for the moment is that AoPS brings a big-picture perspective to approaching problems, and that may be a completely separate aspect from the discovery aspect.

 

I agree with Doodler about the reading :)

[Beth in SW WA]

What a great artist you have there!

 

:001_smile: Thanks.

 

Where did you find the Calvert Spelling cds? I didn't know Basher has flashcards. He loves Basher books!

 

My Calvert cds are old, old. Not sure they sell them anymore.

[Beth in SW WA]

I took a few pics of my girls building the periodic table with the Basher flashcards. For $10'ish, you can't go wrong. :)

[mommymilkies]

My eldest dd is a VSL. She is quite gifted. She really likes things like TPR method (immersion) for language, AAS for spelling (she is FINALLY getting it!), and Singapore for math. I do that with her with very little bookwork, though. It's all up on the board. She is excited to start AoPS Pre-algebra soon. I would like her to finish her current books first, though. She also does good with straight translating-give her a book and make her translate it for practice.

 

I like the idea of the backwards lessons. I kind of do that with math already. I show them something difficult on the board they'll be able to do, ask their opinions or how they would try, and then show them methods with what they find difficult.

 

:lurk5:

[2smartones]

FWIW, reading ahead is how I always chose books as a child. ;) I'd read the first page or two, a random page from the middle, and the last page, and then decide if the book was worth my time. (That was for library-bound books with no book jacket. Today I do the same, except I'll just read the book jacket for a quick snapshot of the book, and I'll also occasionally read the last chapter first.)

[mommymilkies]

FWIW, reading ahead is how I always chose books as a child. ;) I'd read the first page or two, a random page from the middle, and the last page, and then decide if the book was worth my time. (That was for library-bound books with no book jacket. Today I do the same, except I'll just read the book jacket for a quick snapshot of the book, and I'll also occasionally read the last chapter first.)

 

I do the same thing.

[Embassy]

FWIW, reading ahead is how I always chose books as a child. ;) I'd read the first page or two, a random page from the middle, and the last page, and then decide if the book was worth my time. (That was for library-bound books with no book jacket. Today I do the same, except I'll just read the book jacket for a quick snapshot of the book, and I'll also occasionally read the last chapter first.)

 

I do the same thing.

 

Hmmm...you have me thinking. Again I wonder about the discovery aspect. Once you read the end of the story is your discovery figuring out how they arrived at the ending? I like to read informational books backwards, but it would seem a waste (to me) to read the last part of a story at the beginning. I don't know if I would read the book if I already knew the ending.

 

As far as math goes I'm thinking of fast-tracking a bit and going with the Singapore text, IP, and mental math practice instead of adding in the workbook and CWP. And then I'll probably skip over or limit problems when unnecessary. We would also do HOE, math facts, and some lessons from youcandothecube.com. BA is at the wrong level for us, but it sounds like it would be a great fit otherwise.

[wapiti]

I am wondering about the backwards lessons. Don't these kids tend to do well with a discovery method (i.e. AOPS)? I haven't used AOPS yet, but wouldn't the discovery method not fit with the backwards thing? Or would it?

 

I still haven't gotten around to being able to explain what I was talking about earlier, but with regard to AoPS, I did want to point you to something in RR's lecture (p. 4) that I just remembered, that does refer to the discovery method and this backwards business:

 

The last, and probably the most important, is that the lesson structure is backwards. Your typical class is, "I’ll show you how to do this trick. Here’s the trick. I’ll do it again. I’ll do it again. You repeat." That’s the typical structure of a textbook, "Here’s an example. Follow. You do it." That’s exactly backwards. That’s not how I learned mathematics. I learned math by seeing lots of problems and then figuring out what the lesson should have been. I figured out what the lesson was from working on all these problems and synthesizing it, making the ideas mine, instead of being something to copy. While doing that, I learned how to solve problems I had never seen before and that’s the key skill.

and then contrast that with how the AoPS books are set up (p. 19):

 

These books are structured by giving the problems at the beginning of each chapter instead of at the end. So, instead of doing "Lesson, lesson, lesson, copy," we say, "Problems! Figure out how to do them, and then we’ll show you how we did them, and you can compare." That way the math becomes their math instead of math that somebody else told them. Even more importantly, they’re learning how to tackle new things, which is more important than the things they are actually tackling.

Eta, it's not quite as open-ended as it sounds. There is a certain genius in the sequence of the lesson problems that leads the student along a little tiny bit at a time. Edited May 31, 2012 by wapiti

[paceofnature]

I took a few pics of my girls building the periodic table with the Basher flashcards. For $10'ish, you can't go wrong. :)

Thanks for sharing! I just showed those to my son and he is so excited about ordering a set...and I saw that they also have them for rocks and minerals.

[2smartones]

Hmmm...you have me thinking. Again I wonder about the discovery aspect. Once you read the end of the story is your discovery figuring out how they arrived at the ending? I like to read informational books backwards, but it would seem a waste (to me) to read the last part of a story at the beginning. I don't know if I would read the book if I already knew the ending.

 

It's a few things, I suppose. First, personality... I hate surprises. I like to see the whole picture and then fill in the details as I go. Second, I like to analyze & read at the same time rather than read first and go back to analyze. To me, the ending doesn't really matter. What I like to see is how they got to the ending. If I read the beginning and the end, I can decide for myself if there is the possibility of enough meat in the middle of the sandwich or if it's mostly just lettuce.

[Embassy]

I still haven't gotten around to being able to explain what I was talking about earlier, but with regard to AoPS, I did want to point you to something in RR's lecture (p. 4) that I just remembered, that does refer to the discovery method and this backwards business:

 

and then contrast that with how the AoPS books are set up (p. 19):

 

Eta, it's not quite as open-ended as it sounds. There is a certain genius in the sequence of the lesson problems that leads the student along a little tiny bit at a time.

 

That makes sense. I think I might try to adapt some of what we are doing to match that philosophy.

[Embassy]

It's a few things, I suppose. First, personality... I hate surprises. I like to see the whole picture and then fill in the details as I go. Second, I like to analyze & read at the same time rather than read first and go back to analyze. To me, the ending doesn't really matter. What I like to see is how they got to the ending. If I read the beginning and the end, I can decide for myself if there is the possibility of enough meat in the middle of the sandwich or if it's mostly just lettuce.

 

Hey, I LOVE lettuce sandwiches! :tongue_smilie:

[mommymilkies]

Hmmm...you have me thinking. Again I wonder about the discovery aspect. Once you read the end of the story is your discovery figuring out how they arrived at the ending? I like to read informational books backwards, but it would seem a waste (to me) to read the last part of a story at the beginning. I don't know if I would read the book if I already knew the ending.

 

No, it doesn't ruin it (usually). I don't read enough to know everything going on. I do admit sometimes I get sick of a book and skip to the end and see if it's worth the rest of the journey. Sometimes I decide it's not (Poisonwood Bible), and sometimes I get enthusiastic about the book. I hate people giving away the book or movie to me, but reading it myself is different.

[Embassy]

So, I've changed the way I've been teaching math this past week with good results (Singapore textbook with a whiteboard and IP). I started by giving my ds a difficult problem towards the end of a unit - one he hasn't been instructed and tell him to try and figure it out. He likes this. And most times he has figured it out and then I go on to show him other ways to do the problem that are quicker. In so doing my ds has been able to skip large chunks of problems because once he understands how to do the most difficult problem he didn't have a problem with the easier ones. I then give him some IP exercises to do on his own.

 

As for reading, I started letting him read independently for our reading time. I have been reluctant to stop him reading aloud to me because he has had a tendency to skip things and not try to sound out a unfamiliar word (he will guess at it). He does so much better than he did last year though. I'm going to go with a combination and see how it goes. But I did have a question - regarding speed reading. He is a natural speed reader as he doesn't read every word. I don't have a problem with that since I don't read every word either. I think he is too fast though so I may have to have some speed reading training. He read the last 2-3 chapters of a book (Number the Stars) in about 15 minutes. He wrote down a summary and listed the general ideas and had one detail wrong. The next day he read Esio Trot in about 15 minutes, but had some difficulty answering questions about the story. Turns out he skipped some whole pages while speed reading. I instructed him that he at least needs to read some words on each line. Any other advice?

 

Oh, and I started Sequential Spelling and have already seen him internalize some of the patterns. I did a pretest for the first 40 days so I'll compare the post-test to make sure we are gaining ground there.