Teaching a visual-spatial learner

[Insertcreativenamehere]

I'm learning that my son (going into 2nd grade) is a visual-spatial learner. He is a smart kid, reading at a 3rd-4th grade level and advanced in math as well. He is left-handed, struggles with handwriting and would much prefer to do all of his work orally. Despite his strong reading skills, he will not read chapter books because he says there is too much print -- but he is happy to listen to audiobooks or to read books that contain plenty of pictures. We pulled him out of school in the first month of school because he had so much anxiety and would melt down at things like having to write his name. He is a dreamer, but definitely has perfectionist tendencies and has a hard time trying new things because he is afraid of failing. He loves Legos and video games and is quite talented at both. 

 

I guess I'm looking for tips from others who have kids with a similar learning style. Are there certain curricula that have worked better for you than others? How do you accommodate your child's unique learning style at home? 

 

Thanks in advance!

[OneStepAtATime]

Hi!  Hopefully you will get lots of responses but before getting into curriculum, I would like to ask, if you don't mind, have you had any evaluations?  It sounds like your child may have dysgraphia and possibly a developmental vision issue.  Have you read up on learning challenges like those?

[Princess Ariel]

Have you seen this website?

 

http://www.visual-learners.com/

 

Lots of articles, etc., on these types of learners. There may not exactly be a specific type of curriculum but you might find suggestions on how to make things  work for your ds.

[Insertcreativenamehere]

No, we haven't had any evaluations done yet but that is a good idea. His kindergarten teacher said that he was very distractible in class and suggested the possibility of ADHD/inattentive. We did school at home (through a VA) for most of first grade and that helped his anxiety level tremendously. We'll be homeschooling independently for 2nd grade so we have much more flexibility to accommodate his specific needs with a learning environment where he can learn best. 

 

I'll do some research on dysgraphia and developmental vision issues. He actually has fairly good handwriting but has so much anxiety about actually writing. As for vision, we did find out this spring that his eyesight is quite bad and he needs to wear glasses 100% -- but will look into developmental vision issues, too.

 

Great ideas. Thank you.

[OneStepAtATime]

You might read The Mislabeled Child by Brock and Fernette Eide and Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner by Kathy Kuhl and see if anything in those books speaks to you....

[kbutton]

My son who has terrible vision (and got glasses kind of late at 4) took a little longer to enjoy reading for pleasure, and while he's at a good level, he doesn't like crowded pages either. We are working on endurance, and if he wants to read a few picture books scattered throughout the day rather than a chapter book, I am okay with that for now--we can find a lot of picture books that slowly up his reading level and endurance, and as long as he perceives himself as being successful and perceives the reading as fun, he continues to read. His comfy reading level is Frog and Toad, but when we read aloud from Caddie Woodlawn, he can read a paragraph at a time with few helps. We're watching the developmental vision angle, but I think it's just tiring for him. His vision was so poor for so long that I think he just got used to not looking at things that took effort. He's also my ninja learner--he wants to discover something and go off in a corner to hone his skill (reading, writing, math facts, anything). He doesn't want to have to check in with me as often. If your son isn't struggling, I think it's great to check the boxes and be sure nothing is wrong, but it's also okay to let him try things his own way (like no chapter books) for now. He might also just really enjoy the story more if he hears it--my older son is very auditory, and he LOVES to listen to books and picture things. Another option if you want him to read, but it's not his thing, is outright bribery. As long as he is free to do it or not, it might work really well without making him feel coerced. My older son was in school for three years, and he had a first grade teacher that offered very powerful incentives to read. He really thrived with that.

 

Kudos for recognizing and working on anxiety. My older son is that way, and if he is anxious, he just doesn't learn. Quelling the anxiety will gain you some significant traction. If the anxiety has a pattern, he could be perfectionistic about the subject, or he may need you to "prove" to him (gently) that he is competent (esp. if he is an all-or-nothing sort of thinker). It could mean he has a difficulty in that area that he is covering really well--my son is quite good at math, but some days are just not math days. Those days are struggles no matter how good he is at math (he has Asperger's, so it's a global problem, not math specific). Just some thoughts. It sounds like you are on the right track.

[mommymonster]

Wow! I think our sons were cut from the same bolt of cloth! My son is just a year older, though. We pulled him out of public school the third month of first grade.

 

I would concur heartily on a developmental optometrist (COVD.org) assessment. DS8 also refused to read chapter books due to there being too many words on a page. We also had trouble with second grade math when starting to add two- and three-digit numbers with  renumbering -- too many things visual going on. 

 

We have a neuro psych eval and an OT eval coming up for the writing/dysgraphia issues. We tried typing this summer, which was painful, so we're saving up for an iPad and hoping that talk-to-text helps. 

 

The melting down, for DS8, was caused by a cocktail of anxiety about having to write, fear of failure, and perfection. Modeling "screwing up" has been really helpful. That is, me doing things incorrectly, clapping my forehead, saying "Oops, made a mistake!" and then doing it over. 

 

For the right brain quirkiness that we're seeing (being unable to spell and memorize math facts), I've embraced the book Unicorns Are Real. It's a strange book, but we're very slowly moving forward on math facts with it. For math, we're using McRuffy Color Math. It is colorful, but not visually overwhelming for him (Singapore and Math Mammoth were *huge* failures due to clutter). Also, there's only one page of writing per day. He can deal with that amount of writing (and I scribe a bit for him as well). There are also a number of things we did in vision therapy that are used in the curriculum, which we use for reinforcing. We're trying MCT Island this year for language arts. Haven't used it yet, but we already like it due to the fact that there are lots of photos and not a lot of words on each page. It also has a story line, which is a great way for DS to learn anything. Spelling we're limping along with Apples and Pears. It's slow going because of the writing limitations. I'm considering shelving it to do a Dianne Craft suggestion of writing out words on cards and having him take mental pictures with them. Her website explains it much more eloquently. History we do SOTW with the activity guide and lots of living history supplements. Science is TOPS Lentil Science, which is a ridiculous pain in the hind-end to put together, but a remarkable program. It has good math cross-over, as well. Handwriting, I'm going to try Dianne Crafts Writing 8s thing. We've done HWOT for the past few years and have not seen real progress with it. 

 

In any case, hopefully this is useful. 

[OneStepAtATime]

By the way, my DD13 is a visual-spatial learner.  She enjoys manga comics and graphic novels.  Sometimes the stories have quite a bit of depth and she loves the artwork so it keeps her engaged but doesn't overwhelm her with piles of words stuck close together on a page with a sea of other words (her description).  You might look at something like that.  Just screen them.  Some are more for teenagers and adults, not kids.  She also has dyslexia, though, so that was a factor, too.

[Alte Veste Academy]

My DS11 is definitely a VSL. He probably would have had an ADHD diagnosis if I had sent him to school. At home, I take a strength based POV. Check your library for...

 

The Myth of ADHD

 

Superparenting for ADHD

 

Dreamers, Discoverers, and Dynamos

 

Upside Down Brilliance.

 

Those are my favorites.

 

This DS is very "whole to parts." For him this means that in order for learning to be optimal, he needs to know the big picture going in. Once you give him that big picture, he will learn minutiae and it sticks for good. Without that big picture, it doesn't stick. He prefers learning from whole books and I mostly let him select what interests him from my (pre-vetted) lists and piles.

 

My DS8 was somewhat resistant to chapter books until DH let him use his Kindle Paperwhite. He adjusted the text size and the books are less intimidating because they come at you one little page at a time.

[wapiti]

http://www.visualspatial.org/articles.php

[OneStepAtATime]

This DS is very "whole to parts." For him this means that in order for learning to be optimal, he needs to know the big picture going in. Once you give him that big picture, he will learn minutiae and it sticks for good. Without that big picture, it doesn't stick. He prefers learning from whole books and I mostly let him select what interests him from my (pre-vetted) lists and piles.

 

My DS8 was somewhat resistant to chapter books until DH let him use his Kindle Paperwhite. He adjusted the text size and the books are less intimidating because they come at you one little page at a time.

Yes, both of my kids need whole to parts.  This is one of the reasons why book series are good for them.  The characters and the big picture are already established by the second book so they don't have to work as hard creating the framework of the story.  Having that big picture really does help the information to stick much more effectively.  They are terrible at remembering anything if only the pieces are presented first.

 

And the Kindle Fire has worked here because we can do Immersion Reading with a lot of DS's books.  He sees the word being read and it is highlighted as it is being read.  The audio is usually much much better than text to speech.  And we can adjust the font.

 

Personally, though, I prefer my 1st generation Kindle with e-paper since it is easier on my eyes.

 

DD prefers real books, though, because she loves the feel of the paper and looking at the cover art upon occasion.  But she fatigues easily with regular books so she reads in short chunks.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Yes, both of my kids need whole to parts.  This is one of the reasons why book series are good for them.  The characters and the big picture are already established by the second book so they don't have to work as hard creating the framework of the story.  Having that big picture really does help the information to stick much more effectively.  They are terrible at remembering anything if only the pieces are presented first.

 

And the Kindle Fire has worked here because we can do Immersion Reading with a lot of DS's books.  He sees the word being read and it is highlighted as it is being read.  The audio is usually much much better than text to speech.  And we can adjust the font.

 

Personally, though, I prefer my 1st generation Kindle with e-paper since it is easier on my eyes.

 

DD prefers real books, though, because she loves the feel of the paper and looking at the cover art upon occasion.  But she fatigues easily with regular books so she reads in short chunks.

So. . . are there any series books that teach history - preferably at a middle school level for a visual spacial learner?  

[OneStepAtATime]

So. . . are there any series books that teach history - preferably at a middle school level for a visual spacial learner?  

Well, there are quite a few, but some are more historically accurate than others.  I am talking historical fiction, by the way.  Do you have a particular historical period in mind?

[1shortmomto4]

I'm a mom to a VSL/RB learner - keep reading up on it and you'll find that these little guys are tender hearted fellows and they take a wee bit more time to mature.  My ds is entering 6th and although his math and reading skills are at or above grade level, finding what works to keep him challenged is another thing all together.  I found that All About Reading was a good fit - hands on, visual and you can do as much or as little as your child desires.  You have to keep things moving along and always interesting - one step ahead of the game.  Math is particularly challenging because they don't do well with memorizing things and doing lots and lots of problems over and over - bogs them down and gets them easily discouraged.  I find when we are learning a new math skill we take a break and do something fun for awhile.  I check out math story books from the library or even work through a Life of Fred book.  They are able to grasp advanced math skills faster than you think (Hands on Equations with algebra) but try teaching them to divide is another story. 

 

This past spring Math U See (a good math option but go fast or slower depending on your learner) they brought a new spelling program to the market called Spelling U See.  I was hesitant at first because my guy doesn't like writing and this includes copywork but boy has he done wonders with that program.  Just enough visual cues (highlighting word ends/vowel combos) and he works hard on making it correct the first time through.  These kiddos need only see something new once or twice and then it is in their brain for ever - no need to do constant review, review, review.  You'll notice that your child will tend to look up into the sky as they are trying to recall something and this is their way of searching their brain for the picture of the item they're trying to recall.

 

My guy doesn't enjoy reading but books that I found with accompanied audio CDs were great.  He has enjoyed the Geronimo Stilton books - combination of cartoon and words and lots of comic books.  Save the heavy reading for reading class and encourage enjoyment of reading.  Check out the comic book section of your library - you'd be surprised.  Once they get interested you can move on to more challenging books.

 

I've had great results this year with Nancy Larsen science.  Yes, cost is high but if I had just bought this program to begin with I would have saved more money by not buying all the stuff that didn't work.  My ds also enjoyed SL science - a nice mix of some print on a worksheet and hands-on (the DVDs offered at SL were nice).  Science Shepard has a new science out this year that offers video with it and my ds really enjoyed the sample.  You might check into that, too.

 

And remember to work on the creative side - art.  They really are creative in this area so anytime they can draw or do a creative project with what they are learning you'll find retention and enjoyment.  Plastic soldiers to set up and recreate battles, for example.  Playmobil is a great for this and their toys are wonderful.  Also, work on creative thinking - look at Timberdoodle and check out their hands-on games like Rush Hour or Equilibrio.  These things go a far way in stimulating this brilliant minds!