Techniques to pick-up more from instruction

[Haken]

I'm wondering if there are techniques that can be taught to a child that will help the child pick-up more from instruction. In the past I realized that while the child may be nodding or saying yes when being taught, nothing is actually heard. Hence it seems better to ask direct questions to focus the attention instead of lecturing. At homeschool this is fine. However, I'm wondering more when the child is attending outside classes. Are there techniques that a middle school child can use to pick up more from instruction? Thank you.

[wendyroo]

6 minutes ago, Haken said:

I'm wondering if there are techniques that can be taught to a child that will help the child pick-up more from instruction. In the past I realized that while the child may be nodding or saying yes when being taught, nothing is actually heard. Hence it seems better to ask direct questions to focus the attention instead of lecturing. At homeschool this is fine. However, I'm wondering more when the child is attending outside classes. Are there techniques that a middle school child can use to pick up more from instruction? Thank you.

Taking notes...preferably good notes, but initially any notes.

[Storygirl]

Yes to note taking. My son who sits in class and learns nothing also has trouble taking notes and will not do it unless required to by the teacher, so note-taking is really something that the child themself has to be committed to doing.

Pre-loading the vocabulary and basic information can help a LOT. By introducing the material before the class lectures start, the student has a headstart and may be able to absorb more. This requires teachers to cooperate with parents, though, so it can be tricky to accomplish. It's part of DS's IEP but is still difficult to achieve.

Reviewing and reteaching the information can help a lot. A parent can do this at home by staying on top of what the class at school is doing. But it requires the child to agree to working harder at home on things that aren't specifically assigned as homework. So again, it takes the child's cooperation or a lot of willpower on the parent's part to require an unwilling child to do it.

You can also reread things at home. We used to reread all of DS's middle school English class material with him at home. His middle school intervention teacher would also reread it, so he would get multiple exposures. You can do this for other classes, as well, though it's not as easy now that schools aren't usually providing textbooks.

As a parent, familiarize yourself with the school's online classroom portals and stay up to date with things posted for the classes.

Request to get study guides early, to have more time to study for the test. We request them at the beginning of units, not the end (but don't always get them). You can ask to have study guides that are already filled in. You can ask to have copies of teacher notes of lectures. You can ask to have word banks provided for quizzes and tests if the student forgets vocabulary words. You would need to have a reason for these requests, though, and the reason is usually in an IEP.

Basically, the student who forgets material or needs more repetition to learn it needs more practice. Before, during, after instruction. Repeat repeat repeat.

This is no fun as a parent, I can tell you. It's important to get the school onboard with providing parents with resources, or, preferrably but often hard to make happen, get the teachers to provide the extra instruction. A child who needs this help probably needs an IEP, though there would probably need to be more going on for a school to think an IEP is needed. Accommodations like teacher's notes can be part of an IEP or a 504. Sometimes teachers will gladly provide them for the whole class, instead of just the IEP students, but usually you would need to have it documented that it's needed.

[wendyroo]

19 minutes ago, Storygirl said:

Yes to note taking. My son who sits in class and learns nothing also has trouble taking notes and will not do it unless required to by the teacher, so note-taking is really something that the child themself has to be committed to doing.

Yes, my ADHD kiddos have a lot of trouble taking notes. So I have made that a major life skill that we start practicing early.

Starting in upper elementary, I have them practicing filling in guided notes that I make that correspond to short educational YouTube videos. So, for example, I watch an Amoeba Sisters video on the immune system and take fairly simple notes on the most important topics, concepts and vocab. Then I write these up leaving out key words and phrases. I have the kiddo watch the video at 75% speed as they try to fill in the notes. As they practice I leave more and more of the notes for them to fill in, perhaps just giving a heading and the correct number of bullets underneath. Eventually, I just sit with them and we both take notes on a video, and then compare and contrast our notes so they can see what a more experienced notetaker might include.

[Haken]

Thank you all for your advice. I'm wondering if you have also come across a note taking system that we can adapt? I'm hoping that if the child is actively and enjoyably taking notes, then the spacing out issues will also be mitigated.   

[Storygirl]

The dyslexia school that DD attended used the "two column note taking" method. You can google it to see examples. The disadvantage is that it wouldn't use standard notebook paper, so you would have to either find a source to purchase the paper or design your own.

If your child will be attending school, I would recommend talking to the school or teachers to see how they teach note taking. There is a good chance that they don't expect students to take notes the way that we used to. They might also have students use computers for note taking. But there may be schools that still teach it in the middle school level and expect it by high school.

If you think your child might enjoy note taking, I say explore that option as much as you can. On the other hand, if you are just hoping they will enjoy it, be prepared for it to go either way and have some other ideas as back up.

If they are really spacing out in class, I would also explore the possibility of ADHD, if you have not already.

Edited October 31, 2022 by Storygirl

[HomeAgain]

7 hours ago, Storygirl said:

The dyslexia school that DD attended used the "two column note taking" method. You can google it to see examples. The disadvantage is that it wouldn't use standard notebook paper, so you would have to either find a source to purchase the paper or design your own.

 

At this age, many are transitioning to tablets and computers.  It's much easier to use the 'table' feature in documents to create this and fill it in digitally.

If there's a record feature they can use, that's handy as well, especially when it comes to instructions or lectures.  It gives them a second chance to pass through the information later and add to the notes they took.

[Haken]

19 hours ago, Storygirl said:

The dyslexia school that DD attended used the "two column note taking" method. You can google it to see examples. The disadvantage is that it wouldn't use standard notebook paper, so you would have to either find a source to purchase the paper or design your own.

If your child will be attending school, I would recommend talking to the school or teachers to see how they teach note taking. There is a good chance that they don't expect students to take notes the way that we used to. They might also have students use computers for note taking. But there may be schools that still teach it in the middle school level and expect it by high school.

If you think your child might enjoy note taking, I say explore that option as much as you can. On the other hand, if you are just hoping they will enjoy it, be prepared for it to go either way and have some other ideas as back up.

If they are really spacing out in class, I would also explore the possibility of ADHD, if you have not already.

When I searched for two column note taking, it seems like there are many variations on what to put on the left and right columns. I'm wondering if you can please post a link to an example that is similar to what your DD's school uses? Thanks.

[kbutton]

I think one kind of two-column note taking is called Cornell notes if that helps you google some ideas.

[Storygirl]

12 hours ago, Haken said:

When I searched for two column note taking, it seems like there are many variations on what to put on the left and right columns. I'm wondering if you can please post a link to an example that is similar to what your DD's school uses? Thanks.

I'm sorry. I don't have an example to offer. It's been four years since she attended that school, and she doesn't use that style of note taking for herself any more.