(This is the first of a 4 Part Series)
Many educators who follow brain research believe that there are four "Learning Gates" that need to be properly functioning for a child to have an easy time learning.
The Four "Learning Gates" are:
- Visual processing
- Visual/motor processing (writing)
- Auditory processing
- Focus/attention processing
This article will review information regarding the first "learning gate" -
VISUAL PROCESSING
Before you begin evaluating your child, you should know that once the process is complete you may be faced with a fundamental choice:
compensation or
correction. Many educational experts debate whether it is more beneficial to help a struggling learner compensate for the learning processes that are difficult, or if time and effort should be spent in the pursuit of a correction of the processing problem.
An example of compensation would be for a child to use a keyboard at a very young age to write papers when he or she struggles with handwriting. A correction would be to do a handwriting exercise that eliminates the reversed letters, for instance, and helps the child write more neatly. Another common compensation is to reduce the spelling list required at a grade level for a child who is struggling with spelling. A correction would be to train the child's photographic memory so that the task of spelling is easier.
Many times this does not need to be a debate. One can easily pursue both compensation and correction simultaneously. Compensation makes the learning task easier while the correction reduces the stress in the child's learning system so that learning can flow. This is called "opening up the child's learning gate."
Learning Gate #1: Visual Processing
A child struggling with visual processing issues will display some of these characteristics:
- Reading reversals ("was" for "saw", "on" for "no", "big" for "dig", etc.) after initial introduction of the words
- Skipping of small words when reading
- Needing to use finger to track after age 7
- Oral reading that is smooth at the beginning of the page, but becomes more labored the longer a child reads
- Experiencing eye fatigue shortly after reading begins (watery eyes, rubbing eyes, etc.) This particular characteristic is also symptomatic of eye control problems - see article on "Vision Therapy" in HOTM's February 2008 issue
- Yawning shortly after reading begins
- Continuing to struggle even after being prescribed eye glasses (addressed in "Vision Therapy" article - February 2008 issue)
The following informal evaluations can be done at home to help a parent determine of a child is experiencing a blocked learning gate. Be sure, as well, to have your child's vision acuity checked by an optometrist or ophthalmologist to make sure that this is not the cause of the child's reading problem.
Eye tracking: With the child standing three feet in front of you, take an interesting object and slowly move it in a left-to-right manner in front of the child's eyes. Ask the child to keep his eyes on the target. Do this for about four swings of the target. Watch to see if the child's eyes skip any spot, or if they begin to water. Then slowly move the target in a horizontal figure-eight manner within the child's shoulder width, making sure that the target is not too close to the child's face. See if he can look in those various directions without skipping or his eyes looking stressed in any way. Make a note of your findings. There are specific exercises that can be done to strengthen a child's eye teaming abilities to reduce the stress in the visual learning system.
Cross crawl: Many times, younger children have difficulty reading because they aren't efficiently crossing the midline of their body. This is the process that normally occurs when a baby is crawling. However, some children develop a "learning gate" problem in this area because they did not crawl, or they crawled but had a traumatic even (such as a fall or back-to-back ear infections) that inhibited this natural process and made it much less effective.
Try this: Stand in front of the child and demonstrate the cross crawling movement by lifting the right knee and tapping it with the left hand, then doing the same with the left knee and right hand. Do this for a minute so the child can observe you. Then ask the child to do it also. Don't correct the child at first, but let him or her figure it out while you continue to do your cross crawl movements in from of him. If the child can't do it, and becomes frustrated, then you can start him out by having him march with his legs while you touch the opposite knee with his hands. After doing this for a bit, remove your hands from the child's hands and let him do this himself.
Make a note of your findings. If you confirm that your child has midline issues, there are specific things that you can do to address this problem.
Reading: It is believed that there are four components to reading successfully:
- Eye tracking ability
- Sight word memorization
- Phonics (letter sounds and word decoding ability)
- Reading comprehension
We can observe a child's oral reading to help us determine if eye tracking ability is contributing to the child's reading difficulties. If the child can read, have him read a passage, and carefully watch his eyes to see if he reads to the end of the line, and then starts the new line, but quickly darts back with his eyes to the last line to make sure that he is in the right spot. We all do this once in a while. Watch to see if the child does this frequently. This takes much more effort to read when this saccadic eye movement is occurring.
Also observe if the child begins reading the word "dig" by forming a "b" with his mouth first. Any time a child reverses a letter or word, six months after being taught to read, that is a sign of stress in the child's visual processing system. Make a note of your findings. There are specific things that can be done to make this process easier for your child.
Colored overlays: At times, a child will experience a mild problem reading black letters on a very white sheet of paper. It seems, to the child, that the white background of the paper is glowing and bright and distracting, making it difficult to see the black letters that compose the text.
One of the ways that you can informally determine if this is an issue is to obtain some plastic colored reading overlays (available at
http://www.diannecraft.org/.)
Have the child read a paragraph or a few lines. Then place a blue colored transparency over the next paragraph and have him read. Then place a green overlay over the next paragraph when the child is reading orally. Listen for subtle changes in fluency. Ask him what he experienced while reading with the various colors. Many times the child will say that a particular transparency acted as a magnifying glass, making the letters bigger, and easier to see. There are other colors that you could try, but after working with children in this manner for 25 years, Dianne Craft says that blue and green seem to be the colors that help most often.
If the child does markedly better with one of the colored overlays, continue to use it to reduce the visual stress that he is experiencing. However, it will only act as a temporary aid until you correct the underlying problem, which is lack of eye convergence. The eyes can be trained to work together as a team while reading by doing various home exercises, or by working with a vision therapist using both home and office exercises.
In conclusion, remember that many (most) learning problems appear to be something that they are not, or appear to be caused by something that "seems" obvious, but really isn't. Many (most) learning problems, are caused by situations that your child will usually not be able to describe to you, because he has no frame of reference other than his own, which may be skewed. It is very important that we take the time to utilize simple evaluations like those listed above. By doing so, we may be able to uncover a hidden skill deficiency that - when corrected - will make all the difference in the world to your young learner.
Also, don't forget to pray and ask God for much wisdom as you set out to discover what, if anything, is standing in the way of your child's academic success. He is able and willing to walk beside you as you equip your students to become all that He created them to be!
(Remember to look for the 3 upcoming articles in this series addressing the 4 "Learning Gates!")RESOURCES FOR CORRECTING VISION ACUITY/PROCESSING PROBLEMS
- Prescription eyeglasses
- Vision therapy from a developmental optometrist
- Brain integration therapy. (This program can be conducted at home.) For more information on this and other "Learning Gate" issues, visit" http://diannecraft.org/.
**(Compiled from an article by Dianne Craft - HSLDA Special Needs Coordinator)**
Darnelle is a wife and a mother to 5 children: 4 home schoolers who are currently in 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades and one who has graduated from home school and is a college sophomore. All 5 children have been home schooled from preschool. She has many years of teaching experience in public, private, parochial, and special schools, but her favorite . . . is home school! Her certification is in the areas of special education and remediation. In her column,
"Fill in the Blanks", Darnelle aims to assist parents in finding and then correcting the trouble spots that often cause academic problems and struggles. Children (and their parents) who are freed from the heavy burden of academic struggles can begin to love learning again - just like God intended! Visit her blog,
All Things Work Together.
Mother's Day is just around the corner and all of us here at Heart of the Matter would like to be the first to wish you a wonderful and joyous week in honor of all you do!
God dried up the brook which had nourished Elijah, then directed him to Zarephath. He told him there would be a widow who would sustain him there. He found the widow at the gate of the city where she was collecting sticks. She was preparing her final meal, as she was poor and had only enough food for only one meal for her family.
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