Over the past ten years, I have learned about a whole array of classifications for disabilities. There are so many! One could get the impression that children are getting more and more broken, and we are developing more and more detailed labels for describing them.
All children fall somewhere on a spectrum from left-brained dominant to right-brained dominant in how their brains are wired to learn. It will benefit both children and teachers to understand the child’s unique wiring.
Say you have two children who are struggling with reading, one in kindergarten and one in sixth grade. Logic would dictate that the further behind the child is, the longer it will take them to catch up, but in my experience, it takes about the same amount of time for children in various grades.
When a child has given up, it is because he has failed frequently enough that he will fight doing anything that might produce another failure. The resulting behaviors should not be our focus. We must zero in on the underlying sense of discouragement and helplessness and purpose to do anything in our power to help.
If we can get a child who has failed repeatedly to try one more time, it is supremely important that he achieve success with the new approaches to learning you are using. What follows are some suggestions for ensuring success for your discouraged child.
