Teaching to children

Teaching All Children | Reading Rockets

Today's schools must accommodate students from different ethnic groups, language groups, cultures, family situations, and social and economic situations, with different interests and purposes for learning, and different abilities and styles of learning.

In the face of all this diversity, schools can no longer operate as if one curriculum and way of teaching will fit most of the students. Instead, students can pursue a common set of curricular goals or learning standards, accomplishing them in different ways and sometimes to different degrees of mastery.

Make sure each student gets access to knowledge, skills, and information

Such access improves the life chances, available choices, and valued contributions of every person. It is also the central purpose of education, and all the goals and activities of inclusive schools revolve around this idea and its implications for students, families, educators, and communities.

Individually tailor learning

Children learn in lots of different places and in lots of different ways. The "teachers" in these environments help children and youth to understand and make connections among different experiences. They also use different approaches and strategies that personalize learning according to each person's learning abilities, needs, styles, purposes, and preferences.

Inclusive schools make sure that each student is challenged to achieve to high standards in ways that fit what they already know, what they can already do, and how they learn best.

Use collaborative teaching arrangements

No one teacher can be skillful at teaching so many different students. She needs a little help from her colleagues. When teachers with different areas of expertise and skill work together, they can individually tailor learning better for all their students.

Collaborate with families, agencies, and other community members

Schools, like teachers, cannot do everything alone. Collaboration with other agencies to provide needed health and social services is just one way that schools can be more comprehensive and supportive of students' lives. Including community members and organizations in the day-to-day work of the school is another way that school resources can be enriched and extended to achieve more effective learning and life outcomes for each student.

Organize and structure schools flexibly

Schools need to be organized in ways that are adaptable to the needs of teachers and students. Good schools also need seamless partnerships. Families, community members, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers must work together to address real world problems and create solutions that will improve schools. Innovative schedules, school teams, mixed age teams, and other options all offer opportunities for educators to flexibly respond to student differences.

Hold high expectations for student success

People in schools must believe in, recognize, and value the contributions and talents of every student. All students are entitled to high expectations and challenging curriculum that lead to the same broad educational outcomes regardless of their race, class, culture, ability, gender, language, or family circumstances.

Such schools use lots of ways to demonstrate that students learn and use their learning. Performance and alternative assessments, student-led conferences, student goal-setting, exhibitions, and other curriculum-based measurements are all innovative ways to document and share students' learning accomplishments.

Keep improving

Schools must collect and use information that will keep improving all parts of the system. Families need information that keeps them meaningfully engaged in their children's education. Teachers need information that helps improve student learning. Policymakers need information that helps improve schools overall.

Build inclusive communities

Inclusive schools are important because they support learning and achievement. They are also important because the philosophy of acceptability and flexibility that guides inclusive schools is one that we also need in our communities.

Children and youth spend only a small part of their lives in schools. Yet after the home, the school is an important influence in shaping the lives of children, both while young and for the rest of their lives. The foundation that schooling and parenting lay lasts for life.

Inclusive schools help build inclusive communities where people's differences are valued, where each member gets supported to contribute, and where the human values created as a result support our societies to achieve our most important outcomes.

Strategies Teachers Use to Help Kids Who Learn and Think Differently

Your child’s teachers may use a variety of teaching strategies in their classrooms. But do these strategies help kids who learn and think differently?

There’s no one way for teachers to deliver instruction to their students. However, some strategies are backed by research and are more effective than others.

These approaches and techniques can benefit all students. But they’re especially helpful to kids who learn and think differently. They can make a big difference in how well struggling students take in and work with information. (Some may even be used as formal accommodations in and .)

You may have heard of one or more of these strategies from your child’s classroom or special education teachers. If not, you can ask the teachers whether they use the strategies and how you might adapt them to use at home.

Here are six common teaching strategies. Learn more about what they are and how they can help kids who learn and think differently.

1. Wait time

“Wait time” (or “think time”) is a three- to seven-second pause after a teacher says something or asks a question. Instead of calling on the first students who raise their hand, the teacher will stop and wait.

This strategy can help with the following issues:

Slow processing speed: For kids who process slowly, it may feel as though a teacher’s questions come at rapid-fire speed. “Wait time” allows kids to understand what the teacher asked and to think of a response.
ADHD: Kids with ADHD can benefit from wait time for the same reason. They have more time to think instead of calling out the first answer that comes to mind.

2. Multisensory instruction

Multisensory instruction is a way of teaching that engages more than one sense at a time. A teacher might help kids learn information using touch, movement, sight and hearing.

This way of teaching can help with these issues:

Dyslexia: Many programs for struggling readers use multisensory strategies. Teachers might have students use their fingers to tap out each sound in a word, for example. Or students might draw a word in the air using their arm.
Dyscalculia: Multisensory instruction is helpful in math, too. Teachers often use hands-on tools like blocks and drawings. These tools help kids to “see” math concepts. Adding 2 + 2 is more concrete when you combine four blocks in front of you. You may hear teachers refer to these tools as manipulatives.
Dysgraphia: Teachers also use multisensory instruction for handwriting struggles. For instance, students use the sense of touch when they write on “bumpy” paper.
ADHD: Multisensory instruction can help with different ADHD symptoms. That’s especially true if the technique involves movement. Being able to move can help kids burn excess energy. Movement can also help kids focus and retain new information.

3. Modeling

Most kids don’t learn simply by being told what to do. Teachers use a strategy called “I Do, We Do, You Do” to model a skill. The teacher will show how to do something (“I do”), such as how to do a math problem. Next, the teacher will invite kids to do a problem with the teacher (“we do”). Then, kids will try a math problem on their own (“you do”).

This strategy can help with these issues:

All learning and thinking differences: When used correctly, I Do, We Do, You Do can benefit all learners. That’s because a teacher can provide support during each phase. However, teachers must know what support to provide. They also need to know when students understand a concept well enough to work on their own. Think of it like riding a bike: The teacher needs to know when to take off the training wheels.

4. Graphic organizers

Graphic organizers are visual tools. They show information or the connection between ideas. They also help kids organize what they’ve learned or what they have to do. Teachers use these tools to “scaffold,” or provide support around, the learning process for struggling learners. (It’s the same idea as when workers put up scaffolding to help construct a building.)

There are many different kinds of graphic organizers, such as Venn diagrams and flow charts. They can be especially helpful with these issues:

Dyscalculia: In math, graphic organizers can help kids break down math problems into steps. Kids can also use them to learn or review math concepts.
Dysgraphia: Teachers often use graphic organizers when they teach writing. Graphic organizers help kids plan their ideas and writing. Some also provide write-on lines to help kids space their words.
Executive functioning issues: Kids with weak executive skills can use these tools to organize information and plan their work. Graphic organizers can help kids condense their thoughts into short statements. This is useful for kids who often struggle to find the most important idea when taking notes.

5. One-on-one and small group instruction

One strategy that teachers use is to vary the size of the group they teach to. Some lessons are taught to the whole class. Others are better for a small group of students or one student. Learning in a small group or one-on-one can be very helpful to kids with learning and thinking differences.

Some kids are placed in small groups because of their IEPs or an intervention. But that’s not always the case. Teachers often meet with small groups or one student as a way to differentiate instruction. This means that they tailor the lesson to the needs of the student.

This strategy helps with:

Dyslexia: Students with dyslexia frequently meet in small group settings for reading. In the general classroom, teachers often work with a small group of kids at the same reading level or to focus on a specific skill. They might also meet because kids have a common interest in a book.
Dyscalculia: For kids with dyscalculia, teachers gather one or more students to practice skills that some students (but not the whole class) need extra help with.
Dysgraphia: In many classrooms, teachers hold “writing conferences.” They meet with students one-on-one to talk about their progress with what they’re writing. For students with dysgraphia, a teacher can use this opportunity to check in and focus on specific skills for that student.
ADHD and executive functioning issues: This type of instruction often takes place in settings with fewer distractions. The teacher can also help students stay on task and learn skills like self-monitoring.
Slow processing speed: Teachers can adjust the pace of instruction to give students the time they need to take in and respond to information. In these groups, teachers can focus on the priorities of the lesson so students have the time to grasp the most important concepts. Being in a focused setting may also help decrease the anxiety students feel in whole-class lessons.

6. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies

UDL is a type of teaching that gives all students flexible ways to learn and succeed. UDL strategies allow kids to access materials, engage with them and show what they know in different ways. There are many examples of how these strategies help kids who learn and think differently.

ADHD: UDL allows students to work in flexible learning environments. For students who struggle with inattention and distractibility, a teacher might allow a student to work in a quiet space away from the class. Or the student may want to wear earbuds or headphones.
Executive functioning issues: Following directions can be tough for kids with executive functioning issues. One UDL strategy is to give directions in more than one format. For instance, a teacher might give directions out loud and write them on the board.
Dyslexia: When teachers follow UDL principles, they present information in many different ways. For instance, instead of telling students they must read a book, they would be invited to listen to an audiobook. This removes a barrier for students who struggle with reading.
Dysgraphia: One UDL strategy is to give assignment choices. Kids with dysgraphia may struggle to show how much they know about history by writing an essay. But they may shine when delivering a presentation or acting out a historical skit.

To learn more about any of these teaching strategies, talk with your child’s teacher. Ask which strategies they use, whether they are evidence-based and how you might use them at home.

Key takeaways

Some teaching strategies may be part of a child’s IEP or 504 plan.
The strategies aim to give kids needed support as they learn.
Talk with your child’s teachers about the strategies they use.

Drawing by dots for children

Drawing by dots for children of lines, figures and animals. Draw by dots to develop writing skills.

Beautiful handwriting and successful learning to write depends on the correct use of a pencil, skillful pressure and the ability to draw lines of various shapes. Start by learning dotted lines and shapes, and then have your child dotted animals and color them.

Prompted
Lines

Drawing by dots, developing skills gradually

Drawing lines with a pencil or pen is an excellent practice that helps to accustom your hand to writing, develop small muscles, teach your baby to hold something firmly.

The dotted line serves as a guide and helps the child, because at any time you can slow down the speed of drawing, increase or decrease the pressure on the pencil, without spoiling the picture, and therefore without losing interest. nine0003

As soon as the child learns to draw lines, straight lines and all kinds of waves, move on to figures, and then to animals. The curves of the dotted lines will develop enough drawing skill to start learning the spelling of letters and numbers.

Tips for using suggested materials

When offering a printed material with a picture on which you want to draw something in dots, first ask the child to trace the lines with the index finger of his right hand (or left, if the child is left-handed). Then ask him to draw with his finger not on the sheet, but as if in the air above the picture. Repeat the exercise several times, and then complete the task with a pencil. nine0003

When the child learns to draw with dots with a pencil, offer him a pen or marker.

Pay attention to dotting animals without taking your hand off the paper.

How else to develop fine motor skills besides drawing by dots?

If for some reason your child is not interested in dot-to-dot materials, you can have fun developing fine motor skills in other ways.

String large beads together on strings or sort through beads; nine0008
Stick a large sheet of paper or old wallpaper on the wall and have your child draw their own pictures on the sheet. Drawing on a vertical surface requires more effort and pens train faster;
As soon as your child is already strong enough to hold small things in his hands and does not let go of them with a slight pull, start teaching him to tie shoelaces or weave braids from any ribbons or ropes;
If you read newspapers or magazines, give your child a marker and have him circle all the headlines with it; nine0008
Good grip between thumb and index finger is most easily developed by transferring beans or even peas from one bowl to another using only two fingers, not the whole hand.
Frosty windows or misted bathroom mirrors are great places to learn how to draw with your index finger.

If you wish, you can use each of the ways to develop your child's fine motor skills in everyday life, this will help him learn to write faster in the future. nine0003

Go to Kids Education

Spot the Differences Pictures for Kids

What mother wouldn't want her little one to be the smartest and most talented? The tireless curiosity of little fidgets helps them to master this complex and at the same time interesting world. The seething energy that touches us so much in children can be directed in a constructive direction by loving parents. Daily activities with mom will not only develop the child, but will also give you delightful moments of intimacy with your own little man. nine0002 Everyone who has worked with a child at least once faced the need to use visual materials. This is understandable, every researcher needs to see everything with his own eyes, even better - to try by touch. Therefore, in order to interest the little one for some reason, you need to offer him a solid arsenal of educational toys.

On our site you will find high-quality materials on topics that are understandable and in demand by the child. You can print them on a color printer and reinforce them with cardboard. To make such cards last longer, it is better to laminate them, so they will suffer less from the research activity of the baby. nine0003

Known since childhood, the game "Find the Differences" is always popular with all children. Its rules are simple and clear: the child is offered two seemingly identical pictures in which you need to find different details. A similar task can be offered to both very young children and older children. The detail of the drawing, the complexity of the tasks, the number of differences - all this makes the game relevant at any age. Attentive eyes and tiny fingers will be interested in looking for differences in the two pictures. nine0003

For most parents, this game is aimed at developing the child's attention. However, this is far from the only aspect she coaches. With its help, counting skills are instilled, for example, the difference in the number of small elements in the picture. After all, with his first steps in mathematics, a child pleases and touches his parents no less than with his first conscious words. The ability to count aloud will also be required for the baby to list the differences already found and find out how many are left. nine0003

Discussing a picture with a parent, the child learns to describe what he sees, develops oral speech and the ability to coherently express his thoughts. And the fascinating stories that you and him will compose about the heroes of the images will be a real joy for both of you.

Differences can be made in the form of different shapes or colors of individual parts. In this case, the baby will remember and repeat the names of colors and geometric shapes.

Our "Spot the Difference" pictures will help organize a fun and rewarding pastime for your baby and give you many delightful moments of communication with your child.