"Challenged students need teachers who believe that
such kids can learn and that they can teach them."

Seven Suggestions for Kids who have been Left Behind (Page 2)

4. Set High Standards

These children need specific measurable standards to reach. They need to learn to read a selected story aloud as quickly as they normally speak (150 to 200 words per minute). They must spell well enough to be able to write 20 words per minute. They must compute a single digit math fact per second. Not meeting these standards with the most basic skills sets them up to fail on more difficult tasks. These are some of the many academic performance standards which have been developed over 30 years with hundreds of thousands of students nation-wide in Canada and the U.S.A.

5. Use Many Repetitions

Special needs children require many repetitions. Some children learn concepts or operations in a few attempts, some take dozens of tries, some require hundreds of repetitions, others need literally thousands of opportunities to learn a specific task. One significant difference between special needs students and their peers is in the number of repetitions. Teachers unwilling to invest the necessary time and energy for repetitions, and corrections cause further failure. The encouraging news is that each future task usually requires fewer repetitions than previous ones as the child learns how to learn. Remember, if the student didn't learn, the teacher didn't teach.

6. Provide Immediate Feedback

At-risk children need praise. Their efforts need encouragement, their correct answers, praise and their errors need another chance. Teachers should model the task, then lead the child through it and finally have the child do it. When they succeed, praise follows immediately.

7. Have Faith in Yourself and Your Child

Challenged students need teachers who believe that such kids can learn and that they can teach them. Low expectations limit children's horizons. Until you have mountains of evidence for every failed attempt, you cannot lower your objectives and expectations for these kids. You need more determination and better instruction for longer periods. Whether the child is in school or home-schooled, parents need close communication with the teacher. As teachers, homeschoolers have distinct advantages. They select programs, set environments, determine length and frequency of lessons, set and maintain standards, decide what and how much data to collect and manage, see progress and problems firsthand and initiate program changes. Teaching these kids is not rocket science. It is fairly easy to see their difficulties. Watching their attempts often suggests solutions. Finding alterative curriculum that actually works is sometimes the most difficult task of all. That's why were here.

The End

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