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| Date: From: Subject: | 8/12/2010 9:47:13 AM Home School Legal Defense Association HSLDA's Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner Newsletter--August 2010 |
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---------------------------------------------------------------- HSLDA's Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner Newsletter August 2010 -- A Powerful "Classroom" Exercise ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---[ Take the struggle out of spelling! ]----------------------------- Are you looking for the best way to teach spelling? All About Spelling brings clarity to spelling, with step-by-step lesson plans, multisensory learning, and built-in daily review. http://www.hslda.org/alink.asp?ID=242 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- by Dianne Craft, MA,CNHP HSLDA Special Needs Coordinator We know that God has wonderful plans for our children, because His word in Jeremiah 29:11 says so. But sometimes, as we work with a child who has a learning disability, a physical handicap, one with autism, or sensory processing problems, a child who has emotional outbursts or attention issues, or just a child who consistently is a struggling learner, we feel bereft of ideas. These children work so hard each day to learn and retain the material that seems so easy for their siblings that we can feel discouraged, and at times even desperate, as to what we can do to help them. Our heart aches with the desire to make things easier for them. We would like to do more, but don't know what to do. We are using all the good "programs" for them. Well, I want you to know that God hears your cry, and has a very powerful exercise that you can do with your children, struggling or not, to bring God on the scene every day. You may be doing something like this already. This will just encourage you then, and help clarify your thoughts. Pastor Joe Jordan tells of the daily practice of a teacher who was instructing children with learning disabilities in a Christian school. One of the mothers who had a child in this teacher's classroom related this information to him. Each day, as this teacher began a different class period, (such as reading, math, etc.) she would read five verses from the Bible that had to do specifically with healing. After each Bible verse, she would have the children repeat it after her. Then she made a few statements of faith, such as, "Thank you, Jesus, for bringing your word to pass in our lives." Then, at the beginning of the next class, she would follow the same procedure. The whole thing probably didn't take over three or four minutes. Often it seemed like the children were just doing this mindlessly, not paying any attention to what they were saying. In three weeks time, so much had happened that the mother of one of the students said to Pastor Jordan, "I want you to know that a miracle is happening in that classroom. So many children have been so dramatically changed that parents who don't even know of the teacher's approach have called in and told the principal that their child is so improved, and they attribute it to the expert handling and training of the teacher. A beautiful thing is happening in that classroom as the word is going forth. And my child is included in the blessings!" Shortly after hearing that story, another teacher from a Christian school came to Pastor Jordan and spoke to him. After hearing the above testimony, she approached him after the service and said, "I was so excited when you gave that testimony last evening. I've been doing the same thing without realizing it. I start each day with scriptures on a variety of subjects, and have the children repeat them after me. Although I don't continue it through the day, I repeat it each morning. I have noticed that many of the more struggling learners, who were so slow in their work, have so improved that there are very few I would even label struggling learners, or slow learners anymore. It's the first year I've had this kind of success. It must be God's word!" This is something any parent can institute at home. After all, God says in Proverbs 4:20, "My son (or daughter), attend to my words. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing and health to all their flesh." (Amplified text) The word "health" is better translated from the Hebrew language as "medicine." Therefore, if we take that in context, we could think about the fact that God's word becomes medicine to our flesh. There are many scriptures that you can choose from. You likely have your own favorites. However, if you would like the exact scriptures that the first teacher used for her students, here they are: > Proverbs 4:20-22 > Isaiah 53:5 > Matthew 8:17 > I Peter 2:24 > Psalm 107:20 On a personal note, after I had finished homeschooling my son, I went into the public school and taught in a classroom with children who were diagnosed with learning disabilities, behavior/attention problems, or just struggling learners who were considerably behind in their academics. I soon learned that, even with my special education degrees in this area, I needed help. I called on God each day for wisdom in teaching these wonderful children. I prayed for them at home, by name. However, in the classroom I also had them say daily "faith" statements aloud at the beginning of each class. These were middle schoolers, and this was a public school, so I didn't feel I could have them quote scriptures, but we got the concept of God's word as much as possible, without giving chapter and verse. Did it work? All I know is from the very first year I taught, I was given such good ideas from God, that these children almost always made a two-year growth in reading and writing. In fact, towards the end of my third year of teaching, the director of special education visited the principal and said that she thought that, "Mrs. Craft may be teaching the children the Woodcock/Johnson Test, since we don't see any other schools with these test results at the end of just one year. She has more children staffing out of special education than anybody else." This was cleared up, of course, since we gladly gave permission for the students to be tested by another examiner, using alternative tests. All was vindicated when the test results were the same as mine, and better in some cases. God is so faithful to watch over His word and perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). We know this. No matter what results we see, whether it is everything we are looking for or not, speaking God's powerful word with our children daily increases our faith and brings God's peace and presence to the day. For these testimonies, see Pastor Joe Jordan's Living Faith series. HSLDA's special needs coordinators are available to help you with any questions you have, as you work with your struggling learner or special need child at home. You may contact them by calling 540-338-5600 or emailing: specialneeds@hslda.org There are many ideas on www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner also. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Remember the last time you wrote a term paper? Research can be grueling-digging through archives, wading through articles, conducting interviews. But if it's related to homeschooling, you can relax a little. There's a good chance that you'll find what you're looking for in HSLDA's bimonthly Home School Court Report. Providing in-depth, insightful articles on much of what affects the world of homeschoolers, the Court Report is a must-read for the serious homeschooler. This publication is provided free to each HSLDA member. More reasons to join HSLDA... http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=1933 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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