I know that you shouldn't judge one child against another, but sometimes it simply stares you in the face demanding an acknowledgment. Well, it would seem that my second child is MUCH easier to teach then my first, and it's not just because I've learned from my first.
I should have guessed it though. Bailey was also a MUCH easier baby. She's more laid back, logical, not prone to anxiety, definitely not a perfectionist, and loves to show up her sister whenever the opportunity presents itself. What's more, her brain works a lot like mine. So, as long as she wants to do school, she should be really easy. She already does her work in less then half the time that it used to take Sierra to do the same thing back in kindergarten, and there have been no blow-ups, yet.
Sierra, however, has decided that she knows better then I do how to do things. She will refuse to listen when I try to explain things, tell me I'm wrong, and throw a fit if I make her do something "unfamiliar". When I do explain "difficult concepts" to her (in her mind anyway-which is what matters, I know), she incorporates it only long enough to figure out her own method of solving the problems, then forgets it, thinking her method is superior, because it's "easier". For this reason, I have had to explain place value (one's, tens, hundreds, etc) a number of times, each time with a tantrum and struggle. It also makes me dread showing her anything new or unusual. Very annoying.
Sigh. It makes me wonder what my youngest is going to be like. He's shown signs of being more like his oldest sister, and that's not a happy thought as far as school goes. Oh well, at least I'll know better how to handle him.
1 comment:
Have you tried feeding Sierra eggs? I know, I know. Sounds nutty. It's not really.
For families with adults with ADD, this kind of resistant behavior is actually the norm.
So why eggs?
Eggs are LOADED with l-tyrosine, which is a precursor to dopamine, which can effectively treat this kind of behavior, much to both the mother and the child's relief.
Peanut butter works, too.
You feed it to the kid at the beginning of the day. It works within 15 minutes or so, and then has to be repeated 3-4 times throughout the day to make the effect last.
If eggs or peanut butter have a noticeable effect, you can try powdered l-tyrosine (from vitamin cottage or whole foods). It works best with fish oil and a once-a-day vitamin supplement that contains copper (or have the kid wear a copper bracelet or ring--it absorbs through the skin). Powdered l-tyrosine is grainy--it's best swallowed in jam, according to my kids.
Another thing that works for some kids is having the kid learn while they're standing up or just after they run laps or do something else extremely active.
I finally gave up and started on an online curriculum--Caleb responded better to having someone else teach him, and to the video/computer game format, which stimulated the right parts of his brain better. And then he did eventually grow out of it.
Post a Comment