Many parents and educators have asked the question, "How do we deal with our FHS children in school situations?" There have been several positive situations in which the following procedures were key:
1. SCHEDULE Floating Harbor children obviously have problems with their endocrine syster; the glands and hormones which affect growth, metabolism, weight gain, bone growth etc. This system also helps our bodies adapt to change-- which is a problem for FHS children. Keeping them on as regular a schedule as possible is highly important. They function much better when the same subjects are taught in the same order at the same time of day. They also do better if they know when, and for how long they will have their breaks. If something IS going to be different, let them know well in advance and remind them often of the upcoming change.
2. MOTIVATION FHS children do better with some type of motivation. This can be both positive and negative. If they are told they can't play video games, watch TV, etc. until all their schoolwork is done you might be surprised how quickly they can get it finished. They also need positive encouragement and to be rewarded when a job has been well-done. A special snack or small prize could be sufficient.
3. REPETITION It seems that is takes FHS much longer to internalize concepts. It might take them YEARS of practicing subtraction problems until they really "get it." A few teachers have accomplished this by moving "sideways" across different curricula. For instance, if by lesson 30 they are not able to keep up with the work, go to another curriculum or workbook and start with lesson 1. Work up to as far as they are able until they hit another "wall" and are not able to do anymore. THEN, either go back to lesson 31 from the FIRST curriculum, OR start a third one and work up to where they are able, THEN go back to the first or second one. This gives the child the chance to work at a pace much more suitable to their level of learning AND gives them a sense of accomplishment. They feel that they are to do some work without getting overwhelmed or frustrated.
4. CURRICULUM The work itself has to be "palatable". If they are given 3-4 pages full of tiny little math problems you don't stand a chance of them getting much of it done at all. Instead, chose curricula that are colorful and large with only a few problems on each page. If this is STILL overwhelming to them then have them do half the problems, then finish the rest after a break or the next day. This way they are still learning, progressing and accomplishing something, but at a rate more suitable to their learning capabilities.
Note: Make sure that they aren't being over-dramatic. If their favorite thing to do after school is to watch a video and they go 2-3 days with no video then you KNOW they are being asked to do too much. The opposite is also true. They may whine and complain when they are fully capable of doing the work. Apply #2 in this case and figure out what is really going on.
5. MANIPULATIVES FHS children thrive on kinesthetic activities. The more manipulatives used the better they will do. WHile the ones for math are more obvious, flash cards can be used for sign language, speech or phonics, rocks and leaves or nature walks for science (they also love the little electronic kits), and using computer programs have all worked successfully with FHS children.
Suggested curricula or workbooks for at-home or school use:
*Sing, Spell, Read and Write (Pearson Education) Bright, colorful workbooks starting at Pre-K. The entire program is a little expensive, but the individual workbooks are reasonable, effective and very "palatable" and fun too.
*Singapore Math This math program focuses on doing fewer problems with different ways of processing the information. This also uses several manipulatives.
*Rod and Staff Math Uses ducks in a pond for counting, take 2 days to do one workbook page.
*Stages Learning Materials Picture cards for sign language, flash cards with animals, careers, food, objects etc.
*Touch Math Dots on the numbers help students count and visualize the numbers and their values.
*Good Literature with interesting stories and pictures. Excellent book list at sonlight.com
For more information please contact the FHS support group at :
www.floatingharborsyndromesupport.com
