This child needs to talk aloud to learn

The child I am homeschooling has figured out that he needs to talk out loud to himself to work more efficiently.  He struggles to finish his math papers in a timely fashion.  He could not pass his timed math facts test.  Once he started saying his answers out loud as he took the test, his scores improved.
As he gains confidence in his ability to learn his math facts, I expect he will not need to talk as much.  I am learning to listen to how he needs to learn instead of how I want to teach. Success is easier for both of us.

Timing work for a struggling child

A friend of mine named Cindy told me about timing a child's work to help them succeed;. The child I homeschool took all day and could not get his work done.  I would spend an hour and a half to try to get his English finished.  We were both miserable.  I was not succeeding in teaching him.  Cindy suggested I try timing him and then moving on to the next subject when the time was over.  I gave him 10 minutes to do his English and then I assured him it was enough.  I put the paper back in my book to be worked on the next day.  At first, it took a week to do a day's work.  As I learned to accept what he could do, he grew more confident and could do more.  He was so concerned he was not doing the paper correctly he could not work. Now he can do a paper in two days and is close to finishing one day's lesson in one day.

Taking a photo on a cell phone to help write the answer

The child I am homeschooling struggles with spelling. Regardless of how much he tried he would misspell his answer and lose his place.  He decided that taking a picture of the word he needs on a cell phone and then copying it off the phone is easier than looking back and forth a few pages to spell the word.  This has made learning and getting his answers correct more efficient. This unusual tool and idea allows him to be successful when compensating for his learning challenges.  He is also using this idea to find answers to questions involving a map.

Can I finish my math problem?

The student I am homeschooling refused to allow me to read to him, two and a half years ago.  Today he asked his Dad if he could finish his math problem before they left.  There have been times I wanted to give up homeschooling this child.  Today, I was glad his parents and I have worked together to help this child learn.

Measuring a pencil with a paperclip

There is a problem in the Saxon 7/6 math book that asks the student how the student would measure their pencil with a paperclip.  The book's purpose is for the student to find out how many paperclips it takes to find the length of the pencil.  The student I am homeschooling asked if he could tell me how he would measure the pencil using a paperclip instead of writing the answer.  He believed the answer 

is to long to write.  I told him he could tell me but then he might still have to write it.  He would take the paper clip and unfold it to its extended length and then weld another paper clip to the first one until it was as long as the pencil.  This method will work. It is just not the expected answer. I explained to him the answer the book wanted.

Grandpa Teaches Austin to Color, ebook on Kindle,

This is about grandparents working with a grandchild that is struggling to color.  Hopefully the book will encourage others to help anyone they know struggling to learn.  The book can download on Kindle for free tomorrow November 5, 2014.  Otherwise, it will be 2.99.  Have fun reading.