Homeschooling ADD Kids

For the past two weeks we have been doing a unit study based on Japan.  Today we’re back to working on improving your child’s memory by means of a Japanese game. 

READ THIS FIRST

Before starting the exercises, it’s important to understand the two phases of physical memorization games.  Please click on the link at the end of the previous sentence to read about it.  Then click on your back button to come back to this post.

SPELLING

Fact Explanation/Review Phase

Two weeks ago in International Unit Study: Japan Part 1  you had your child read a book or part of a book to you.  After that you read a book to him that was a little more difficult than the one he read.  Grab those books again (or go back to the ones that you read online) and pick some words that you are not sure if he knows how to spell.  But make sure to also include some words that you are sure he can spell very well.  Including words that are easy for him to spell will help build up his confidence when you play the game.

Write the words on a large whiteboard or chalkboard.  If you don’t have one, you could just use a large sheet of paper, but using a whiteboard is the most visually stimulating and interesting to kids.  Leave space below each of the words you write.  Include no more than 10 words.  About half of them should be words he can already spell quite well.

Starting with the first word, mention to him what part of the book used that word.  If he starts talking about something that happened in that part of the book since you got him thinking about it, that’s okay.  But if his ADD makes him hyperfocus on a topic and he goes on and on about the book, politely tell him that it was interesting, but ‘let’s get back to the spelling of these words’.

Next, have him write the word himself under each of the words you wrote.  Don’t focus to much on his handwriting, especially if he’s using a fat dry-erase marker on a whiteboard, but make sure you can at least read what he wrote.  If it’s so messy you can’t even read it, kindly say something like ‘I can’t make out those last two letters, can you write them over again?’

Now have him read the first word he wrote out loud, then spell it while looking at it.

Exercise/Game Phase

As mentioned, to coincide with the unit lesson from the past two weeks, this game is from Japan.  The name of the game in Japanese is Kami-zumo.  Kami-zumo is a sumo wrestling game played with little paper origami characters. It’s not that physical, but a lot of fun and can be used as a means of memorizing facts.

First you have to make the game, which can be fun in itself.  Although the process of making the game is not part of the memorization exercise itself, you might want to have your child share in making the paper characters and game board.  Use construction paper or some other type of stiff paper and follow the instructions in this video:

Then take a sheet of paper and draw a circle in the middle of it.  Tape it to the top of a box.  You will use this as the wrestling ring.  Watch this video to see how to play the game:

If your character falls down or goes out of the ring, you lose.  However, whichever character goes out, your child must practice a spelling word before starting to play again.  Say one of the words that you reviewed with you child in the Fact/Explanation Review Phase.  Have your child spell it out.  If he gets it right, continue playing the game.  If he spells the word incorrectly, explain how to spell it right and have him repeat the correct spelling.  Continue the game and use the same word when the game stops until he can spell the word correctly.

Repeat this game for memorizing math equations or history and science facts.

Have a game or exercise that can be used to help memorize facts, math or spelling?  Please scroll up and click on the title of this post, then fill in the Comment box at the end.  I’ll choose one game to feature on this blog three weeks from now.  Let’s all pitch in and help each other by sharing ideas!

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Last Monday I explained how you can teach your child how to do Internet research on the topic of dinosaurs,  which was the theme of our unit study for the two weeks before that.

Today we’re going to work on your child’s memory by means of physical exercises and games again, like we did a number of weeks ago after doing the unit study on dogs.  If you did the games from last month, you’ll notice that the instructions below are basically the same as last time, except that I changed the game/exercise activities.  Keeping the same basic system for doing the Fact Explanation/Review Phase is a great aid in creating enough "ritual" to make it easy to remember how to do.  At the same time you’ll find enough variety in games that your child won’t get bored (especially if he has ADD).

READ THIS FIRST

Before starting the exercises, it’s important to understand the two phases of physical memorization games.  Please click on the link at the end of the previous sentence to read about it.  Then click on your back button to come back to this post.

SPELLING

Fact Explanation/Review Phase

Two weeks ago in Weekly Unit Study: Dinosaurs Part 1  you had your child read a book or part of a book to you.  After that you read a book to him that was a little more difficult than the one he read.  Grab those books again (or go back to the ones that you read online) and pick some words that you are not sure if he knows how to spell.  But make sure to also include some words that you are sure he can spell very well.  Including words that are easy for him to spell will help build up his confidence when you play the game.

Write the words on a large whiteboard or chalkboard.  If you don’t have one, you could just use a large sheet of paper, but using a whiteboard is the most visually stimulating and interesting to kids.  Leave space below each of the words you write.  Include no more than 10 words.  About half of them should be words he can already spell quite well.

Starting with the first word, mention to him what part of the book used that word.  If he starts talking about something that happened in that part of the book since you got him thinking about it, that’s okay.  But if his ADD makes him hyperfocus on a topic and he goes on and on about the book, politely tell him that it was interesting, but ‘let’s get back to the spelling of these words’. 

Next, have him write the word himself under each of the words you wrote.  Don’t focus to much on his handwriting, especially if he’s using a fat dry-erase marker on a whiteboard, but make sure you can at least read what he wrote.  If it’s so messy you can’t even read it, kindly say something like ‘I can’t make out those last two letters, can you write them over again?’

Now have him read the first word he wrote out loud, then spell it while looking at it.

Exercise/Game Phase

This game is called Playdo Hockey.  If you don’t have any Playdo, you can make your own or just make a little inedible modeling dough and use that.

Clear off the kitchen table.  Your child stands at one end and you stand at the other end.  Cup your right hand (or your left if you are left-handed) and think of it as being a little hockey stick.  Start the game by saying one of the spelling words that you used in the Fact Explation/Review Phase in the section above.  After you say the word, hit the Playdo with your palm so that it slides or rolls across the table toward your child.  Your goal is to try to knock it off the other end of the table.  Your child should try to prevent this using his right hand.  He can only rest his hand on the table, though.  He can’t block the end of the table with any part of his arm.

Now he has the opportunity to hit it toward you with his hand and try to get it to go off of your end of the table.  However, before he does this he must spell the word that you said to him before you hit the Playdo.  If he spells it incorrectly, tell him so and spell it correctly for him.  Then tell him to repeat the correct spelling.  Have him spell it one more time correctly, after which he may now hit the playdo toward you.

Each time he spells a word correctly, he gets one point.  The goal is to get to 20 points.  (It can be less depending on your child’s age or ability).  There are no points awarded for getting the Playdo off the opponent’s side of the table.  That part is just for fun.

When he misspells a word, his score returns to zero. 

If he seems to get bored of the game quickly, then every 3 points or so, play a fast hockey game where you both hit the Playdo back and forth without stopping until one of you misses.   This is great fun, but make sure to stop and go back to the previously-described way of playing so that he can practice the spelling words.

The key to this game’s success is making it fun for your child.  If he’s having a great time, he won’t think of it as just practicing spelling the same words over and over.  So laugh a lot and enjoy the game!

Share your experience with this game by commenting on it after you are done.   Feel free to have your child comment himself!

Let’s move on to the next memorization game, which teaches math.

MULTIPLICATION

Last week in Weekly Unit Study: Dinosaurs Part 2, you did some math together when your child colored in the dinosaur, using colors matched with the solutions to addition problems.  But in order to do math problems, he must first be able to add, subtract, multiply or divide well.  In this game your child will practice multiplication.  However, if your child is still working on addition or subtraction, keep working on that instead.

Fact Explanation/Review Phase

Start with the whiteboard again.  Write 10 multiplication problems, without the answer.   Have your child fill in the answers to the ones that he knows.  Try to include some problems which you know he can figure out so that he’ll feel positive about the experience.

When your child gets stuck, tell him the answer, but have him write it on the board.  Then erase the answer and have him do it again.  Since he just wrote it down, he’ll probably remember the answer.  Do this a number of times until it seems that he can get most of the answers right the majority of the times that he does it.

Exercise/Game Phase

Say a number and then do that number of jumping jacks.  Now ask your child to say a number and do the number of jumping jacks that he said.  Now ask him what the answer is if he multiplies your number of jumping jacks times the number of jumping jacks that he did.  Give him a point if he gets it right.  (Don’t worry, neither of you have to actually do the number of jumping jacks equaling the solution to the problem.) 

Next, say a number and do that number of push-ups. If you can’t do push-ups, try kneeling and doing them.  Ask you child to say a number and do that number of push-ups, too.  Have him multiply the numbers.  Again, he gets one point if he gets it right.

Continue to do the same with other exercises such as squats, sit-ups and similar exercises.

The goal is to get 10 points.  For this exercise game, it might be better not to go back to zero if he gets an answer wrong, otherwise you might both fall on the floor from exhaustion.

This is a great way for the both of you to get some exercise while improving your child’s memory at the same time.

NEXT WEEK

Now that we’ve had unit studies on both dogs and dinosaurs, we’ll move on to another topic, yet to be decided.

Up to now I’ve only been writing unit studies and games for memorization for each Monday.  However, I would love it if one of you would like to write and submit some unit studies, too.  We are almost at 100 subscribers.  If each of us submitted a unit study periodically, we could have enough unit studies to cover each day of the week!  Sharing is a great way for all of us to benefit from each other’s experience and knowledge.  If you are interested, please comment here or e-mail me at kbroccoli@homeschoolingADDkids.com

3 Comments | In: exercise, games, math, spelling | | #

If you’ve been receiving my unit studies for the past couple of weeks, you know that the unit study topic has been dogs.  Weekly Unit Study: Dogs Part 1 concentrated on teaching reading, writing, art, conversation, formulating opinions, math, grocery shopping, cooking, sharing and caring.  Weekly Unit Study: Dogs Part 2 focused on teaching more reading, writing and math as well as typing, responsibility, geography and computer skills.

Well, it’s Monday again, but instead of doing a unit study, per se, we’re going to work on your child’s memory by means of physical exercises and games.  However, some of the exercises and games will be related to the past two Mondays’ unit studies on dogs.  This will be a fun homeschooling day for your child and should keep him interested despite his ADD.

READ THIS FIRST

Before starting the exercises, it’s important to understand the two phases of physical memorization games.  Please click on the link at the end of the previous sentence to read about it.  Then click on your back button to come back to this post.

SPELLING

Fact Explanation/Review Phase

Two weeks ago in Weekly Unit Study: Dogs Part 1  you had your child read a book or part of a book to you.  After that you read a book to him that was a little more difficult than the one he read.  Grab those books again (or go back to the ones that you read online) and pick some words that you are not sure if he knows how to spell.  But make sure to also include some words that you are sure he can spell very well.  Including words that are easy for him to spell will help build up his confidence when you play the game.

Write the words on a large whiteboard or chalkboard.  If you don’t have one, you could just use a large sheet of paper, but using a whiteboard is the most visually stimulating and interesting to kids.  Leave space below each of the words you write.  Include no more than 10 words.  About half of them should be words he can already spell quite well.

Starting with the first word, mention to him what part of the book used that word.  If he starts talking about something that happened in that part of the book since you got him thinking about it, that’s okay.  But if his ADD makes him hyperfocus on a topic and he goes on and on about the book, politely tell him that it was interesting, but ‘let’s get back to the spelling of these words’. 

Next, have him write the word himself under each of the words you wrote.  Don’t focus to much on his handwriting, especially if he’s using a fat dry-erase marker on a whiteboard, but make sure you can at least read what he wrote.  If it’s so messy you can’t even read it, kindly say something like ‘I can"t make out those last two letters, can you write them over again?’

Now have him read the first word he wrote out loud, then spell it while looking at it.

Exercise/Game Phase 

This game is called the "Push-Each-Other-Around-the-Floor Game".  Yeah, it needs a better name, but I can’t seem to think of one (leave a comment with a suggestion if you can think of a good name, please). 

Get some masking tape or any other kind of tape that is easy to write on and cut 40 strips of tape about 2 inches long.  Together, write the words on the tape, repeating each word about 4 times (if you have 10 different spelling words).

If you have a kitchen floor with squares on it, such as a ceramic floor or a vinyl floor with design lines on it, place one piece of tape on each square.  Your playing area should be about 5 squares wide and 8 squares long.  Try not to place duplicates of the same words next to each other.  If your squares are too small to fit one of your feet on it, then use more tape to outline several squares large enough to fit your feet.  You can also use the tape to make your own squares if your floor doesn’t have any.

Now, stand on the middle line, 4 squares into the playing area, with your feet about shoulder distance apart.  Have your child face you, placing his feet a few inches away from yours. 

Put your hands out like your pushing on a door while he does the same, placing your left hand on his left hand and your right hand on his right, palm to palm.   Tell him to push against your palms to try to make you move your feet.  When you feel him pushing, push back, trying to make him move his feet.  Because you’re bigger and stronger than he is, you can probably make him move and resist moving yourself.  However, at times let up on the pressure so that he has the advantage. 

If you stumble and move your feet, ask your child to look at the square where the toes of your right foot are resting and read the word that appears there (don’t look at the square yourself).  Repeat the word that he read to you and spell it. 

If your child is the one that stumbles and moves his feet, then you should read the word while he spells it, without looking at the ground.

Each time you spell a word out loud it helps him, since he hears the word being spelled.  You count no points when you spell a word.  Each time he spells a word correctly you count one point.  If he spells two words correctly in a row, that’s two points.  Once he spells a word wrong, the score goes back to zero and he starts over again.  Spell the word that he spelled incorrectly and have him repeat the spelling before you resume the game.

It’s important to note that this is not a competitive game.  When educational games are competitive, it can distract the child from learning and decrease his confidence level.  However, if you have two children, they can play this game together, but their score should be collective.  If either of them spells a word incorrectly, their collective score goes back to zero.

The goal is to get 20 points.

Make sure that he realizes that you can only push against each other hands, otherwise it can quickly get rough and crazy, especially between two kids.

There will be lots of laughing as you push and shove each other, and you may find he doesn’t want to stop.  Our "Push-Each-Other-Around-the-Floor Game" usually lasts about 20 to 30 minutes.  By the time you are done, he will probably know the new words by heart.  If not, that’s okay, too.  Just continue to use the words that he spelled wrong the next time that you play the game together.

The key to this game’s success is making it fun for your child.  If he’s having a great time, he won’t think of it as just practicing spelling the same words over and over.  Could you imagine how he would respond if you just had him sit there and spell the words for 20 to 30 minutes, or used flash cards for that long.  Blah.  That would bore the life out of him. 

Share your experience with this game by commenting on it after you are done.   Feel free to have your child comment himself!

Let’s move on to the next memorization game, one involving math.

ADDITION

In Weekly Unit Study: Dogs Part 1 , you did some math together when you cooked the dog biscuits (simple fractions) and when you had your child figure out how much many bills to give the cashier and how much cash to get back.  In Weekly Unit Study: Dogs Part 2 , your child used math to figure out how much it costs to own a dog over time.  But in order to do math problems, he must first be able to add well.  In this game your child will practice addition.

Fact Explanation/Review Phase

Start with the whiteboard again.  Write 10 addition problems, without the answer.   Have your child fill in the answers to the ones that he knows.  Try to include some problems which you know he can figure out so that he’ll feel positive about the experience. 

Help him to figure out the ones he doesn’t know by memory.  In other words, if he doesn’t know the answer to 5 + 4, count out 5 of some item, such as buttons (not coins because they have a number value, and that can be confusing later on) and then add 4 buttons to them, then have him count the total number of buttons.  After that, count out 5 buttons again, and have him add 4 buttons, counting them as he adds them.  Finally, have him do that same step again, but this time have him put the 4 buttons he wants to add to one side, then tell them that as he adds them to the 5 buttons he must count starting with the number following 5.  In other words, he adds a button from the pile of 4 to the pile of 5 while saying "6".  The next button he adds he says "7".  This teaches him the concept of "counting up".  These methods help him to understand the conceptual side of math.

Don’t worry if he is slow at this, but if you see he is getting very bored or irritated, then just do a few of these and move on.

Exercise/Game Phase

If it’s not too cold out (we get some nice days in Winter here in North Carolina), play this game in the back yard or at a park.  He’ll love the idea of going to a park for homeschool!

All you need to play this game is a ball that you can kick, such as a soccer ball, a rubber ball or one of those cheap plastic balls that they sometimes sell at Target or Wal-Mart.  Oh, and you also need 4 sticks or rocks.

Place the sticks or rocks about 6 feet apart like soccer goal posts.  Alternatively you can scrape marks in the ground.  Do this on both ends of the field or yard. 

Start the game by saying a math problem such as 5 + 4, then kick the ball, trying to get it between your child’s goal posts.  He has to try to block your attempt.  If you get it in jump and cheer, but don’t count any points.

Next, your child yells the answer to the problem, in this case 9, and kicks the ball to you trying to get it between your goal posts.  (If he’s very young, give him a break and let him get it in once in a while.)  Jump and cheer again for him if he gets it in. 

If he gets the answer wrong, don’t kick the ball back to him. Instead pick it up and say "no, it’s 9, try again", but in a cheerful voice, and throw it back to him.  Since you gave him the answer, he’ll get it right this time.  On your turn to kick, say the same math problem again until he has done it 5 times.  This repetition is only for problems that he got wrong.  If he gets it right immediately, just move on to a new math problem.

Every time he gets one right it equals one point.  His goal is 20 points.  When he gets one wrong he goes back down to zero.  If it’s too hard for him or your time is limited, just try going for 10 points.

How hard the addition problems are depend on the age and math ability of your child.  If he can add all of the single-digit numbers, proceed on to double-digit numbers.  If he can do those, move on to triple digits, etc.

This game can go on for 30 to 45 minutes without most ADD kids becoming too bored.  If he does seem to get bored of it quickly, then every 3 points or so, play a one-on-one soccer game where he runs and kicks the ball while you try to get it away from him before he can get it in your goal and vice-versa.  This version of the game is great exercise for the both of you.

If the weather doesn’t allow you to go outside, try an indoor version of this game with two socks rolled up in a ball together.

These are just a few physical memorization games that we play with Steven.  They work fantastic.  I’m sure you’ll find the same.

Do any of you have any variations on this game?

2 Comments | In: exercise, games, math, memory, spelling | | #

If you are one of our regular readers or subscribers, you’re familiar with how physical exercises combined with repetition of facts from history, science, geography, and other subjects can help a child with ADD to memorize far better than simply reading facts, listening to someone saying them over and over, or repeating it himself without physical movement.  If you haven’t read any of our past posts about it, a good place to start is this one: Using Exercises and Physical Movements to Teach Children with ADD.  You might also want to read this post: Mental Exercises vs. Physical Exercises: Which for the ADD Brain, then come back here and read the rest the information below.

Now that you know why exercise and physical movements are so effective in helping children with ADD to memorize facts, in this post I explain the two essential phases of memorization for homeschooled ADD kids.

THE "FACT EXPLANATION PHASE"

Before your child can work on memorizing facts, he obviously has to learn what the facts are.  (Excuse me for referring to your child as "he" when you might have a daughter…I do it since statistically there are more boys with ADD than girls, and it’s awkward to constantly read "he or she".)  There are many ways to explain facts, but one of the best ways is to take advantage of interest he showed in certain points. 

Let’s use the topic of earthquakes as an example:

If you are doing a unit study about earthquakes, then you are probably already reading about earthquakes, watching videos about earthquakes, making little clay models of earthquakes, and so forth.  (By the way, if you don’t already know , we have free unit studies here every Monday which you can use.) 

While you did the unit study, you probably noticed that your child was particularly interested in certain things about earthquakes and yet not so impressed with other aspects of them.  What you might have found amazing he might have just blinked at and vice-versa. Try to recall what facts he was especially paying attention to.  In fact, next time you do a unit study, take note of these on a pad.  Use these main points as a list of facts that you would like him to memorize.  You might have to include some things he wasn’t overly interested in if you know that they are very important to the topic, but try to mostly use points he liked.  After all, in everyday life we tend to remember things that caught our interest, not every single little detail about a subject.

After you have the list, write down the points on a whiteboard.  Careful with this though.  You don’t want to write long, boring paragraphs; just a sentences or a phrase with the main points, such as "The strength of earthquakes are measured by the Richter scale", and "Where an earthquake first starts is called its focus or hypercenter."  Pick about 10 to 15 points that you want him to memorize, depending on his age, level of attention and the difficulty of the subject matter.

Read each sentence right after you write it so he won’t have to wait for you to write all of the sentences before you start <<yawn>>.  After reading each one ask him what he remembered about it.  He might say that he remembers the video you watched talking about the Richter scale or pointing out the earthquake’s hypercenter when you made the clay model.  Or he might say he doesn’t remember those points at all (even if he did seem interested in them at the time).

Make sure you do not express displeasure or annoyance at the fact that your child might have forgotten many facts.  If he senses your irritation his emotions will take over and shut down his ability to learn.  Don’t be in a rush to drill the facts into his head. Slower learning has great advantages to the rushed instruction prevalent in schools.

Next, concentrate on the facts he could not recall and one by one review the activities that you both did together in the unit lesson that taught these facts.  For example, if he forgot the point about the Richter scale which was mentioned in the video, watch that part of the video again, asking him to stay "stop" when the talk about it.  Or if he forgot what the hypercenter of an earthquake is, take out the model you made together and patiently explain it again.

Even the points that he recalled he might have remembered only because you wrote them down.  In other words, had you simply said, "What is used to measure the strength of an earthquake?", he might not have been able to tell you.  But when you wrote down that it is the Richter scale, it may have jogged his memory or at least sounded familiar.  So, when you move on to the next phase, you’ll be reviewing all 10 to 15 facts.

THE EXERCISE/GAME PHASE

This phase is a big hit with ADD kids.  Steven looks forward to this part so much he talks about it all day and doesn’t want to stop doing it when our 30 minutes are up.  Although I described it in one of the previous posts I mentioned above, I’ll explain a little further here so that you can make the best use of this incredible technique.  I also include specific, physical, memorization games on this blog every third to fourth week on Monday’s so that you can see how to use them in relation to our ongoing unit studies or sometimes as just out-of-the-blue memorization games on chosen topics.

This game is a favorite of Steven’s.  It’s hallway hockey.  We have a nice long hallway in the center of our house and we keep it clear of breakable objects.  Steven stands at one end of the hallway with a plastic hockey stick while I stand at the other end with another.  I start with the puck (yes, also a plastic one, and fortunately its hollow). 

First I ask a question.  Using the earthquake example again, I say "What is used to measure the strength of an earthquake?" and hit the puck to him.  We’re not just hitting it back and forth, though.  I wack it pretty hard, trying to get it past his stick that he uses to block it.  My goal is to hit our front door.  He usually succeeds in blocking me, but sometimes I manage to get it by him and shout in triumph (adds excitement to the game).

Before he hits it back to me he has to give the correct answer.  If he forgot it, I tell him what it is, but he has to repeat it before hitting the puck back to me.  Steven is surprisingly good at hitting the puck in a way that it flies just 5 inches or so off the ground and gets by me, hitting the bottom of a bookcase at the end of the hall.  He cheers.

If he didn’t get the answer right the first time and I had to tell it to him, I do the same question again.  We do that maybe 5 or 6 times, using the same question.  Normally, that would be extremely boring, but Steven could care less if we do it 50 times.  I mean, he’s playing hockey, that’s pretty fun in itself! 

Then we move on to the next question and do the same thing again.  30 minutes goes by like nothing and he loves it.  But the best thing is this: when we are done and I ask him the questions…well you know the rest.

What about long-term memorization, though?  Well, here’s the thing:  most of us have probably forgotten 90% of the facts we learned in school or when being homeschooled. And that’s not too terrible.  After all, we learn facts not just so we can spit them out like a computer, but it exercises the brain and increases our capacity to remember things overall.  It also helps us to learn new concepts since learning is, for the most part, relating new things to those we already know.  And often there is more value in teaching your child to research than just to memorize facts. 

I will say, though, that using physical games and exercises like the one we just discussed greatly improves the amount of information that a child can remember.  I don’t have hard data on this, but try it out and you’ll see what I mean.

There is, however, a technique that you can use if you want to help your child remember certain key facts months or years later.  The key lies in choosing which of the facts is truly the most important to know.  For example, of the two facts about earthquakes that we discussed before (what they are measured by and the name of the point where the earthquake starts) the most important one for a child to know would probably be that earthquakes are measured by the Richter scale.  Why?  Because it’s talked about on the news and people discuss it, but they don’t frequently discuss an earthquake’s hypercenter.  Another important fact worth memorizing is that earthquakes are caused by shifts in the Earth’s plates.  However, memorizing the countries where the three largest earthquakes occurred would be of lesser importance.

After choosing the most relevant facts, make a list of them in a notebook or on your computer and periodically play a game of indoor hockey or some other physical exercise memorization game in which you throw in the most important facts from the previous month or two.  That way you are reminding your child of the most important aspects of the subjects that you are studying.

It’s important to remember that although the Exercise/Game Phase of the memorization instruction is highly effective, as is the Fact Explanation Phase, the two phases work hand-in-hand.  One depends upon the other.  Please use them together.

Leave a comment here to let me know how it’s going.  I’d love to hear your experiences!

Ready for a game?  Meet me here every third or forth Monday and I’ll have a blog post with a fun, physical game that will help your child to memorize.  The other Monday’s we have unit study projects, so drop by for those too!

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Kids with Attention Deficit Disorder hate sitting in a chair and repeating words or phrases.  But rote memorization is usually one of the main ways that children are taught facts.  

5 Comments | In: Spanish, exercise, games, math | tags: exercise, games, math, memorization, multiplication tables, physical movement, Spanish. | #