3 Tips For Teaching Children With Learning Disabilities
Working with children with learning disabilities can be very rewarding work, but it can also be incredibly challenging. If you are struggling to figure out how to better teach the kids who are in your care, consider these three helpful tips.
1. Break Lesssons Up
Students with learning disabilities can quickly become frustrated when they feel as if they are facing a mountain of work. Breaking lessons up into smaller chunks can make things seem much less intimidating for students and can make teaching a lot less overwhelming for you. Plus, as students master each part of the lesson, they can gain self-esteem and self-confidence that can help them excel in future portions.
2. Use Different Methods
Every student learns differently. If a student is a visual learner, for example, he or she might have a difficult time grasping a tricky concept if it's not taught in a visual way. To help figure out what works best for each student -- and to ensure that different students in the classroom are having their needs met -- consider using different methods and strategies when teaching. For example, you might first give an oral lecture about the subject matter at hand. Then, you can show pictures, diagrams and videos and allow students to collaborate to work on a small project. Lastly, you can allow students to work on their own problems on their own worksheets. This can help ensure that each learning style is covered and can help you present material in various ways.
3. Provide Constant Feedback
For students with learning disabilities, it is important not to let any student get too far behind before you are taking action. Instead, provide regular feedback on how the student is doing, and consider sharing this information both with the student and with his or her parents. This can help point out each students weaknesses and strengths and can help everyone who is involved to help the child with any areas that he or she might need improvement on before he or she gets too far behind. Plus, getting positive feedback when excelling at something can help provide encouragement and confidence.
Teaching children who have learning disabilities might not be easy, but it's definitely worth it. Plus, you can make it a little easier and a lot more successful for both yourself and your students if you follow these three helpful tips for teaching students with learning differences.