Lesson 4 - April 10, 2015

I am pretty amazed by this kid. Like his mom keeps saying, Jacob's brain is amazingly complex and amazing.

So teaching him means as a teacher, you better be on your A game every single second.

Thankfully I like challenges!

1. I have to tell you about my brother Casey. He is sort of a genius. He's been in Europe for several years pursuing a degree about.... something to do with learning language + computer software. So you know the LDS MTC, where they learn some of their language lessons via computer? Someone has to write that software. It's very complex. He has to know how the brain works and how it produces audio and written language.

He already got his master's in it, and now he's almost done with his PhD. That's my brother, Dr. Casey!!!

 He lives in Germany so it's hit or miss as to whether we are online at the same time to chat via messenger. But we were yesterday, so I told him about Jacob and how he struggles with reading.

Then I basically said, "HELP ME."

2. Casey explained how we learn language as toddlers. Our parents point to stuff and say sounds. So our brains learn that sounds = things. Later our brains learn that sounds = actions. And so on. We connect things. Our brains make many, many connections and notice patterns. Over years of practice and experiencing it all, toddlers learn to talk like their parents.

Jacob has an amazing grasp on this. His spoken vocabulary is actually quite extensive. And his abstract idea center in his brain is actually quite amazing. He can grasp concepts that most 9 year olds would not fully comprehend. So he has the spoken connection to objects down very well.

So, my brother Casey then explained that later, when we are 4 or 5 or 6, we start to learn how to read and write. This means that in addition to assigning a spoken sound to an object, we learn the assigned printed word to the object. Most kids grasp this pretty well. They get that the object and the sound and the printed word all go together They connect ALL THREE together. Then they figure out that a word has sounds, and if we sound things out, we can get a word that then equals an object.

How we are able to do this is quite remarkable. The brain is amazing!!

The problem is though -- some people don't learn printed words very well. Like our dear Jacob. So he knows sounds equal objects, but there was a disconnect between PRINTED WORDS and objects and then its corresponding sound.

So in the triangle of speech-object-printed word, he's missing the printed word. And he can't learn it in the traditional way. So we must come up with a way that he CAN learn it.


3. Casey proposed that I test out a little theory of his. It is all based on OBJECTS + PRINTED WORD. Basically learning with tactile + how the word looks.

a. Gather 3-4 objects Jacob wouldn't recognize or know the name of.
b. Assign each object a random gibberish name. (Only a few letters to keep it simple.)
c. Teach Jacob that these objects go with these printed words.
d. Here is the catch .... NEVER SOUND OUT THE OBJECT'S NAME.

So keep the sound completely out of the equation. Seems weird, right?

Also, don't just use a picture of the object, use the ACTUAL TANGIBLE OBJECT.

4. It took Casey a few times explaining it to me for me to actually grasp this very abstract idea. It's the opposite of how most people learn. But once I "got it" it made total sense. And Jacob's mom agreed that it made sense.

So I tried it today.

5. I gathered 4 of my son's Snap Circuit pieces. Jacob doesn't know their names, but they are unique in shape and color, and he can hold them and move them with his hands.

Here are the four and the random "names" I assigned to them. This picture was just for me to remember which was which.

  

6. We went into our spare room, where I told Jacob it was a "NO SPEAKING" zone. He thought it was silly. But he went with it.


7. So one at a time, without speaking at all! I taught Jacob 3 of the objects (I didn't get to bettz today).

Starting with the blue one or "naka," I held up the printed word and the object. I gave the object to Jacob. I kept pointing at the object and the word so he would know that naka = (blue object).

Then I pointed to the printed word and then gestured to have him do things with the blue object.... 
like put it on the pillow, put it on the right edge of the Snap Circuit board (that grid thing below), etc. This concept was very easy for him to grasp. 

I also pointed at the printed word and had him draw the OBJECT.... then write the printed word. To further connect and help him remember the object with the word.

It seemed like the idea was sticking.






8. So I did the same thing with "ooi" red object, and the "inu" yellow object.

I taught them to him one at a time, had him do things with the items, draw them, etc... (without speaking out loud... we never sounded out the word audibly).



At one point he wanted permission to speak... He asked, "What do these words sound like?"

I said, "It doesn't matter. We aren't talking."

And that was that!






So once I felt like he understood which one was which.... I tested him by using all three items at once.









9. I grabbed a random printed word and pointed at it. He picked up the corresponding object.

He was 90% CORRECT EVERY TIME!!!!

Then I would point at a random printed word and had him throw it, or put it on the grid, or on the pillow, or on the floor, etc.

Again, he was amazingly accurate.


By this time he was noticing how excited I was. So we said it was time to SPEAK and I explained that I think that his brain thinks in pictures. He agreed. He pictures objects.

Then we talked about sharks and lions and other animals. LOL

10. Then he wanted to play with my camera.

Here is his picture he took of our cat running away.




11.  So then we left the Snap Circuit objects alone and moved on to items that he DOES know the sound of.

One at a time, we took an object and its printed word outside.

As I pointed to the printed word, I gestured (no talking) and he did things with the object, like throwing it, handing it to me, setting it down, etc.

In between learning each object with its printed word, he shoveled my garden. He loves shoveling in dirt!

Finally, once he learned all four objects and their printed words..... I tested to see if he could put the correct object next to the printed word. His accuracy was 70-80%!!!

I am very encouraged by this.

What does it mean? I am still trying to put it into words....but I THINK that Jacob.......

Thinks in pictures. That as of right now, sound is a barrier to learning to read. So phonetics is out the window at least for now. He is currently making a connection that this object goes with this printed word, and so on. So feeling the object (tactile), doing things with it (action), and connecting that it is married to a printed word (without using sound), is what seems to be getting through.

So we'll go with it and see where it takes us. I am sure Jacob will throw many curve balls, but for now he seems to be having fun with this.