Great idea!

This blog is a great idea! I work with Raffi every Thursday afternoon and I have been doing a lot of Math, writing, and reading exercises with him. Although I can see him improving slightly, it will be good to know what everyone else is working on with him as well so that we can collaborate and reinforce what the others have been teaching.

I worked as a Special Needs teacher at Brent School in Manila last year, and from that experience, I learned that CONSTANT repetitions of the lessons are the best way to help them learn. For Raffi, instead of concentrating on concepts, etc, I think the best way is to just keep repeating something over and over again until he's memorized it.

For example, last week, all we learned was one quarter is 25 cents.. and 2 quarters equals 50 cents. I just kept repeating this until it was almost automatic for him to give me the answer. We then went to 3 quarters equaling 75 cents, and so on. I guess a good way to reinforce money concepts is also just simply relating it to an actual real life situation (what coins he can use to pay the bus fare or at the arcade?).

Raffi seems to learn better when using manipulatives or visual aids. He also responds better to learning when it is hands on.

One day, we baked a chocolate cake, and so that integrated math(measuring), reading comprehension (reading and following the recipe) and also helped him practice his fine motor skills. It was also really fun for us!

I think an IEP (Individual Education Plan) is currently being created, so I think that will help us figure out a more structured program that hopefully we can all work on together with him so that he can reach his highest potential!