WOW
I don't know what else to say.
Patrick cannot draw the shape of a number or letter the same way twice. He "sees" it at a different angle each time. Very 3 dimensional thinker.
I read the book, titled??? something about The Right Brained Child in a Left Brained World.
It was entirely revealing to me. It is what I refer back to whenever we hit a stumbling block like this. I ask Patrick to close his eyes and look at his internal "black board" (chalk board, white board, whatever) I spell a word for him and he "writes" it on his internal board. He then studies it, photographs it in his mind, and boom, he can spell it front and back, tell you what position a certain letter is in, etc.
With math, I can give him a series of numbers, like...
Start with 3, add 2, double that number, subtract 5, add 3 to that number, cut it in half, add 1. And he will say "that's 5". His mind works SOOOOO much faster than his silly old hand.
Since I don't know your DS's name, we will call him Inches of Smiles. Inches is probably a very right brained child, sees things very 3D, and the teachers are asking him to add in linear fashion. He cannot take a 3D project and lie it out flat on paper, but he can recreate it internally, rotate it in his mind, turn it upside down and inside out, and give you back a beautiful piece of work.
Don't let him hang up on linear problems. Show him what he CAN do, that no one else can even understand. Don't sweat the can't do things, let the teacher see him succeed in an oral quiz.
We tried another example for Patrick, who is not even a BAD speller... he just doesn't spell. AT ALL.
I wrote "EXPLOITATION" on a piece of printer paper, separated out the syllables, wrote each in a different color. I let him "take the picture" of the word, look at it on his internal black board for 30 seconds. I then asked him to spell it. He got it exactly right. I asked him to spell it backward, and again, exact. I had him tell me the 7th letter... from the end. Answered without hesitation.
Inches sounds like the kind of kid who doesn't see the concrete evidence, much like Patrick, but can see each little particle of sand.
If he is like I think... you probably have a child who will challenge teachers to keep up with him over then next 10 yrs.
Oh, and I do use graph paper for Patrick and Shaun, so they can keep the numbers in the right columns, and they get the spacing and size consistent. We even use the graph paper for letter writing.
Our school district SUPERINTENDENT writes everything on graph paper, then photocopies it (since the blue lines don't copy!) before he signs it and sends it out.
Everyone thinks he has wonderful printing, with perfect letter size and spacing!
Yet, one of the 3rd grade teachers gave the Mad Math Minutes to her class, and would only give you credit up to the first problem you got wrong. If you completed all 15 on the page, but got the ONLY the second answer wrong, she would give a score of 1/15. OMG, so LEFT BRAINED. Should be hung by her britches from the flag pole at midnight of the winter solstice!
For a 504, I would request oral questions when he freezes, even cut the page up into 1/4's or more and give him only 2 or 3 math problems per page. It may even give him a greater sense of accomplishment if he completes 5 PAGES while everyone else only completes 1.
Miles, I really truly understand the frustration. It takes me back to my "Boxes" lecture. Michael wants to take the teacher's perfect little "Box" that he is SUPPOSED to conform to, put her in it, and duct tape it shut
And then DRUM on it non stop until she promises to never use another box for another student as long as she teaches!
I already bought him the drum sticks... 12 pair~ I agree.
Let's not have a love for knowledge be ruined by a quest for teaching to conformity!
It was written as such because as soon as he gets a concept down, he's wanting to learn something new.
