Dr. Guffanti Changed the Way I Teach
Last August, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop by Dr. Stephen Guffanti. He is a medical doctor, who also has dyslexia and ADD/ADHD. I wanted to listen to what he said on the subject of ADD, but I did not foresee that his talk would effect me in such a deep way.
My husband and I always joke that if our son, Jake, attended public school then we would be called every day by either the prinicipal or teacher. We assume that they would beg us to put Jake on medication.
After attending the workshop with Dr. Guffanti and reading his book, Does Your Child Really Have ADHD?, I came to the realization that Jake does not have the disorder despite all his seeming trouble focusing, retaining information, and hyper behavior. Instead he is simply a very kinesthetic learner.
I was familiar with the different learning styles from my years as a public school teacher. You try to develop lessons for Visual, Auditory, and Tactile/Kinesthetic learners. But what does the latter really need?
Through Dr. Guffanti I realized that kinesthetic learners needed to move. Not just a hand-on activity once in awhile, but they need to literally move in order to learn. For a kinesthetic learner, moving is learning. If you ask one to sit still, then they cannot learn. They will spend all of their time trying not to move. This was an eye-opening moment for me.
Jake was always moving. What is one thing that drives me crazy? Constant movement while I am reading. Why? Because I am a visual learner. I find the movement distracting. So my solution is to ignore Jake’s movement while I am reading to him. I turn my back or tune his motion out as best as I can.
Just implementing this simple solution has made a world of difference in our schooling. Jake can listen and is able to narrate very well even if he is bouncing gently on a exercise ball or jumping on a trampoline.
Jake is still wonderful, energetic Jake. He has not changed. My understanding of his needs has changed, and my methods for teaching him have changed accordingly. Consequently, this has been a great year for us both. I am not as frustrated with him and Jake is really showing great progress in school.
If you have a child who others consider hyperactive, inattentive, and unfocused, do not despair. Read Dr. Guffanti’s book. Whether your child is ADHD or not, Dr. Guffanti can help you. There are four parts in the book. The first part covers learning styles. The second discusses ADHD from a medical viewpoint. The third part explores the connection between ADHD and learning styles. And, the last part provides solutions.
These words are printed on the front cover, “Develop understanding and discover new hope for your family’s future. Gain a new perspective on the struggles that your children and your loved ones have–and gain peace of mind.” These two sentences are exactly what they did for me. If you can relate, then I know the book can help give you the same.
What a great post! When my boys were younger the only school subject I required them to sit still for was handwriting, this included both feet on the floor. Sometimes that was hard for them. LOL!
I learned early that I allowed them to do what they wanted creatively while I read after lunch to them. Sometimes it was just LEGOs, other times they would play a game of croquet in the back yard. This made their learning so much more fun and there was very little argument.
I also had to learn that my middle son thought differently. So, if he asked a question about a seemingly unrelated topic or what I would consider a rabbit trail. I needed to take the time to quickly answer this, because if I asked him to wait for the answer he would hear no more of the lesson. I learned this from a Cynthia Tobias video early during our school and made lessons with him SO much easier. She was this type of learned and so completely explained how she no longer heard what the teacher said, but kept thinking about her question and possible answers.
We need to schedule in some time together to chat again!
Marjorie,
Understanding the kinesthetic learning style is so important, especially when teaching young boys. According to Dr. Guffanti all boys are kinesthetic learners until the age of 7-9. All girls are too until the age of 5. This explains why there is such a gap between boy and girl performance in public school, especially at the early grades.
I so enjoyed Dr. Guffanti and his book. I also enjoyed reading the techniques that you employed with your boys. Thank you for sharing them. I hope that they also encourage others.
If only everyone could see how smart and poised each of your boys are, then they would not worry about using unconventional techniques during school.
Lara
Learning styles are so interesting! I first became aware of them when teaching our kids Bible verses in the late 1980′s. My eldest, our son, was the classic visual learner, so it was easy to teach him the way I learned. We noticed with our second, a daughter, that she was such an auditory learner that she would memorize not only her own memory verses as we recited them to her (since she couldn’t read yet), but she would also learn her older brother’s from listening to us recite them with him! Then our third, another daughter, came along–and we discovered that she was such a kinesthetic learner that she had to learn her memory verses in a swing, reciting them with the rhythm of swinging back and forth.
When I began homeschooling them, she could not learn her addition and subtraction tables. Then I drew a number line on our sloping driveway with 0 at the bottom going uphill to 5. She would stand on 0, and I would say, “One” (she would hop uphill to 1) “plus 2″ (she would hop two more spaces uphill) “equals 3″ (as she landed on 3). Once she could hop her addition tables, she learned them in no time! And that is one of the beauties of homeschooling–because what first grade teacher could ever let her class go hopping around the classroom to learn their math tables?
It is so exciting to see others learn this. My children are grown. The last one is still living at home going to college. He has dyslexia, but reads well. I wish I had had rocket phonics sooner. I am using it and the balance board to tutor those struggling in formal schooling. There is a class in St Louis Jan 28 on the balance board, I plan to attend.
You’ve got great insights about auditory dyslexia, keep up the good work!