A super-slow learner in my class, any suggestions?

[Afsaneh]

Dear colleagues
Hello

I’m recently having a problem with one of my students which is a terribly slow- learner! Of course there are some slow-learners in all classes but I think this guy is unique!

In order to help the slow learners in my classes, I usually go to them in person to give them more practice while others are doing extra activities on the main lesson and structures that I have already taught to the whole class.

But unfortunately the student I mentioned (he is a 7-8 year old boy) gets very little of the lesson I dare say just some vocabularies and the practices are of little help. After 10 minutes he again forgets what he has learned or better said what he has repeated! For example after more than 10 times showing the picture of a tiger ,repeating its name, singing a song about it and doing a puzzle having a picture of a tiger he again cannot recall its name!
Now what can I do to help him?

[petershell]

Hello,

It sounds like you are doing everything you can. I personally know of no "secret methods" to help you. I think you should try to be patient and just keep trying. Some of the weak students I've had have suddenly taken great leaps forward whilst others have continued to show few signs of improvement. Time will tell. I'm not sure that there is much more that you can do than trying your best.

Hang in there!

[harrison]

Hmmmm...it's true what petershell said. There is no secret, except practice, practice, and routine for them. The more they implant it in their head--it'll help them retain the information better. You have to be patient with them, and if they show they are putting in the same effort, they will eventually get it :)

[pokedmund]

Keep at it. There are many reasons he could be slow (not good at learning new languages, learning difficulties, maybe he doesn't want to be there?)

I have a lot of boys who are like that aged around 5-7 years old. The only thing I could suggest (if you really care) is to ask them to come a bit early to lessons or to even ask them to stay behind for 10-15mins. This is personal preference though so you dont have to do it, but its what I do and the parents understand.

[mgrima]

Everything you are doing sounds great. Another solution I have found that works well is to ask a more advanced student to be his tutoring buddy in class. Sometimes I find that other children explaining to other children works better than me always explaining to them. However this child seems to be a special case so I would recommend talking to his other teachers and to his parents along with a special education technician to put a plan into place for this child. Also has he been evaluated for any learning disabilities because there a specific teaching techniques for students who have learning disabilities.
Hope this helps.

[amrifa]

It sounds to me like you’re doing a great job considering the circumstances. Special cases like yours are very tough and it’s never easy to get through to those kinds of students. For students like this, it is very important for them to have established a routine and have stability in the classroom. Repetition is also the key. The only other suggestions I would have would be to keep him for tutoring after school or doing lunch hour. It is clear that he needs extra help. If not, there are most certainly some professionals in your school that deal with problem cases like these, who are trained to help students with difficulties.

[TallMikeV]

Maybe that boy has some attention problems that are directly related to his short term memory. If I may suggest, did you try to present him information through a game? Sometimes, these kind of children need to be interested through something they recall and they like. As young boys tend to love games, I would suggest trying to present what you are teaching through a game to awake his prior knowledge (although it is not educational) and include it in his learning. This could eventually help him and make him understand what you are talking about.

[renbra]

Hello,
I also had a slow learner in one of my groups. What I did is that I personally gave him extra lessons during lunchtime or during recess. I can tell that it does work. In my case it was boy also, and he knew that he had problems and he wanted to do the extra work in order to get better in class. He had long attention span problems also, so I always placed him close to me, in front of the class. In addition, I had him participate by asking him questions and letting him the time he needed to answer. It was harder to deal with this student during exams or tests because he was always slow completing them. I gave him the extra time he needed by asking the other students to read or work on an ongoing project individually.

[stremblay]

I would personnally try talking to the student's parents. I don't have any secret either, but many schools offer special programs for this type of student. I'm quite sure you already tried communicating the problem to other staff members of the school, but I think it is helpful and that it is a good way to proceed in this type of situation. They often provide you with effective solutions to your problem as much as the student's parents do. Indeed, I think that meeting the parents of your student would allow you to find some other techniques to help this slow learner progress faster. His parents probably already know that their child experiences some difficulties at school. I hope that this will help!

Good Luck!
Sam