Ski
10-29-2004, 04:33 AM
Greetings and salutations to the Tribe!
Before anything else, I would like to take the opportunity thank you all. I
have been reminiscing about the Softwork Seminar and wanted to thank each
and every one of you who attended for the opportunity to again train with
good-hearted people that "get-it" on a deeper level. Again, many thanks!
Now, on to the subject at hand.
The problem I tackled was my eldest son's spelling homework and poor test
scores. After a few bad grades on his weekly spelling test I knew I needed
to find him a different study method. The problem I saw on the graded
spelling tests dealt with penmanship and accuracy. I also took a hard look
at how the material was being presented and studied.
I'm sure I'm not the only member of the Tribe with the same memory of 3rd
and 4th grade spelling practice. We were given a list of words on a Monday
and had to memorize them for a test on Friday. Homework consisted of
writing each word X number of times every evening along with a verbal test
proctored by dear ol'Mom or Dad. The method seemed to work, at least when I
put forth the effort.
Today, my kids bring home spelling homework that makes me wonder how a young
mind would "learn" to spell. The instructions for the weeks spelling
homework normally go something like this:
Mon: Put the 15 or 20 words in alphabetical order,
Tue: Write each word 3x,
Wed: Use 5 (number varies) of the words in a sentence,
Thu: Verbal Quiz.
Now, I am a big supporter of new ways to learn and I'm all for finding
better approaches. Honestly, would I be involved with RMAX if I didn't?
The methods I display above, however, didn't seem like an effective learning
method for my son, and his test scores proved it.
Let me also state that we monitor our son's study habits and homework very
closely, so this was not a case of poor effort on his part or a lack of
involvement or support by my wife or I. My son was becoming very
discouraged with his lack of progress compared to his effort.
Now, let's read that last sentence again; "discouraged with his lack of
progress compared to his effort." Sound familiar to anyone? Well, it did to
me, and then, WHAMO! Bulbs lit up, big epiphany, old memories and anxieties
surfaced, fear... I saw myself from early childhood, frustrated beyond
comprehension, trying and trying to do well at anything related to school,
sports, social setting etc... and in the end failing the test, not getting
on the team or to be publicly embarrassed. For 30 years I dealt with
feeling discouraged with my achievements when compared to the effort I put
forth to reach them. I was not about to let my son fall into my shoes.
What I saw in his face and heard in his tone made me certain he was putting
on my socks and was two steps from my old canvas high-tops.
Vowing to not let him become discourage, I asked him if he remembered how I
was before meeting and training with Mr. Bob Metz and before learning about
Coach Sonnon's training methods.
He said "yes, but that's sports and working out, not schoolwork."
Ok, I thought, good point. But why make such a division? I thought that if
I could utilize something from Coach Sonnon's methods, My son might benefit.
I went through everything I had from RMAX and Coach Sonnon. What sparked my
"creativity bone" was an article from the CST magazine by Coach Sonnon on
Double Density Training. Coach S. had also recommended the approach to me
by way of the CST Forum when I asked about a Clubbell program. I immediately
started figuring a way to configure the DD methodology for the spelling
problem.
My hope was that if he did a "DD Spelling Drill" following a similar pattern
of the DD "sets" it might help him have more of a "fun" challenge rather
than becoming frustrated. What I came up with was this:
The students get 15-20 words a week. The first DD Spelling Drill structure
was set up like this:
#Of times to in this
DAY write each word many minutes
1 6 20
2 5 17
3 4 15
4 3 14
5 2 12
6 1 10
Well, I really underestimated my sons writing speed, so I had to adjust the
times to keep the challenge. The adjusted drill was this:
#Of times to in this
DAY write each word many minutes
1 6 12
2 5 11
3 4 10
4 3 09
5 2 07
6 1 05
We ran the drills for 5 weeks, the students get a sheet of spelling words on
Monday and have a test the following Monday.
Results of the exercise/DD Spelling Drills are as follows:
1st test / after 1st week of drills:
Score: 18 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: Minor improvement.
Retention: (I judged this by verbally quizzing him on the previous weeks
words) Not Applicable for 1st week
2nd test / 2nd week:
Score: 18 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: same as previous week
Retention: 17 out of 20 with quick responses and some stumbling.
3rd test / 3rd week:
Score: 20 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: Large improvement and note from teacher stating so.
Retention: 18 out of 20 with quick, more confident responses.
4th test / 4th week:
Score: 20 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: improved status maintained and note of praise from teacher.
Retention: 18 out of 20 with quick, confident responses.
5th test / 5th week (Monday 25 Oct 04)
Score: 20 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: improved status maintained and note of praise from teacher. Also
noted was an improvement in spelling and penmanship on assignments other
than spelling tests!
Retention: Have yet to conduct.
Overall, my very "unscientific" study appears to have helped. My younger
son also participated, but he is one of those magnet brains that picks
things up and has it stick, so his biggest improvement was penmanship. He
too showed a vast improvement on spelling and other areas after the 3rd
week.
I share this with the Tribe in the hopes that it may help some of the others
with mini-Tribe members of their own. I make no claim that it was the
method of study that was the sole solution to the problem, but I'm certain
it helped! This was in no way a tightly controlled well-established,
scientific study. I simply took the DD format and adjusted it to another
aspect of life.
The new challenge at my house is Multiplication Tables and I think I know a
different way to study them now... I'll be sure to pass it along the
results!
My Very best to everyone,
Ski
Before anything else, I would like to take the opportunity thank you all. I
have been reminiscing about the Softwork Seminar and wanted to thank each
and every one of you who attended for the opportunity to again train with
good-hearted people that "get-it" on a deeper level. Again, many thanks!
Now, on to the subject at hand.
The problem I tackled was my eldest son's spelling homework and poor test
scores. After a few bad grades on his weekly spelling test I knew I needed
to find him a different study method. The problem I saw on the graded
spelling tests dealt with penmanship and accuracy. I also took a hard look
at how the material was being presented and studied.
I'm sure I'm not the only member of the Tribe with the same memory of 3rd
and 4th grade spelling practice. We were given a list of words on a Monday
and had to memorize them for a test on Friday. Homework consisted of
writing each word X number of times every evening along with a verbal test
proctored by dear ol'Mom or Dad. The method seemed to work, at least when I
put forth the effort.
Today, my kids bring home spelling homework that makes me wonder how a young
mind would "learn" to spell. The instructions for the weeks spelling
homework normally go something like this:
Mon: Put the 15 or 20 words in alphabetical order,
Tue: Write each word 3x,
Wed: Use 5 (number varies) of the words in a sentence,
Thu: Verbal Quiz.
Now, I am a big supporter of new ways to learn and I'm all for finding
better approaches. Honestly, would I be involved with RMAX if I didn't?
The methods I display above, however, didn't seem like an effective learning
method for my son, and his test scores proved it.
Let me also state that we monitor our son's study habits and homework very
closely, so this was not a case of poor effort on his part or a lack of
involvement or support by my wife or I. My son was becoming very
discouraged with his lack of progress compared to his effort.
Now, let's read that last sentence again; "discouraged with his lack of
progress compared to his effort." Sound familiar to anyone? Well, it did to
me, and then, WHAMO! Bulbs lit up, big epiphany, old memories and anxieties
surfaced, fear... I saw myself from early childhood, frustrated beyond
comprehension, trying and trying to do well at anything related to school,
sports, social setting etc... and in the end failing the test, not getting
on the team or to be publicly embarrassed. For 30 years I dealt with
feeling discouraged with my achievements when compared to the effort I put
forth to reach them. I was not about to let my son fall into my shoes.
What I saw in his face and heard in his tone made me certain he was putting
on my socks and was two steps from my old canvas high-tops.
Vowing to not let him become discourage, I asked him if he remembered how I
was before meeting and training with Mr. Bob Metz and before learning about
Coach Sonnon's training methods.
He said "yes, but that's sports and working out, not schoolwork."
Ok, I thought, good point. But why make such a division? I thought that if
I could utilize something from Coach Sonnon's methods, My son might benefit.
I went through everything I had from RMAX and Coach Sonnon. What sparked my
"creativity bone" was an article from the CST magazine by Coach Sonnon on
Double Density Training. Coach S. had also recommended the approach to me
by way of the CST Forum when I asked about a Clubbell program. I immediately
started figuring a way to configure the DD methodology for the spelling
problem.
My hope was that if he did a "DD Spelling Drill" following a similar pattern
of the DD "sets" it might help him have more of a "fun" challenge rather
than becoming frustrated. What I came up with was this:
The students get 15-20 words a week. The first DD Spelling Drill structure
was set up like this:
#Of times to in this
DAY write each word many minutes
1 6 20
2 5 17
3 4 15
4 3 14
5 2 12
6 1 10
Well, I really underestimated my sons writing speed, so I had to adjust the
times to keep the challenge. The adjusted drill was this:
#Of times to in this
DAY write each word many minutes
1 6 12
2 5 11
3 4 10
4 3 09
5 2 07
6 1 05
We ran the drills for 5 weeks, the students get a sheet of spelling words on
Monday and have a test the following Monday.
Results of the exercise/DD Spelling Drills are as follows:
1st test / after 1st week of drills:
Score: 18 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: Minor improvement.
Retention: (I judged this by verbally quizzing him on the previous weeks
words) Not Applicable for 1st week
2nd test / 2nd week:
Score: 18 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: same as previous week
Retention: 17 out of 20 with quick responses and some stumbling.
3rd test / 3rd week:
Score: 20 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: Large improvement and note from teacher stating so.
Retention: 18 out of 20 with quick, more confident responses.
4th test / 4th week:
Score: 20 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: improved status maintained and note of praise from teacher.
Retention: 18 out of 20 with quick, confident responses.
5th test / 5th week (Monday 25 Oct 04)
Score: 20 correctly spelled words out of 20.
Penmanship: improved status maintained and note of praise from teacher. Also
noted was an improvement in spelling and penmanship on assignments other
than spelling tests!
Retention: Have yet to conduct.
Overall, my very "unscientific" study appears to have helped. My younger
son also participated, but he is one of those magnet brains that picks
things up and has it stick, so his biggest improvement was penmanship. He
too showed a vast improvement on spelling and other areas after the 3rd
week.
I share this with the Tribe in the hopes that it may help some of the others
with mini-Tribe members of their own. I make no claim that it was the
method of study that was the sole solution to the problem, but I'm certain
it helped! This was in no way a tightly controlled well-established,
scientific study. I simply took the DD format and adjusted it to another
aspect of life.
The new challenge at my house is Multiplication Tables and I think I know a
different way to study them now... I'll be sure to pass it along the
results!
My Very best to everyone,
Ski