Learning Differences or Difficulties?

"But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it." (Numbers 14:24)

I have been asked a lot about learning difficulties. When frustrated parents wonder whether they need to hold back a kid in school, I help them explore and understand the child as a whole person. Instead of labeling them with a learning disorder, we need to understand more about the learning situations. Other than medications, there may be ways of increasing focus and learning. Why? Because a child (or teenager) may fail in school for reasons other than their IQ and mental capacities. The root of school problems could be physical (e.g. eye vision or hearing problem), emotional (e.g. going through parents' divorce or grieving the death of a grandparent), social (e.g. no friend), or spiritual (e.g. afraid of taking risk, losing hope and future in life).

Let us remember that people learn differently because God made us unique. Parents and teachers can definitely help kids learn how to learn better. One way of unlocking children's learning potential is to use various methods (e.g. audio, visual, action) to give them the information and remember the materials. I am motivated to find ways of helping kids compensate for their weaknesses and focus on their strengths based on success stories of "late bloomers" such as these:

Winston Churchill was hyperactive, he had a speech defect and problems with reading. Albert Einstein failed many math courses in school and his teachers thought he was too slow and too much of a daydreamer. Thomas Edison remembered never getting along at school because he could not remember things. Author and Poet Amy Lowell had math problems.

Success breeds successes! Sometimes all it takes is for one adult to believe in and encourage a young person. Parents tend to minimize what our kids are good at and maximize their failure. Could it be that we don't see our children's strengths because they are very different from us? There is always hope in Christ if we are willing to learn and to improve. Never give up!

Copyright © 2006 Winnis Chiang, Parenting ABC