by Kathleen Kosobud, for LDA of Michigan
I was e-mailed by a fellow traveler in disability advocacy, Liz Bauer, a former member of the Michigan Board of Education and a continuing activist in "getting it done fairly" for kids with disabilities.
She wrote on behalf of a mother who was asking her for guidance to help her 12 year old daughter who is entering 8th grade and, like her mother, has challenges with dyslexia. She was asking for resources so her daughter could complete American History as an independent study. The mother said: "I wish to jump start her 8th grade [year] with enthusiasm, success, and encouragement that we are intelligent women who can master this with a smile and confidence!"
Well, I may have overlooked her request for a resource that would allow her daughter to get credit for a course over the summer, but I think that I may have fulfilled the spirit of her request, and made a broader statement about what summer experiences can do for kids who struggle to learn during the school year:
If I were still teaching in a middle school, I'd be gathering resources to build the background vocabulary and experience of my 8th graders. In a "true" middle school model, we integrated all content across the curriculum, so the idea of studying American History in the absence of studies of scientific thought and discovery, literature, and the arts is sometimes difficult for my interdisciplinary brain to wrap itself around.
For 8th graders in Michigan, US History is defined in time--from the Age of Exploration to the Civil War. It's an arbitrary limit, and it encompasses a great deal of "dusty" content, so the real trick is making it personal--building connections that make one appreciate how we got to where we are. Here are the grade level content expectations for 8th grade social studies.
My inclination would be to go looking for documentaries (http://www.pbs.org/, and http://www.learner.org/ are two teacher resources I might use), fictionalized accounts of historical periods in film (check with your local youth librarian for videos in their collections), audio books of appeal to middle schoolers (check with your local youth librarian or sign up for Bookshare for delivery of online books to your computer at http://www.bookshare.org/), visits to area museums, forts, historic sites, and virtual tours (http://www.thwt.org/virtualtours.htm) to access as much of the time encompassed in 8th grade US History as possible. One author who is very popular with middle schoolers is Avi--who is himself dyslexic and a real history buff. His fiction really can draw you into the period.
A big consideration: because it is a real drag to be passively learning at any time (especially summer), I would think about projects to make things come alive--crafts, cooking, model-making, creating videos or slide shows online, etc. If you are near historic sites, make visits and learn from their visitor guides (the people who are on staff, not the pamphlets) what happened in Michigan at a given period of time. Visit Greenfield Village and spend some time in different periods of history all in a day--churn butter, watch glass blowing, learn to make ribbon roses for the latest of looks in hats, etc. Some libraries offer free or reduced passes to these attractions around southeastern Michigan so you may be able to save money and see some pretty interesting sites.
Good luck and enjoy your adventures in history this summer.I think back to summers with my own two children, who often needed to recover from school over the summer. I looked for recreation programs, camps, and other experiences that tapped into their interests and talents. I looked for opportunities for friendship-building through their interests. I always kept in mind that this was their summer vacation, not an extension of the school year.
I'm sharing this with readers of this blog because sharing my thoughts and ideas is a way of spreading the word that there is a better world for all of us who learn differently, teach differently, and may not always feel included.
May you have a good summer with your children, too!
