The problem with worksheets

Namine and I did a little impromptu time-telling and math tonight. This evening, while getting ready for bed, Namine asked me what time it was. The clock was in plain view, so I turned the question back to her, encouraging her to think on it herself. I knew she was familiar with reading the hour…

Namine and I did a little impromptu time-telling and math tonight.

This evening, while getting ready for bed, Namine asked me what time it was. The clock was in plain view, so I turned the question back to her, encouraging her to think on it herself. I knew she was familiar with reading the hour hand, but I wasn’t sure where she and Jessica had left off with reading the minute hand.

Looking at the clock, Namine told me that it was 8:04. That was wrong; it was 8:20. She wasn’t counting up by fives in figuring out the minutes past the hour, so I explained how that worked.

Namine had little problem counting up by fives to the proper minute past the hour, but when I asked her what time it was, she still told me the number on the clock, not the number multiplied by five. It just wasn’t clicking.

This brings to mind the report we received from the child neuropsychologist. She (the neuropsych doctor) posits that Namine has one or more of several conditions: a mental handicap; a processing delay; and/or an attention deficit disorder.

Though in her report she leans more toward ADD/ADHD, the doctor also states that Namine is incapable of what she calls “truly thinking”: the ability to process new information and reach a conclusion.

It took Namine a few times through the explanation of how minutes on an analog clock worked, but she did get it. She understood the math part; it was connecting that to the real meaning of what time it was where she had gotten stuck.

Jessica told me later — after Namine had gone to bed — that there had only been one worksheet on telling time. She thought Namine knew how to read the minute hand, but if she hasn’t had a lot of practice, she might have forgotten. Either way, since I know it’s a sticking point, I can help her work on it.

Keeping track of time during getting ready for bed is already something she and I are working on together. I think it fits in nicely to throw telling time into the mix as well.

Namine has shown that she has on days and off days when it comes to math. Word problems pose much less of a problem for her; it helps a great deal if she can visualize it. Straight up calculations are a little harder for her; they take her a little longer to figure out. But she has shown in both school lessons and the day to day that she can do it.

2 responses

  1. All of my kids said the number the minute hand was on too! When they say that Namine can’t truly think do they mean that she is not able to understand cause and effect? I don’t think I really understand their diagnosis! In any event, I think Namine is awesome!!

    1. Yes, cause and effect is part of it. According to the neuropsych’s diagnosis, Namine is unable to reason, to draw conclusions, to solve new problems she’s never encountered before.

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