Astronomia

In truth he is not slow, he just requires practical teaching not theoretical. Teach him using live objects e.g for 4 divided by 2, show him 4 objects ( it could be 4 biscuits) to be shared between him and you, he would then see better and understand better. Replicate this in other things.

Don't force much theoretical knowledge on him

How is he doing with his hands

I remember I was extremely bored with prime numbers but very excited with electronic and electrical

Your kid brother is not deliberate about what you have shared, he is simply living with learning disabilities which you can read more on at https://www.webmd.com/children/guide/detecting-learning-disabilities

He is just a child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Your using a belt on him is so wrong and traumatizing to the child and he will likely subconsciously attach learning to punishment thus making your efforts counterproductive.

Read up, seek professional help.

In addition to comments above, its likely that your parents are indulging him. Especially when you said you flogged him. That may in itself just be the biggest problem. Did you go too far with the punishment?

sonofthunder:
In addition to comments above, its likely that your parents are indulging him. Especially when you said you flogged him. That may in itself just be the biggest problem. Did you go too far with the punishment?

I don't think I did

Download YouTube videos on the subjects and topics of his leve, let him watch and learn since he loves watching cartoons. Maybe teaching him that way will help.

He needs “special education” simple.
You cannot treat him like his peers because he has a learning disability.

Stop comparing him to this and that. He is on HIS OWN LEVEL.

Punishing him sends the wrong messages by making him feel guilty and of YOUR IMMATURITY with children with special needs. You have to have compassion and understanding. You lack both. Please, tell your parents to get him a devoted, qualified and professional home tutor(not pedophiles please)!

He can’t be in a general classroom with a general curriculum please, to avoid BULLIES like YOU(his own family member) He needs A LOT of love, PATIENCE and an individualized learning plan with the basic foundation, IN HIS OWN LEVEL till he can catch up.

It is not his fault please.
DO NOT CALL HIM NAMES.and PLEEEEEEEAZE, STOP HITTING HIM!

TheRealOwner:

I don't think I did

Then you have some real problem. It's really difficult to motivate such children or correct them. Sometimes they know what is right and/or what you want from them but they'll fein ignorance or act blank. I really don't have much I can say at this point but you need to get your parents more involved and they need to stand with you whenever you are trying to correct him.

And if they refuse you, well, they just might be the ones to suffer any negative repercussions the most as you are soon a man of your own and other siblings will follow your footsteps sooner.

In all dont correct/punish him when you are angry though. I wish you the best with him.

For children like this, repetition works, to learn new things you have to keep repeating till they can do it themselves.

And you can also find a way to teach him by telling stories, you just have to be creative.

TheRealOwner:

I don't think I did

Many may not understand the half of the situation you are in. Regardless of how you breakdown the subject matter such kids exist that will take a while to grasp. It feels their minds are selectively keeping out some info and retaining less vital ones like cartoons. It also doesn't help if you are quite smart because the disparity would be even more apparent leading to more frustration afterall you have explained it better than most so why isn't he grasping it? In the end you will learn more patience than the kid would learn maths and for me that is a win.

I had a tutee like your brother; Femi was his name. When I started teaching him, I knew he had learning disabilities. He was in basic 3 but couldn't read and couldn't solve basic mathematics. I made research on how to help him out. I had to come down to his level to teach him. I never shouted on him because I knew it wasn't his fault. I taught him with love, used more of concrete objects to teach him, I taught him sounds and how to combine them to produce words and gradually, he picked up and started reading. If this my boy could do this, I believe your brother can. All you need to do is to apply everything I did and you'll be surprised at the progress he'll make.

sonofthunder:

Then you have some real problem. It's really difficult to motivate such children or correct them. Sometimes they know what is right and/or what you want from them but they'll fein ignorance or act blank. I really don't have much I can say at this point but you need to get your parents more involved and they need to stand with you whenever you are trying to correct him.

And if they refuse you, well, they just might be the ones to suffer any negative repercussions the most as you are soon a man of your own and other siblings will follow your footsteps sooner.

In all dont correct/punish him when you are angry though. I wish you the best with him.

Thanks. I appreciate it

Mizzpat:
I had a tutee like your brother; Femi was his name. When I started teaching him, I knew he had learning disabilities. He was in basic 3 but couldn't read and couldn't solve basic mathematics. I made research on how to help him out. I had to come down to his level to teach him. I never shouted on him because I knew it wasn't his fault. I taught him with love, used more of concrete objects to teach him, I taught him sounds and how to combine them to produce words and gradually, he picked up and started reading. If this my boy could do this, I believe your brother can. All you need to do is to apply everything I did and you'll be surprised at the progress he'll make.

Thanks

Hello therealowner,

It does sound like your brother has a learning disability,it does not make him less of a wonderful child,it just means he has difficulty understanding or learning things at the usual pace.

Learning disabilities are varied..he may be dyslexic and all that stammering while reading is because he doesn’t get it and words appear scrambled in his brain. The division you are calling simple may appear like physics to him.

I felt horrified that you hit another human being with a belt simply because he was unable to do maths, that was cruel and unnecessary. No one deserves to be belted , especially a child. If you think about it, you did it out of your own frustration not because you had to.

After that beating ,did it help him understand more? Probably not, what you have done is create more fear in him which in turn would provoke anxiety in him when anyone tries to teach him making him more prone to making even more mistakes

What you should do is investigate how he is in school. Is he able to sit still? Is he able to assimilate what the teacher is saying at all? Is he day dreaming in class? Is he able to pay attention and focus? Or is he just not as able as other children his age?

What are his interests? What is his pattern of learning? Does he prefer visual demonstrations and things broken into the simplest forms? How about history or geography? How about building things? Fixing stuff?

I understand the anxiety coming from you as a member of a high achieving family,but all fingers are not equal. Put yourself in his shoes and think about how he feels ,and how the shouting and disappointment makes him feel?You are creating a child that will have damaged self esteem with greater implications in future.

With a lot of love,patience and understanding your brother will blossom to be the best he can. His best may not be good enough for you and your family but at least you will know that he’s giving it his all. If he is not special in school, I bet he can be great at doing something else.

Next time you want to teach him,put a rubber band on your wrist.When he makes mistakes and you feel the urge to shout or beat,smack yourself first with the rubber band..the pain will distract you,then you can take a breather and try again.

Remind yourself that he’s not doing it on purpose.

Educate yourself ,the internet is filled with resources and you might find a description that fits him perfectly,then you and the family can discuss the way forward to get him the help that he needs.

TheRealOwner:
Good morning Family Section. I came here knowing the maturity and experience that is unique to this section amongst all other NL sections. I greet you all. Now to the issue

I have a younger bro (the last born) who is slow in learning. And I mean very slow. He's 8 years old and in Primary 3. We his elder siblings were all in Primary 3 at age 6 but his was late for some reasons. At age 8, he can't do simple mathematics correctly without making some grevious mistakes. He can't read passages and stories of his class grade fluently. He stammers a bit when reading and if you ask him to narrate the very thing he just read, he'll stare blankly, meaning he doesn't understand or wasn't following the story he was reading. An attempt to get him to spell words leads to sadness. Before the lockdown started, his class teacher wrote to my mum that he's really behind in class and she doesn't know how to help him. I'll give some scenarios to explain what the situation really looks like.

Before the lockdown (February), I took my time to teach him what Prime numbers were and made him write out all of them from 1 - 50. 3 days ago, I told him to give me a prime number, he said 6, then I asked him to define what prime numbers were and his response almost made me weep. I questioned him further for the definition of Odd and Even numbers and he didn't get a single one right at once. The straw that broke the camel's back was yesternight when he had some Maths exercises given to him by mom earlier in the day. He didn't know how to solve the last two and didn't bother to say anything till she asked him late in the night. It was brought to me and I solved it for him step by step. I asked if he understood everything I just did and he said no. I explained everything again, solving it step by step. I then told him to do the very last step, which was a simple division. Remember that I had solved it few minutes before in his own presence. He didn't know how to divide, something I had taught him 3 days before. He didn't have a single clue how to divide a bigger Number with a small one . Then asked what was 4 divided by 2. He said 1. I really lost it with him and used my belt. He ran to Dad and Dad called me and told me not to kill his child. He then started saying I should remember how many lesson teachers he got for me & my elder sister while we were in secondary school. I then asked him how many he got for us in primary school. It caused further tension and now the whole house is tense, but that's not a issue.

To be fair, he has displayed some things that surprised me before. While teaching him in February, he was able to figure out the Squares of numbers from 1 - 20 using the system I taught him. He also remembers stories told to him by my mom with very good accuracy, a trait he shares with his immediate elder brother and I. Anytime I come back from school, I'll ask him and he'll start to narrate everything that happened at home in my absence. He likes cartoons and animated movies a lot, and can narrate the storyline perfectly and recalls the names of characters and specific scenes. But it ends there.
Dad has 2 degrees and 2 masters in finance and geography. Mom has Bsc and masters in English Education. Same thing with elder sis but she's still doing masters. Myself and my younger sister are both studying medical courses in 2 of the most competitive federal unis in the country. His immediate elder brother (12 years) is a prodigy. So you can see it's not a matter of bad genes or that there's no one to teach him. We are not just seeing him operating on the level his mates are and not seeing the results of teaching him as we ought to. He attends a very expensive School too, the same one his immediate elder brother attended, so it's not that the school is bad. Please how can I help this boy? It's becoming worrisome. Helpful comments are very much welcome.

School isn't for everyone

..

TheRealOwner:
Good morning Family Section. I came here knowing the maturity and experience that is unique to this section amongst all other NL sections. I greet you all. Now to the issue

I have a younger bro (the last born) who is slow in learning. And I mean very slow. He's 8 years old and in Primary 3. We his elder siblings were all in Primary 3 at age 6 but his was late for some reasons. At age 8, he can't do simple mathematics correctly without making some grevious mistakes. He can't read passages and stories of his class grade fluently. He stammers a bit when reading and if you ask him to narrate the very thing he just read, he'll stare blankly, meaning he doesn't understand or wasn't following the story he was reading. An attempt to get him to spell words leads to sadness. Before the lockdown started, his class teacher wrote to my mum that he's really behind in class and she doesn't know how to help him. I'll give some scenarios to explain what the situation really looks like.

Before the lockdown (February), I took my time to teach him what Prime numbers were and made him write out all of them from 1 - 50. 3 days ago, I told him to give me a prime number, he said 6, then I asked him to define what prime numbers were and his response almost made me weep. I questioned him further for the definition of Odd and Even numbers and he didn't get a single one right at once. The straw that broke the camel's back was yesternight when he had some Maths exercises given to him by mom earlier in the day. He didn't know how to solve the last two and didn't bother to say anything till she asked him late in the night. It was brought to me and I solved it for him step by step. I asked if he understood everything I just did and he said no. I explained everything again, solving it step by step. I then told him to do the very last step, which was a simple division. Remember that I had solved it few minutes before in his own presence. He didn't know how to divide, something I had taught him 3 days before. He didn't have a single clue how to divide a bigger Number with a small one . Then asked what was 4 divided by 2. He said 1. I really lost it with him and used my belt. He ran to Dad and Dad called me and told me not to kill his child. He then started saying I should remember how many lesson teachers he got for me & my elder sister while we were in secondary school. I then asked him how many he got for us in primary school. It caused further tension and now the whole house is tense, but that's not a issue.

To be fair, he has displayed some things that surprised me before. While teaching him in February, he was able to figure out the Squares of numbers from 1 - 20 using the system I taught him. He also remembers stories told to him by my mom with very good accuracy, a trait he shares with his immediate elder brother and I. Anytime I come back from school, I'll ask him and he'll start to narrate everything that happened at home in my absence. He likes cartoons and animated movies a lot, and can narrate the storyline perfectly and recalls the names of characters and specific scenes. But it ends there.
Dad has 2 degrees and 2 masters in finance and geography. Mom has Bsc and masters in English Education. Same thing with elder sis but she's still doing masters. Myself and my younger sister are both studying medical courses in 2 of the most competitive federal unis in the country. His immediate elder brother (12 years) is a prodigy. So you can see it's not a matter of bad genes or that there's no one to teach him. We are not just seeing him operating on the level his mates are and not seeing the results of teaching him as we ought to. He attends a very expensive School too, the same one his immediate elder brother attended, so it's not that the school is bad. Please how can I help this boy? It's becoming worrisome. Helpful comments are very much welcome.

To me, his case is different, if not that he is in school, his case would have been something else

Keep trying and let him finish primary school, by the time he gets to secondary school and can't cope, let him go for vocational studies


Start now to ask him what vocation will he like to do after school and you guys should work towards that

Don't be surprise in future he will continue his education

Pls you guys shou take it easy and one other thing set reading time for him and reduce his cartoon times

When you say grievous mistake, do you mean someone dying as a result of his errors or the economy of a country crumbling?

8 years is the ideal age to be in primary 3, I don't set the need for the rush. Let him grow at his own pace before you create a bigger problem for yourself and society.
Thanks

If you'll have special needs, pray not to be born a Nigerian!

He’s not slow, he’s just different. Y’all should take him to see a behavioral scientist, there’s usually one at every general or teaching hospital or a pediatrician can recommend one for him. I personally stopped entering maths class when I was in jss3 because it never made any sense. Imagine scoring all As and then 19 over 100 in maths. Sometimes 14 self. Finally learnt long division and multiplication because I couldn’t pass a qualifying exam without it. It took all my friends in Agbani to teach me. Eventually I crammed the table because I couldn’t calculate percentage. He’ll be fine, he just needs to see a professional.