Sophistication (Special Needs)

I tutor a Down Syndrome girl named Connie who is exceedingly bright. I was teaching Connie to read. For her 14th birthday I was browsing a botanical gardens gift shop and saw this book, Sky Tree. The text was approximately a level higher than she could read. It showed a tree through all the seasons, in lovely paintings, with text personifying the tree's feelings. For example in the winter the tree feels lonely because the birds have gone.

Would Connie enjoy the story? Nothing happens, except the seasons and the lives of the tree and the animals, the way that nature changes such as the water freezes over. I was sure she would be bored. No people, no action, no storyline really. Pictures that were almost exactly alike except for season changes. But I bought it and as soon as she saw it she was delighted.

At the bottom of each page was a question following from the text, such as "When you look at this painting of a tree on a hill, can you remember how you felt on a perfect summer day?" At the back were more sophisticated ways to see the paintings, and more difficult lessons about science, which I knew Connie was not up to.

Connie looked forward to it every session and got completely involved with the feelings of the tree. She felt sorry for the tree when it felt lonely, for example. She enjoyed tackling the questions at the bottom, abstract as they were. The book was a success. We never know the sophistication level of our special-needs students. Challenge them and they surprise us continually.

Connie's mother kindly wrote me a recommendation, and here is some of what she said:

". . . Eve goes beyond phonics and sight reading.  Through reading and writing, she has a knack for using cognitive functions such as analysis and grammatical syntax as tools to unlock the brain and strengthen Connie's thinking.

"In reading, Eve is excellent at helping Connie understand more difficult concepts, ranging from indirect quotes to understanding the feelings of characters in what she is reading.  In reading and writing, Eve is remarkably patient.  She spends a lot of time asking lots of questions and explaining things, for however long it takes for Connie to understand and respond.

"The end result of the reading and writing lessons is that Eve has helped Connie turn pre-thoughts into cognitive thoughts. . ."