My 11 yo daughter has numerous struggles, as I have mentioned in other threads. An area where I am at a loss is map work. I have been allowing her to trace maps, rather than trying to draw them freehand, which has been a help. We just finished unit 3 in Bigger, so we haven't done a lot. The map showing Cabot's and Columbus's voyages is fine. She can see in general where they sailed from and to. Yesterday we did the map in a First Book in American History that shows the Chesapeake Bay, James River, etc. We had been talking about Hudson, so I goofed.

When she working on this map, I was talking about Hudson trying to find a way to the Pacific Ocean. (This map has to do with John Smith)

Anyway, my first problem was trying to find a map which showed these rivers and bays in a full view of the US. I just pointed to the general area of the US where these are located. As I said, I was talking about Hudson when she was doing this map

, and when I said he tried to find a way to sail to the Pacific Ocean, but pointed out that he couldn't do it because the river he was on didn't go that far (pointing to all the US land west to the Pacific), Angie says, "He could walk."

She sees this little map that makes no sense to her when it comes to actual distance. She has looked at maps of the US showing each individual state, and she knows it takes a long time to drive from PA to Indiana.(12 hours does not mean anything to her. If something only takes 10 minutes, she may say it takes and hour) So, she does not process time either. We need to work on that as well. I got her a digital watch for Christmas, and the first day she wore it, every few minutes she was telling us what time it was

, although this was just reading numbers. She can tell 10:00 or 10:30, etc. on a clock face. But, it doesn't mean much to her in the scope of time. These areas have been a challenge for me to try to help her internalize. As far as the map work, do I just go through the instructions in the guide and leave it at that, or are there any additional ideas to help Angie understand it better. I'm fine with doing what is written, but when I think it isn't making any sense to her, then I feel like she is not moving forward.

How important is this skill when you have a child that does not process like most children? Am I worrying too much?

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. III John 4
Pam
dh 33 yrs
ds29 church planter in MA
dd27 SAH mom
dd26
dd 12
3 dgs(5,2, & born 6/15) & 2 dgd(3 & born 2/15)