Category Archives: Learning

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3 Warning Signs Your Child May Have a Learning Disability – Part 3

This is the 3rd of 3 articles in which I talk about the impact of movement on learning.

Learning & Movement – Rhythm (warning sign #3)

Matt walked into my speech-language therapy room. I knew he liked music and had learned the alphabet letter sounds and months of the year through song, so I had some music playing when he entered. His face lit up, he began to clap his hands and jump around. Neither his clapping nor dancing were in time with the beat of the music.

Not only is Matt awkward in his body movements, but he also stutters when he speaks. In addition, he receives occupational therapy for handwriting issues.

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3 Warning Signs Your Child May Have a Learning Disability – Part 2

This is the 2nd of 3 articles in which I talk about the impact of movement on learning.

Learning & Movement – Handwriting (warning sign #2)

Cindy strolls into her first grade class and stands by her desk.

 

“Hang up your coat and bag.”

“Ok.”

“Take out your journal to do your writing for today.”

“Ok.”

 

Handwriting samples

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3 Warning Signs Your Child May Have a Learning Disability – Part 1

This is the 1st of 3 articles in which I talk about the impact of movement on learning.

Learning & Movement – The Pencil Grip (warning sign #1)

Today, I proctored a state test for a group of five students who receive special education services. The photographs below show how they held their pencils. None of the pencil grasps demonstrated here match what the writing experts call “correct.” The tripod grip.

Pencil Grip - ChristopherPencil Grip - JonnyPencil Grip - EdrasPencil Grip - JaylaPencil Grip - Roy

 

 

 

 

 

Writing must be tiring for these children.

As I circulated among their desks, I wondered if from their toddler years, every time they held a pencil or crayon, their parents and teachers ever thought that they were giving a signal that they needed help.

Pencil grip and learning?

You may be wondering, “What in the world is she thinking? What does one have to do with the other?”

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Autism is Speaking…Are You Listening?

Autism Acronym

This month, April, is Autism Awareness Month. Did you know that?

Every day, I work with children. As they carry out the tasks and activities in our intervention sessions, I notice traits in some of them that are listed in the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

There’s Jay who gets very upset if I change the schedule for therapy, even just slightly. Don has to sit in the same seat every time, and keeps up a conversation whether you respond or not. Then I have Ray who speaks in a no-inflection monotone, through almost-clenched teeth.

Do you know someone who is autistic?

They usually have difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors.

Over two million people in the United States are autistic. On March 27, 2014, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that they classify around 1 in 68 American children as on the autism spectrum–a 30% increase since 2008.

Do you find that alarming?

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Have You Joined The Learning Revolution As Yet?

So often, many people think that education is synonymous with learning. But it is not. Education is all about systematic instruction, while learning has to do with acquired knowledge…whether from experience, personal study, or teaching.

Quite often in my inquiry into learning and the many paths it takes, I come across someone who trumped the system and excelled to tell about it. Jonathan Mooney is one such young man.

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Sound Listening for Sound Learning

3D Ear

Did you know that we function better if our right ear plays the leading role in our listening?

“Why is that?” you may ask. It is because the language center is on the left side of our brains. That is where language is processed.  Since each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body, we want meaningful sound to go through the right ear so it can proceed directly to the left side of the brain.

It’s almost time for one of my therapy groups. As they walk into the room, I greet them and tell them we’ll be playing a calling game. There’s a play phone on the table, in front of each seat. The students sit at the kidney-shaped table, and I pretend to call from my phone. They all reach for their phones, lift them to an ear and answer. With one exception, they put the phone to their left ear.

Now I am no scientist, but recent research shows that there is more of a link than previously thought between listening difficulties and learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The article below from Rafaele Joudry offers a solution to the dilemma.

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Who’s Listening To The Children?

On January 12, 2010, the island of Haiti was struck by a catastrophic earthquake. Unprecedented. Devastating. Life shattering. 

Once the shock began to wear off, offers of help started pouring in from all around the world.

Popular music producer, Kirk Franklin, assembled a number of other award-winning gospel artists to join together in singing a song called “Are You Listening?”

Each verse begins by saying, “I can’t imagine how you felt as…” then goes on to mention some horrible circumstance that may have occurred during the tragedy.

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The Mystery of Un-Learning

iStock photo

iStock photo

Have you ever deeply pondered the mystery of learning to read? We take some shapes that we are told are called letters, bunch them together and call them words. Then we string different words together and call them a thought – a sentence.

It’s amazing how the human brain takes in information from varying sources (input), processes it then tells us what to do with it (output).

Many times, we take for granted the things that are easy for us to accomplish. Reading is no exception to that rule.

What would you do if you suddenly lost the ability to decipher what’s written on a paper or in a book? Click on this link and listen to or read about a kindergarten teacher’s experience with exactly that challenge:  http://ow.ly/t1279

I like her indomitable spirit and how she developed a system of reading through writing.

What experience in your son’s or daughter’s like caused you to come up with a creative solution?

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Learning Like An Elephant

In Thailand, observant natives noted how elephants liked to scratch the ground with sticks. Someone came up with the brilliant and creative idea to exchange the stick for a paint brush and the ground with a canvas. Take a look at the result:

Over varying amounts of time, one trainer painstaking teaches an elephant to replicate a painting. Do you remember the simile about memory you learned in elementary school? Someone may be referred to as having a memory like an…elephant. That’s right! Just as elephants can be trained to remember the moves for circus acts, they can be taught to remember the strokes for picture compositions.

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Does Your Child Have A Learning Disability?

If you move around in a school community, sooner or later, you’ll hear it. Learning disability. So, what is that? Look at this simple video for a brief  and simple explanation.

It is extremely important to know your child’s preferred way of taking in information. That’s what will empower you to help him learn better and faster. As you study your son or daughter, lead them to discover the way they learn best.

If they are weak in one area, look for their area of strength and highlight it.

I’m on a campaign to help every child under my sphere of influence find out how he learns best, and teach them at least one way to make their weak area strong.

I’m enlisting mothers to join me. (Dads who feel left out are welcome too)

Here’s my question: Who’s willing?