Help for Struggling Readers: BEST Books for Younger Challenged Readers (Ages 4-...

Help for Struggling Readers: BEST Books for Younger Challenged Readers (Ages 4-...: The last article in a series of 3 (different age groups) As the holiday season draws to a close, so does our series of three articles here...

Tips from Dyslexic Students for Dyslexic Students

HOW TO HELP YOUR KIDS WITH HOMEWORK

The nagging, the battles, the lost papers—do you dread school work as much as the kids do?  Here's how to help them hit the books and develop good study habits
By Teri Cettina

Step 1: Ya Gotta Have a Plan

Sit down with your kids and lay out expectations now, when the school year is starting, rather than waiting until problems arise. “Two or three goals is plenty, and you'll get better results if your child helps decide them,” says Alexandra Mayzler, director of New York City—based Thinking Caps Tutoring and author of Tutor in a Book: Better Grades as Easy as 1-2-3.

Ask: What were your child's stumbling blocks last year? Maybe homework time was running into bedtime, so agree on an earlier start time. Did your child resist reading? Work on ways to make it fun—maybe set up a reading tent under your dining room table. Review your child's homework goals again in October, and perhaps once more in January, says Mayzler. Adjust your plan as you go, letting your child take as much ownership of the process as possible.


Step 2: Get in the Groove

“All the research says the single best way to improve your child's homework performance—and bring more peace to your home—is to insist on a daily schedule or routine,” says Ann Dolin, who is also the author of Homework Made Simple: Tips, Tools, and Solutions for Stress-Free Homework. In some homes, that means doing it right after school; for others, it can mean waiting until after dinner if your child is the type who needs to expend some energy before he dives back into the books.

Dolin recommends giving all kids at least 30 minutes to have a snack and unwind, with one caveat: “That half-hour break really shouldn't involve anything with a screen—television, e-mail, or video games—or you may have trouble getting kids off,” she adds.

Giving kids a half-hour break between after-school activities and homework is a smart idea, too. “Sports or after-school care isn't really a break. Kids need to let down a little at home before launching into homework,” she says. If your child goes to a babysitter or aftercare program, make a deal that while he's there he'll work on one assignment—something easy he can do even with distractions—every day before he gets home so he has less work later.

The key is to be consistent about the routine. Take a few weeks before homework gets heavy to try different approaches and see what works best, then stick to it.

What about weekends? Everyone deserves a break on Fridays, of course. But pick a regular time during the weekend for homework. After some experimenting, D'nece Webster of Portland, OR, found that her son Alex, 7, is at his best on Sunday mornings. “He can finish in thirty minutes what might take him two hours on a weekend afternoon,” says Webster.


Step 3: Know When to Get Your Child Extra Help

If your kid is truly stuck on a homework assignment, don't make the common mistake of trying to reteach the information. Your goal is not to become your child's study buddy. Plus, your approach might be too different from the teacher's. “Imagine being a kid learning long division for the first time. You don't understand what your teacher is saying, and your parents teach you another method. When you get back to school, you're bound to be even more confused,” says mom and former teacher Laura Laing of Baltimore.

Instead, send an e-mail or note to the teacher asking her to please explain the material to your child again. If your child is a fourth-grader or older, have him write the note or talk to the teacher. It's important that he learns how to speak up for himself. The teacher will likely have office hours earmarked for those who need help. Also ask her about specific websites (many school textbooks now have practice sites kids can use in conjunction with the material in the book) or check out an online tutoring site like growingstars.com or tutor.com, which also has apps for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.


Step 4: Pick the Right Spot

Some kids do best with a desk set up in their bedroom so they can work independently; others want to be smack in the middle of the kitchen while you cook dinner. Mayzler recommends letting kids choose their preferred study spot. If your child focuses better lounging on a couch or the floor, “I say let them do it,” she notes. Wherever your child does homework, keep it distraction-free—no TV, video games, or loud siblings playing nearby. “It’s ideal if you can set a quiet family work time, when younger kids color or do other ‘homework-like’ tasks and you do paperwork or reading of your own,” Mayzler adds.



Step 5: Try Not to Be So Freaking Helpful!

Of course, it's okay—and actually necessary—to sit with 5- or 6-year-olds while they do homework. However, your goal should be to help less over time and move physically farther from where your child works. Laura Laing and her partner, Gina Foringer, make a point of staying out of the room where their daughter, Zoe, 11, does homework. That way, Zoe is encouraged to think through her work on her own before asking a parent for help. Even when Zoe asks a question, Laing often responds with more questions instead of answers. “I'll ask ‘What do you think?’ or ‘How do you think you can come to the answer?’” says Laing. Zoe often works out her own solution by talking it through with her mom.

When it comes to proofing a homework assignment, less is definitely better. Check a few answers to ensure that your child understands what's she's doing, but don't go over the entire page. After all, your child’s teacher needs an accurate measure of whether she really understands the work.



Step 6: Make 'Em Pay

Although you may feel guilty at first, it's smart to have a one-strike rule when it comes to forgetting homework. If your child leaves her assignment (or lunch, gym clothes, or other items, for that matter) at home and calls, begging you to bring it to school, bail her out, say, only once each grading period. For many kids, just one missed recess (or whatever the teacher's policy is for not turning in homework) usually improves their memory, says Cathy Vatterott, Ph.D., associate professor of education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and author of Rethinking Homework. But chronically disorganized kids may need more hand-holding. “Help your child figure out what part of his ‘return homework’ chain is broken,” says Vatterott. “Does he routinely leave homework on the dining room table? Does he forget some assignments because they're in a different folder?” Create a “Homework Checklist” on the computer and post it near his usual study space.



Step 7: Push Back on Busywork

Vatterott and other educators are now advocating for changes in the way homework is assigned and used in the United States (requiring teachers to prove the usefulness of assignments, discouraging teachers from grading homework, and more). She encourages parents to do so, too. “Good homework helps kids cement what they've learned, but it isn't busywork, isn't given in extreme amounts, and definitely doesn't require parents to become substitute teachers at home,” Vatterott says. A few caveats:

Mom and Dad shouldn't do homework. If work comes home with “directions for parents,” Vatterott suggests letting the teacher and possibly the principal know that you, unfortunately, aren't in class this year (some gentle humor helps!), so you won't be building a replica of a human cell or a California mission, or whatever is required. A project can be a fun way for parents and kids to bond, but if you feel like it's taking up too much of your time, it probably is.

Watch for overload. If your third-grader is spending an hour and a half on just her math homework, for instance, that's way too much. “Keep track of her time for several days, then talk to the teacher,” suggests Dolin. Sometimes teachers honestly underestimate how long an assignment will take. If your child routinely works long hours because she's struggling, also talk to the teacher. But if she seems to be slaving over homework because she’s a perfectionist, you may need to discuss a reasonable amount of time to devote to an assignment and then clock her.

http://www.parenting.com/article/help-kids-with-homework

SECOND MEETING OF GRADED PARENTS2PARENTS SUPPORT GROUP OCT.30

Some of the parents from the meeting requested that we meet more frequently than once a month. We will continue to have our scheduled meetings but if you would like to get together on Wednesdays Oct. 30 from 1:30 to 2:30 to chat with other parents, we will meet in the Media Center Conference room (2nd floor of the Art Center)

These weekly meetings will be more informal. We will spend the first part of the meeting sharing Celebrations and then the second part of the meeting discussing Challenges & Solutions.

Hope to see you on Wednesday.  Please feel free to pass this email to any other parents, you know would like to join us.

Best wishes,

Keren Soriano

From Medical News Today

E-readers benefit some dyslexics

Many of us enjoy the benefits of having a virtual library on the go with an e-reader, and now, researchers have found that dyslexic readers are able to read more easily, quickly and with better understanding by reading short lines on e-reader devices.

   

    See Smithonian sponsored site Read Easy for tips on using e-readers with 

    your child.

In assessing many students with reading difficulties at Graded, I have found that e-readers, which allow you to change the text size, spacing, and contrast between the background and the text, enables some students to read more fluently. In addition, the text can be highlighted sentence by sentence which helps students with visual tracking and visual attention difficulties. 

Children With Learning Disabilities Don't Need More Opportunity to Fail

We want to see what your child can really do,” the teachers tell us in the eighth-grade parent orientation meeting.

“Middle school is a safe time to let your child fail.”

And yes, of course, I agree. Aidan is no longer in elementary school after all, and he is not far from high school. Better to fail and learn from it now rather than later.

And yet, on many a night, I still sit with my sensitive, hard-working son who deeply wants to succeed, and help him with his homework when he asks. He’s dyslexic, meaning that his brain must work as much as five times harder to decipher symbols, translate them into sounds and then string those sounds into meaningful words. While the rest of us see a word like “comprehend,” and can sound it out and automatically pull the meaning from our auditory memory banks, it’s not so straightforward for Aidan. Dr. Sally Shaywitz of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity estimates that one in five children in the United States share Aidan’s diagnosis. Sometimes all the stars align and he decodes the unfamiliar words correctly and sometimes he does not. When several key words are misread, so, too, is the sentence, paragraph or story entirely. And this all relates to reading. Writing provides additional challenges, especially when it must be done — as most standardized tests require — without the aid of a keyboard, screen reader or spell-checker. (These tools can help level the playing field for dyslexics today.)

All that said, we are very fortunate to live in the time we do with technological aids like these and scientifically validated teaching methods for dyslexics. Furthermore, newer technologies, like functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or fMRI, enable us to see the dyslexic brain in action as it attempts to read, which in turn gives more credence to “invisible” diagnoses like this one.

Aidan’s grandfather and great-grandmother also had dyslexia, but didn’t have the benefit of a diagnosis or services. We count our blessings, indeed.

And yet there are some critical parts of our education system, like standardized tests, which are beyond our control. Often the accommodations of extra time and a quiet environment are simply not enough for dyslexics. If middle school is a safe time to see Aidan’s true performance on these, do we let him fail? Yes and no.

As working parents of three children, we must choose how best to spend our limited hours each day. When Aidan began to fail in the early grades — specifically, when there was a striking gap between his verbal intelligence and his ability to learn to read — we stepped in. We took him for testing. He received a diagnosis. For four of the last six years, we have spent a significant portion of our time and resources enabling Aidan to get private instruction, some of it partially supported through health insurance and state tax breaks. Unfortunately, unlike Britain, most states — including North Carolina, where we live — do not provide this time-intensive instruction in public schools.

We also identified those technologies and accommodations that would help him to not only not fail, but also work to his potential. But in the case of standardized tests, while he practices as best as he can, he sometimes comes close to failing. When this happens, I emphasize that standardized tests will never reflect a dyslexic’s true abilities.

Most importantly, with the remaining slivers of time, we’ve focused our sights on Aidan’s interests and strengths. Aidan is an extremely warm, creative, social, disciplined and motivated young man. Last spring in The New York Times, the physician-writer Blake Charlton, who is dyslexic, cited new research that claims that dyslexia may impart exceptional strengths in three-dimensional and spatial reasoning, as well as in creativity and big-picture thinking. Had we let Aidan fail in the early grades, we find it hard to imagine that he would be in a position now to recognize and exercise the strengths and abilities that his dyslexia may also impart.

If you see your child struggling to read and write during those early elementary years, get in there and investigate. We know so much more today about how the brain works. And soon we may also better understand how dyslexics like Thomas Edison, Charles Schwab, Albert Einstein and many others, exercised the strengths conferred by their seeming disability.

Recognize when it’s O.K. to let your child fail, and when it’s not.




http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/children-with-learning-disabilities-dont-need-more-opportunity-to-fail/?smid=pl-share

Dictation Technology Will Change Writing Instruction | Edutopia

I really enjoyed reading this article on dictation technology. I have been experimenting with the Siri dictation technology on the iPhone and the iPad. It is amazingly accurate and I believe it gives students with writing difficulties a chance to share their voice without having to overcome their fine motor difficulties. Currently, I do believe elementary students need to continue practicing writing and upper elementary students with writing difficulties need to learn to touch type. The one to one laptop program at Graded, enables students with writing difficulties to use word processing tools - it isn't even a special accommodation, when all students are using a laptop. However, until the students become proficient at keyboarding, the dictation technology is a fantastic way to make writing accessible . Who knows, in the near future, perhaps even typing will be obsolete!

Dictation Technology Will Change Writing Instruction | Edutopia

How Robert Redford's family are changing our thinking on dyslexia

At 10, Dylan Redford, grandson of Robert, could barely read or write. His story features in a revealing and touching documentary about the condition made by his father, James

• Elizabeth Day
• The Observer, Saturday 5 October 2013 17.42 BST

Robert, James and Dylan Redford Redford attend the New York premiere of The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia. Photograph: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for HBO

Auditory Processing Disorders (By NCLD Editorial Team)

There are several different ways the brain processes auditory information. If there is a weakness in a particular kind of auditory processing, it may be observed through specific types of behavior.

Below is an explanation of the different types of auditory processing. Each category also includes possible difficulties that can occur if there is a weakness in that area, and possible strategies that may help overcome the difficulties.

Be aware that weakness can occur in one or more category at the same time.

It is important to note that many people without any kind of auditory processing disorder experience problems with learning and behavior from time to time. However, if a person consistently displays difficulties with these tasks over time, testing for auditory processing disorders by trained professionals should be considered.

Auditory Discrimination

The Skill—The ability to notice, compare and distinguish the distinct and separate sounds in words. This skill is vital for reading.

Difficulties you observe

• Learning to read
• Distinguishing difference between similar sounds. Example: Seventy and seventeen
• Understanding spoken language, following directions and remembering details
• Seems to hear but not listen

Types of Helpful Strategies

• Practice rhyming, segmenting words into syllables, segmenting compound words, sound-blending and using similar sounding words (like obvious/oblivious).
• Talk to student at a slow pace.
• Give student one task at a time.  

Auditory Figure-Ground Discrimination

The Skill—The ability to pick out important sounds from a noisy background.

Difficulties you observe

• Distinguishing meaningful sounds from background noise
• Staying focused on auditory information being given. Example: following verbal directions

Types of Helpful Strategies

• Provide seating near audio source. Example: front of the class or near a video monitor

  Auditory Memory

  The Skill—There are two kinds of auditory memory

  • Long-term auditory memory is the ability to remember something heard some time ago.
  • Short-term auditory memory is the ability to recall something heard very recently.
  
  Difficulties you observe
  • Remembering people’s names
  • Memorizing telephone numbers
  • Following multi-step directions
  • Recalling stories or songs
  
  Types of Helpful Strategies
  • Offer written material to accompany lectures.
  • Strengthen note-taking skills.
  • Provide visual cues to differentiate information-for example, using different colored chalks to emphasize the most important material on the board or hand signals when moving on to another topic.
  
  

  Auditory Sequencing

  The Skill—The ability to understand and recall the order of words.

  
  Difficulties you observe
  • Confusing multi-digit numbers, such as 74 and 47
  • Confusing lists and other types of sequences
  • Remembering the correct order of a series of instructions
  
  Types of Helpful Strategies
  • Provide written materials to accompany verbal instruction.
  • Use images or gestures to reinforce understanding and memory of a sequence or list.

http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/adhd-related-issues/auditory-processing-disorders/auditory-processing-disorders?start=1

"Check List" to help our kids to be more independente

Finding your village...

African (Tamberma) Village, Benin
photo by themanwithsalthair on Flickr

Finding your village...  

We have all heard the African proverb It takes a village to raise a child. This is particularly true when you have a child with special needs. Whether your child has special social, emotional, learning, or medical needs, as a parent, you need to build a strong network of support for yourself and your child. But what do you do when you are not raising your children in your own village but find yourself in a new country, where you and your child may not speak the language? Third Culture Kids (TCKs) with special needs present double the parenting challenge.  

The Parent2Parent support group was created to help you find your new village in Sao Paulo, Brazil:

• Find professionals like speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, or psychologists.
• Talk to other parents who have found ways to help their children with organization, homework completion, and study skills.
• Investigate enrichment and acceleration opportunities for your child
• Explore strategies to support your child with math, reading, and writing.
• Investigate new digital tools to help your child
• Learn relaxation techniques for you and your child
• Share online resources for Gifted and Talented, Social Emotional Learning, Learning Disabilities, ADHD, Sensory Motor.
• Hear about colleges and universities that offer learning support. 
• Discover summer program opportunities.