Teaching Kids about their Brain
“In a well-known body of research, Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has demonstrated that teaching students about how their brains work—in particular, that the brain is plastic and can develop new capacities with effort and practice—makes a big difference in how constructively kids deal with mistakes and setbacks, and how…
Why Reading Strategies Aren’t Working
Your child has reading instruction in school, but is still struggling. Many schools use Whole Language teaching strategies that not only don’t work for kids with dyslexia, but can also be damaging to their reading growth. For Those with Dyslexia, Whole Language is a Coping Mechanism, not a Strategy by…
What do you do when you don’t know the code?
Code-based and meaning-based reading are two hotly debated methods for teaching reading. I am firmly on the side of code-based instruction. Meaning can’t come if a child can’t read the words. From the article Code-Teaching or Code-Breaking? by Dianne Murphy, “Teaching the relationship between these two codes is the focus…
Misconceptions about Learning Math
This is an inspiring article about being “good” at math and how having a different attitude can help anyone grow in math skills and understanding. “First, banish the “I can’t do math” mantra in your home or school. We can all grow our ability to become good at math —…
How to Help your Child Develop Executive Functioning Skills
I once taught a middle school student named Thomas who was smart, funny, and popular with his peers. He had a reading disability, which he had learned to compensate for fairly well, yet he was still receiving failing grades. When I spoke to his teachers to try to figure out…
Why Learning Cursive is Good for Kids with Learning Disabilities
When my daughter began third grade, her teacher pulled me aside and told me that although my daughter’s previous teacher had told her that my child was very bright, that she “just didn’t see it.” As I wrapped my brain around her lack of tact, she went on to tell…