KEEPING THE BRAIN ACTIVE!

It is very important that we help our children’s minds to stay active over the holiday break. It is tempting sometimes for children to want to be passive and just watch television, play that new video game, or be on the computer. While all of these things are fine in moderation, studies show that more than one or two hours a day doing these activities can not only turn their brains to mush, but sometimes cause them to be extra grumpy.
Here are my suggestions for over the break.

PROBLEM SOLVE TOGETHER:
To practice elapsed time ask your child questions like, “If you go outside now, and come back in at 11:30, how much time has gone by?”
To practice math ask, “If you build a snow fort and have 17 snowballs ready for a snowball fight, how many more will you need to make to get 50?”

WORD GAMES:
Play games together like Bogle, Scategories, or Scrabble.

WRITING:
Promote that “Attitude of Gratitude” by having your child write thank you notes for the wonderful gifts that they received.

READ:
Have your child spend time reading a variety of text this season. They can read Christmas letters, magazines, comics, and books. Have a family reading time together. Make popcorn and have fun with it!

ART:
Have your child draw, paint, or create something over the break!


By keeping your child’s mind active, they will be that much more ready for school when it resumes again next week!

Getting the A

From time to time I will have a parent call Excel Achievement and explain that they are worried because their child seems to know information the day before the test, but then takes the test and does poorly. When I asked this parent how the child studied for the test, she stated that she quizzes her son and he then gives her the correct response. Therefore, he can recite the information orally, but seems to struggle with getting the information out in written form. Here was my suggestion:

Have your child practice by writing the answers instead of speaking the answers. After all, this is what he/she will have to do this for the test. A good analogy would be the marathon. When people train for a marathon, they don’t ride a bike…they run! In the same way, when we are taking a written test, we MUST practice for it by writing. This will give your child confidence and reduce any unnecessary anxiety.

Another great tip is to make sure that your child looks at each question from several different angles. For example, if he is learning about photosynthesis, have him study the question in two formats.

Format 1: What is photosynthesis?
Format 2: What do we call it when a plant uses sunlight to produce its own food?

Again, the more that your child can visualize and prepare for the actual task at hand, the better!

Tis the Season to Read

Over the holiday break is a wonderful opportunity to encourage reading in your home. If your child traditionally says that he hates to read, here are a few tips:

1. Read with your child. Sometimes the bonding time of sitting together on the couch is just what he needs.

2. Motivate your child to read independently by saying, "Hey there, I can't wait to hear what happens in your book today! Make sure that you tell me as soon as you finish reading!"

3. Try not to say things like, "Go read!" or "You need to read your 20 minutes now." This makes reading sound like a chore instead of an opportunity.

4. Go to the library together. This provides you with wonderful opportunities to guide your child in his book selection.

5. Visit websites for books. Below are a few websites:
http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=391
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-lists

Overall, the more positive you are about reading, the better chance your child has in picking up that same attitude.

Happy Reading Everyone!

Left or Right?

Your child is very smart...you just know it, and yet studying with him is so stressful! You explain things in the best way that you know and it seems to be a fight every time. Does any of this sound familiar?

Sometimes parents and students have opposite learning styles. I usually see the conflict when I see "left-brained" parents trying to work with their "right-brained" students. Let me further explain.

Left-brained learners tend to like the following learning atmosphere:
...a quiet, orderly space
...like to plan ahead
...like many clear-cut directions
...enjoy reading for information

Right-brained learners tend to like the following learning atmosphere:
...music playing to help them focus
...frequent breaks
...live in the moment
...need an abundance of praise
...get overwhelmed easily
...can space off or get bored easily
...need more of a project approach instead of paper/pencil activities
...need longer processing time
...prefer more open ended assignments (require an element of choice)

As you work with your child, you may need to set aside the way that you learn, and focus in on how they learn best.

Acing the Test

Do you have a child that seems to do well on homework assignments but then seems to "bomb out" on a test? Sometimes these students claim to have test anxiety. This is probably true as test anxiety comes from a lack of preparation. Now, before you get upset, I realize that these same students may have studied for hours-- which is why they are so frustrated. However, when we ask these same kiddos what they did when they were studying, their answers are almost always the same. They say things like, "I looked over my notes and the chapters in the book." When students tell me this I say, "Perfect! You did a great job of 'inputting' information. You took the information from the page, and inputted it into your short-term memory. Unfortunately, test-taking is an 'outputting' activity. On a test, you have to take what is in your mind, and output it back onto the paper. This requires the use of your long-term memory. In order to output most effectively, you will need to practice outputting before the test." How can you do this? Below I have listed a variety of ways to output information. Have your child choose 2 or 3 of these to practice while studying for a test, and you will see amazing results!

Outputting Strategies:
--Draw pictures explaining the concept
--Teach the information to someone (If you can't teach it, you don't know it!)
--Create quizzes for yourself
--Make a song or rhyme
--Use clay or other building materials to "build the concept"
--Make a game and play it using vocabulary
--Ask yourself questions about confusing concepts, find the answer, and then paraphrase it in your own words
--Write about the concepts

My daughter has attention deficit disorder, do I have to medicate her?

Many times people assume that all children who struggle with attention and focus need medication. While medication has come a long way since we gave all of these children Ritalin, there are other alternatives.

In his book, The Myth of the A.D.D. Child, Thomas Armstrong lists 50 ways to improve your child's behavior without medication. Some of these include, relaxation techniques, diet, and limiting television. Dr. David B. Stein has also written the book, Ritalin is NOT the Answer. In his book, he gives parents some practical ways to work with their child at home.

On the other hand, medication is an alternative. Dr. Russel A. Barkley is an internationally recognized expert on ADHD. (http://www.russellbarkley.org.) His research indicates that many of the alternatives to medicine do not have any conclusive research behind them to show that they work. A terrific article to read is located at the following link: http://www.russellbarkley.org/images/BarkleyIntro.pdf

It is always recommended that parents are thorough in their research when looking at any treatment for ADHD.

Why Can't Johnny Read?

You've tried everything. Your child's teacher has tried all that she knows to do, and still--Johnny can't read. Why is this? How does this still happen in this modern age? Is there anything that can be done?

There are three basic reasons why a child, or adult for that matter, struggle with reading. It all has to do with the brain and how it processes information. In order to read, we use auditory processing, visual processing, and language processing. If one or more of these areas isn't working properly, the student will struggle.

The good news is that we have so much more brain research at our fingertips than ever before. We are learning that the medical profession and the education profession must work more closely together. Where the trouble lies sometimes is in the lack of knowledge by either party.

Let me give you an example: If Suzy is struggling, sometimes an incorrect label is placed on her. I just worked with a student recently who both the school and the doctors said that she had ADHD. What was her underlying problem? She had an auditory and visual processing issue. Some people call this dyslexia, which by definition it is. I like to dig further and find out what type of dyslexia it is. This is why I prefer to look at the type of processing problem it is. This student came to Excel Achievement for help with dyslexia, and is now reading at grade level. Does she have ADHD? Possibly, but we also know that many students who predominately use the right portion of their brain tend to fall into this category. We also know that student's with dyslexia tend to use more of the right side of their brain than the left side.

Let's discuss processing. Sometimes we are told that we are auditory or visual learners. These are great labels, but they really don't tell us a lot. When discovering the learning style of a child, I prefer to use Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. These are far more detailed and tell us so much more. (Please see the next blog for further information on these.) This brings us back to processing. I will describe each type of processing and the warning signs of each.

Auditory Processing: This is how the brain processes sounds. It has nothing to do with whether a child can hear or not. In fact, many children with auditory processing problems pass hearing tests with flying colors. People who struggle with auditory processing struggle more with the discrimination of sounds. For example, the "e" sound and the "i" sound may sound identical. "Ar" and "er" may also sound the same. Early warning signs of this are children who struggle with rhyming or the correct pronunciation of words. Children in elementary school with this problem really struggle with phonics (the sounding out of words).

Visual Processing: This is how the brain processes what it sees. Children with this issue may have 20/20 vision, but their brain takes information in a distorted manner. Depending on the type of visual processing issue, children may flip letters or letters or words may even move on the page for them. It is because of early studies with visual processing problems that many people think that this is what dyslexia is. They assume that if their child isn't writing their letters backwards that it isn't dyslexia. This just isn't true. Dr. Terri Bellis's research shows that over 30% of dyslexic children have an auditory processing problem. Therefore, children with dyslexia have a visual, auditory, or language processing problem, and many have a combination. Early warning signs of a child with visual processing problems often aren't seen until elementary school--where a child is asked to read and write. These children may reverse letters in their reading and writing. (Please note that if a child "writes letters backwards" before grade 2, this is developmentally appropriate and not necessarily a sign of a visual processing problem.) Another warning sign is that these children may skip words as they read--especially the "small" words such as "of", "the", "it", etc. They may also insert words or letters that aren't there. They may struggle with tracking and miss entire lines of text.

Language Processing: This is how the brain processes language. These children can speak just fine, but may struggle with getting all of their thoughts out into words. Because this is difficult for them, they may really struggle with writing. Getting words from their head onto the paper is very difficult for these students. In reading, students may be able to decode words just fine, but they really struggle with the comprehension of text.

How can we help students who struggle in one or more of these areas? First and foremost we must know that these children are bright and do want to learn. It is simply that one or more of their processing skills aren't working correctly. It is our job to find out which processing problem it is and then use a correct intervention for that specific processing issue. Once implementing an intervention, we must watch the student closely to find out if it's working. There are many interventions out there, and some of them work better than others. At Excel Achievement Center, we are continually improving our interventions based on the progress that the student is making.

Why does my child struggle with reading?

Sometimes parents ask me…
"Why is it so hard for my child to learn to read? We’ve tried everything and he is still struggling."

Without sounding too technical, I will briefly describe the three processes that go into reading. A problem with one or more of these is the root cause for ALL reading problems…

Auditory processing which is our ability to discriminate sounds…we use this when we rhyme and sound out words as we read.

Visual processing is our ability to discriminate symbols…we use this to memorize sight words such as the word “the” --and to remember our spelling words and even math facts.

Language processing helps us to comprehend and remember what we read.

We need all three processes to read successfully. After reading this, you can decide which of these processes your child may be struggling with. He may even struggle with more than one.

By knowing the root cause, you will be able to find the correct intervention for your child.

Listen!

I will never forget the day that I truly became a teacher. I was teaching in a middle school at the time. It was my first year in a middle school after teaching in an elementary school for four years. I absolutely loved this particular class as I had taught them in the 2nd grade, 5th grade, and now 6th grade. I had been able to watch them grow up before my eyes and I loved them. The only difficulty was that I was using the best methods that I knew to reach them and I wasn't. I remember pulling ideas from my own formative years and using strategies that worked so well with me, but they were to no avail.

Finally, one of my students came up to me and said, "I know that you are doing your very best, and we love you for it; but the methods that you are trying to use aren't working because you aren't watching us." I had to think about that one for a bit! Sadly enough, he was right! I was so busy thinking about what my college textbooks said, what my colleagues did, and what my own teachers had done, that I wasn't looking at the audience at hand.

I began watching them. Really watching them. And slowly, but surely, they taught me how to teach them. Some of the greatest lessons that they taught me are as follows:

...when they say that having music on helps them to focus--it does
...when they say that they need small breaks--they do
...when they say that movement helps them to remember--it does
...when they say that drawing helps them to focus and remember--it does
...when they say that it's boring--it is
...my pace isn't necessarily their pace
...my interests aren't necessarily their interests
...their jokes are genuinely funny to them
...their fears are real
...talking things out helps adults to learn, so what makes us think that children should be quiet?

Our children want to succeed. They are bright and know that there must be a better way. If we listen to them, perhaps we can help them to rediscover the love of learning!

Active vs. Passive

How do we get children to be as excited about learning as they are their video games? Can Edgar Allan Poe ever be as thrilling as the X-box game Halo?

In order to answer this, we must first ask the question,"What makes this video game so popular?" What makes any video game popular for that matter? The answer is ACTION! Children prefer to be active. They like to do things and see immediate results. The world of video games provides this.

Now let's take a look at traditional school work:
--Fill-in-the-blank worksheets with vocabulary words that are meaningless and lifeless to our children.
--Students sitting in rows to listen to someone talk "at" them.
--Students being asked to read with "getting done" as their only objective.

What would happen if children of today could rediscover the wonderment of asking a question and the thrill of discovering the answer? What if learning became as addictive as a video game?

How can we make this happen? Here are my suggestions:

1. Turn all knowledge into a project with a purpose. For example, teach children area and perimeter by building a house with craft sticks.
2. Have students ask questions and then become very active in finding the answer. Questions at a preschool level could be, "Where does macaroni and cheese come from?" Questions at the middle school level could be "What is happening to the cells in my body when I get sick?"
3. Give students a purpose before they read anything. For example, "I want you to read this section in your text book to find out what happened during the depression."

The theme here is to keep student's minds actively engaged. Keep them thinking, questioning, and wondering. This is what will take a student from good to GREAT!

How Can We Get Students to Want to Learn?

In order to have a classroom set up to be conducive to great learning, the first step is the teacher.

The Psychology of the Teacher:

Happy
We know that great teachers are happy teachers. They love their job and want to be there.
Belief
Great teachers believe in their students. They know their specific audience and teach in a way that is developmentally appropriate.
Wonder and discovery
Fantastic teachers are naturally curious and want to know more about each subject that they are teaching. They are passionate about learning and are able to project this passion onto their students.
Inquiry
Great teachers understand that there is much to learn and that they do not know everything. They ask a lot of questions and encourage their students to do the same.
Creative
The best teachers are creative in their approach to make learning fun for their students. They use their strengths and recruit others to help in the areas that they are not strong.

The next step in creating a productive learning environment is the actual set-up of the classroom.

The Psychology of the Classroom:

Happy
Classrooms should be warm and inviting. Research shows that calm colors are more soothing than bright colors. Natural light and plants are also very important. Cozy corners create a homey feeling. Areas to work in groups promote an atmosphere that is conducive to socialization.
Belief
The environment should promote the belief that all students will learn. Listing the various intelligences (kinesthetic, musical, etc.) around the room promotes that all of us learn differently and it is OK.
Wonder and discovery
Classrooms should include computers for researching, plenty of books, and discovery centers.
Inquiry
Students should have places where they can ask questions in writing and on the internet. Questioning strategies should be taught and implemented into group and individual work.
Creative
Art corners and writing corners promote the creative in a student. Project-based learning is vitally important.


The final step is to make sure that the student is ready and prepared for learning.

The Psychology of the Student:

Happy
If a student is happy, he is more likely to learn. Keeping a student’s anxiety level down can help this.
Belief
It is vitally important that a student believes in his ability to learn. Students must understand their own unique learning style to do so.
Wonder and discovery
Curiosity promotes a hunger for learning. Giving students the opportunity to discover and then report what they’ve learned will make them continue to thirst for knowledge.
Inquiry
Nothing promotes life-long learning like the power of the question. Students learn that with each question comes an answer. They then can use the process of discovery to search for the answer until they find it.
Creative
Human beings by nature are creative. Creativity promotes curiosity and curiosity promotes discovery.

Just a Little Reading problem or Dyslexia

Hmmm, let me see, does this sound familiar?

...Tried Reading Recovery, and while it seems to work for everyone else's child, it's just not working for yours.
...You've had the best teachers that the schools can offer, and while they are friendly, intelligent, and passionate about their field-- your child still isn't reading at grade level.
...You're child either doesn't qualify for special education, or once again, even in special education, you aren't seeing progress that is worth talking about.
...You've tried your best friend who is a tutor-- no progress
...You've called the local colleges and had students whose major field of study is education--still no progress.

If this is your story, one thing to consider is to explore the warning signs of dyslexia. Dyslexia is hereditary; therefore if you or your spouse struggled with reading in school, there is a very great chance that you have it as well.

"Isn't dyslexia when you see words backwards?" you may ask. Actually, dyslexia effects one in five students, and here is the alarming fact...classroom teachers and special education teachers do not have any training in dyslexia intervention. In May of 2006, the National Council on Teacher Quality wrote a document entitled, "What Education Schools Aren't Teaching about Reading and What Elementary Teachers Aren't Learning." This document goes over the lack of training that many teachers have in the world of reading.

I am not trying to offend anyone. I can attest to this myself. I am a reading specialist. I taught "Correction of Reading" at the College level several times and I am embarrassed to say that I spent five minutes at most discussing dyslexia. I just didn't know any better. I had never been exposed to any research on the topic.

If your child is struggling with reading, please go to excelachievement.com and at least look at the warning signs of dyslexia. The best time to help your child is NOW.

Smart, but not paying attention

"I just had parent/teacher conferences, and the teachers all told me that my son is very smart, but he really struggles with paying attention. Is there anything that I can do at home to help him?"

I hear this question probably on a daily basis. The answer is yes, there are some fun and simple things that you can do at home.

First of all, you need to realize that because your son is bright, the thoughts that are going on in his head, are far more interesting to him than what the teacher is saying. His brain may also move at a faster pace and therefore, a long lecture is almost impossible for him to focus in on. That being said, there are some things that you can teach him to make school a little easier for him.

1. Play the list game at the table during supper, or even in the car while driving. Here is how you play. Begin by saying, "I am going to say something that I want you to repeat back to me, are you ready?" Then say, "I am going to the store to buy potatoes, bread and milk." Have him repeat back what you just said to him. Most of the time, students with attention or focus problems cannot repeat more than two items back. Explain that the definition of listening is to be able to repeat back that which the messenger has said. Practice lists of three for awhile and then slowly move on to longer lists. This will slowly increase his ability to focus on longer messages. Allow him to make messages for you as well. (You may be surprised to see that your attention isn't that long either.)

2. When you give your child a list of tasks to do, always have him repeat them back to you. For example, when you tell him to brush his teeth, put his pajamas on, and layout his clothes for tomorrow; you may find that he'll complete one of these if you are lucky. Again, usually lists of three are too long. ALWAYS have him repeat it back to you by saying, "Ok, now repeat back to me what I asked you to do." If he can't, you know that your list was too long.

3. If you have the opportunity to talk to your child's teacher, you will want to let him/her know that you are working on these things at home. The teacher will probably be willing to follow through with some of these ideas as well.

Just remember that your child wants to pay attention. This will help you to stay positive as you help him work through staying focussed on what others are saying.

Why the Worksheet?

I woke up this morning wondering, "Who invented the worksheet anyway?" These monotonous tools are used over and over not only in the classroom, but in our homes as well. When exactly did we decide that passively filling in blank lines is better than the art of discovery? No wonder children are bored in school today!

Gone is the ability to ask questions and then seek the answers. Curriculum is spoon fed to students and they are expected just to "download" this information into their minds. After a long lecture, they are then given a long worksheet to fill out. Are we seriously questioning the drop-out rate?

I was at a teacher's meeting the other day. Each teacher went around and shared the flaws of a student, who in their minds, just wasn't staying on task and paying attention. One teacher piped up, "Well, I'm so lucky that Simon likes my class because I don't have any of these troubles." I smiled as the teacher was so humble, but the reality was that she was an exceptional teacher. Her students feel valued in her classroom. They know that she not only wants to hear their thoughts and questions, but is excited about them. She sets up projects and labs to help them discover their world, and all the while she creates a passion for learning. Does she use worksheets occasionally? I'm sure that she does, but she is not the teacher whose principal has put a limit on the amount of paper being copied each week.

What are your thoughts on the worksheet?

Naughty or just plain smart?

Daniel Pink has written a wonderful book for the business sector entitled A Whole New Mind. In this book, he discusses how the world's leaders are changing. They are no longer the "linear" left-brained thinkers, but are the "think outside of the box" right-brainers.

I share this because America's schools are going to have to catch up with this as well. Other countries, such as Italy, have already begun to change how they teach children. We no longer want children to be "the sheep that follow the herd" sitting in nice, neat rows. Instead, we want them to be independent thinkers able to problem solve and question.

In our traditional schools, these wonderful right-brained thinkers are often thought to be "naughty" because they question and probe to find out the "why" and to have it make sense on a larger scale. They are able to look at a rule such as "you must show your work." and ask "Why, if it is so much easier to do in my head?" These kids are often accused of daydreaming because quite frankly, what is going on in their minds is far more interesting!

So, how do you teach these wonderful children? There are beginning to be books written on the subject. One of my favorite's is Jeffery Freed's book, Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World. In this book, he not only helps parents and teachers to understand these thinkers, but provides wonderful strategies to make learning easy and fun for them.

Some basics to follow with these children are:

1. Provide the "why" for each academic situation and connect it to real life.
2. Give these children time to process. They are deep thinkers and often times, when given enough "wait-time", they come up with the best answers.
3. Build relationships with them. "Connect before you correct."
4. Stay positive and believe that they will perform above and beyond your wildest expectation.
5. Keep things moving! These kids cannot focus on long lecture.
6. Projects vs. worksheets work best.
7. Help them to discover their strengths.

What to Look for in a Tutoring Program

Parents often ask us, "What sets you apart from other tutoring services? Why should we choose you over anyone else?" What good and valid questions! We encourage parents to shop around when looking for tutoring options for their children. After all, tutoring is an investment in a child and their learning!

When "window shopping" for a great tutoring fit, parents should look for the following key ingredients to a quality tutoring experience:

• Highly Qualified Instructors: A strong background in education is a necessity for those who are working with struggling students. Teachers must know "how learning works" and be able to adjust their instruction frequently to accommodate for different styles of learning. At Excel Achievement Center, we pride ourselves on hiring the most qualified professionals in education. Our staff consists of South Dakota certified teachers, the vast majority of which hold Master's Degrees in Education; and an elite group of outstanding pre-service teachers from 2 of our local Universities.
• Research-based Methodology: The curriculum in use should align with sound research and "best practices" in the field of education. Each state has developed their own set of "Standards" that all schools in the state adhere to. Your tutoring facility should also be using these Standards & Benchmarks to guide student learning. Furthermore, any quality tutoring facility should be familiar with the latest research put out by the National Reading Panel and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Excel Achievement Center utilizes all of these standards and practices.
• Individualized Instruction: The instruction your child receives in a tutoring program should be individualized to fit their unique needs. Teachers and students should have the flexibilty to change directions as a lesson progresses and new understanding takes place. At Excel Achievement Center, we do not believe in a "cookie cutter" approach to teaching where the same lesson is used for all students. Instead, we operate on a one-on-one basis; 1 teacher to 1 student for every tutoring session! Therefore, our highly experienced staff has the ability to work closely with your child for an entire hour long session.
• Accountability & Communication: As a parent, you should never be left asking, "I wonder how my child is doing?" A quality tutoring program keeps the lines of communication open between parents, school, and tutoring. Progress, breakthroughs, and struggles should all be discussed when they are occurring rather than as a "surprise" at the end of a program. Parents of students enrolled at Excel Achievement Center have formal, sit-down meetings called "Parent Reports" every 6 weeks to discuss progress and concerns. Upon parent request, the Education Director also communicates with the child's classroom teacher to ensure that strategies being learned at Excel are also transferring over to the classroom. Furthermore, to put parents' minds at ease Excel Achievement Center will allow students to get up to 25% into their tutoring program and still offer a refund of monies not spent if the fit doesn't seem "right."

The process for enrolling at Excel Achievement Center begins with a FREE Consultation with one of the Center Directors. Call us today at 988-0900 to book yours!

Why is Math so Tricky?

If I were to stand in the mall and interview everyone who walked by me asking them how they felt about math, my guess is that 85% of the people would say that they do not like math or are not very good at it. Why is this?

In the last blog that I wrote, I addressed the multiple intelligences. One of these intelligences is mathematical-logical. Some of us have this form of intelligence. We also know that most math teachers have this form of intelligence which is why math comes so easily to them. What about the rest of us? How do we learn?

Research shows that people who are musical learners, visual-spatial learners, or kinesthetic learners predominately use the right side of their brain. Mathmatical-logical learners predominately use the left side. So, if I use right-brained strategies naturally, and my teacher uses left-brained strategies, concepts will be difficult for me to grasp. What are right brained strategies?

Right-brained strategies cater more to hands-on and pictoral ways of learning. Excel Achievement specializes in using right-brained math techniques in their one-on-one tutoring and hilariously fun summer camps. Here is how it is best to teach a child who utilizes more of the right side of their brain...

1. Teach concept using manipulatives. Take away the manipulative and have the student visualize the concept in their head.

2. Have the student draw a visual representation of concepts or rules learned.
For example:
Snowman story: There was once a little 3 year old child who decided to build a snowman. He built the snowman and then decided to make his snowman face to the right, so he placed the eyes and nose like so (÷). He then took 2 sticks and had the snowman’s arms cross like so(x). Finally he had one stick left over so he simply laid it across the bottom of the snowman like so (-). Then the sun came out and melted the snowman to the ground.

Fraction Operations:
These are “smiley faces”. The eyes for are the symbols and the word “same” is the smile. The word “same” is demonstrating that the denominator needs to stay the same when adding and subtracting fractions. It does not stay the same for multiplying and dividing fractions. The smile on the multiplication/division face has an “x” just like the multiplication symbol (x) to show crossing out the word “same.” If this picture doesn’t work for a student—if they can’t hold it in their long term memory, have them create their own visualization of the operations.

3. Have the student verbalize what they are visualizing.

4. The student must be able to teach the how and why of each concept.

5. The student must be able to compare new concepts to old ones.

6. Teach concepts solidly, before moving to another.

7. Have students manipulate math in a variety of ways to reach a conclusion.

8. Students must have processing time. (reflection time—a time for the brain to make connections.

9. Students must see relevance in what they are doing.

GREAT IDEAS FOR STUDYING MATH FACTS! (Other than flashcards)
1. Play games that will help you to memorize math facts. These can be found in many of the Teacher Stores in the area.

2. Make up rhymes to go with the facts. For example, 8x8 fell on the floor, pick it up and it’s 64.

3. Use the Math the Fun Way book and flashcards. This unique system uses stories and pictures to teach math facts. It is under $20 and so much fun. It can be purchased at http://www.citycreek.com/ or in at Teaching Treasures in Sioux Falls.

4. Write your math facts in finger paint.

5. Build math facts with craft sticks.

6. Get a CD that plays your math facts. There are many fun musical versions.

7. Play dominoes and add, subtract, multiply, or divide them as you connect them.

8. Use fact family triangles to “stomp out” math facts.

9. We know that we learn by teaching. Have your child teach the facts to a younger sibling.

How Do You Learn Best?

Howard Gardner's research on the muliltiple intelligences is absolutely fascinating! The following list and describe each of the intelligences. Most of us dominate in two. Read below to find out more about how you learn!

Linguistic: Linguistic learners often like to read and write. They learn best by writing things down, and memorizing acrostic poems or acronyms work well for them. They often do better on essay tests than multiple choice tests. They may also have an advanced vocabulary and may also be wonderful spellers. These students may sign up for spelling bees and writing contests.

Logical-Mathematical: People who are logical-mathematical are very good at math. Multiple choice tests tend to be easy for them as they enjoy problem solving and short and concise answers. Essay tests may be difficult. They enjoy puzzles and games that provide strategy such as chess. Some students with this learning style enjoy solving difficult math problems and will often sign up for math competitions.

Kinesthetic: Many kinesthetic learners are often athletic. They also enjoy being active and learning is easiest if it is hands-on. They do not enjoy doing things that seem to be “a waste of time”. They enjoy reading “short text” such as magazine articles. Often they prefer non-fiction to fiction reading. They prefer projects that have a point instead of traditional paper/pencil activities. To study, it is best if they can create hands-on activities such as games, puzzles, and things that require movement. Fairness is very important to them. They are definitely motivated by meaningful tasks.

Visual-spatial: The visual-spatial learner tends to be very creative. They like to draw or create things. They may also like to build things with Legos or Magnetics. They prefer hands on activities and like to take time to process their thoughts. Being social while learning is important to them. They prefer their mind to stay active. Listening to a teacher lecture is difficult. Sometimes they are accused of daydreaming and not being organized. Drawing concepts can help these students to remember them better. Attaching emotion to what they are learning is also important. These students may also exhibit extreme sensitivity to the world around them. They may also be gifted in their artistic abilities. These children also have a witty sense of humor and can be very analytical in their thinking. They can often take apart and reassemble things or ideas with skill.

Nature: These students really enjoy the outdoors. They expect learning to be practical and make sense in the world that they live in. Making connections and questioning while learning will keep their mind focused. These learners are very analytical as well and will notice a surprising depth of details about their surroundings. They too can often take apart and reassemble things or ideas with skill.

Musical: Musical learners like putting concepts to music and utilizing rhythm and rhyme works well for them. They also like to have time to process their thoughts as they utilize more of the right part of the brain than the left. Attaching emotion to learning is also important. Some children are very gifted musically and can hear and see music at a higher level than their peers.

Interpersonal: These students have a very high “social IQ”. These students understand how to work well with others around them. They know the right and wrong things to say at the correct time.

Intrapersonal: These students have a very strong sense of self. Students who have this intelligence are very intuitive and can often “feel” the emotions of themselves and of those around them. Thus these children have a very high emotional IQ.

Which best describes your learning style? Visit http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment

Why Can't Johnny Read?

You've tried everything. Your child's teacher has tried all that she knows to do, and still--Johnny can't read. Why is this? How does this still happen in this modern age? Is there anything that can be done?

There are three basic reasons why a child, or adult for that matter, struggle with reading. It all has to do with the brain and how it processes information. In order to read, we use auditory processing, visual processing, and language processing. If one or more of these areas isn't working properly, the student will struggle.

The good news is that we have so much more brain research at our fingertips than ever before. We are learning that the medical profession and the education profession must work more closely together. Where the trouble lies sometimes is in the lack of knowledge by either party.

Let me give you an example: If Suzy is struggling, sometimes an incorrect label is placed on her. I just worked with a student recently who both the school and the doctors said that she had ADHD. What was her underlying problem? She had an auditory and visual processing issue. Some people call this dyslexia, which by definition it is. I like to dig further and find out what type of dyslexia it is. This is why I prefer to look at the type of processing problem it is. This student came to Excel Achievement for help with dyslexia, and is now reading at grade level. Does she have ADHD? Possibly, but we also know that many students who predominately use the right portion of their brain tend to fall into this category. We also know that student's with dyslexia tend to use more of the right side of their brain than the left side.

Let's discuss processing. Sometimes we are told that we are auditory or visual learners. These are great labels, but they really don't tell us a lot. When discovering the learning style of a child, I prefer to use Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. These are far more detailed and tell us so much more. (Please see the next blog for further information on these.) This brings us back to processing. I will describe each type of processing and the warning signs of each.

Auditory Processing: This is how the brain processes sounds. It has nothing to do with whether a child can hear or not. In fact, many children with auditory processing problems pass hearing tests with flying colors. People who struggle with auditory processing struggle more with the discrimination of sounds. For example, the "e" sound and the "i" sound may sound identical. "Ar" and "er" may also sound the same. Early warning signs of this are children who struggle with rhyming or the correct pronunciation of words. Children in elementary school with this problem really struggle with phonics (the sounding out of words).

Visual Processing: This is how the brain processes what it sees. Children with this issue may have 20/20 vision, but their brain takes information in a distorted manner. Depending on the type of visual processing issue, children may flip letters or letters or words may even move on the page for them. It is because of early studies with visual processing problems that many people think that this is what dyslexia is. They assume that if their child isn't writing their letters backwards that it isn't dyslexia. This just isn't true. Dr. Terri Bellis's research shows that over 30% of dyslexic children have an auditory processing problem. Therefore, children with dyslexia have a visual, auditory, or language processing problem, and many have a combination. Early warning signs of a child with visual processing problems often aren't seen until elementary school--where a child is asked to read and write. These children may reverse letters in their reading and writing. (Please note that if a child "writes letters backwards" before grade 2, this is developmentally appropriate and not necessarily a sign of a visual processing problem.) Another warning sign is that these children may skip words as they read--especially the "small" words such as "of", "the", "it", etc. They may also insert words or letters that aren't there. They may struggle with tracking and miss entire lines of text.

Language Processing: This is how the brain processes language. These children can speak just fine, but may struggle with getting all of their thoughts out into words. Because this is difficult for them, they may really struggle with writing. Getting words from their head onto the paper is very difficult for these students. In reading, students may be able to decode words just fine, but they really struggle with the comprehension of text.

How can we help students who struggle in one or more of these areas? First and foremost we must know that these children are bright and do want to learn. It is simply that one or more of their processing skills aren't working correctly. It is our job to find out which processing problem it is and then use a correct intervention for that specific processing issue. Once implementing an intervention, we must watch the student closely to find out if it's working. There are many interventions out there, and some of them work better than others. At Excel Achievement Center, we are continually improving our interventions based on the progress that the student is making.

Why Excel?

This is the first time that I am blogging on the advantages of Excel Achievement Center. Normally, I stick to topics about education and ways to improve a child's learning within the classroom setting. Today, I've decided to discuss a system that is already in place. A system that works and a system that is perhaps one of the strongest I've seen.

Some of you may be saying, "Of course you feel that way, it is your business." This is of course a very valid point. My rebuttal to this is that I feel the way that I do based on the results that we get at Excel Achievement. Because this company is so "results driven," we do not come to the end of a tutoring session and say, "Whoops, sorry...that didn't work out." In fact, of the 3-4 cases that we've had during our five years in business that we didn't help a student get to grade level; we went into "research mode" to find out why we didn't. In all cases we called the families and let them know of the answers that we found. The cases are as follows:

Case one was a sixth grade boy who was struggling in math. We used every technique that we knew from hands-on techniques to techniques that work with students with slower processing. We were unable to help this student get to grade level. Because of this, we continued our research and now have implemented "right-brained" math techniques that work beautifully! We now not only help students get to grade level, but have had several literally go from the bottom of their class to the top of their class. As for the original student of whom we couldn't help at first, we did offer for him to come back for a summer free of charge so that he could benefit from these new techniques.

Case two was a second grade boy who was struggling with reading. He was enrolled in our dyslexia program-- a program that had given us great results 100% of the time previously and was just not doing the trick with this student. Again, we went into research mode and discovered several new techniques to help children with visual processing problems. We also learned of a new test that gives us a deeper look at auditory processing issues. We called this student back and tested him free of charge. We also referred him to a visual processing specialist.

Case three was student with severe dysgraphia. We used all of the latest researched methods, and were unable to get her to grade level. This is a case that we are still researching because the lack of research available in this area.

Why am I sharing with you the cases that we couldn't help? I share this because Excel Achievement prides itself on working very hard to stand by its clients. We know that while we can never claim to be perfect, we do work very hard to meet the individual needs of our clients. When people ask me how many clients that I have here at Excel Achievement Center, I respond by saying, "As far as you are concerned, we have one student--your child."

The Power of the Question

On the Excel Achievement Center homepage, we state that children learn the power of the question and find joy in discovering the answer. I pondered on this this morning as I thought about my own journey in education. How often have I asked the question and then found the answer?

I remember my very first year of teaching. I was enthusiastic and energetic. I, like most new teachers, felt that I was going to conquer the world that first year. I had 23 second graders who came to me with smiles that included missing front teeth, the energy of Winnie the Pooh's Tigger, and the enthusiasm of 100 Einsteins to learn. I felt that I owed it to these children to put in the extra time as they were not going to "suffer" because I was a first year teacher. I remember putting in long hours and still working in my classroom until 10PM at night.

That first year I discovered the power of the question as I watched my students. I had three of my second graders who could read at the fourth grade level. My question, "How can I help these children reach their fullest potential?" I had a little boy who would hold his fists so tight that they would go white whenever I taught phonics. My question, "How can I help his anxiety?" Like all teachers, I also had a few behavior issues. My question, "How can I get these children to behave?" My answers came in the following ways:

The three gifted children:
I remember asking my mentor what I should do with these children. She responded by saying that they needed to follow the second grade curriculum like everyone else. She continued to say that the school really didn't have materials for these children and that they would be fine. She was an excellent teacher, and I respected her judgment, but I intuitively felt that there must be a better way. Thus I continued to ask the question, "How can I better serve these children?" The answer came from reading books. I discovered that I could have these children read a novel at their level and I put together a literature circle without really knowing that that was what it was called. I had the children doing higher level comprehension activities and increasing their vocabulary without even knowing the correct education jargon. I had asked the questions and then found the answers!

The boy who struggled with phonics:
At this time in my career, I knew nothing about auditory processing disorder let alone any interventions that could have helped this. All I knew was that phonics was not this child's "thing." Therefore, I again asked the question, "What can I do for this child?" The answer I came up with was not to have him do phonics, but teach him reading in a different manner. I focused on his strength-visual processing- and taught him a large sight word base. This helped to decrease his anxiety, and helped him to enjoy school more. I then continued to ask the question about ways to intervene with these children, and years later did much research on auditory processing disorder and dyslexia. It was here that I discovered answers to interventions that work with these children. Today, Excel Achievement Center specializes in working with these kiddos.

The behavior issues:
Like most first year teachers, I put a lovely "behavior modification" system in my classroom. You know the one... "If you talk, I'll move your stoplight from green to yellow, then to red, etc." Yuck! I learned early on that I did not enjoy "policing" students, and that I just wanted to teach. What I learned was this, if I place my focus and my classroom's focus on behaviors, we will just focus on behaviors. If I focus on the content I'm trying to teach and get my students to focus on that as well, I didn't have behavior issues. My task became to get my students so mentally engaged with what I was teaching, that they wouldn't have time to be "naughty." I decided that my classroom would be exciting and that I was up to the challenge of competing with television. (We didn't have internet in those days)

As I look back and reflect on my 20+ years in education, I'm excited that I kept asking questions, and that I didn't think that I knew it all. In fact, the more that I'm in this profession, I've learned that it is my students who teach me the answers as long as I keep asking the questions.

Love or Fear?

As parents and teachers, we want to do what is best for the child(ren) that we are in charge of. We feel a sense of panic at times that perhaps we aren't "getting it right," or that it is all our fault if a child doesn't learn something.

One of my most recent discoveries as I'm out and about observing parents and children, is that actions derived from love have very different effects than actions derived from fear. Let me explain...

When a teacher is trying to teach the entire class a concept, and one of the children is talking, she has a choice to respond in fear or love.

Fear would say, "Susan! Stop talking right now! It is very rude of you to talk while I'm talking. Would you like me to do that to you?"

Love would say, "Susan sweetie, I need your attention because this next part that I'm going to be talking about is going to be fabulously interesting and I don't want you to miss out."

The fear response shames the child and gets the whole class to focus on the unwanted behavior. The love response cares deeply about the student's feelings and helps her to focus on the desired behavior--learning.

I have found that when dealing with children, it is always best to help them to focus on what I want them to do versus what I don't want them to do. This works with adults as well. The brain will naturally focus on what is being told to it, good or bad. It doesn't really understand "don't". If I say, "Billy don't touch that"...his brain will immediately focus on touching it. However, if I say "Billy you can't touch that because you might get hurt, come over here and let's play this game;" I've given Billy's mind something to focus on.

Teachers and parents do love their children. I have no doubt about that. Sometimes we have our own fears that get in the way of our parenting or teaching...
"What if I fail?"
"What if the principal doesn't like the job I'm doing?"
"What are others thinking?"
"What if I'm not doing the right thing?"

We have to conquer our own fears as we work to help children conquer theirs. Each day we need to ask, "Am I acting out of love, or fear?"

Ways to Help Children with ADHD

Almost every day I hear a horror story from a parent as to how much their child dislikes school.
Today, more than ever before, teachers have many demands on their time and talents. It is increasingly difficult to meet the individual demands of every child in the classroom. Below are my suggestions as to how to better assist students with attention deficit disorder. They have worked very well for me and the staff at Excel Achievement Center. My hope is that they will benefit the classroom teacher as well.

Suggested Techniques:
· Teach concepts using real-world objectives and portray the relevance in what the students are doing
· Teach concepts using manipulatives
· Have the students verbalize what and how they are learning in their own words
· Have the students learn and apply visualizing strategies to increase their visual memory
· Teach the students to compare new concepts to former ones learned
· Give appropriate processing time
· Teach the students how to draw visual representations of concepts or rules learned.
· Provide space for group work where students can collaborate
· Provide correct lighting and environment
· Give positive direction (Right-brained children thrive on praise!)
· Promote active vs. passive learning
· Coach students to break larger projects into smaller, more manageable parts
· Have a sense of humor!
· Incorporate movement

Chalkdust Torture

An interesting title! I was fortunate enough to hear the song "Chalk Dust Torture" by the jam band Phish over the weekend. As I reflected on the some of the lyrics, it made me wonder "How many students are currently sitting in their desks feeling tortured by some of the more traditional methods used in many classrooms today?"

Lyrics:
"Cause I soak on the wrath that you didn't quite mask.
I'm getting it clearly through alternate paths
Or mixed in with the signal you're sending
But who can unlearn all the facts that I've learned
As I sat in their chairs and my synapses burned
And the torture of chalk dust collects on my tongue
Thoughts follow my vision and dance in the sun
All my vasoconstrictors they come slowly undone
Can't this wait till I'm old? Can't I live while I'm young?
But no peace for Jezmund tonight
I plug the distress tube up tight
And watch what I say as it flutters away
And all this emotion is kept harmless at bay
Not to educate somebody's fright"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSso1lgtLH0

This song reminded me of a seventh grade student that I am currently working with who struggles with focusing as a result of having attention deficit disorder. This student, while reflecting on how he feels about school, said the following:

"I think school is the most pointless thing in the world because I don't learn like all the normal kids do. I can't focus, so I don't do my work and then they ride my a** till I get one freakin' problem done. Then, they send me to the principal's office and that just makes it worse! The problem is that it's not just me who has this problem. Other kids do too. The schools need to have a freakin' meeting and figure this out. I don't care how long it takes, but it would make school a whole lot happier for someone like me if they did!"

From the tone in this piece, you may think that this student is a behavior problem or maybe isn't that bright. On the contrary, this student is extremely bright and actually does very well when he is taught using methods that hold his attention and focus.

How many other students feel the way that this student does? How many other students are sitting angrily, yet silently in their seats?

How can we help these students? In Dr. Brian Post's book, Beyond Consequences, he discusses the need for educators to "connect before we correct". Teachers are taught to first connect to themselves before they can connect with their students. The art, the very craft of teaching, completely relies on a teacher's ability to connect with his/her students. If a teacher sees that his students want to succeed, he will then want to do everything in his power to help him do so.

In Jeffery Freed's book, Right Brained Children in a Left Brain World, specific instructions on how to help children who struggle with focus are given. These tips are not difficult and can benefit all children.

At Excel Achievement Center, we empower students by placing them in a more active role with their learning. We know that many children with ADHD are more "right brained" thinkers, and thus we utilize right brained strategies to teach these kids. An example of some right brained strategies are as follows:

1. Provide the student with an element of choice. This will help him/her to become more emotionally involved with the learning process.
2. Remember that repetition is the number one law of learning!
3. Teach students that "If they can't teach it, they don't know it!"
4. Teach the definition of listening: "Listening is being able to repeat back that which the messenger has said."
5. Allow creativity to flow! Abandon worksheets and come up with alternative methods. There are so many out there!
6. Have the students--not the teacher--do the majority of the talking.
7. Promote active learning by having all the students respond to a question. Instead of asking the whole class what photosynthesis is and getting four students to raise their hands, engage the entire class by saying, "Turn to your partner and tell him what you think the answer is." In this way, ALL of the students are actively engaged.
8. Provide many hands-on activities.
9. Break larger projects into smaller parts to avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed.
10. Believe in the student and let him/her know that you love them!

Emergent Literacy: Playing with Language!

Learning to read and write are arguably the most important accomplishments that young children make during their early childhood years. Knowing this, many parents begin working with their child on these processes at home using the tools and techniques that they remember best from their schooling experience. For example, many parents devote hours to helping their child "learn the letters" or "write their name" before heading off to Kindergarten. Although these are important skills to learn, parents and educators must ensure that they are introducing literacy skills in a developmentally appropriate sequence. After all, becoming literate is just as much of a developmental process as learning to walk; there are several different phases a child must go through before they are truly independent with either!

Children first begin learning about reading by observing. They watch as parents and other trusted adults read to them, write notes, write their name, and so forth. After countless hours observing, they work up enough courage to being "playing with language" on their own.

Their language play will be based on the 3 main dimensions of literacy: reading, writing and speaking. Following are some specific examples of how children "play" with each of these processes to learn.

Writing Play:

• Scribbling
• Drawing people (You've got to love those large heads with no neck or body!)
• Drawing familiar shapes or places (house, the sunny day, etc.)
• Writing letters
• Attempting punctuation

Speaking Play:

• Misusing pronouns (Saying "he" when they should have said "her," etc.)
• Getting the phonemes in the wrong place with longer words ("psaghetti"/"spaghetti.")
• Rhyming

Reading Play:

• Requesting for you to reread familiar books again and again and again. . .
• "Reading" that familiar book on their own using the pictures
• Making up their own story to a book using pictures

To make the anaology to walking again, when children are "playing with language" they are crawling with literacy. They are attempting to do this huge task on their own-- but, they don't have all the tools yet! This is when the rich instruction of a teacher is most needed to guide each child along to their next developmental stage!

In the book "What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction" (2002), the following components were identified as being critical to effective literacy programs in preschool and Kindergarten:

• Language development with an emphasis on vocabulary and concepts
• Understandings about the functions of print (in written language)
• Print awareness and concepts about print
• Literacy as a source of enjoyment
• Knowledge of narrative structure: Characters, setting, beginning/middle/end, etc.
• Storybook reading
• Knowledge of the alphabet
• Phonemic awareness
• Opportunities to write

When early childhood classrooms are rich with these types of experiences, literacy development can truly blossom.

Hooked on What?

I just had one of my college students ask me the other day, "Whatever happened to 'Hooked on Phonics?" Well, as far as I know, this product is still on the market. This question did give me cause to stop and think about how little we all know about teaching phonics. Many of us just learned to read without thinking twice about it. Now, if we have a child who is struggling, we aren't quite sure as to the correct order that phonics should be taught.

In my last blog, I discussed the importance of "phonemic awareness" aka: helping our children become aware of the sounds that make up words . I discussed the importance of reading and chanting poetry and nursery rhymes with your child. Phonemic awareness, after all, is the foundation of reading. This article is going to be about the second stage in teaching reading--teaching phonics. I will begin by explaining the difference between phonics and phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is just as the name implies--an awareness of sounds. Letter symbols should not be introduced at all at this stage. When for example, I say the word "sun" to a preschool child and ask them what sound they hear at the beginning of the word, I want them to say "ssssssss" and not state the letter's name. Phonemic awareness is also about where in the word the sound comes from. "Do you hear the sound "nnnn" at the beginning or the end of the word?" And, as formerly stated, phonemic awareness deals with rhyming words as well.

Phonics, on the other hand, is placing symbols to the sounds we hear in words. This is when letters are introduced. There is however a developmentally appropriate order that letters and sounds should be introduced. I will state each stage and the appropriate grade level in which this phonetic skill should be taught.

1. Once phonemic awareness is mastered, students can be introduced to consonant sounds. Yes, that's right consonant sounds. In the past, we simply began at the beginning of the alphabet and taught the letters A-Z. We even had a "letter of the week" and spent a whole week on just one letter! No wonder the students were bored and began to dislike school! We know so much more now in our research! Children need to connect letter sounds to letter names/symbols in authentic context. The director of Excel Discovery Center preschool--Molly Wilson--sent me the following as to how she introduces letters:

"We begin with the child's name; "s is for Sebasitan... /s/" and then continued with m for mommy, d for daddy, then g for grandma, friend's names, etc. We talk about them frequently and point them out with environmental print. The MOST emotional attachment is with their own name (I ALWAYS start with a child's own name!) and then others close to them. In the Excel Discovery preschool classroom, most of our little 3 year olds can say the first letter of all their friends' names. Then we can extend it to objects... like bubblegum, bat or whatever (at our house t for trains was next.)"

In Kindergarten, consonants should be taught as follows: Four consonants and then one short vowel. In this way, early on, students learn that letters form words and that all words must have a vowel. Four letters and one vowel can easily be taught in two-three week's time in a kindergarten classroom. The condition is this: STUDENTS MUST BE EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED WITH THE LETTERS! For example, instead of the teacher dictating that the letter "b" stands for "ball". She can do some phonemic awareness rhymes to get the children familiar with the sound "b," and then have each student choose what his/her "b" will stand for. Will it be "bubblegum" or "bridge", "bat" or "bull"? When a student gets emotionally involved with the letter, it can last in his memory forever!

2. Upon learning all of the consonant and short vowel sounds, students can be introduced to consonant blends. This is where we teach two consonant sounds blending together. For example, "bl" and "st". This skill is introduced in kindergarten and covered more thoroughly in the first grade.

3. Long vowels are next in line. These should be taught in the first grade. Students will learn that the vowels each have two sounds and will also be introduced to the silent /e/ as in the word "cake". Vowel/silent "e" words (v-e) are somewhat difficult for students to grasp and may take some time. When I teach this I use the little saying, "The E jumps over, bops the (a, e, i, o, or u) on the head and says, "Say your name in the alphabet (a, e, i, o, or u)!"

It is also very important in this stage that we show students there are many different ways to spell long vowel sounds. For example, did you know that there are eleven ways to spell the long "a" sound? I do not teach all of these to children at this stage, but I do show them a card that shows them all the various ways to spell each long vowel sound. In this way, students see the full picture right from the start. Below, I have listed the various ways to spell each of the long vowel sounds with sample words next to them:

Long A: a as in acorn, a-e as in made, ea as in steak, ai as in rain, ei as in reindeer, ay as in stay, ey as in obey aigh as in straight, eigh as in eight, et as in buffet, e` as in cliche`.

Long E: e as in ego, e-e as in delete, ee as in sheep, ea as in beak, ei as in ceiling, ie as in field, ey as in key, -y as in baby,

Long I: i as in island, i-e as in ice, ie as in tie, ei as in eidetic, ey as in geyser, igh as in night, -y as in fly

Long O: o as in oval, o-e as in poke, oa as in boat, ow as in tow, ou as in soul, oe as in hoe, ough as in though, ew as in sew, eau as in plateau

Long U: u as in ukulele, u-e as in mule, ue as in hue, eu as in feud, and ew as in few

4. Following teaching the long vowel that says its name and the v-e rule, we can introduce vowel teams. (ai, ay, ea, etc.)

5. Next we teach diphthongs. (oy, ow) These are teams with more than one sound. They are sometimes called "sliders" because our mouths slide from one sound to another.

6. R-controlled words are next. These are words that have ar, or, er, ir, or ur in them. For example car and bird.

7. In the second grade we move into two syllable words.

8. Finally, in the third grade we move into teaching multi-syllable words.

Why Should I Read Nursery Rhymes to My Child?

Once upon a time, a long, long, LONG time ago; every child in the land knew the words to Humpty Dumpty, Hickory Dickory Dock, and Sing a Song of Six-pence... rhythm and rhyme were a part of every child's vocabulary.

Remember those days? Do you remember those rhymes? Now journey into the present and visit today's preschool age children. Many of these children do not know the magic that comes with the rhythm and rhyme of language. They are missing the very first foundational skill of reading--phonemic awareness. Phonemic Awareness is described by the National Reading Panel as "the understanding that sounds of spoken language work together to make words.” (Reading First, 2001)

Knowing how to rhyme and discriminate sounds is the foundational piece to a child's early success with reading. We are so fortunate now to have many books today that incorporate rhyme. Many authors, including Dr. Suess, have brought us another dimension to the rhythm of language.

One of the early warning signs of dyslexia is that a child struggles with rhyming. (See the warning signs on the Excel Achievement Center website.) This is a problem associated with auditory processing. My youngest son used to struggle with this as a child. He could not decipher between the words that rhymed from the words that didn't. He also struggled with name recall--another warning sign also having to do with an auditory processing deficit. Name recall is when a child cannot remember a name of a person or object after it has been told to him repeatedly. (My son asked me what my sister's name was every time that she came over.) Since his father has dyslexia, I found it imperative to begin an early intervention with him so that he would only know success in school.

Because my son is a hands-on (kinesthetic) learner, he did not enjoy the traditional nursery rhyme books that I had used in the past with his older brother. These books did not have enough "action" for him. So, I had to take a different approach. I decided to add action to these nursery rhymes to make them come to life. The black birds would "peck off his nose"(my fingers would tweak his nose), Humpty Dumpty would really fall (I'd have him fall off my lap), and the mouse managed to climb up the clock (my fingers crawling up his arm). He and I worked really hard on rhyming together. On top of this, he also received early intervention tutoring at Excel Achievement Center.

Because early intervention methods were used with him at the early age of four, he is now a second grader reading at the third grade level. He has never struggled in school because of the interventions that we did outside of school.

Can reading nursery rhymes and poetry books completely treat an auditory processing problem? No, of course not. However, it is one way to assist children in falling in love with language and experience of reading. It is also a way to begin helping our children to love the magic that comes with the rhythm and rhyme of language.

Teaching Reading: What we know for sure!

The reading wars have been going on for decades. The grand debate of phonics vs. sight word, whole language vs. balanced literacy-- curriculums come and go. Why do we keep doing this?

The answer is simple. Great teachers are constantly discovering differences in their students. They pose questions and then seek answers. This is what life long learners should be doing. The problem arises when educators build theories on the new information discovered, without plugging it into more seasoned information. For example, once a teacher discovers that phonics isn't working for everyone, he/she finds something that does work. This is a fantastic approach and one that should be used often. The fallacy lies in then swinging over to the new approach without seeing the validity in the previous one. AKA: Phonics works for some.

At Excel Achievement Center, we have worked very hard to incorporate brain research in our studies. It is our belief that there must be a marriage between the diagnostic work done in the medical field, and the intervention work done in education. We have discovered that the reason there have been so many pendulum swings in education, is that this has not been looked at as closely as perhaps it should have been.

Now we know that children use their auditory processing (phonemic awareness and phonics), their visual processing (the ability to hold sight words in our memory), and language processing (the ability to gather meaning) when we read. Some children have deficits in one or more of the above processing abilities and thus struggle with reading.

Children with an auditory processing problem can hear things quite clearly, but have difficulty discriminating sounds. The short "e" sound may sound exactly like the short "i" sound to them. This causes difficulties in beginning reading. We know that the parieto-temporal lobe in the brain is the part of the brain that beginning readers utilize the most. This is the part of the brain that assists students with decoding (aka: "sounding out the words). When a student isn't using this portion of the brain and utilizes a different part instead, he/she will initially struggle with reading unless a teacher assists him/her otherwise. Teachers abandoned phonics and went to the "whole word" method when they discovered that some of their students had auditory processing problems. They simply didn't know that this is what it was. Students with auditory processing problems may be able to utilize their visual memories in a much stronger way and simply memorize large lists of words. The problem with this method is that if a student comes to an unknown word that is not stored in his/her memory, the word cannot be decoded. A much better approach is to strengthen the students auditory processing. (See future articles on auditory processing interventions)

When the reading wars swung to the "whole word" method, educators were able to help those with auditory processing deficits, but were not reaching those with visual processing problems. Children with visual processing issues often struggle with visual memory. They are the children who struggle with spelling as well. When these children read, they will often insert letters that don't exist on the page, or they will skip words and endings to words. Sometimes these children struggle with tracking as well and will often lose their place as they read. Their coping mechanism is that sometimes they will skim as they read and learn from context...thus the whole language method was born.

The whole language method focused on the language component of reading. It stressed the importance of the brain becoming active and being emotionally involved as it read. This too is excellent and aligns with brain research. The issue here is that children still need to be able to decode (sound-out) unknown words and build up a bank of sight words so that reading is fluent and more automatic.

The National Reading Panels research of 2000 was vital to the world of reading in education. Their research stated that an effective reading program must include: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency instruction, and comprehension instruction. This research aligns with our findings in that all three types of brain processing must be working in the proper order for a student to be most successful in the world of reading. Phonemic awareness and phonics are an auditory processing skill. Learning vocabulary and comprehending utilize both the visual and language processing parts of the brain. Fluency utilizes all three processing pieces.

How does this information help us? Now teachers can learn to decipher which aspects of the brain are not working correctly and then utilize specific interventions for that part. Now all children can learn phonics. All children can become spellers. We know this to be true from Dr. Sally Shaywitz's research utilizing the functional MRI. Her findings showed that the brain can be rewired when the correct intervention is used.

In the articles to follow, I will provide interventions for each of the three processing problems. In this way we can join together as teachers and eliminate the reading wars all together!