Putting Students First!

Michelle Rhee, the former Superintendent of the Washington D.C. Schools has just launched a movement to reform the public schools in this country. (www.studentsfirst.org) The statistics on this website state that one in three fourth graders in this country are scoring below basic proficiency in reading and 67% of these are low income families.
In South Dakota, recent reports have shown that 60% of the seniors graduating are not proficient readers! As 85% of juvenile offenders have literacy issues, I would like to take a moment to ask that we begin to do join Michelle Rhee and do something right here and now in our own community.
The National Institute of Health has stated that one in five Americans have dyslexia. That is an incredibly high number! The National Reading Panel has stated that these children must have an intensified reading program to help them to reach potential and read at grade level. These programs are often expensive and cannot reach low to moderate income families.
Through the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, the Links to Literacy Scholarship provides opportunities for low to moderate income families to get the intensified reading instruction that they need. Students who receive this scholarship are given one-on-one instruction at South Dakota's only research-based dyslexia clinic.
If you are interested in donating to this worthy cause, you may send checks made out to Links to Literacy to Excel Achievement Center, or you may mail them directly to the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation.
This is the perfect time of year to be giving to the children in this community. I encourage us all to begin to make a difference today!

What is Your Child's Social IQ?

We hear an awful lot about IQ’s when talking about education, but what about Social Intelligence? Have you ever met that doctor that was off the charts on abstract intelligence, but just couldn’t seem to communicate very well with his/her patients?

In Karl Albrecht’s book, Social Intelligence-The New Science of Success, the author discusses the elements that are vital to having a high social IQ. I’m sharing these today in my Tuesday tip in hopes of helping parents and teachers to work with children in another important aspect of their lives—their ability to socialize with others.

Mr. Albrecht has created an acronym-SPACE- to help us to recall the elements that are most important when thinking about social skills. They are as follows:

Situational Awareness-The ability to know what to do socially in a variety of situations. For example, does your child know what to do when joining a group of students already immersed in play? How can he/she effectively join the group?

Presence- physical appearance, mood, and body language. In other words, would you hang out with you?

Authenticity—being true to yourself. Many children aren’t exactly sure who they are. They struggle to figure out their own values. One idea would be for your child to create their own mission statement that would include his/her principles that he lives by.

Clarity—communicating effectively so that others understand. Along with this is listening and asking questions in order to understand others as well.

And finally, Empathy—being aware of another’s feelings and learning to see another’s perspective.

Excel Achievement Center works with Brittany Schmidt and Julie Christensen who run a wonderful “social thinking groups” course for children. If you would like to learn more about this, simply email brittanyabc@gmail.com or call (605)351-1002.

Forgetting is Learning!

Did you know that forgetting is the friend of learning? Dr. Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College recently did a study that proved this. It was found that when the brain forgets something, it will search for ways to remember it the next time—especially when in a somewhat stressful situation.

Let’s think about this. If you run into someone at a party that you have previously met and spoken to at length, you are somewhat embarrassed when you cannot recall their name now. (Especially, if they remember your name) However, most of the time, it is this simple embarrassment that causes you to remember their name every time after that! It seems that the more mental sweat or stress that it takes to learn something, the longer our brains are able to hold onto the information.

The same applies in a scholastic setting. If a student forgets information on a test and then is asked the information later, he/she will often remember it for longer periods of time. The emotional stress of having to recall information in a testing situation, and then having to go back over it, can actually help a student to learn better!

Here are some tips on how to apply this at home:
1. Give your student practice quizzes after they have studied on their own a bit.
2. There are many games that can help students practice in this fashion. (Games are simply another way of quizzing and work great with hands-on learners. Some of these are:
• Playing memory games with flash cards
• Online games (such as http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/states_capitals_10_500.html to learn states/capitals)
• Board games to learn math or vocabulary

3. Orally quiz your student several days in a row. (Remember, we need them to have opportunities to forget, so NEVER just study the night before)

Giving our children permission to forget can also relieve their anxiety as many children think that forgetting is a negative thing. Showing them that forgetting is the friend of learning gives them the freedom to try and fail and then try again

Does Your Child Enjoy School?

The other day when I was getting my hair done, I overheard a couple of women lamenting on how their boys really do not like school. They went on to say that “school just isn’t their thing” and that the boys were both very talented when it came to more hands-on or mechanical things.

The best part of the conversation for me was in hearing about the boy’s strengths. The mother’s also said that they knew these boys would be fine in life if they could just “get through” school. Unfortunately, 13 years is a lot to just get through!

Recent research shows us that one-third of the population thinks the same way that these boys do. These boys are what we call visual-spatial learners. Visual-spatial learners are individuals who think in pictures rather than in words. They have a different brain organization than auditory-sequential or traditional learner does. In fact, recent research has shown that only 23% of students are auditory-sequential.

In discussing learning styles, many people often refer to being “left brained” or “right brained.” While people do use both sides of their brains when processing information, many people tend to use one side to a greater extent than the other. Visual-spatial learners tend to utilize their right side more than their left, while the more “traditional” student utilizes the left side more.

As teachers and parents, it is very important that we educate ourselves on methods that work best with visual-spatial learners. These students often have extremely high IQ scores on visual-spatial tasks and these need to be valued. Below are some tips to use when teaching a visual-spatial learner:

1.The Big Picture: These students will tend to look at the big picture rather than the details. Oftentimes, in a culture that values left-brain thinking, a student will be asked to outline a project or paper before completing the body. To maximize a project, a right-brain thinker should bend directions and start on the body of the project first. Afterwards, an outline can be made to make sure that the project makes sense. This approach makes much more sense to the visual-spatial learner.

2. Note-taking: Lecturing is a popular style of teaching; unfortunately, it is a handicap for visual-spatial thinkers. To help a child grasp the lecture more deeply, I recommend that the student asks the teacher to give the “big picture” first so that he/she can form a picture in his/her mind ahead of time. Another idea would be to get the notes printed in the form of a study guide ahead of time and have the student color-code the notes that he takes during lecture, or draw pictures next to ideas. This will help the student to remember concepts more deeply because an opportunity was made to associate specific thoughts with specific colors or images.

3. Getting Organized: According to Dr. Carolyn Hopper, right brain learners--to exercise the right hemisphere’s creative tendencies-- often try to change the environment in which they operate. Because of this, they can have trouble following rules or adhering to schedules, and may find themselves bouncing from one task to another. A suggestion would be for these students to ask teachers or peers to explain instructions so that the meaning is confirmed. Creating checklists is another suggestion. And finally, having a scheduled “organization time” could help a student to feel less stressed or anxious.

4. Breaking it Down: Right-brain learners can get overwhelmed rather quickly when there are a series of tasks that need to be accomplished—whether it be an assignment at school, or a chore around the house. Breaking things down into easily accomplished steps can keep your child’s anxiety at bay. Remember, if your child shows signs of frustration, back up a bit as you are probably going to fast. Have patience and work with your child at his/her level.

5. Google Information: In the last few years there has been more research done on visual-spatial learners than ever before. I highly encourage teachers and parents to gather as many helpful hints as possible to help them work with these magnificent students!

How to Relieve School Anxiety

Going back to school makes all children a little bit nervous. Many of them talk about “butterflies in their stomach” on that first day. For some children however, it can be more than that. Research shows that 13 out of 100 children experience anxiety disorder. Here are some tips that can help.

1. Treat our children as we’d like to be treated. The words, “Oh, just don’t worry” don’t work for us, nor should we expect that they will work for our children. We need to first validate our child’s fears by acknowledging the problem. Saying things like, “I can totally see where you are coming from” or “I can see how that may seem scary,” help to alleviate the anxiety that your child may be feeling.

2. Get your child to identify his/her specific fears. Ask, “What 3 things are you most worried about?” Naming the exact fears can help to diminish them a bit. Finding a regular time to talk to your child also makes him/her feel more secure. Whether it is in the car when you pick them up from school, or at night as you are tucking them in, having a specific time that your child can have your undivided attention is very helpful.

3. Get your child to focus on the positives of school as well. “What 3 things are you most excited about?” If your child can’t think of any, begin my naming a few suggestions… “Learning about Australia, using your brand new markers, playing kickball at recess, etc.”

4. Do some role-playing. Once you have some concrete examples of anxiety-provoking events, help your child figure out other ways to deal with them. Act out possible scenarios by having your child become the demanding teacher or the bully on the playground. Model appropriate responses so that your child can see firsthand how to handle these scary situations.

5. Finally, it is always a good idea to get some outside help. There are many wonderful children’s counselors in town who specialize in helping kiddos to cope with anxiety. Excel keeps a list on hand of counselors that many of our clients love and enjoy.

Books to Read:
Freeing Your Child from Anxiety By Tamar E. Chansky, Ph.D.;
The Pressured Child; Helping Your Child Find Success in School and Life By Michael Thompson, Ph.D., with Teresa Barker.

Throwing out the flashcards

2+7=9 How do we know this? For many of us, all we have to do is look back into our mind’s eye (or in other words, our visual memory) and retrieve this information. However, some of us may have to count on our fingers to get this answer. Why? Because we’ve never been able to store this visually and have had to rely on another coping mechanism to come up with the answer.

Do you have children who consistently need to do this? If so, they will need to strengthen their visual memory in order to hold onto these facts. Unfortunately, many of us try to use flash cards to do this. Flashcards work for very few children as they work the weakest form of memory—our rote memory. There are much better ways to get math facts to “stick.’ Here are a few tips:

1. To help your child to visualize a fact, have them create the fact by using paint, clay, or chalk. They may draw the actual numbers creatively, or may actually show two objects plus seven objects. Have your child make two creations a day and ALWAYS review the former day’s work. Students can take photos of their creations and make a Math Fact Scrap Book. The key to this technique is to continually review the creations and have your child tell them to you from memory.
2. The musical learners often like to learn math facts through rhythm and song. Students can create their own songs or can find them on line or in teacher stores. (I recommend Teaching Treasures on 41st street in Sioux Falls.)
3. Kinesthetic learners learn best by making and playing games that have math facts in them. Many of these are introduced to students in our Math Fact Boot Camp.
4. Creating and reading stories is another great way to get those math facts to stay put. Addition and Multiplication the Fun Way can be found online at www.citycreek.com or at Teaching Treasures in Sioux Falls. The key to these stories is for parents and read the story to the child while showing the child the picture. The student then visualizes and holds the picture in his/her mind’s eye. This is one of my favorite techniques and it is amazing how well it works!

My final tip regarding math facts is this… listen to your child as you are discovering how he/she learns best. The methods that your teachers used may have been helpful to you, but may not necessarily be the most helpful to your child.

The Importance of Being Understood

In his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey has written that it is important for all of us to first seek to understand then be understood. Everyone desires to be understood and heard. As human beings we all strive to connect with others and to belong.

Those of us who have children who are visual-spatial learners—those who learn best through the arts, or kinesthetic learners—those who learn through movement may feel that these kiddos don’t feel understood in school. Excel Achievement works very hard to identify the learning styles of each and every student who walks through our doors. We know that children learn best if they feel understood and are taught in the way that enhances their learning style.

For example, if I’m a visual-spatial learner or an interpersonal learner, I learn best when concepts can attach to my emotions. For example, when studying the Declaration of Independence, I might ask, “How does the Declaration of Independence affect me? What was Thomas Jefferson and the others thinking when they wrote this? What was happening in their lives at the time?” (As you can see, these children require us to think more deeply than just relaying facts to them.)

As we help our children to seek “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” let us seek to understand how they learn best. If you are unsure of your child’s learning style please click on the link http://excelachievement.com/process.php where you will find a detailed description of each learning style.

The Art of Writing

Throughout history writing has not only been an important form of communication, it was also once a work of art. Many of our forefathers spent endless hours working to perfect their handwriting as each stroke was believed to in some way tell who they were. Haphazard writing indicated that a person was lazy or unkempt; while beautiful strokes proved that the person was organized and well put together.

Today it isn’t so much about our own personal strokes of the pen, but more about which font we use. Handwriting has become a utilitarian skill used for note taking in class or meetings. It is a skill that we still teach in the third grade to equip our youngsters with the tools for this task, and hopefully, we are not longer drilling this task in the grades to follow.

What should we be preparing this next generation of writers to do? OUTPUT INFORMATION! Writing is actually one of the most difficult tasks for most children to learn. Taking ideas from inside their minds and getting them out on paper can be just as tricky for them as looking at a tree and painting it to perfection. Writing uses the entire brain—first by utilizing the right side to creatively compose our masterpiece of ideas, and secondly to go back and use the left side to correct punctuation and semantics.

My tip for today is for us to give our children more opportunities to write which will in turn help them to output ideas. Some suggestions on ways to do this are:
• Have your child keep a journal.
• By all means, let them see you write and write often!
• Have them write a letter or e-mail to a friend
• Make up stories in the car and just tell them.
• Play “Finish my Story” and start a funny story for other family members to finish
• Point out specific writing techniques when you read to your child—“I really like the choice of words that the author used here. It helps me to picture what he’s trying to say.”
• Introduce your child to a thesaurus as well as show them how to access it on the computer
• When at the beach, brainstorm words to describe all 5 senses
• Sit outside and listen to the sounds. Brainstorm words that can describe these sounds

The more children have the opportunity to write—without someone constantly critiquing them—the more automatic and intuitive it will become. After all, the greatest writers have declared that their best works have come from deep within their souls!

A Whole New Mind

Meet Braxton...

Braxton loves to draw. He sometimes even doodles on his homework pages. His teachers say that he has a hard time concentrating in school. Part of this is because the thoughts that are going on in Braxton's mind are far more interesting than what the teacher is discussing at the moment. Braxton has a wonderful imagination. At home he likes to build with Legos™ or create new ideas on the computer. Braxton is a visual-spatial learner. Instead of learning things in the traditional way, he prefers an approach that allows him to tap into his creativity. He needs to be able to utilize his thoughts instead of having information spoon-fed to him.

In the bestselling book, A Whole New Mind, the author Daniel Pink discusses how the last few decades have belonged to a certain type of mind-"computer programmers who could crank code, lawyers who could craft contracts, and MBA's who could crunch numbers." He discusses that as we are moving from an information age to a conceptual age, that the future belongs to a very different type of mind-"creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and meaning makers."

It is our job as parents to further nurture the creative side of the brain. Next week Excel Achievement has several camps that can further develop your child's creativity. Camps start as low as $45 and include: Hike Sioux Falls, Bon Appétit, Shape it Sculpt it!, CSI, and Musical Chairs.
Let's work together to nurture this Whole New Mind!

Teaching Geography this Summer!

Geography is extremely important as it helps us to realize that we are just one small part of this vast planet. Global education helps us to see that there is more than just one way of doing things. It broadens our minds and helps us to see other perspectives. While traveling is the very best way to show our children other cultures and landscapes, sometimes that isn’t feasible for all families. Today’s tip will focus on fun ways to open your child’s eyes and mind to the world around them.

1.To teach your child more about the states and capitals, your child can sing the 50 states song, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_HeLofy7IE
2.The internet has wonderful sights that will take your child to any land that they wish to travel. Have your child create a travel guide that displays the beauty and culture of the country he/she is studying. Have them also create a menu demonstrating the foods that they would eat. For example, did you know that kangaroo pie might be on the menu if you are visiting Australia?

3.Cook around the world. Look up recipes from different cultures and make them. Cooking is a fantastic way to spend time together and because it is so hands-on, children love it! Before making a recipe from another country, have your child do a little bit of research on the history of the food and/or country. For example, did you know that they omelet originated in France?

Excel Achievement is now taking orders for Mangez Vos Pois! An Introduction to International Cuisine for Young Chefs. This cookbook features recipes and history lessons from countries all over the world! They are only $10 and proceeds go to the Links to Literacy scholarship fund.

Our preschool director recieves a prestigious award!

Molly Wilson, the director of Excel Discovery, has received the "Excellence in Early Childhood" award by the South Dakota Association for the
Education of Young Children(SAEYC)for the year 2010!

Molly joined Excel Achievement Center in 2004 and then created Excel Discovery in 2007. After concluding her research in Italy, she has brought the Reggio Emilia early childhood philosophy to Sioux Falls. Molly's school has also been featured in the book Reaching Standards and Beyond in Kindergarten: Nurturing Children's Sense of Wonder and Joy in Learning by Gera Jacobs and Kathy Crowly, published by Corwin Press and the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Students who leave Excel Discovery not only leave scoring among the highest in the state, but also leave with a passion and love of learning.

We are very proud of Molly and all that she has done for
the Sioux Falls community.

Meet Nathan

Nathan is a third grade student who has just learned to read! Please read his story below:

Nathan’s medical history:
A few weeks into his kindergarten school year, our son was diagnosed with a rare benign brain tumor called a DNET. The tumor, located in his right temporal, parietal and occipital areas of his brain, caused him to have complex partial/secondary generalized seizures up to 8 times per day despite taking seizure medication. Nathan once described the seizures he had in kindergarten as "my eyes don't see and my ears don't hear". The ping pong ball sized tumor was removed when our son was 6 years old and the seizures went away for nearly one year but they returned when our son was a first grader. Residual/recurrent tumor as well as epileptogenic tissue (which the neurosurgeon said was five times the size of the original tumor) was removed when our son was 8 years old. After 3 brain surgeries, hundreds and hundreds of seizures, and side effects from multiple seizure medications our son was left with symptomatic localization related epilepsy, visual spatial processing deficit, probable partial left hemianopia, vascular migraines, and anxiety.

At Excel Achievement Center
Nathan received 86 hours of instruction between November, 2009 and April, 2010. When Nathan began at Excel Achievement Center he was a third grader reading at the Kindergarten level. We are now pleased to report that his reading comprehension and word recognition are at the third grade level! His overal reading, which includes his phonics, reading accuracy and fluency is at grade 2.7.

Parent Comments:
Thank you!!!!! We can't say that enough. Nathan has blossomed in the last 4 months thanks to you guys! You helped him find his confidence and self esteem. I have told you this before, but I watched Nathan come out of public school with his shoulders slumped over and tears in his eyes nearly every day. After fighting seizures, brain tumors, and surgeries it was horrible to see him struggle just to go to school. In contrast, I would see Nathan come out from Excel looking like he grew an inch taller and I will never forgot hearing him say "they said I can learn to read", and "I read a book today - not slow, but normal". I showed him his test results today and he is so proud of himself! I know Nathan worked hard and we are so glad we found you/Excel. Thank you again!

Rote vs. Visual Memory

If you are using flashcards or having your child write their spelling words 10x each, you are having your child use their weakest memory device. We call this rote memory.

A much stronger memory tool is visual memory. Getting your child to visualize and verbalize what they see has much stronger impact on memory with long term results. Spelling, for example, is a visual activity. Here is an example of a way that you can strengthen your child's visual memory...

When learning spelling words, have your child write them in the air on an imaginary chalk board. It is very important that they do this in the air and not on paper. Once they do this, have them "manipulate" the letters and then focus on the "tricky" parts in the words such as blends, vowel teams, and double letters. Let's say that one of the spelling words is "awesome."

Have your child write the word in the air and then ask the following questions:
1. What is the first letter? "a"
2. What is the last letter? "e"
3. What is the third letter? "e"
4. What vowel team is in the word? "aw"
5. Spell it backwards. "emosewa"

By working the word in the air, students are forced to see the words in their mind's eye or visual memory. Writing it down on paper is actually a harmful crutch while they are in the process of learning a word.

Now, some of you may be saying, "That can't be right. If I'm trying to remember how to spell a word, I always write it down." I contend that you do this because the word is already in your visual memory and you are simply trying to retrieve it. Before we can ask a student if a word "looks right," we must have them imprint it in their visual memory first.

Comparing and contrasting is another great way to work the visual memory. For example, students can compare words with the "ee" vowel team to those with the "ea" vowel team. Continued practice of looking at the word using their visual memory can help them keep track of this.

If you have a child who is continually spelling words phonetically-by how it sounds, try the above method as it will prevent them from writing like this:

"Wen I ferst go my dirt bike ther was something rong with it."

And instead, have it look like this:

"When I first got my dirt bike there was something wrong with it."

Happy Writing!!

Is My Child Reading at Grade Level?

Parents call daily concerned that their child may not be reading at grade level. Here are some tips for parents to use at home to make sure that they are:

Reading Rate:
Your child's reading rate or speed shows how automatic the skill of reading is for them. Their speed also shows you how well their eyes are tracking on the page. What is the correct rate? Have your child read a familiar text to you and time him/her for one minute. Once they have done this, go back and count how many words they've read. Your child should be able to read their age times 10. So, for example, if your child is 8, they should at minimum be reading 80 words per minute.

Reading Accuracy:
We all make simple errors as we read-especially when we read out loud. In order for children to get better at reading, it is imperative that they are reading at their level. This means that the text is neither too easy nor is it too difficult. Here is how you can tell. Have your child read aloud to you. Whenever he/she makes an error, put one finger down. If all five fingers go down on one page, the text is too difficult. If there are no errors, the text is probably too easy. Another way to tell that your child perhaps isn't reading at level is if he/she struggles to finish a book. If the book is too easy, they are perhaps bored with it. If it is too difficult, they may be frustrated.

Comprehension:
Remembering what you read is the most important aspect of reading. At Excel Achievement, we teach children that if they can't remember what they've read then they've just been "word calling" and not reading. This is because reading is meaning. If your child struggles with comprehension, the worst thing that you can do as a parent is interrogate them with questions about the text. You will want to treat your reading time together more like an Oprah book club with each of you equally sharing your thoughts, feelings, and natural questions. For example, " Why do you suppose the kangaroo in this story refuses to believe Horton?"

Reading is a very complex process that improves over time with the correct instruction. If you have specific questions about your child's reading, please don't hesitate to call me at 988-0900.

The Anxiety Factor

Recently I have met with several students who are very anxious about school. Anxiety can come to these kiddos for a variety of reasons. Today’s tip will focus on some of the reasons why children feel anxiety.

1. A lack of understanding: Students can feel anxious because their learning style isn’t being met. (visit www.excelachievement.com/process) The way that the teacher or their parents explain material to them isn’t the way that they learn best. In their earlier years of schooling, these children probably tried to communicate this, but unfortunately were unsuccessful. This is when anxiety and frustration sets in.

2. A lack of feeling heard: Anxiety can come when a child is trying to express his or her thoughts and feelings, but then does not feel heard. They are instead told how the teacher and/or parents do things and think about things, and how they should do it the same way. Anxiety comes here because they feel that they are different and maybe even “lesser than” than those around them.

3. Lack of safety: Students feel anxious when they do not feel safe and secure. This can happen if they do not feel heard and understood. They begin to shut down and quit sharing their thoughts and feelings.

Some warning signs that your child may be feeling anxious are:
1. Falling grades
2. Lack of turning in assignments
3. Is moody and doesn’t seem in control of his/her emotions

Our children deserve to feel safe and heard. It is my personal belief that the role models in their life really need to take the time to really hear the children in their lives. Here are some tips:
1. Celebrate your child’s differences. Each child is created to complete his/her purpose on this planet. It is our job as parents to nurture our child into their true purpose and not just get them to conform to ours.
2. Find out your child’s learning style and help them to utilize this to maximize his/her potential.
3. In the words of Stephen Covey, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Really let your child know that you value their thoughts and feelings. Besides, open-mindedness is a great characteristic to model for your child!

Children have been some of my greatest teachers. After all, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” ~Frederick Douglass

Keep Your Child's Mind Active this Summer!

As summer approaches and we plan our picnics, camping trips and vacations, we are also going to want to start thinking of ways to help keep our children’s minds active.

Did you know that on average, students lose 2.6 months of what they’ve learned in school over the summer? Our brains are created to keep moving forward in our learning. There is no such thing as the mind standing still—if it isn’t moving forward, it will move backwards.

Here are some tips that parents can do to keep that healthy mind active:
• Get a “fact a day” book and read one fact at the table each evening
• Discuss current events
• Write a family journal when you go on vacation and have each member take turns writing in it
• Play word games in the car as you travel
• Play math games such as math war, Monopoly, and 21
• Enroll your child in summer tutoring 2 hours a week
• Spend time reading as a family
• Have your child join a summer reading program at the library or local book store
• Play word games such as Scrabble or Boggle

Learning can and should be fun! Plan on incorporating learning into this summer’s plans!

How Can I Keep My Child Motivated?

It's finally nice outside and we've all had cabin fever. How can we motivate our children to stay interested in school? The answer comes in one word-CURIOSITY!

Remember when your children were young and they were always ask "why?" or "where did that come from?" We would answer some of their questions and then, as we grew weary, would say ingenious things like "because it is" or "I don't know, go ask your daddy!" As fewer and fewer of their questions got answered-they asked less and less. Then they went to school where it is twenty students against one teacher. He or she certainly couldn't answer all of their questions! So, we came up with a lovely little thing they call the worksheet. This device was created to keep the students quiet and work independently. There was very little room for curiosity.

So, how can you keep your child motivated? You must be involved. Ask them questions about what they are learning and encourage them to ask questions as well. Take 20 minutes a day to further delve into their subjects and research on the internet. Tell your child that you want them to ask one question a day and that the two of you will find the answer together.

Curiosity may kill the cat, but it will inspire your child to have a deep love of learning!

Is Homework Time Frustrating?

If you feel frustrated while trying to help your children with homework, it could be because you aren’t teaching them in the way they learn best. Do you know how you learn best? Did you know that your child may learn differently than you do?

For example, you may learn best by reading the chapter and taking notes. This is because you are what we call a linguistic learner. Your child on the other hand may be a kinesthetic learner and require games and movement. Or perhaps your child is a visual-spatial learner and needs to see things in pictures. It is very important that we as parents find out our child’s learning style so that we can nurture them to be all that they can be.

Read the learning styles below to determine how each member in your family learns best:
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.

Your Child, the Genius!

At the end of the 20th Century, Time magazine voted Albert Einstein to be the Man of The Century. Yet in elementary school, Albert was such an under achiever in all subjects other than math and science that his parents suspected that he might be “retarded.” As it turned out, Albert preferred to learn on his own and had taught himself advanced mathematics and science by the time he was a teenager. What was his learning style anyway?

Did you know that gifted students can also have a learning disability? Many children with higher IQ’s can also have Attention Deficit, dyslexia, or be on the autism spectrum. It is important that we help all of our geniuses to be the best that they can be! We have to be very careful never to shame them for their disability simply because we do not understand it.

For example, children who are on the autism spectrum have the following labels depending where they are on the spectrum: autistic disorder, Rett’s disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, Asperger’s disorder, or PDDNOS. What each of these has in common is that that they are all neurological disorders and are usually evident by age 3. Children on this spectrum will are characterized by having struggles with social interaction skills, communication skills, and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. These children need accommodations every bit as much as a child who cannot walk needs a wheel chair! It is important that we coach these children in appropriate ways when they struggle with focus, following auditory directions, or struggle with social skills.

Here are some tips for the classroom:
• Use visual supports in the classroom
• Post a schedule for the day, write instructions on the board or on their paper.
• Make sure to send home important announcements and written instructions for assignments. (These children really struggle with auditory directions and written ones can be a lifesaver for them!)
• Have structured, consistent, predictable classes
• Provide opportunities for these children to interact with non disabled peers who model appropriate language, social, and behavioral skills
• Provide social skills classes that explicitly teach acceptable social behaviors.

Below are a couple of websites to find out more:

http://www.nationalautismresources.com/pdd-nos-school-.html


http://www.nichcy.org/informationresources/documents/nichcy%20pubs/fs20.pdf

Is My Child Gifted?

This is a very important question. Often parents and educators alike may have some misconceptions as to what gifted means. Some even believe that it is the straight “A” student. This just isn’t so.

Dr. Bertie Kingore is a national consultant and author who has worked with gifted students, their teachers, and their parents for over 30 years. She has developed an inventory that can help educators and parents to better identify gifted learners.
She has identified 7 characteristics of gifted learners. They are as follows:

• Advanced language.Children with gifted potential unassumingly use verbal comparisons and words with multiple syllables, such as the four-year old who explained: I know that seems obvious...
• Analytical thinking.They surprise us with the complex, in-depth insights and relationships they express: If we just took it apart, I bet we would find...
• Meaning motivation.They are little experts who know more than many adults about one or more topics.
• Perspective.They interpret what influences or motivates others: What he meant was... They often draw from an unusual angle, such as a bird's-eye view or the view from behind a person.
• Sense of humor.They laugh at humorous incidents that peers do not understand, such as the young child who winked at his teacher when the other children did not understand the teacher's humor.
• Sensitivity.They verbally or nonverbally exhibit intense concern for human and animal issues and want action taken to correct the problem. A young gifted child's face may reveal empathy for a character in a read-aloud story or for a peer in the classroom.
• Accelerated learning.They often master a new skill with unusual speed. Particularly watch for unexpected math applications since math talent is less influenced by cultural or language differences. A bilingual kindergartner asked his teacher: Tell me about the numbers that come before zero. I know they call them 'negative.”

It is just as vitally important that we meet the needs of this population as it is any other in our schools. Below are some suggestions for the classroom:

• Call on advanced children proportionately to other students. They should not dominate class discussions nor should they be ignored. All children need our acceptance and encouragement.
• Provide fast-paced instruction. Children with advanced potential learn well and stay more mentally engaged with minimum repetition of skills and concepts.
• As children work, talk with them about what they are doing to provide a window to their high-level thinking.
--How did you figure that out?
--What is another way to do that?
• Young gifted children often want to talk with adults not because they can't socially fit in with their age-mates but because they seek idea-mates who understand what they are interested in discussing. They enjoy someone who gets their jokes!
• Acquire a range of materials for every segment of learning you plan. When students demonstrate understanding at one level, enable them to continue learning rather than repeatedly practice what they already know. Ask a librarian or media specialist to help.
• Provide diverse activities. Make sure that there are a variety of different ways for the students to express their knowledge.
• Provide non-fiction materials. Advanced readers have a voracious appetite for reading about their interests.
• Use different peer learning groups. Gifted students need to work with other advanced students some times, with a mixed-range of learners some times, and by themselves some times.
• Encourage and honor diverse ideas rather than expect only simple, right-answer responses:
--Tell me what you mean?
--Why do you think that?

A great website to visit to find out more is: http://www.bertiekingore.com/articlesed.htm

Options when Exploring Attention Deficit Disorder

1. If your child’s classroom teacher expresses a concern about ADD, make sure to ask detailed questions as to why he/she has come to this conclusion. Get the specifics of what is being seen in the classroom.
2. Ask yourself and others who are close to you and your child if they are seeing the same things. If so, which symptoms are they seeing? If not, ask yourself why? How is this particular classroom environment different? Did last year’s teacher see some of the same behaviors?
3. See your pediatrician or therapist. Remember, only a medical professional can diagnose ADD.
4. Do your research! Today there are many ways to intervene with attention deficit disorder and each child responds differently to each. Some of these are:
 Medications: There is quite a variety here. Make sure that you educate yourself on these. Here is a helpful website: http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/medicine_cabinet/adhd_medications.html
 Classroom Accommodations:
...Students will benefit from short lecture periods and have opportunities to “turn to a partner” and teach what is going on. This will help to keep their mind active.
...Hold onto a stress ball or koosh ball to assist with giving them something to do so that they are not fidgety.
...Have them repeat back instructions given in class
...Sitting in the front of the classroom is often helpful. Please note that if the child does “attention getting” behaviors, it is best to place him/her in the back of the room.
...Have a timer on their desk for independent work time. Tell them to complete homework during this time. This activity will give them a focal point
...Praise for all times that the student stays focused
...Provide extra responsibilities for them. This will help them to take ownership for the classroom and help them to feel that they are working with the school and that school isn’t being “done to them.”
...Provide students with fun enrichment activities if they finish an assignment early.
...Take the time to coach the students on thinking through an activity. Have them look at consequences before they act. This needs to be gently and specifically taught as it often does not come naturally to these kids.
...Gently coach social skills such as the “personal space bubble.”
...Give them choices as often as possible.
...Because children with ADD are often very intelligent, it is usually best to speak to them as if they are older. In this way they feel respected for their viewpoints and perspective.

 Change of Diet: The book The Myth of the A.D.D. Child by Dr. Thomas Armstrong gives alternative ways to help children with this disorder.
 Counseling: Make sure that the therapist you choose has experience in working with children with ADD.
 Games: A great book to help your child with attention and focus is Attention Games: 101 Fun, Easy Games That Help Kids Learn to Focus By Dr. John Taylor.
Reading: The website http://www.add-plus.com has several great books.

Attention Deficit Disorder is receiving more attention than any other learning problem in this country. It is vitally important that we become as informed as possible when we are looking to help these wonderful children.

Math Facts are Fun!

Math facts are the very basic foundational piece to your child's future success with math. The more automatic the facts, the easier math becomes.

It is important that we teach these in the correct way. First of all, we want to make sure that we only teach two to three facts at a time. Begin with the one's and two's, and then work your way up on up. There is a really fun picture book about math facts called Math the Fun Way! It comes in two versions, one for addition and one for multiplication. This book gives your child a story and picture to visualize and help with the memorization process. I suggest that you read a math story or two a night at the dinner table.

Have your child then paraphrase the story in his/her own words to help ensure that it reaches his/her long-term memory. They can also draw pictures to help create a longer lasting visual in their mind.

Some other fun ways to practice math facts are...
1. Play math fact bingo

2. Play math fact war with flashcards

3. Create rhymes or songs-- for example, “8x8 fell on the floor, pick it up and
it’s 64!”

4. Write the math facts in finger paint.

5. Build math facts with craft sticks.

6. Get a CD that plays 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. Have your child draw a visual representation of the fact. Have the student
verbalize what they are visualizing.

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

The key is to make it consistent and fun!

Choosing the Right School

Each of our children are individuals with their own unique learning style. We are so fortunate to live in a community with such a wide array of different types of schools.

When it comes to learning, all the rearch shows that "one size does not fit all." Whether you have a kindergartner just starting out, or you have an older child who seems very discontent in his/her current academic setting, I recommend that you explore all of your options when looking at a school.

Here are some good questions to ask:

1. What is your child's learning style? Does he or she have a traditional school learning style or does he/she require movement and socialization?
2. What type of personality traits does she/he have? Do they require quite a bit of structure, or do they thrive when they can really be heard?
3. What atmosphere does your child learn best in?
4. What types of teacher personalities will best match your child's personality style?

On Feb. 9,2010 the Argus Leader published an article about the variety of schools offered in Sioux Falls. I highly recommend that if your child is unhappy in his/her current setting, that you explore these. Always visit a school first and make sure that it intuitively feels right. Ask many questions. Interview other students and families who already attend the school.

While there is no perfect school, parents need to think about their individual child when choosing one.

Visual Memory

When we are trying to retrieve a word or symbol in our "mind's eye", this is our visual memory. Students who have a weak visual memory will often struggle with a variety of academic tasks such as spelling, recalling names, remembering basic math facts, and learning the steps and sequences in mathematic equations.

Nanci Bell, in researching her own symbol imaging program, discovered that students who struggle with retrieving letters and symbols could learn to strengthen their visual memory with the correct interventions. Her program called "Seeing Stars®," assists students with just that.

Excel Achievement uses this program in several of its programs with great results.
Here are some tips to assist you with teaching your child to recall his/her spelling words.

1. Set the climate: Say, "I'm going to teach you to see letters in your imagination. It will help you to read and spell words better. Here is how you can picture this..."

2. Have your child write out spelling words as you dictate them to him.


3. High light the ones that he/she struggles with and write them one at a time next to the incorrectly spelled word. For example, if your child spells the word "shoe" "shoo", rewrite it and underline the "tricky" part. (underline the "oe") Then say, "You did such a great job of writing this word just like it sounds. Now we will write it the way that it looks."

4. Explain to your child that you are going to have him/her use his/her imagination to do this. Have them write the word "shoe" in the air using all lower case letters because this is what we read and write most often. While they are writing it in the air, have them say it letter by letter..."s h o e."


5. Now have your child look into his/her imagination and answer the following questions about this word:
• What is the last letter in this word? e
What is the second letter? h
• What was the tricky part? Oe
• Spell it backwards eohs

6. By doing this your child is forced to exercise his visual memory to remember spelling words.

7. Repeat this exercise the next day with all words that were misspelled the first day.

Does 1+1 always equal 2?

I was reading the book A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink this morning. In it, he was discussing how there is a real shift happening in the way that people are thinking and approaching life. He discussed that people are moving from strictly linear, sequential thought to adding intuition and problem solving.

In the 70’s when I was a young girl, we were taught to do as we were told in school. We were taught that the teacher was always right and if she said that 1+1=2, well, it did! No questions asked. The teacher would demonstrate what Pink refers to as a left-brained point of view—very linear and very logical.

Today, we have a whole new crowd emerging. These are the right-brained thinkers. They ask questions like “Why?,” “How come?,” and “What if we did it this way?” They say things like, “If I had ½ of an apple and added another ½ of an apple, that would equal one—not two. They dare to look outside the box and really question each perspective that is placed before them. Taking things at face value “just because”, just isn’t an option for these kiddos. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we haven’t had real right brained thinkers before…Albert Einstein, Ben Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln to name a few. But now it seems that more and more we are finding people who are less satisfied with just “following the herd.” We want to know why.

Jeffery Freed has written the book, Right Brained Children in a Left Brained World. In it, he provides strategies to help parents coach their more right brained children. He also has some suggestions for teachers. Here are some of his suggestions for creating right brained classrooms and schools:

1. Require all teachers to take classes on differing learning styles.
2. Test all children for their learning style a the start of second grade.
3. Provide a stimulating, experiential environment.
4. Employ longer lessons that integrate a variety of subjects.
5. Make homework meaningful.
6. Reform testing.

Schools across the nation are looking at equalizing right and left brained thoughts. How does your child learn? If your child is a linguistic or mathematical-logical thinker, he/she predominately feels most comfortable utilizing the left-side of the brain. If your child is a visual-spatial, kinesthetic, or musical learner; he/she feels most comfortable utilizing the right-side of the brain. To find out more about various learning styles, feel free to visit our website at www.excelachievement.com.

Coaching social skills

Social skills need to be thoughtfully and explicitly taught just like any other skill. Sometimes as parents, we forget this and we think that our children should already know these things. Often we react to our children in an angry fashion because when they do something we think is socially unacceptable, it is a direct reflection on our parenting.

This most often just isn't the case. If our child isn't good at drawing, basketball, or music, we don't blame ourselves. Social skills are very much the same thing. Some children naturally have what we call a high social IQ or an SQ. Others just don't, and it is our job to coach them socially. Let me give you a few examples...

Children who struggle socially often have a high emotional IQ or EQ. They literally feel the emotions of others strongly and sometimes misinterpret those emotions to be directed at them. If someone is angry, they automatically assume that the person is angry with them. They internalize the other person's emotions, and take it personally. These students may also say things like, "No one likes me." or "I have no friends at school." These kiddos will almost always expect others to invite them to play before they'll join in a group. Sometimes they just assume that others don't want to play with them. They often project a victim-like mentality.

It is our job as parents to teach them how to join into a group. We also need to build them up and remind them how wonderful they are. Below are some specific ways to coach your child:

1.Teach your child about personal space. Many students with a low SQ have what I call a small personal space bubble. They get into other people's space without even knowing it. They often are told to "keep their hands to themselves" or to "quit hugging so much." We can help students by letting them know that everyone has a different sized personal space bubble, just like everyone has different eye colors or hair. Teach them that they have a smaller bubble and perhaps love to be touched more than others and that is OK. Let them know that they can get lots of hugs from you, but that not everyone needs or wants as many hugs as they do.

2. Teach your child to have a filter. Many students who struggle socially are accused of "talking too much." They sometimes feel that every thought that comes to them, needs to be shared with others. Teach them how to gage the difference between a really close friend and an acquaintance. (Often these children cannot tell the difference) Help them to understand that "oversharing", can be dangerous and can often cause them to struggle socially.

3. Coach your child how to control his/her emotions. Sometimes these children will be called "dramatic" as their emotions come to them so strongly. Have them play a game called "big deal, little deal." Tell them that you are going to give them examples of things that are a big deal or not such a big deal and have them tell you the difference. For example, you may say, "Falling down and breaking your leg, is that a big deal or little deal?" or "Someone takes your pencil without asking, is that a big deal or little deal?" Teach them how to gage their emotions accordingly.

4.Help your child to understand that other's emotions are not necessarily directed at them. Coach them to not take everything personally.

5. Encourage a sense of self. We all want to belong, but we should never do so at the price of breaking rules or changing our personality.

6. Arrange play dates for your child so that they can practice social skills in a safe environment with just one other friend.

7. Have your child get involved with things that he/she is interested in. This will place your child in a place with others who have similar interests.

Cabin Fever!

It’s cold and everyone has cabin fever. Children are restless at home as well as in school. What is the best way to keep these “wiggle-worms” focused? Here are some tips:

1. Keep it moving. The more movement that is involved, the better.
2. Change things up a bit. While for the most part students like routine, changing it up a bit will make things new and refreshing for students and teachers alike.
3. Find time for laughter. Global Laugh Day was Sunday, January 24! Many studies show the benefits of laughter in how it effects mood and general health. Sitting back and realizing how naturally funny children can help everyone involved.
4. Get creative. Creativity rejuvenates us and gives us all a good energy. Brainstorm ways to help your child to express himself/herself creatively!

I often have the privilege of observing students in our preschool and tutoring center. Often times these children say the funniest things. Here are some things to laugh about today.

• When I visited the preschool, a little boy came up to me with a plastic pineapple. I said, MMMM, that looks like a yummy pineapple, and he said to me…"Yes, we keep a lot of apples in here."
• When the children were outside doing an experiment on the eclipse, one little girl said to me, "Don’t look up at the sun, it will burn your rectum!"
• When one of our second graders got glasses, I commented on how nice her glasses looked on her. She said, “Thank you. I need to wear these because the doctor says I’m “nearly sighted.”

Do one in five children have dyslexia?

According to the 1994 report given by the National Institute of Health, one in five children have dyslexia!

If traditional reading instruction is not working for your child, there is a good chance that your child may have dyslexia. Here are some things to look for:
• Dyslexia is genetic. If someone in your family struggled with reading, it may have been dyslexia
• People with dyslexia are intelligent! To even be diagnosed with dyslexia, your child has to have an average to above average intelligence.
• Rhyming may be a problem. One of the early warning signs of dyslexia is when a child struggles to hear the rhyming sounds in words.
• Phonics can be very difficult. Many children with dyslexia really struggle with "sounding out" words.
• Is your child skipping or adding words or letters while reading? This can also be quite common in children with dyslexia
• May struggle with spelling.
• Often struggle with handwriting.
• Have difficulty copying words from the board or a page.
• Many students with dyslexia also have ADD or ADHD.

If your child demonstrates some or all of the above warning signs, it is a great idea to get this checked out. Excel Achievement Center does a free dyslexia screen. This is not a diagnosis (although we do that too), but it is a quick way just to see if perhaps dyslexia is the problem.

For more warning signs of dyslexia, please visit our website at www.excelachievement.com.

What can be done?
Fortunately, dyslexia is very treatable. Excel Achievement's dyslexia intervention has 20 years of solid research behind it. Please give us a call at 605-988-0900 to find out more on how we can help your child.

Remembering what you read!

Have you ever gotten to the bottom of a page and couldn't recall a single word that you just read? Have you noticed that you sometimes "space-off" as you read?

Even the best of readers do these things. Here are a few tips that can help with this:

First of all, we need to set a purpose for reading. By setting a purpose, we turn our minds on before we read. Here is what I mean. Before I read something, I will look at the headings or title and give myself a reason for reading it. For example, if the title is The Himalayan Mountains, I will think about what I already know about the mountains and then think of something I'd like to know. By doing this, I will search the text for the answer to my question.

Secondly, we need to ask questions as we read. By asking questions, we will naturally arouse curiosity which will in turn help us with our focus. Some questions might be, "Where are the Himalayans?" "Would I want to go there?"

Thirdly, we can try a technique called Read, Cover, and Retell. After reading a paragraph, cover it with your hand and see if you can paraphrase what it said. If you can't do this, you have not comprehended the information. We teach students at Excel that "If you can't teach it, you don't know it." In other words, if you can't put information into your own words, you have not comprehended the material.

I encourage you to try these tips and then e-mail me and let me know how they worked for you. stephanie@letslearnnow.com

Helping our children with attention and focus.

Sometimes children struggle to pay attention in school. As parents we often say, “Focus!” “Listen!” or “Pay attention!” What we need to know is that often these words don’ t mean anything to our kids. They honestly feel that they are paying attention or else they simply do not know how to do it. Here is a suggestion:

Tell your child the definition of listening and paying attention. The definition is: “Being able to repeat back that which the messenger has said.” Tell your child that if they can’t repeat back in the message in their own words, they have not comprehended or “listened to” what they were supposed to. Practice this at home by giving your child small messages to repeat back. You can do this by describing something that you did that day, or simply describe an item. Then have your child practice repeating the message back. Next, have your child say a message for you to repeat back. 

To help your child to focus while doing homework, here are some tips:
o Set a timer during homework time for each assignment. Have your child be involved with how much time should be set. For example, ask your child how long he/she thinks it will take him to complete his math or writing assignment.
o Give 10-15 min. breaks between assignments. This is very important! During breaks make sure that your child does something that relaxes him/her.
Good break ideas are:
..talk to a friend
..draw or create something
..play basketball

Not so good break ideas are:
..watching TV
..computer/video games
(These things are often difficult for your child to leave once started.)

o Give lots of praise when assignments are accomplished.
o Never give more than two things to do at once. Have the student repeat back any directions given.
o Help the student break larger tasks into smaller ones. (This will help your child not to feel overwhelmed!)
o Give choices as much as possible.
o Music(without lyrics) while studying often helps them to focus.


I am very interested to hear what other tips you would like to hear. Please e-mail me at Stephanie@letslearnnow.com. Together we can promote Learning for Life!