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!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
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!!
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!!
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