Excel Achievement Blog

What is Your Child’s Social IQ?

2011-10-11T17:31:00.002-05:00

Teaching our children social skills is every bit as important as teaching them academics. Human interaction is an integral part of most everyone’s day to day routine, and success in this area can mean overall success in life. Today’s tip will elaborate on five key components of social competence.
These will be explained by using the acronym SPACE as taken from Karl Albrecht’s book Social Intelligence: The New Science of Success.

Situational Awareness: This is our social radar—in other words, understanding what to do when. When children are learning this skill, they learn…
• when to hold their tongue and when to speak
• when to give a hug and when to stay in their own space
• which situation is safe and which is not
While children are learning these things, it is extremely important for parents and teachers to have patience and be very explicit in their instruction. We need to remember that everyone has a different social IQ. An example of teaching this would be to explain to your child that not everyone has the same personal space bubble around them. This is an especially good lesson for children who love to hug everyone around them. Teach your child that some people need quite a bit of personal space while others need very little. Your child can look for signs that someone doesn’t want to be hugged by the way that they stand. If they lean back a little or move away, this means “no hugging please.” If they bend forward or move closer this means, “hugs are welcome.” 

Presence: This is the way we affect people through our physical appearance, mood, and body space—are you approachable? Presence is our ability to “be present” and live in the moment. People with great presence are excellent listeners and truly care about the people they are with at any given moment. They are not thinking about past or the future in the presence of another. People with strong presence make those around them feel important. Teaching children how to listen is crucial. We need to teach children that listening is defined as “being able to repeat back that which the messenger has said.” We can also teach our children to be curious and ask questions of others.

Authenticity: Truly being ourselves.
Our children can learn to get “comfortable in their own skin” and accept themselves as they are created. Teaching our children to focus on their strengths is key here. We want to teach our children not to be phony and to believe in themselves.

Clarity: Is the audience understanding what I’m trying to say?
Here we can teach our children not to speak too much or too quickly. It’s also an opportunity to help them to increase or improve their vocabulary. Teach them that the more words they have to draw from, the better their chance to convey a message to others. They can also learn the art that “sometimes saying less accomplishes more.”

Empathy: Walking in someone else’s shoes.
It is so important that our children learn to be considerate and truly aware of how others are feeling. Teaching children to watch body language signals is key here. Also our children can learn the difference between toxic and nourishing behaviors.

Helping our children social skills will heighten their awareness and relieve confusion and frustion for them in the years to come.

Remembering What You Read

2011-09-13T10:59:00.000-05:00

Have you ever sat down to read informational text, read an entire page, and then realize you didn’t retain any of it? This has happened to all of us at some point, but it happens often to many students in the classroom. If students are not taught the steps to focusing while reading, they often cannot pick up this skill on their own.

First and foremost, students must understand how the mind works. For example, when a student says, “I don’t want to read that! It’s boring!” What he/she is really saying is, “I have no connection to this, I’ve not experienced it before.” The brain likes to retrieve from what it already knows. It is simply how we make sense of things. When we are reading brand new information, the brain frantically searches for a connection. If it cannot find one, it will drift into thinking about more known topics. Awareness of this process is key. Below are a few tips to help your child to actively engage his/her mind in reading informational text:

Setting a Purpose:In order to avoid “spacing off,” students must prepare their minds for the text. Before a student approaches the text, it is important for him/her to set a purpose for reading. Often this is done in the form of “I wonder” questions…
“The title of this chapter in my history book is The War of 1812, I wonder what happened?”
“How is this war different from other wars that I’ve learned about?”
“Who was involved in this war?”
“Why was this war fought?”

Questions naturally arouse curiosity and give us a purpose for reading. It is important for teachers and parents to note that at first students will not know what types of questions to ask. These will have to be modeled for the child.

Visualizing:The next step in the reading process is to visualize and make connections while reading. Teaching students to place themselves inside the text will help make it more personal and aid them in making these connections. We can guide students in this process by asking them questions. For example, “What do you think it would be like to be on a British ship?” What do you picture when you hear the sentence, “The British navy ships were scattered around the globe?” Getting your child to talk about what they see as they read will definitely aid in reading comprehension.

Questioning:Finally, it is utterly important that students start to ask their own questions before, during, and after the reading process. Asking questions will create independence in your reader more than any other strategy. Once a student understands the power of the question and the joy of finding the answer, all text reading can be successfully mastered!

The Importance of Imagination

2011-04-14T14:18:00.001-05:00

With all the texting and time spent on electronic devices, many of our youth are not having opportunities to express their imaginations. Because schools have to have so much focus on test results, children are often immersed into a sea of worksheets which also stunts creativity and imagination.

Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there will ever be to know and understand." If we think about it, this was the philosophy of our great leaders, philosophers, inventors, and artists. For example:
• Always have a vivid imagination, for you never know when you might need it. -J.K. Rowling
• Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.-John Dewey
• America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. -Harry S. Truman.
• You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.-Mark Twain

I believe that learning how to express ones imagination is really the key that unlocks the soul. It is what helps our children to become all that they were created to be.

Ways to exercise imagination:
• Make sure that children have playtime WITHOUT electronic devices. It is so easy for us as parents to give in to TV watching, computer time, and video games. These are fine in moderation, but our children need more than this to dream, imagine, and create.
• Give children opportunities to express their imaginations through art, music, writing, building, acting singing, dancing, photography, designing, etc. Play games like, "Show me what you are imagining." Have children picture something in their mind, such as a tiger, and then express what is in their mind. If they can't draw it or write about it, have them make a collage of tigers from pictures in magazines or from the internet. Getting children to express what is in their minds, will also help them with their communication skills.
• Help children to understand that rejection is a friend to creativity. If your child tries to publish a story, enter an art contest, or create an invention and they are turned down. Explain to them that "No" simply means, "Not right now." A rejection is simply an opportunity to make improvements on what we create and to keep learning.
• Finally, gathering information adds to creativity. As children begin to use their imaginations, they can get even more ideas from books and other reading materials. Reading after all, fuels the imagination!

What Exactly is Excel?

2011-03-28T15:48:00.000-05:00

What exactly is Excel Achievement Center? Is a simply a place to find tutoring? My direct answer to that is no. Tutors can be found anywhere. Excel is a place to amplify your child’s full potential and see results! Whether your child struggles in an academic area, or would like to be further challenged in our Ivy League program, Excel Achievement will create an individualized plan for your child so that they will achieve results in just months! Our Imagination Amplified summer camps take academia to a whole new level as children will actually experience what they are learning --live!

One of Excel’s parents recently said, “I just love Excel! In fact, I think that I’m addicted to it! The energy and feeling here is like no other!”
Our no high pressure sales policy makes it a safe place for your family to come check us out, or simply book a free consultation. Just call 988-0900 today to experience the magic of Excel Achievement Center!

Keeping Their Attention!

2011-02-15T13:24:00.000-06:00

Adults are not the only ones experiencing cabin fever this time of year. The cold weather and indoor recess can really make our children more squirmy and less attentive. Here are a few tips to help these sweeties still learn while in school:

1. The Wiggles. Students sometimes need to wiggle to help them to fire the neurons in their brains. Leg shaking, doodling on papers, and the general wiggles are their bodies natural way to help them to pay attention. As long as children are not distracting others by making noise or touching their neighbor, my advice is to let them wiggle. (They are children after all.) 

2. Time to Talk. Providing time for students to talk is also imperative for students to retain what they’ve learned. “Turn to your partner,” is a great way to engage students often in the classroom. For example, after teaching about early civilization, have students turn to a partner and tell them one thing that they’ve learned and how it applies to their life.

3. Mental Engagement is KEY! It is important that we keep student’s minds on the subject at hand and not their “wiggling behavior”. Instead of saying “Suzy, stop wiggling” (which will only draw her attention to wiggling—in which case she won’t be able to think about anything else); say, “Suzy, what do you think about what is happening on page 45?” This will bring her mind back to the subject at hand and get her to do what you really want her to do which is learn.

4. Use the Discovery Method. Children learn best when they have to search and discover information rather than be told the information. The brain is naturally curious and prefers to search for answers and then share what it has learned. For example, while teaching about poetry, teachers can ask the students to search online for narrative poems and then share their favorite one.

The “Write” Way! Teaching to children to enjoy writing

2011-02-08T09:43:00.002-06:00

As young children we naturally express creativity in a variety of ways. From creating with play dough, to painting, to making pretend cakes, we love to take the world around us to a new level.
As teachers, our job is to take a student’s natural creativity and help them to output it through writing. There are a few obstacles that get in our way however.
1. A lack of imagination ourselves. As teachers, sometimes we are forced to be task masters and have little time to sit still and tap into our own imaginations. How then can we teach what we do not practice ourselves?
2. Lack of experience writing. Many of us do not have the opportunity to really delve into this talent. Our own understanding is basic at best. How can we push our students to a level higher than our own?
3. Lack of resources. If in fact we do struggle with writing, it is imperative that we have tools to not only teach ourselves, but the students who trust us to teach.

Once we have faced our obstacles, we can begin to look at writing in a new way. Instead of becoming frustrated with how “These kids just don’t know how to write,” we can focus on “How can I teach you to be a great writer?” This simple change in perspective is really all we need to become successful writing teachers. This question will motivate us to become experts in the field instead of feeling frustrated with our audience.
Becoming the Expert
1. Become a writer yourself. This of course takes practice. A great way to begin is by completing writing assignments right along with your students. This will force you to share in their joys and frustrations and will give you a realistic picture of future assignments.
2. Find resources. Ralph Fletcher has several teacher friendly resources that are quick and easy to use. This is imperative in the busy world of teaching!
3. Take what Walt Disney calls a “dream retreat.” Allow yourself to express creativity in a variety of ways such as: cooking, drawing, singing, acting, sewing, gardening, or painting. Releasing creativity will help you to become more aware of your imagination and will only help build your enthusiasm about writing.

Coaching the Students
1. Define writing. Help students to understand that writing is simply expressing their thoughts with a pencil. Let them know that you will be there every step of the way to coach them on exactly how to do this.
2. Carry an observation notebook. Model this by doing it yourself as well. Show students how to write down key words or phrases about the world around them. Explain that the observation notebook can help them see things they maybe wouldn’t otherwise notice. Below are different types of observations:

• Imagination. For example, you may write that the trees outside your window look like they are talking to each other.
•Inspirations. Explain to students that it’s important to look around and try to find things that inspire us and make us feel good. This will be different for each individual.
•Details. Help children to focus on detail by changing things in your room and having them look around and see if they can find it. Have them write down changes they see.

3. Practice stretching observations by using structure words. Students can learn to take simple phrases from their observation journal and stretch them into complete sentences and paragraphs. Examples of structure words are: size, color, number, shape, when, where, movement, mood, background, perspective, and sound. Teach students to use structure words so that their classmates can see what is in their mind.

4. Play with words so that students have opportunities to increase their vocabularies. The more words they know, the easier time they will have expressing themselves.

5. Allow creativity to flow. Give opportunities to write with NO EDITING ALLOWED! Students need to learn that writing is really a two step process. The first step is to utilize their imaginations and let ideas flow. The second step is to go back and polish their writing so that others can see their imagination clearly.

6. WAIT. Before students can polish their writing, they must step away from it. Once we create something, we need time to feel good about what we’ve produced. Going in and fixing something that we just outputted and feel wonderful about, simply isn’t good for our self-esteem.

7. Polish. Once we’ve stepped away and have acknowledged the good in our creative piece, we can go back and see areas need to be better clarified. This requires a tool box for most students as they are unsure of what to look for. Tools from the tool box must be taught in baby steps—one at a time and in great detail.

Writing Toolbox:
1. Reread to see if sentences make sense. Do they have a nice flow? Have you punctuated in a way that will make sense to the reader? Will they pause in the right places?
2. How’s the spelling? Take a highlighter and highlight any words that don’t look right to you. Correct words that you know and ask a friend or your teacher to help you with the others.
3. Can the reader see it, hear it, feel it? Use structure words to add the details to ensure that the reader is experiencing what you experienced. Remember to include feeling words as well.
4. Check your words. Words are very powerful and can capture the reader or bore him to tears.  Are you repeating the same word over and over? Do you need help coming up with different words?
5. Organization. Have you written things in an order that makes sense?

Finally, share your creation! Read it aloud to someone. Display it. Put it in book form. This is your masterpiece and many others will want to experience it as well!

Helping your Child with Homework!

2011-01-04T10:22:00.001-06:00

Do you ever hear these words when trying to help your child with homework?
“That’s not how my teacher does it!” “No, that isn’t what works for me!”

You are not alone. The familiar dynamic between parents and children often causes some friction when we try to help out our kiddos. Here are a few tips:

1.It is very important that we connect with our children personally as well as academically. Making sure that we are “present” and not thinking about our own agendas can immediately help us as parents to be more patient and calm as we tackle homework together.

2.Find out what your child does know and understand about the assignment before just jumping in and “expounding all of your wisdom.” This will help to avoid those “That’s not how my teacher does it!” statements. For example, if your child is given the assignment of writing a paragraph you may want to say, “Tell me what you’ve learned about writing a paragraph.” This will give you a good idea as to where to begin instruction.

3.Provide authentic opportunities for your child to apply the homework skills. For example, “Let’s look in these picture books and see how other authors designed and organized their paragraphs.” This takes some of the pressure off of you, and guides your child into seeing real life applications of the skill you are trying to teach.

4.Provide positive opportunities for practice. Praised a specific strength and use it to set future goals. For example, “I really like how you described your dog in this sentence. Let’s try to do this with a few more sentences.”

5.Finally, believe that your child can do it! Children will always step up to our expectations. If we believe that they will accomplish the task and do it well, they will have no choice but to succeed! 

Putting Students First!

2010-12-07T13:12:00.002-06:00

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?

2010-10-12T09:37:00.003-05:00

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!

2010-09-14T08:14:00.006-05:00

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?

2010-09-02T13:20:00.000-05:00

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

2010-08-17T08:09:00.003-05:00

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

2010-07-20T11:40:00.001-05:00

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

2010-07-06T15:13:00.001-05:00

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

2010-06-22T08:57:00.002-05:00

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

2010-06-15T14:54:00.000-05:00

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!

2010-05-18T09:01:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-05-17T13:11:00.003-05:00

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

2010-04-29T10:07:00.004-05:00

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

2010-04-27T16:45:00.001-05:00

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?

2010-04-22T10:16:00.001-05:00

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

2010-04-13T09:21:00.000-05:00

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!

2010-04-06T09:25:00.000-05:00

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?

2010-03-30T10:02:00.000-05:00

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?

2010-03-23T08:48:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-03-16T09:47:00.002-05:00

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?

2010-03-08T19:55:00.002-06:00

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

2010-03-02T10:52:00.004-06:00

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!

2010-02-23T11:16:00.005-06:00

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

2010-02-16T12:15:00.005-06:00

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

2010-02-09T14:50:00.002-06:00

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?

2010-02-02T10:58:00.000-06:00

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

2010-01-26T07:29:00.005-06:00

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!

2010-01-25T11:12:00.001-06:00

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?

2010-01-21T12:33:00.001-06:00

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!

2010-01-12T11:33:00.004-06:00

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.

2010-01-04T19:06:00.003-06:00

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!

KEEPING THE BRAIN ACTIVE!

2009-12-29T15:00:00.000-06:00

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

2009-12-22T12:42:00.001-06:00

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

2009-12-04T09:16:00.003-06:00

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?

2009-11-20T13:29:00.002-06:00

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

2009-11-13T09:29:00.003-06:00

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?

2009-11-04T12:47:00.001-06:00

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?

2009-11-03T08:36:00.002-06:00

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?

2009-11-02T13:17:00.002-06:00

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!

2009-10-23T14:23:00.003-05:00

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

2009-10-20T15:07:00.008-05:00

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?

2009-10-16T12:36:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-14T22:33:00.007-05:00

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

2009-10-09T12:45:00.004-05:00

"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?

2009-10-08T00:54:00.005-05:00

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?

2009-10-07T08:23:00.005-05:00

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

2009-06-29T07:39:00.003-05:00

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?

2009-06-02T10:03:00.005-05:00

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?

2009-05-26T13:17:00.003-05:00

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?

2009-05-13T06:12:00.006-05:00

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?

2009-05-11T12:40:00.006-05:00

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

2009-05-06T05:15:00.004-05:00

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?

2009-05-05T06:41:00.006-05:00

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

2009-05-04T12:17:00.004-05:00

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

2009-04-27T13:58:00.012-05:00

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!

2009-04-23T12:07:00.002-05:00

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?

2009-04-22T14:52:00.016-05:00

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?

2009-04-21T15:02:00.010-05:00

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!

2009-04-20T10:22:00.008-05:00

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!

2008-06-05T15:21:00.005-05:00

Homework Havoc!
Parents of upper elementary, middle school, and high school students often become what I call the “homework police”. They are the ones who greet their child every day with one of the following phrases: “Do you have any homework tonight?” or “Did you bring your spelling words home?” Or possibly, “Did you bring your math book home like I asked you to?”
To these their child replies with a variety of answers…
“Oh, I forgot!” or, “Oops, I forgot!” and sometimes, “We didn’t have any homework!”
Sound familiar?

The good news is that the answer to this dilemma can be quite simple… introduce your child to “THE CONTRACT”. This is one of my favorite tools to use with children of all ages. One of the biggest advantages to the contract is that it puts your child in charge of his/her own learning. They become in charge! Here is how it works…

Sit down with your child and just explain that you no longer wish to nag them about doing their homework. (They will be thrilled to hear this.) Let them know that they will now be in charge. Tell them that together you will be writing a contract that will lay out the expectation, the consequence, and the reward. Make sure that your child is the one who writes the contract.

Some suggested consequences could be:
Computer or video game privileges revoked.
Phone time taken away
TV privileges removed

Some suggested rewards:
Special time with mom or dad
A fun family activity such as bowling, rollerblading, or a movie.
A special meal

Children like the contract because they create it and are put in charge of their own learning. Parents like it because they no longer have to nag. If the contract is broken they can just refer to it and say, “Here is what we agreed to, and here is the agreed upon consequence.” Parents can stay calm and their children are happier.