Archive for March, 2009
Feeding Your Auditory and Visual Systems
There are no strings attached. www.thehomeschoomagazine.com
New Learning Problem Screening Tool (LD Screening Tool) Is Here!
Yes, it is here! Spring is here, the tulip tree is blooming as is the manzanita tree, daffodils, the wild violets…And the Learning Difficulty/Disability Pre-Screening Tool and Informal Comprehensive Identification Tool has arrived!
You will now be able to get your hands on it and be able to informally test your own child or student. You will know the specific areas of strengths and weaknesses of your child. You will know if you need to pursue formal testing, and you will know what kind of formal testing should be done.
By Linda Foster of The LINK (website review)
Without proper diagnosis, a student might spend his/her school years struggling with schoolwork and feeling inadequate. Lacking the confidence to succeed often causes students to ignore instructions and become disruptive. This scenario can occur in classroom or homeschool settings causing frustration not only for the student, but, also, for the teacher/parent. Screening Tool is an excellent guide to assessing a student.
Before any screening takes place, it is important to understand the different types of learning disabilities and difficulties that might be encountered and Bonnie Terry offers a clearly written and easily understood overview of these potential problems.
The LD Screening Tool includes two assessments: A pre-screening tool and checklists of the various processing difficulties that might be encountered. The Pre-Screening Tool consists of a checklist of possible symptoms of learning difficulties, dyslexia, or learning problems and then offers checklists of symptoms that might occur at different developmental stages. In the scoring section, it is noted that it is not unusual for students to exhibit one or more of the symptoms at one time or another and this is not a cause for alarm. Exhibiting three or more of the symptoms, though, over a period of time may signal a learning difficulty or learning disability.
The LD Screening Tool provides information on what to do if a potential learning difficulty or learning disability has been determined. It offers parents and teachers insight into the cause and effect of learning difficulties and learning disabilities on student abilities or behavior in the classroom or the homeschool setting.
Private testing can be very expensive, anywhere between $300.00 and $1000.00. I promised you a reasonably priced informal assessment tool, one that even in today’s tight ecomony you would be able to avail yourself of. You would be able to informally assess your own child in the comfort of your own home. So, it’s not $300.00, not $100.00, not even $50.00. Just go to the LD Screening Tool and order your own copy today for only $37.00.
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET
Will Music Improve Homework?
In a word, Yes! There are two ways music improves homework.
One is by listening:
There is a connection between music and learning. When we listen to music that is 60 beats per minute our body relaxes and frees our minds to concentrate better.
According to Music and the Brain’s Laurence O’Donnell, music has a positive affect on our memory. “Mozart’s music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activate the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, causes the brain to be more capable of processing information.”
The Center for New Discoveries in Learning states that “learning potential can be increased a minimum of five times by using this 60 beats per minute music.”
With this in mind, by simply playing music that is 60 beats per minute while your child is doing their homework you will increase their brainpower, their productivity, and their memory.
Two is by doing:
Even though one does not have to be a rocket scientist to learn to read, the learning process is more complex than most people think. This is because both visual processing and auditory processing are critical components to reading with ease. And, within the visual and auditory processing systems there are sub-categories that each affect learning to read.
In fact, the Wiley InterScience reported in 2002 results from a large primary-school study that showed that “both visual motion sensitivity and auditory sensitivity to frequency differences were robust predictors of children’s literacy skills and their orthographic and phonological skills.”
Several studies report that there is a positive association between music training and language, math, and spatial domains of learning. From this we can see that music or other auditory training can help to improve reading.
Think about music training for a moment. Children learn how to visually track the notes they are playing, they learn how to pace what they are playing, and they also improve their auditory memory, visual memory, and tactile/kinesthetic skills. The training could be on a keyboard, but it could even be on a music maker (about $30.00) and doesn’t even require a teacher to learn.
We need to think about exposing our children to music and think about when we should add a more structured music program into our children’s lives. We should also realize that when we do we are improving their whole life (language, math, and spatial domains).
Whenever we add an auditory or a visual component into our children’s lives we are enriching them and making it easier for them to make connections in their brain that result in an overall improvement in their ability to think, process information, read or do math.
Additionally, adding music to your child’s life, whether by listening, playing, or a combination of the two, you are also creating a more peaceful and relaxed atmosphere in which to do homework.
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET
Does Your Child Remember What the Assignment Is?
This used to drive me crazy. At least one of my kids would come home and know he had an assignment, but he couldn’t remember what it was. One thing I did when this problem happened over and over was to insist my children get the phone number of several classmates in their class. Then we’d have someone to call to see if they knew what the assignment was.
Homework buddies:
Every year your child should have a few homework buddies, friends they can call for assignments. At the beginning of each school year I asked my children to get the names and phone numbers of three classmates so they could call them if they need to find out what their assignments are. If you are new to the school your child is attending, you can ask the teacher for help with this. If you have tried everyone you can think of and still can’t find out what the assignment is, call the school and leave a message for your child’s teacher so he/she knows that your son/daughter made an effort to do the work. Chances are likely that your child’s teacher will give them an extra day to get the work done.
Homework Assignment Trackers:
Many school now have ‘time trackers’ or ‘binder reminders’ for the students to write their homework assignments in. If your child is one of those students that has trouble writing their assignments down, arrangements can be made with the teacher to initial their assignment notebook letting you know that they have all of their assignments written. Many teachers stop class a few minutes early so the students have time to write down the homework assignment. Some teachers have the students flash their homework notebook to them when they are walking out of the classroom, then they know the students all have the assignments.
Assignments On-line?
Some schools now have the teachers post the class homework on line. Then you can just check the schools website. I find this is happening more often in middle schools.
Hope this is helpful. Be sure to ask a question…and don’t forget to go to www.bonnieterry.com/blog and sign up for FREE homework and teaching tips.
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET
Homework and Relaxation…What Is the Connection?
When your child comes home from school and tells you they are stressed out about having a TON of homework, how can you tell them to relax – that you know they can finish their homework?
So many times your child comes home with too many things to do and they feel they do NOT have enough time. They might have soccer, baseball, basketball, swim-team, football, or track practice. They need to eat, and help out with the dishes too. And, to top it off, they have a project due plus regular homework. Does this sound familiar to you? And that is just for one child. Multiply that out when you have several children.
This is a recipe for disaster rather that success. The stress level in your home is not one that is conducive to a quality family evening.
Studies show that relaxed learners actually retain more information than learners who are in a stressed state. Gary Small, M. D., Professor of Psychiatry & Bio-behavioral Sciences at UCLA states (2001), “Relaxation techniques will improve concentration, learning, and overall memory ability.”
So, what in heavens name do you do to create a relaxed environment at home with everything that is going on? Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to immediately create a more relaxed environment.
1. One of the easiest and most productive things you can do is to play background music that is at 60 beats per minute during homework time. Playing classical music or any other that is 60 beats per minute will place everyone’s heart beat in a relaxed state which frees the mind to be able to concentrate more efficiently.
2. Create a mindset for whatever the assignment is that your child has. By this I mean before actually starting the assignment, think about it. How does this assignment relate to other assignments they’ve done in the past, or maybe it will be assignments they will do in the future. When students have a connection with former learning and with learning they will be doing in the future they have a reason why they should be doing the assignment. Having a reason why helps them to ‘buy into’ and ends up leading them to doing a better job on the assignment.
3. Learning is all about connections, so when a meltdown occurs, it may be due to NOT being able to make a connection with the material. It just seems too hard; it’s overwhelming. Again, take some time, which may only end up being 5 minutes. Take a few deep breaths with your child. This will get more oxygen to each of your brains and help you to help your child to see/make connections with the material. The more you help your child make connections the easier it will be for him to make them on his own. The assignment will more often than not be done with greater ease.
Hope this is helpful.
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET
Be sure to tell a friend about this post…and don’t forget to go to www.bonnieterry.com/blog to sign up for free homework & teaching tips.
Has this happened to you too? Your child …
…your child gets their homework out and doesn’t have a clue about what they are supposed to do?
I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. Between my own three children and my students that come to me in my learning center. They brought their homework home…hurrah! But, they are absolutely clueless about what they are supposed to do.
Typically one of two things happens then. Either they just start doing the page of homework, just writing anything down so they could be done with the page of work, OR they sit there, completely frozen, just staring at the worksheet. If they rushed through and I’ve checked the sheet over, invariably, more times than not, they have done the assignment incorrectly. The problem was they didn’t actually follow the directions. What a concept, following the directions.
I can’t begin to tell you how many times my students did worksheets without reading the directions. But, they weren’t the only ones. No, I must admit, my own kids did the same thing. So, my question to you is:
Are your children reading the directions?
A key piece to doing homework and doing it correctly is to be sure your children are reading the directions. It always amazes me as a teacher to see my students just plow right into the page, often getting questions wrong, simply because they haven’t read the directions. So, first have your child read the directions to you. Then ask him/her what the directions are telling them to do. You might be surprised at how many children have trouble explaining what the directions are telling them to do.
Do your children understanding the directions?
If they didn’t understand the directions, you can help explain them to your child. It is helpful to have your child underline the key words in the directions to be sure they know what to do (e.g. underline the words, circle the pairs, draw a line from one to the matching words, fill in the blank using the list words, etc.). Go through one or two of the problems or question with them to be sure they understand what to do. Then they should be able to continue the work on their own.
If you can’t figure out the directions either, you might want to call one of your child’s classmates to see if they understand the directions. Or, you can always write a note at the top of the paper for the teacher to read the next day.
BTW: There are many easy reference guides available to help with writing projects and math homework. We believe the most effective and comprehensive guide for writing projects is the Writer’s Easy Reference Guide. For math homework the most comprehensive and effective reader friendly guide is the BT Easy Math Reference Guide.
Don’t forget, to get FREE homework and teaching tips, go to www.bonnieterry.com/blog
Please pass the article along to those you think might benefit! And, leave a question or comment by clicking on comment.
Hope this has been helpful.
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET
Does Your Child Stay Up Too Late to Do Their Homework?
I can’t tell you how often that happened to me over the years. “But, Mom, I’m not done yet!” And it became worse when a major project is due. You know what it’s like…after my kids stayed up too late finishing the homework, it was near to impossible to ‘drag’ them out of bed in the morning to get ready for school. And, once they got to school they were so tired it was hard for them to concentrate. Talk about a no win situation!
The problem is that most kids are not good with time management, and if they are in sports, scouts, 4-H, or other after school activities, homework time is even more challenging. As parents we need to remember that our kids are not pros at managing their time. And, sometimes we don’t manage our own time well, so how can we expect them to manage their time without any help? When we take into account this time management factor it is easier to help our children learn to chunk projects and schedule in time to do them. In fact, learning time/project management is one of the byproducts of homework.
One of the best things our family found to help with having my kids get their homework done in a timely fashion so they would get a good night’s sleep was to use a daily and weekly planning calendar with after school and evening hours on it. Then, each week we would write out the extra activities on the calendar and then fit in ‘homework time’ around the activities.
Once they saw the way the week was scheduled it was easier to get them to commit to actually working during ‘homework time’. This also gave them a sense of control and the knowledge that if they did their homework during the slated times they would actually have a bit of free time each day. Life became a lot easier. A comprehensive easy to use planner for elementary and middle students is in Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills.
Hope this is helpful.
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET
For FREE homework and teaching tips go to: www.bonnieterry.com/blog
How Do I Get My Children to Stop Procrastinating and Start Doing Their Homework?
Your child procrastinates about doing their homework…there are 4 Solutions to this homework problem.
When:
Establish daily homework time. Give your child limited choices. Offering them choices gives the child a stake in their work. It gives them a sense of control over themselves. Only give them choices that are acceptable to you. For instance ask your child if he/she wants to begin their homework at 4:30 p.m., before dinner, or at 7:00 p.m., right after dinner? You noticed that I didn’t give a suggested choice of 9:00 p.m. That choice would not be an acceptable one to me because then my child would be would be tired and not working at his/her optimum and he/she would be up too late doing it.
How Long:
Ask your child how much time they think they need to do their homework: 45 minutes or an hour? Asking your child how long they think it will take them to complete his/her homework helps them to realize that it won’t take them all night to do it. This is also an opportunity for your child to run through their assignments with you so you know whether they have math, spelling, writing, or social studies homework. Sometimes my children forgot an assignment until I asked them, “Don’t you have any math tonight?”
Where:
Ask them if they would like to sit at the kitchen table, work in the family room, or in their room to do their homework. It is a good idea to suggest study areas where your child will be comfortable and distraction free. The place they do their work isn’t as important as the fact that it is away from distractions.
No homework:
If your child doesn’t have any homework, that time can be set aside for reading a book or some other learning activity. It is important to have your child doing some sort of reading or learning activity when they don’t have homework to not only keep that pattern of learning that you are creating, but also to open the world of self learning to your child. People in general tend to do low level activities unless they have clear defined goals. So to ensure greater success for your child, keep homework time a time of productivity and learning even when he/she doesn’t have a specific homework assignment.
Feel free to ask your homework related questions by leaving a comment AND, get FREE homework tips at http://www.bonnieterry.com/blog
Kids Not Like to Write? How to Make Writing a Story Easy
I’ll never forget the day one of my kids had a friend over during the evening while his mom was at a meeting.
He had just broken his arm and had a homework assignment to complete. He was at a loss on how to get his assignment done because he had broken his right arm. His assignment was to use his spelling words in a story. I told him, no problem. Let’s see the words you need to put into the story. He slowly took out his speller and showed me the words.
Following is the step-by-step sequence of how we woked on his homework assignment.
• I listed the words on a separate sheet of paper, so we could underline them when he used them.
• We started talking about how he could put them into a story. We talked about where the story would take place, the time of day,
who would be in the story, and what the character might be doing. That covered the who, what, where, and when that is needed when writing a story.
• As we talked about those things, I jotted them down. He was ready to start telling me the story.
• He recited the story, putting in his spelling words, as I wrote it down for him.
• Every once in a while he’d get ahead of himself and I’d say, “Wait a minute, how did he get from here to here? You need to tell us.”
• So he filled in the transition.
• After this session [about 20 minutes], he had his story done. Had his hand not been in a partial cast, I would have had him copy it in order to turn it in. But since he couldn’t copy it, I recopied it for him with the transitions put into the correct places.
When his mom came to pick him up, she was amazed that he had gotten the assignment done. Up to now, whenever he had to write a story using his spelling words, he felt totally defeated, like he would never be able to hit a nail on its head. He hated this assignment and got it every week. A major battle ensued.
I explained to her how we did it. She never thought that you could have your kids write a story that way. Now, he’ll always hit the nail on the head! Her son is no longer left to his own devices. He has a strategy that works and will help him to always be successful.
