- Adjust your child's bedtime and wake up times two weeks in advance; lessen early morning complaints that first month of school.
- Wean your child off summer sweets; emphasize a healthy breakfast which is essential to learning.
- Establish back to school rituals: new school clothes, a special pre-school family outing, annual first day back to school picture.
- Relieve pre-school jitters - visit their new class, meet their teacher in advance.
- Students with special needs? Introduce your child to new teacher, share what has worked and not worked in the past. Review IEP, 504 plan goals and objectives at this time.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
• Fall Lecture Series at the Center: Parenting and Educating the Learning Disabled Child: A Holistic Approach. Stay tuned for dates and times.
• Center For Learning Enhancement, Inc is participating in the "Awaken the Power Within" conference, October 6, 2007, sponsored by Transformations Holistic Learning Center. Keynote Speaker is Jack Canfield, co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul. More information? Call 856-470-1399.
• Bridge To Learning Success Program - skill and concept development preparing pre-K and kindergarten age children for demands of the classroom. One-on-one or small group sessions up to three children. Call 856-234-7337.
| VOL. 1, NO. 2 | WEBSITE | CONTACT US |
The Learning Process: Why Children Struggle and
What To Do
The beginning weeks of school are usually a time of fun, meeting new friends, adjusting to new routines while brushing up on last year's skills. However, by November, new material and the challenges of learning start to appear. They may be subtle and not evident to their teacher at first, but parents may notice that something is not right. The problem is most often not due to the teaching or the content being presented but rather underdeveloped cognitive processing skills, weak sensory integration and inefficiency (not acuity) of the visual system. All of these skill areas can often be improved and resolved in otherwise intelligent children.
Since tutoring addresses the same content as school, it will not resolve covert processing difficulties which are the true cause of symptoms as difficulty learning to read, comprehend, retain information, follow directions, focus attention, do math problems, write, spell and complete school work in a reasonable amount of time without parent intervention. Often tutoring becomes a cycle year after year, a crutch that will get children "through school" but not resolve the root cause of the problem at hand nor create independent learning.
When is tutoring beneficial?
A national study of 400 children ages 5 to 18, living in rural, suburban and urban settings done by Drs. Kuo and Taylor at the University of Illinois indicated that spending time outside in "green" settings reduced ADHD symptoms of these children according to feedback from the parents of the children involved in the study.
Symptoms included remaining focused on unappealing tasks, completing tasks, listening and following directions and resisting distractions. Parents answered questions about how their children did after participating in a wide range of activities done after school and on weekends. Outdoor activities in green areas as parks, backyards and tree lined streets received more positive ratings than did activities in any other settings.
Findings held true for all regions of the country. Factors as sex, age, severity of symptoms and household income were found to be insignificant. Researchers said "It didn't take a pristine landscape to prompt the improvement. Just get outside and around greenery after school and on weekends wherever you are."