Stowell Learning Center Blog

The Gift of Movement and Unstructured Play

April 7, 2021

Having been on lockdown for most of the past year, it’s been fun to sit at our local outdoor food court as things are re-opening. There is a huge round fountain in the center.  The raised edge encircling the fountain is about 18 inches wide. What is such fun about this fountain is watching little children with their cute little (COVID) masks run around the edge of it with absolute delight and laughter. There are two things that particularly strike me when I watch these little children. First, I am amazed at the coordination of the toddlers and slightly older…

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Managing in the Pandemic Part 2: Structure and Routines that Reduce Anxiety and Increase Performance

January 23, 2021

  Reduce anxiety and stress with consistent routines and expectations for our kids .  Everyone does better with predictability and routine.  There is greater compliance if everyone knows exactly what to expect.  And, those initial shifts that create a new habit are kind of like knocking over the first domino.  They tend to start a chain reaction that helps other good habits take hold.  Studies have documented that families who habitually eat dinner toge ther seem to raise children with better homework skills, higher grades, greater emotional control and more confidence.  Making your bed every morning is correlated with higher…

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Managing in the Pandemic Part 1… You’ve Got This! Taking Care of YOU Helps Your Kids, Too!

January 17, 2021

This is a tough time in history and crossing into 2021 hasn’t magically changed that. Heartwarming videos and posts encourage us that we’ll get through this together, but if you’re working from home and trying to manage distance learning with your kids, it can feel pretty lonely.  It may be helpful to know that what you’re feeling is normal – the emotional ups and downs and the sense of overwhelm at times.   Education is taking a hit this school year and it’s affecting most students regardless of age.  We may have to adjust our expectations.  You may have a…

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Is Your Child’s Behavior Masking Dyslexia?

October 12, 2020

Halloween masks can be great fun, but there are students in every school who are wearing “masks” all year long. Mike was funny and gregarious.  He showed his smarts in class discussions, but when it came to doing any kind of seat-work, he could be found entertaining his classmates. At home with all his unfinished schoolwork and homework, his mom sat with him in order to get through the load, inadvertently becoming his reader to speed up the process.  Work came back to school correct, causing Mike’s teacher to think the problem was lack of motivation and attention. Mike was…

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10 Remote Schooling Tips for Students with Auditory Processing Challenges

August 1, 2020

“Can you hear me now? Wait…What?…You’re cutting in and out.” Recognize this conversation?  Of course, you do.  We’ve ALL experienced a bad cell phone connection.  And it’s incredibly irritating! Can you imagine what it would feel like to spend your whole day, everyday, listening through a bad cell phone connection? Think about how lost and anxious you would feel?  Thankfully, a call back on a cell phone usually solves the problem.  But for children and adults with auditory processing problems, this may be just the way life is. Auditory processing has a profound impact on learning, but, it can mask…

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3 Tips for Staying Positive

July 31, 2020

Could YOU use a little “positive” in your life right now? You’re not alone.  2020 has given us all a run for our money.  Here are 3 tips for staying positive: Perspective A 16-year-old with ADD shared that she has learned to say to herself: “Everyone has challenges.  Mine is ADD.”  This attitude has allowed her to problem-solve her challenges instead of stressing about them.  Take Control of Your Self-Talk Science has proven that our words are powerful.  Beating ourselves up for mistakes or challenges never helps.  You can’t change the past, but you can learn from it.  Taking a…

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Summer’s Here! But What Will Next School Year Bring?

June 9, 2020

You made it!  This year more than ever, with all the changes that the Coronavirus has brought, the end of the school year is a big relief. I remember the excitement of the last day of school – both as a student and as the parent of school-age students.  No more worries about getting to school on time in the mornings and no more homework woes in the afternoon.  It felt so free! For parents of struggling students, all too familiar with the homework battleground, it’s like a breath of fresh air – and then, like a breath, it’s gone,…

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Just Call Me “Braben”

March 8, 2020

After repeatedly reversing the d in his name, Braden told his teacher, “Just call me Braben!” I laughed when I heard this because this young boy is so delightful and good-natured.  But on further reflection, this is the very last thing that I want for our dyslexic students – to have to spend their life finding ways to get around their reading and writing challenges. Dyslexia is a fascinating thinking style.  While each person with dyslexia is different, they often have strong creative, visual spatial, 3-D thinking abilities.  When applied to Legos, mechanical endeavors, drawing, and out-of-the-box problem solving, they…

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Brains Need Breaks

March 2, 2020

From Break to Meltdown in 30 seconds – How Did that Happen? At mile 20 of a 21-mile bike ride, my husband and I stopped to take a little break.  It had gotten warm and we wanted to remove a few layers.  When we started riding again, my legs let me know that “enough is enough” and I thought, “I really don’t want to ride anymore.” It made me think about a couple of students that we tested recently whose parents reported that their kids try so hard on their homework, but have a terrible time coming back from a…

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Did Einstein Feel Stupid Too?

January 9, 2020

I don’t like to point fingers at the schools because I know there are so many wonderful, caring teachers out there serving our kids and feeling terrible about those that they can’t seem to help, but Einstein’s quote does point out something that we find to be true all of the time at our center: There are smart, creative, talented kids who feel stupid everyday because school is not working for them. It’s hard to imagine that Albert Einstein, one of the most brilliant minds of modern times, ever felt stupid.  But he was apparently dyslexic, and what I know…

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