One of my favorite childhood books was The Little Engine That Could. I loved that little blue engine! He never ever gave up. No matter how steep the hill was, he always went after it – he always believed he could do it. “I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!” he’d puff. My husband says that I just never consider the possibility of failure. I just keep pushing ahead with that “I think I can” attitude. I look at some of our students and parents with awe. No matter what, they just keep pushing ahead. …
Read More5 Things Parents and Teachers Should Know About Their Struggling Learner AND 5 Ways to Support Them We recently held a Simulation and Strategies Event at Stowell Learning Center, Chino. The parents and teachers who attended got the opportunity to see what it might feel like to be a student in class with dyslexia, auditory processing disorder, or attention deficit. Going through the activities was an emotional experience for participants as they realized the excessive amount of effort, attention, and energy it took to try to listen to a lecture when they couldn’t hear all of the words clearly or…
Read MoreIn Southern California, we are the very definition of a “melting pot.” We have people of every color, culture, and religion from every part of the world. I love that! I think it makes us interesting. One of the things I’ve noticed, working with thousands of families who are dealing with learning and attention challenges, is that no matter what differences are evident on the surface, parents are parents. If their child is suffering, so are they. They shed tears over their kids, they search for answers, and they willingly sacrifice to help. Last week we talked about how…
Read MoreA mom walked by with a baby who was wearing a soft helmet. Being an unusual sight, I and most other people they passed glanced a little longer than typical at the baby. Why was a baby wearing a helmet like that? The question was quickly answered by the statement printed in large colorful letters on the helmet that said: JUST FIXING MY FLAT. And just like that, no one gave it another thought. Most people don’t really want to stand out in a crowd. They don’t want to be “different.” This is a big concern for parents whose children…
Read MoreWe’re getting to that time of year that some parents are getting the news that their child is “in danger of retention.” “In danger” indicates that retention is a bad thing. While it is something that should certainly be decided with careful thought, there are there times when retention is actually a good idea. Children grow and develop at different rates, especially in those early years. It is not unusual for a child, particularly a boy, to be developmentally young for his (or her) chronological age. Developmental age is not about achievement or intelligence, but rather the child’s overall maturity…
Read More“Look at me!” “Watch me do a handstand!” “Look at me jump!” Young children love to show off their physical prowess. What parents may not realize is that the antics kids use to get attention are often building blocks for developing attention! I had a momentous birthday last week so I don’t do a lot of handstands anymore, but when I was a kid, this would have been me! All that running, jumping, climbing, doing handstands, and rolling downs hills that kids love to do when they have the time and space to do it, plays a tremendously important role…
Read MoreI don’t know about you, but email can be completely overwhelming to me. Scattered among the truly important things, there must be ten times as many irrelevant items. Recently, my husband saved me from my inbox by going through and weeding out everything except the things I really needed to pay attention to. He was appalled by all of the unfiltered, unnecessary stuff cluttering up my inbox and therefore my time. In the book 59 Seconds, Change Your Life in Under a Minute, Richard Wiseman says, “It’s not information overload, its filter failure.” When I heard that, I thought about…
Read MoreMy father-in-law loved instruction manuals. He would pour over the manual for any item he bought because he wanted to know exactly how it worked, all the things it could do, and what problems and solutions to expect. But kids don’t come with instruction manuals. So we all step into parenting a little blindly. It’s a figure-it-out-as-you-go proposition from the start. When we send our little 5-year-olds off to kindergarten and imagine their school years ahead, we picture happy children who love school, have friends, learn easily, make good grades, and accomplish good things. If it doesn’t turn out this…
Read MoreIs Social Media Helping or Hurting Attention and Executive Function? Have you watched a high school or college student do homework recently? It’s quite a fantastic display of multi-tasking. Or is it? I am amazed at how young people can switch so rapidly between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap Chat, and texting, all while doing an assignment or studying for a test. Is this a coordinated multitasking skill or is it actually more related to a scattered, unfocused mind? I am not against technology. In fact, like everyone else these days, I have no idea how I could live without it, but…
Read MoreSaturday was a milestone day for my family. Our son got married to a wonderful girl on a beautiful Southern California day! We all have hopes and dreams for our kids, and this was certainly one of ours for our son. I speak daily with parents of smart, talented, wonderful kids whose hearts are breaking because their dreams for their children are being frustrated by learning or attention challenges. In spite of good intelligence and supportive teachers and parents, these same kids are fighting over homework and shedding tears over being the “dumbest one in the class.” Of course they…
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