I Should Be Better Than a 5-Year Old, But Alas, I Fail Again! It’s that time of year. Are you frantically wrapping presents? Some people really have the knack for it and others just don’t! I caught a quick segment on the Today Show last week highlighting a social media comment about wrapping presents. In dismay, the person was wrapping a present and saying, “I should be better at wrapping presents than a five-year-old, but alas, I fail again!” I think that must be what so many of our students feel about their reading when they first start at the…
Read MoreDoes Your Child Have the Right Tools for the Job? Weak underlying mental tools cause smart students to struggle in school. At our last parent information meeting, a homeschool mom shared that her teenage son was bright and willing, but getting increasingly frustrated and depressed over his struggles with schoolwork. She said, “I feel like I’m asking him to dig a hole, but don’t know what kind of shovel to give him.” My husband is fond of saying, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” But the bottom line is that even though…
Read MoreI’m Not Losing Focus On Purpose! “Today was the best parent-teacher conference we’ve ever had!” Last week I heard a parent share this in our waiting room. Fabulous! The parent felt like celebrating instead of crying! The child in question is a smart, delightful girl who displayed one of the most dramatic attention challenges I had ever seen during her assessment. She was absolutely everywhere both physically and mentally. When you can’t keep your body in one place, when you notice absolutely everything around you, when your mind is racing so fast that you miss most of what is said…
Read MoreI’ve just got to share something that completely made my day! Last week, I was giving a Discover Reading workshop for learning center owners and directors. They had come from around the country and really wanted to see what it would look like to do the program with a student. One of our students, a profoundly dyslexic 11-year-old, agreed to demonstrate a skill she was currently working on in the program. Like many dyslexic students, Isabella is bright, engaging, and outgoing, but for most of her time at Stowell Learning Center, the sight of print could put her into complete…
Read MoreThe Teacher Says My Child is Struggling. Now what? When I was teaching in public school many years ago, I happened to teach in an area where most of the parents spoke only Spanish. Therefore, my parent-teacher conferences were held in my far-less-than-perfect Spanish. I remember that the parents were so gracious about it. One of the hardest things about conferences was when I had to tell a parent that their child was struggling. They looked to me to know what to do about it, but as a classroom teacher, I really didn’t know how to fix it. I didn’t…
Read MoreLoving Fall but Dreading Fall Parent Teacher Conferences? The East Coast does Fall right! Crisp weather; brilliant red, yellow, and orange leaves on the tress, and pumpkins everywhere! There’s just something special about Fall. A change in the weather – in most places! (So. Cal. seems to be a bit stuck on the heat of summer). School and football well underway. Holidays coming. And parent-teacher conferences coming soon. For families with struggling students, it may be the dreaded parent-teacher conference. A great connection between a student and teacher can make a huge difference in how a struggling learner feels about…
Read More“I hate History. It’s boring.” “I don’t want to do this homework. It’s so borrrring!” (Said in a whiney voice) If you’re the parent of a school age student, you’ve probably heard this before. If you’re the parent of a child who struggles in school, you have probably heard this, or something similar, more times than you can count. The definition of boring is: not interesting; tedious. And there certainly are assignments that are just plain boring. But for many students with learning challenges, “boring” translates as “I think this is too hard and I may not be able to…
Read MoreAt our Parent Information Meeting this week, a parent shared that her son spends 5 hours a night on what should be less than an hour of homework. Another parent said about their son, who also seems to do nothing but homework once he gets home from school, “We just want him to have his life back!” When my son was 8, I distinctly remember him saying to me in exasperation, “You don’t know! That’s not how my teacher says to do it!” Even when there are no learning challenges, parents doing homework with their kids can be difficult. There’s just…
Read MoreLast week I met a delightful mom who was trying to understand and get help for her equally delightful 8-year-old boy. She shared that he came home from school asking “Mom, am I dumb?” I’ve heard this scenario so many times over the years. Why would a smart child or teen or adult think they’re dumb? When you’re smart but struggling, you look around the classroom and you can easily see that your peers are finishing assignments quicker or getting better grades. You’re very aware of the tremendous amount of time that it takes you to do your homework, while…
Read MoreMost of the time, parents bring their kids to us because they’re struggling with reading, math, or some other aspect of school. But because the underlying skills that are needed for easy, efficient learning are the same skills that support behavior, attention, social skills, and overall functioning, there are many great changes that occur for kids and families in addition to the academics. I just have to share a couple of stories parents shared with me recently. They made my day! No More Wedding Craziness! In (happy) tears, a mom came up to me and said, “I don’t know what…
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