Is 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…
Saturday 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…
This is a big week for my family. My son is getting married on Saturday and we couldn’t be more delighted! As I was thinking about the upcoming reception, I remembered the mom of one of our students trying to describe to me what she thought it must be like for her son. She said, “Have you ever been to a wedding and you’re staring right at someone, but hearing all the conversations around you and not hearing what the person you’re talking to is saying? I think that’s what my son experiences all the time.” A friend once told…
I Can’t Believe The Experts Overlooked This When Talking About Child Development And Technology These images are a bit disturbing to me. First because I’m afraid some of these babies may be more tech-savvy than I am! And second, because as cool as this is, I’m not sure we’re doing our kids any favors by putting them in front of screens so early. Good Morning America ran a piece last week about toddlers and technology: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/warning-toddlers-smartphones-tablets-23235372 The child development experts were cautioning parents about screen time for toddlers because it gets in the way of actual face time with people. The first 2 –…
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…
Does 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…
I’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…
I’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…
The 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…
Loving 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…