General Information

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…

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 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…

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. A Dyslexic Student Who Believed…

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…

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…

“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…

At 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…

Last 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…

Most 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…