Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » Brain Training Tools

4 Kindle Fire Apps that Can Help Your Child Learn

colleen — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:30:33 +0000

With all the hype about the iPAD in the classroom, I thought I would give you some comparable ways to use the Kindle Fire. After comparing apps, the Kindle Fire has just about the same type of apps available. The good news for you is that the Kindle Fire is much less expensive, too. I compiled a list of 4 apps available on the Kindle Fire that you can use for educational purposes. There are tons more but wanted to keep this list to a minimun.The apps are listed in no particular order.

Remote Mouse – Take control of your presentations from anywhere in a room with wireless network access. With mouse-click control, scrolling, keyboard, and touchpad, you can control and display anything from your computer screen onto a presentation screen.

This is great for teachers who are walking around the classroom while presenting on whiteboards or using a smartboard. Moms — what about reviewing flash cards or study notes with your child as you are
multi-tasking? Now, you don't need to be tied to your computer in the family room. AWESOME!!

Little Piano – Little Piano allows you to tinkle a few ivories and pass a little musical time while on the go. With this app, you'll always have a piano right in your pocket. Play a tune or two while you're waiting for an appointment, standing in line, or sitting through a long flight.

Kid Mode – Fun, educational games for kids 8 and under. All your child's favorite Android apps in one place. With our Child Lock feature, kids stay safely in Kid Mode!

TaptoTalk - TapToTalk turns an Android device into an affordable augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. Tap a picture – TapToTalk speaks. Kids think it's fun. The TapToTalk App comes with a sample AAC album that you can use to see of it is appropriate for your child. You can get additional free albums by following the instructions in the App. If you want to create albums that are individualized to meet the specific needs of your child, you can buy TapToTalk Designer at http://www.taptotalk.com.

BONUS #5 App Just for You!!

Office Suite 5 - Create, view, edit and share Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint files and attachments and view PDF files

Again, there are tons more that you can look for that will help your child learn and experience learning from a more digital perspective. The point I'm trying to make here is that you don't necessarily have to invest $900 plus for a iPAD. $199.00 for a Kindle Fire will give your child a comparable digital learning experience.

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Memory and Learning

colleen — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:15:33 +0000

Memory plays a huge part in learning and is a major component in cognitive functioning. Although long-term memory is important, short-term memory is often talked about when referring to a child’s ability to function in the classroom. That’s why a teacher will often remark about children with ADD that they have a problem with ‘working memory’, which is another name for short-term memory.

Oftentimes, a child will be blamed for not paying attention when they aren’t able to remember something. While inattention is often the case in children with ADD, it isn’t always the reason that they can’t remember. That’s why the first thing I do when I work with your child is to test them to get an accurate assessment of their cognitive functions. When I understand what’s going on with them, I can target strategies to strengthen the parts of the brain that aren’t working properly.

I use the example of a library to show the difference between long and short-term memory. When you put a library book in the return slot it goes into a bin. That bin is the short-term memory. From there, the book gets sorted and placed on the correct shelf for storage until someone wants to check it out. That’s long-term memory.

But before either short-term or long-term memory can happen, we have something called sensory memory. Sensory memory is either visual or auditory, i.e. seen or heard. An example of this is the ability to follow either written or oral directions. In the library analogy, if you told little Jamie to walk over to the librarian’s station and put the book in the slot on the left, they would have to be able to process that information and remember it long enough to carry out the task. If their auditory memory isn’t functioning, they wouldn’t be able to do it.

An example of visual memory would be if you wrote down the instructions for returning the book and they were able to do it, then you’d know that their visual memory was working properly.

This is really important when it comes to your child’s ability to learn. Whether it’s auditory or visual, they have to be able to process all these little bits and pieces of sensory information in order to be able to remember it.

Most of us are stronger in one area of memory than another, but with kids with the cognitive dysfunctions of ADD, the deficits are more severe and can seriously impact their ability to learn. The great thing to understand is that the brain is able to grow and change and that using the exercises in my Brain Training System, we can correct these problems and help your child to learn more effectively.

Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? I would be honored, and just ask that you include the following with the article:

Colleen Bain is the best-selling author of Overcomers Inc. She writes, trains and consults in advanced brain training for children and their parents, teachers and professionals. Professionals also look to Colleen for her expert coaching relative to starting and expanding a brain training business. To find out how Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids can help you – visit How Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids Can Help Your Child!

What Happens to Your Child’s Memory After an Injury

colleen — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 19:20:20 +0000

Working memory is commonly known as short term memory. This type of memory is what we use on a regular basis and it’s always fresh in our mind. Working memory is also considered the way we keep only the important information in our mind and weed out the information that is not necessary.

With that said, some people think there is a connection between organization, working memory, and attention. While there is a connection on a certain level, there is a difference that eliminates the connection which basically is the side of the brain that’s used to perform each of those tasks.

Storing information in the brain is something everyone does whether they know it or not it does happen on a continual basis. Implicit memory is where you store things in your mind and forget about it. Explicit memory is where you keep something in your mind and you know it’s there.

Retrieving this memory is completely different. Implicit memory requires effort and you know you have to think about it before it will come to mind where as explicit memory is effortless and doesn’t require a lot of work. After a brain injury most times implicit memory is not affected, but explicit memory is.

Often times after a brain injury has occurred there is a certain time where the memory of the accident is completely gone. There will be memory from before the accident and after the accident, but the entire time frame around it is gone and they have no memory of how it happened or what happened during the accident. The memory leading up to the injury is called remote memory and the memory after the injury is called recent memory.

Often time’s amnesia goes along with an injury. There are two types of amnesia. One is called anterograde and the other is retrograde. Anterograde is where you have difficulties remembering things from day to day after the injury. Retrograde amnesia is where you have problems remembering things that occurred before the accident. Depending on the type of injury amnesia can be short or long term.

Memory is something that can easily go away after an accident. There are two types of memory, one is procedural memory and the other is declarative memory. Procedural memory is the act of remembering how to do something like riding a bike or combing your hair and declarative memory is the act of remembering facts. An example would be remembering how the Titanic sank or that any number times itself is always that number.

When a brain injury happens, there are times where the declarative memory can be damaged and those facts may go by the way side. Most times the procedural memory remains clear and has no problems.

A brain injury can affect a number of different types of memory. Sometimes this is permanent while other times it is temporary. Since we have discussed the different types of memory in our last article, you now have an understanding of how the brain works and why memory can be weak after an injury. Aside from damaged connections in the brain, a person's emotions may greatly impact their ability to remember. Be patient with a friend or family member that has had either a minor concussion or a traumatic brain injury. They will have memory weaknesses that may show themselves consistently or sporadically.

5 Types of Memory That Will Help Your Child Remember Easier!

colleen — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:15:47 +0000

Memory is not just memory — it contains several types of memory processes. That is why brain training is so beneficial when you hear me speak about strengthening the overall processing of the brain. Memory itself has several processes!

Memory is amazing in so many ways. We can think, remember, act, and so much more. You have the ability to learn, speak, and retain information with your memory.

Studies show there are several things that show the different aspects of your memory. When you have a complete understanding you’ll have a better idea of what it takes to help a student with memory difficulties.

1. Involuntary and Voluntary Memory

Involuntary memory happens when you remember something you didn’t have an intention of remembering while voluntary memory is where you purposely remember something.

Involuntarily remembering something can happen when you’re enjoying something and you happen to remember what you were doing. An example of this would be a child learning the units of measurement while learning to cook a meal.

If you’re studying for a test, trying to remember a name, or remembering an appointment are all examples of voluntary memory. You are, in a way, forced to remember on demand without much "happy" feeling to request.

When you’re trying to remember what’s in your mind, you’ll see the involuntary and voluntary memory are called into action. Remembering things in your mind may come as involuntary when you see something or hear something that triggers the memory to come back. This is often seen when your child can remember the great trip to Disney – down to what you wore every day of the trip.

Yet, when the same child is asked to remember facts for a test they an nonexistent. For some children this type of voluntarily remembering something can be a challenge if they are young or don’t want to remember what they need.

2. Prospective and Retrospective Memory

Prospective and retrospective memory covers past and future memory. Future events are stored in the prospective memory while the past memories are stored in the retrospective memory. Children with frontal lobe complications seen in ADHD often have difficulty remembering upcoming events, assignments, etc.

Strategies to work around these using memory is often a challenge since strategies get processed through the frontal lobe. Until brain training is completed to assist in creating new pathways to avoid the issues in the frontal lobe and strengthen what is available, then reminders on PDA's (blackberry, etc.), post-it pads, lists and notes need to be utilized.

Nonverbal – sign language ( I Love You)

3. Nonverbal and Verbal memory

Nonverbal and verbal memory has to do with speaking. Nonverbal memory is where you remember something but you don’t speak about it and verbal memory is where you remember something and you will speak about it.

An example of nonverbal memory would be when you remember an appointment you need to go to and you do it without speaking to anyone about it. Verbal memory comes into play when you get up on stage, for example, and begin to recall your speech for the following hour.

Nonverbal memory can be impaired and usually seen as weak visual processing/memory on our cognitive skills assessment. The student would then receive extra attention to these skills during training. The same approach is used for Verbal Memory which would be impacted in our language centers of the brain. Students usually measure low on auditory analysis, processing speed and some memory domains within our cognitive assessment. For these students, extra care is given to strengthen word retrieval and increase language while working through the typical brain training programs.

With this information, you can try and pull from nonverbal using images or verbal using words! Teachers can typically have access to this type of information so they assess which type of memory bucket to place information into and retrieve from! Interesting, right? This is why sign language can be very helpful in the classroom to help students learn, retain and recall – the student is using their strength of nonverbal memory!

4. Sensory Modality-Specific Memory

Sensory modality-specific memory has to do with each of the five senses. You may find you remember something when you smell your favorite meal or when you hear a song on the radio. That is why some research tells us that students who studied with a specific "fragrance" of vanilla present, for example, could recall the information much easier when the fragrance was present in the classroom. The smell helped recall of the information to be proficient.

5. Sensory Long-Term and Short-Term Storage Systems

Sensory long-term and short-term storage is broken down into three categories of Sensory, long term, and short term storage (memory). Each is based and defined on a period of time. Sensory storage has to do with immediate time to process a sensation – information coming in through our senses. Long term memory is stored for a long period of time, and short term memory happens within minutes of the conversation and usually defined by 7 units of information. That is why a typical memory test may be digit span to measure how many digits you can keep in your short-term memory to see if you are considered to meet the average measure.

Memory is something we all have, but we certainly don’t use it in the same way.

The five types of memory in this article will help you to have a better understanding of the way it works and what each type is all about. When you have a better understanding of the memory and how it works, you’ll be able to help your child in ways you never thought would be possible before. This is why most schools opt for "multi-sensory" approaches to learning. The teachers will not only work with the senses of your child but will also involve emotions and other "triggers" to encode into memory and retrieve for recall.

You’ll find several more types of memory that will be covered in our next article.

Source: http://projectlearnet.org/tutorials/memory_problems.html

4 Reasons to Use “Errorless Learning” with Children Who Have Memory Weaknesses

colleen — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:00:19 +0000

Last week, we discussed retrieval in general and 3 strategies to use to help your child retrieve information from their weak memory. We talked about using Cued Retrieval which "cues" the memory up for retrieval, Recognition Memory which basically gives your child the answer and Free Retrieval which is trial by error where your child needs to retrieve without any support at all.

This week we continue talking about retrieval strategies and specifically an approach to teaching children with weak memory skills. The approach to learning we will be discussing is called "Errorless Learning."

This approach literally sets the children up for success – what a concept, right? However, there is a bit more to the good intentions for using this method than simply helping your child feel good about themselves.

Take Note: Your child may tend to remember mistakes due to the high level of emotion attached to stating an incorrect answer. Your child may also remember the mistake because it was thought of by themselves – no support or cueing involved. If your child is anxious or depressed, that high level of negative emotion will aid to them remembering the mistakes, too. It is important, then, that we support our child in retrieving information and set them up for success – to avoid training the brain to remember mistakes.

With "Errorless Learning", you would use the strategies we talked about above relative to Cued Retrieval and Recognition Memory. Even when you are studying together or working on homework, etc. use the success strategies with your child.

There are 4 reasons you would use this type of learning over the Free Retrieval (trial by error) approach:

Your child is usually incorrect with a straight questions requesting a response using the Free Retrieval method.
Your child is not very confident in their abilities.
Your child is not able to remember their learning experiences
Your child is not able to remember and use the feedback you provide them through the Trial and error method.

The trial and error (Free Retrieval – you know the 8 out of 10 trial approach) may have the added advantage of producing deeper understanding – but only if your child can remember the learning experience.

So, how do you use Errorless Learning? When I work with students, I usually run through steps that guide me through a process of helping the child. For example, below is a list of steps I usually use a guide when working with students.

I adjust my expectations according to the student I'm working with that day. If I know little Johnny is extremely weak at the moment with memory, I will not be expecting him to work with a Trial by Error approach. I know I'm working with Errorless Learning from the start. You may want to use the guide of 90% confidence level that your child knows the answer to be able to use trial by error approach.
I make sure the student knows what is expected. Even with brain training, I verbally explain, model the exercise, have the student run through a practice trial and will even do the exercise with the student, if necessary to ensure expectations are understood.
I look to see if the student can complete the task requested. If not, I will do the exercise with the student and sometimes they become the trainer and request me to complete the task at hand. This provides them an collaborative approach to success which is eventually removed to allow for independence by the student at the appropriate time.
I will also break down some of the exercises/work (task analysis) to allow for success. If memory encoding/storage is an issue, I will provide smaller pieces of information at a time until the memory storage has been strengthened.
If I know the student is going to run into trouble on a specific item, I will prevent the failure by prepping ahead of time to allow for the success without providing any answers to the student. For example, if we are practicing spelling and I am confident the student doesn't know a word, I will state the word to the student and ask if they will need help with this word ? This prevents the student getting "stuck" and being "stranded" without a response or worse an incorrect response.
I always offer repetition on our exercises – it is part of our program. However, when you are working with your child, repetition does not mean route repetition. You can simply introduce the same information a variety of ways for practice. With math, for example, you can practice 10 + 2 straightforward, with manipulatives, with calculator (if answer is mastered), with drawing of quantities, in a real life situation (go to store and purchase), view a video explaining addition or place value, etc.

According to Ylvisaker, Hibbard & Feeney 2006, your child/student should be successful at least 90% of the time with you when learning/retrieving. It is a well known fact that children with significant memory weakness are often successful only 50% or less of the time when learning and retrieving. This is a major contributing factor to your child's anxiety, depression, low self-esteem which then adds to their "success" of remembering their mistakes. Then, you need to retrain the brain to undo the mistakes that laid ground with their very own neuropathways.

Remember, if you have a child with retrieval problems, have your child assessed today and get moving on strengthening their memory skills sooner than later.

Your child's memory can be strengthened by working your child through my Student Transformation System. My system works with online computer based brain training programs like BrainWare Safari, BrainSkills, Fast ForWord and REI.

Parts of Speech in Rhyme Form

colleen — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:00:46 +0000

The Parts of Speech in Rhyme

A noun's the name of any thing,

As school, or garden, hoop, or swing.

Adjectives tell the kind of noun,

As great, small, pretty, white, or brown.

Instead of nouns, the pronouns stand–

Her head, his face, your arm, my hand.

Verbs tell of something to be done–

To read, count, sing, laugh, jump, or run.

How things are done, the adverbs tell,

As slowly, quickly, ill or well.

Conjunctions join the words together —

As men and women, wind or weather.

The preposition stands before
A noun, as in, or through a door.

The interjection shows surprise,

As oh! how pretty — ah! how wise.

The whole are called the parts of speech,

Which reading, writing, speaking, teach.

BY Alfred J. Lawrence, Michigan – submitted by Toni Cosgrove of Notebooking Forum on Yahoo.

3 Ways to Help Your Child “Retrieve” Information When Their Memory is Weak

colleen — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:00:45 +0000

We all know that memory is very important cognitive skill needed in order to learn. There are three parts to the memory process:

You need the ability to "encode" the memory which means process what is coming in put the memory into your internal filing cabinet.
You need the ability to "store" the memory which means you need to have the ability to keep the memory.
You need the ability to "retrieve" the memory which means you need to be able to recall the memory when requested.

I work with a lot of students who come to me with memory problems. They can study for hours and then not be able to retrieve the material on demand. Most of the time, the storage of the material can be the culprit where your child just doesn't have enough storage room to hold the material so it gets lost. Some of the time, the encoding could be impaired where the need for strategies to help process incoming information to form a memory is the issue. Most of the time, however, the problem resonates with the processing in the brain relative to the retrieval of the information.

To help your child be successful, you can use certain types of retrieval strategies. There are three types of retrieval you can use with the first two being the most useful when you are working with a child with extreme memory weakness.

The first type of retrieval memory strategy is "Cued Retrieval." Your child's memory is there … waiting … your job is to get it to the front of the line …..

This is a common known method but sometimes it is not performed correctly. Most of know of "Cued Retrieval" as giving our child ways to get to the answer. In fact, it a support strategy where you help to trigger your child's memory. We are working under the assumption that retrieval is an issue and not storage or encoding at this time.

Therefore, we should work with the assumption that our child has learned and retained and needs help pulling (retrieving) the information from their brain. However, a lot of time, if this doesn't work fast enough, we instinctively feel we need to give the answer to the child. Which is not the case, because you can move to another strategy known as Recognition Memory which I will discuss later.

With "Cued Retrieval" we simply support our child by "cueing" them up for the correct answer without giving them the answer. For example, I use this method when working with students and my daughter, Shannon, who suffers from memory retrieval weakness. Lets say Shannon is working through her homework where she needs to categorize words into nouns using categories of places, people or things/ideas.

To "cue" her memory up in a way that I do not give her the answer, I would support her by saying:

We know that nouns are either a person, place or thing.
A person is "people" "humans" like you and I, etc.
A place is a location like school, library, etc.
A thing is an object like a chair, TV, phone, etc.
Then I say - what category would "backyard" fall into?
I would wait to see if she can reply with place. If not, I move into recognition memory described below.

With "Cued Memory", I did not give her the answer. Her retrieval in general is weak. Her retrieval around nouns, what they are and what categories they fall into is very weak. She needs to be "cued" up to support her learning.

The second type of retrieval strategy that I use with Shannon and students is called "Recognition Memory". This is where you literally give your child the answers within a multiple choice or true/false option.

For example, when working with Shannon to help her with nouns, I could have restated my questions to ask:

Nouns are either a person, place or thing – yes or no? True or False?
Is the word "backyard" a person? y/n
Is the word "backyard" a thing y/n
Is the word "backyard" a place y/n
I could also have tried – The word "backyard" is either a person, place or thing – which one is it?

This type of retrieval is the easiest and often used to discover what your child knows and does not know. In other words, did your child learn and retain material? Did they retain and understand a concept? Is your child mainly having retrieval problems?

I also use this method when the retrieval is very weak because more encoding strategies are needed – more repetition is yet to come on a topic but we are working retrieval strategies in parallel.

The third type of retrieval that should commonly be used with children who do not often make mistakes or have anxiety in school is called "Free Retrieval". This is when the teacher asks a question point blank and wants an answer.

For example, when working with Shannon to help her with nouns, I could have restated my question above to ask:

What category of nouns does the word "backyard" fall into?

There is NO support, cueing or recognition to trigger the memory. Shannon has to freely retrieve the memory of what nouns are and what the categories for nouns are and what are examples of each category – from her head!

The problem with this memory is that when using this strategy with children who have weak memory retrieval, it just leaves you as homeschooling parent or classroom teacher with the knowledge that the child has retrieval issues! You are not helping to discover what the child "knows" and definitely not helping the child to learn and move forward.

From an assessment perspective, using "Cued Retrieval" and "Recognition Memory" will help you discover just what your child has in memory and has learned. You know the child "knows" the information and has learned the material. Now, you can focus on strengthening their cognitive memory skills to help the retrieval process!

For a child with documented retrieval (memory) weakness, testing accommodations using the "Recognition Memory" of true/false or multiple choice should be used to "test" the child's knowledge. Using the standard open-ended "Free Retrieval" questions will only help you, as the teacher, recognize the child has retrieval issues – which you should already know via your IEP or assessments.

Like with all other types of supports, these would be removed at the appropriate timing when the cognitive memory skill has strengthened appropriately and is able to shown success in retrieval. Your child's memory can be strengthened by working your child through my Student Transformation System. My system works with online computer based brain training programs like BrainWare Safari, BrainSkills, Fast ForWord and REI.

An overall teaching approach to use the supportive strategies discussed in this article for retrieval memory is called "Errorless Learning." We will talk more about "teaching strategies/intervention" to support retrieval – next week.

Remember, if you have a child with retrieval problems, have your child assessed today and get moving on strengthening their memory skills sooner than later.

Source for article:
Copyright 2006, by
The Brain Injury Association of New York State

How To Deliver Your Expertise Online And Get More Clients

colleen — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:00:09 +0000

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Research Shows Inexpensive Games Key to Increasing IQ and Processing Speed

colleen — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:16:16 +0000

UC Berkley Graduate Students led by Dr. Silvia Bunge, wanted to research about children's intelligence. They used simple, inexpensive card games, puzzles and software as their tools. The protocol used was to "play" the games for 15 min. totaling 1 hour and 15 min. a day for a total of 20 hours of game playing. That is all and the results are fantastic. Schools and teachers – do you think you can work in 15 min. or so for a class to total 1 hour 15 min. a day for about 2 months and help your students? I think so! Thanks for one of ELS4KIDS' Clients (Theresa from NJ) for submitting this article! Read more ….

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Why Test Your Child’s Cognitive Ability?

colleen — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:50:41 +0000

Children grow and progress at different levels and different speeds. Some children don’t struggle a bit while others struggle to a point that they absolutely hate school and they struggle in life. You need to stop it from happening or don’t let it get to a point where they shut down and do not want to do anything anymore.

Testing your child through a professional can cost you a lot of money that you may not have. You could go through your child’s school, but that could take so much time. You have to make phone calls and wait for a return call. Then explain the issues you see and then waiting again for them to decide what to do and how to handle it.

Why not test your child yourself? It doesn’t matter if you have the knowledge that you feel is necessary or not. You can look at what your child is doing and learn to help them through their problems.

Watch what your child does on a daily basis. Ask yourself some questions while you are watching their routine.

Does he struggle with the activities he is doing?
Are there things he loves to do?
Are there things he hates to do or avoids?
Does he look forward to certain activities?

These questions will work as a guide for what you need to do next with your testing. When you are watching your child pay attention to the following:

Speed in which he does things.
What things does he require when he works on things?
Does he struggle with directions?
Can he use different techniques to produce the same end result?

Depending on the areas he struggles with, you may not be able to help him. It really depends on what they are and how bad he is struggling. Even if you can’t help, at least you will have something to base your concerns off of. You can take this information to the teacher, school, or counselor and ask for their help or advice.

If you are going to help your child yourself, you will need to clear your mind and relate to your child on his or her level. Don’t laugh or make fun of the presenting struggles. Don’t get upset if your child does not understand and independently follow through on the first time.

You may also need to explain things more than once. If this happens, you need to find a different way to explain it. Your child may need pictures to help guide him through things or he may require doing the thing himself rather than you doing it or explaining it. Whatever way works, continue to use that so he will see success.

Testing your child is a great way to help them improve and grow. If he struggles in certain areas these will come out when you do this test. You will be able to take
these results and either attempt to help him yourself or you will know what type of help he needs and you will be able to find the right person to help.

No matter what the problems are, you need to get your child the help he needs so he can grow and succeed and be happy throughout the rest of his life.

ELS4KIDS provides affordable online cognitive testing that will provide you with a 12 page comprehensive report immediately after the assessment is completed. Why wait any longer to understand your child? Assessing your child today will change their life forever.

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