Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » Colleen Bain

How Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids Can Help Your Child

colleen — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:23:04 +0000

I am often asked to explain what brain training means relative to helping your child be able to learn easier and more efficiently. I often find myself listing out the many benefits that your child can experience. For example, your child will be able to remember more with better imagery and recall the information faster, concepts whether imagery or auditory based will be understood, manipulated and ordered with much greater ease and organization.

Taking tests and studying will become much easier and less anxiety-driven as your child begins to transfer skills back into the classroom. Following your multi-step directions at home will be completed when asked without multiple requests to repeat the information. Your child will be able to follow along in class better and become a more active participant in the overall learning process.

Let’s not forget attending, focus and less fidgeting will be experienced. While this sounds wonderful, I do point out to parents that the joy and life-changing events do not stop there. As your child’s brain continues to dynamically change to the environment, cognitive skills and processing abilities will strengthen even more. Even though we all know that the magic pill, one-stop shopping, does not exist, brain training comes pretty close.

Why? Because, when you provide your child with a stronger foundation and capacity to learn, your child’s horizon has just expanded. Where your child may never had interest in reading before, books are now curiously interesting.

Usually, at this point in the conversation I would begin discussing the “How Can This Be Accomplished?” question. All of this wonderful changes in your child is possible because of the Theory of Neuroplasticity.

“Santiago Ramon y Cajal (a founder of modern neuroscience) expressed this theory in 1894, three years before Charles Sherrington coined the term synapse to describe the connections made between neurons. In the late 1940s the neuroplasticity model was advanced by Jerzy Konorski, who used the word plasticity to describe “permanent functional transformations,” and Donald Hebb, who ascribed testable physiologic characteristics to synaptic plasticity. However, experimental evidence that synapses are capable of long-lasting changes in synaptic strength did not come until the early 1970s, when Timothy Bliss and Terry Lomo described an increase in the synaptic strength of neurons in the mammalian hippocampus (a region of the brain critical for some forms of memory) following electrical stimulation. They termed this increase long-lasting potentiation, now referred to as long-term potentiation (LTP).” (novelguide.com, 2011)

The best part is that you can accomplish a stronger foundation and cognitive skills within 90 days in most cases. For example, I often recommend that while you are still getting “educated” on my site to start out with a home-based program that can be completed with a computer and internet connection.

BrainSkills and BrainWare Safari can begin the whole process of neuroplasticity and strengthening your child’s capacity to learn, remember and process by working the program 3x a week for 30 min. Then, if you even need more intensive brain training and help with transferring the new skills into everyday life and the classroom, you can work with me in-person.

Play Word Bags to Learn Parts of Speech

colleen — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:00:26 +0000

Parts of speech can be a difficult and dreary concept for many kids, but you can quickly turn that feeling around by creating this fun, easy, learning game your child will enjoy playing!

What You Need:

Eight brown paper lunch bags
A stack of index cards
Pen or pencil

What You Do:

Step 1
Go over the eight most common parts of speech with your child:

Noun—a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, idea, living creature, quality, or action. Examples: cowboy, theater, box, thought, tree, kindness, arrival
Verb—describes an action (doing something) or a state (being something). Examples: walk, talk, think, believe, live, like, want
Adjective— describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun. Examples: big, yellow, thin, amazing, beautiful, quick, important
Adverb—usually describes a verb. It tells you how something is done. It may also tell you when or where something happened. Examples: slowly, intelligently, well, yesterday, tomorrow, here, everywhere
Pronoun—used instead of a noun, to avoid repeating the noun. Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
Preposition—usually comes before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase. It joins the noun to some other part of the sentence. Examples: on, in, by, with, under, through, at
Conjunction—joins two words, phrases or sentences together. Examples: but, so, and, because, or
Interjection–an unusual kind of word, because it often stands alone. Interjections are words which express emotion or surprise, and they are usually followed by exclamation marks. Examples: Ouch!, Hello!, Hurray!, Oh no!, Ha!

Step 2
Prepare for the game by labeling each of the eight brown bags a different part of speech. Then, on index cards, have your child help you think of and write down 10-20 words, any words will do, for each category. Write only one word on each index card.

Step 3
Place the appropriate card in each bag that fits its part of speech.

Step 4
Pick out one word from each bag and use those words to build a long sentence. Each word used correctly in context wins a point for the player; you play until all cards are used up, or until one player manages to use every single part of speech in one sentence. The first person who can use all the parts of speech wins immediately; otherwise, victory goes to the highest point-getter. Note: you may need to conjugate the verb tense and/or include articles, such as, “a”, “the”, “an” to make the sentence complete. Is this proving a little tough? Modify the game for your child by omitting some of the parts of speech at first, such as interjection, conjunction and/or pronoun. As your child gains mastery over this concept, slowly introduce the other parts of speech into the game.

Step 5
After you've built a few sentences, reverse the game! Dump all the words onto the table, scramble them up, and correctly replace each word back into its corresponding parts of speech bag.

http://www.education.com/activity/article/play_word_bags_third/

SAT Vocabulary – Semaphore

colleen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:00:49 +0000

Semaphore

SAT Vocabulary – Amorous

colleen — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:03:59 +0000

Amorous

SAT Vocabulary – Persevere

colleen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:00:52 +0000

source: http://www.gotbrainy.com/?page=4

Why Chess is Good for Kids

colleen — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:32:19 +0000

The game of chess is considered to be a powerful tool to beef up the mind of a child as well as adult. It is quite easy to learn how to play chess. A child aged between six or seven years can follow the basic rules of the game quite easily. Younger people than this, such as someone who is four or five years of age can also play the game. If a child can be made to play the game of chess from an early age then he or she would become an expert in it. Learning chess from an early age should be similar to learning music or just a language.

There are some human qualities that can be developed as kids learn to play chess. Children can develop a better concentration power, tolerance and determination as they learn to play chess. A game of chess has the power to build in a good memory, intuition and creativity in a child. Solving difficult problems, learning to take tricky decision becomes lot more easy, as a child learns to play chess. Chess being a mind game has the power to help a child to develop the capability of analyzing and deducing some general principles in life and solve complicated problems with agility.

Benefits of learning chess for kids

The IQ level of a child is developed by chess
Necessary challenges are offered by a game of chess which is quite a good thing for those gifted children
Developmental thinking could be cultivated in a child through a game of chess
Those children who are mostly underachievers are most likely to be helped by chess
Playing chess would be able to teach a child about reading, writing, responsibility and arithmetic very easily
The communication power of the child is improved through playing chess
The concentration level of a child is enhanced by it
The power of evaluation and analysis is developed by the child
It incorporates discipline in a child
A child learn the game to strategize
Plying a game of chess helps to build in the memory skills of a child
Critical thinking skills of a child can be developed
The spirit of sportsmanship is learnt by the child
Kids can learn to solve problems very easily
It helps the young brain to gain confidence
Different patterns could be learnt to be recognized by a child. And thus according to it necessary tactics could be learnt to be developed by the child.

Activity – Math – Decision Maker Game

colleen — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:37:35 +0000

Decision Maker

by William L. Gaslin, Charles Lund, & Martin M. Gaslin education.com

Decide to play this game, and you won't regret it! You can practice addition, subtraction, or multiplication using just a deck of cards. Decision Maker combines mathematical skill with an element of chance that will keep players on their toes. Draw two cards at a time and find their sum, difference, or product. If you're correct, you'll earn points. But watch out for the face cards! If you draw one, your score will be erased!

What You Need:

One deck of playing cards (Print a deck.)
Pencil (to record scores)
Decision Maker score sheets (Print these out.)

What You Do:

Decide whether you will be using addition, subtraction or multiplication.
Shuffle the deck and place it in the center of the table. Keep in mind aces = 1, jacks = 11, queens = 12, and kings = 13.
On a player's turn, they draw two cards. Then they compute the sum, difference, or product of those cards (as chosen in step 1). If they are correct, they give themselves a point and have the option of continuing to play. If they are incorrect, or they draw a face card, they lose any points for that round and play passes to the next player. If they draw two face cards, their total game score reverts to zero.
The first player to earn 10 points wins.

Learning Difficulties are Hard to Understand

colleen — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 20:06:15 +0000

When your child has learning difficulties it can be hard for you to understand. The main reason for this is because; you don’t have a learning problem so you don’t understand what your child is going through. Not understanding is the worst thing you can go through with this problem.

Teaching yourself how to deal with this is the best thing you can do for your child. Once your child is tested and you learn of the difficulty, you need to do all the research you can to find out what your child has, how to deal with it, and how to prevent it from coming back as time goes on.

At the same time you are teaching yourself this information, you need to inform your child of your findings. This is something they are not going to understand as well. You need to explain to them what the problem is, how they developed it, and how you plan to attack this problem and teach them to over come it.

One of the most important things you can do for your child is teach them skills that will help them overcome their learning difficulty and help the to prevent it from coming back in the future. This can be a challenge for everyone involved, but it is the only way to do it.

It’s possible that the learning difficulty comes from an underlying problem with cognitive skills. These skills include attention, processing speed, working and long-term memory, visual and auditory processing, and logic and reasoning. When there is a problem with one or more of these skills, you see a learning problem.

The best thing you can do is decide which area your child is struggling with and help him overcome it. Each of these skills is separate, but they work together at the same time. Not all of them may be used at the same time, but they could depending upon the task at hand. If your child is struggling in more than one area, it can be a challenge finding ways around it, but you can do it with the help of his teachers and others in the school.

Learning is not an easy task. It can be difficult for some and even more difficult for others. When you work hard you can learn and remember just about anything you want, but it will have to come at your own pace. When you find a learning technique that works, stick to it and share it with teachers and others that can continue with it to help your child learn.

Finding a technique that works will keep your child on the right track and they won’t find themselves easily distracted or stressed because they can’t learn. Keep your child positive throughout the learning time and encourage them as much as possible. Tell them frequently that they are doing a great job. Use encouraging words all the time and never talk negative about the problem or how they are learning and growing through the process.

Take the time and schedule a cognitive assessment for your child today. Read more now!

5 Ways to Correct a Learning Difference in Your Child

colleen — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:45:43 +0000

When a learning difference is discovered, the best way to correct it is find a way to fix it. There are several ways to do this, some will work and some will not. It really depends on the person and how they learn. Some people learn by watching while others learn by doing, so you’ll need to find out what will work and work strictly with that technique.

Here are a few suggestions for you to consider when you are trying to handle a learning difference.

1. Strengths

Focusing on the strengths that a child has can be good only to a certain point. If the strength can help the child deal with the learning difference, then it’ll be a valuable tool, but most of the time this is not the case.

When you focus on the strength you may find you are not really helping the child deal with the problem. Instead you could be making the child forget about the problem and that’s not the point.

2. Accommodation

In some situations and some schools they try to help the child deal with the learning difference by accommodating them in some way. This could be a special class or a helper while in school. While this could be a valuable tool, it might also harm them if it’s not done properly.

If any of these techniques are used, you’ll need to make sure the child is growing and needing these less and less as time goes on. If this is not the case, then you’ll need to make sure you either consider your tactics or you consider using a different method.

3. Tutor

When a tutor is used, a child will learn from a person other than the teacher. This can be beneficial because the tutor can teach in a way that will help the child learn and overcome the problem. A tutor is also good because it’s one-on-one learning. The extra help may be exactly what the child needs to develop the skills needed to continue on in life with their education and be successful.

4. Medicine

Some learning differences could be caused by ADD or ADHD and are easily treated with medicine. When these types of illnesses are treated correctly learning differences will go away. Unfortunately they can and probably will come back if the medicine is discontinued. It’s unfortunate that this happens more than we think.

To overcome this you’ll either need to keep your child on the medicine for the rest of their life or you’ll need to know that when the time comes you’ll need to adjust for the learning difference and figure out what help they will need to get through the problems.

5. Training

One last technique you can use to help your child overcome learning differences is to train your child to learn. Figure out what challenge is present for your child and tackle it head on. Help your child to train his mind to learn using all types of learning styles. Your child does not need to be limited to one particular style.

As you can see from the techniques above one through four are not very good and have negative drawbacks while number five doesn’t have any negativity to it. Helping your child overcome a learning difference is a must in order for him to be successful in school and life in general. When you and the teachers help him get through it they will feel better about everything and he’ll want to learn.

Race for Spelling Patterns

colleen — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:33:43 +0000

If you’re having difficulty motivating your third grader to crack open a book and improve her reading fluency, turn it into a “race” and watch what happens. Instantly, your child's competitive streak kicks in and she’s up for the task!

In this high energy, interactive game, third graders are challenged to a different kind of race– one that doesn't require any running at all. Instead, it involves spelling patterns in words. This is one race she will want to run again and again!

What You Need:

3"x5" index cards in blue and yellow
Scissors
Pens
Lists of phonograms (see below)

What To Do:

Take out 36 blue index cards, and have your child write one ending phonogram on each. (Note: it may be tempting to type these out, or look for packaged cards, but the act of writing them is valuable in itself for a third grader!)
Here's a list of common phonograms to get you started:
-ack, -eat, -ice, -ock, -uck, -an, -ell
-ick, -oke, -ug, -ap, -est, -ide, -op
-ump, -ash, -ill, -ate, -unk, -at, -in, -ight
-oan, -ate, -ine, -ain, -ing, -ail, -ink
-ake, -ip, -ale, -ir, -ame, -ay, -ank
Pull out 36 yellow index cards, and have your child write a starting letter blend. Here are 18 classic blends. Use each one twice: str, ch, th, pl, sh, br, sk, dr, sm, st, sn, fr, pr, qu, wh, tr, thr, gr
Explain to players (2 or 3) that this game will use phonograms, or spelling patterns within words. Phonograms are combinations of letters that make a sound. For example, “-ip” is a phonogram that helps to spell words like sip, dip and clip.
This game works like "Old Maid," with a twist: instead of looking for an identical "match," the players will look for a completing phonogram. Start by placing each pile of cards face down on a table, and shuffling them. Have each player pick up three blue cards and hold them so opponents can't see.
Take turns picking up one yellow card at a time. If it can make a real word when added to one of the blue cards, it's a "match" in this game! Have the player put the word down so everyone can see it, and then pick up another blue card. If a word can't be made, that's okay–just hold onto the yellow card and wait until the next round.
In each new round, players will pick up a yellow card and try to match it. If they can match it, they get another blue card. When all the cards are gone, the player with the most words wins. (psst…want to add even a little more challenge? invite your child to add even a few more phonogram cards, such as –ild, –ench…but here's the trick: make sure the ideas come from your third grader. It's all great practice, and it's powerful reading, too.)

What's going on? You're helping your child move from the letter-by-letter "sound it out" approach of early reading into the next level: reading to understand whole thoughts. Phonograms are a way to figure out new words quickly, based on familiar patterns. And with this game, they're also a way to engage the whole family in fun with language!

Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » Colleen Bain

How Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids Can Help Your Child

Related Posts:

Play Word Bags to Learn Parts of Speech

Related Posts:

SAT Vocabulary – Semaphore

Related Posts:

SAT Vocabulary – Amorous

Related Posts:

SAT Vocabulary – Persevere

Related Posts:

Why Chess is Good for Kids

Related Posts:

Activity – Math – Decision Maker Game

Related Posts:

Learning Difficulties are Hard to Understand

Related Posts:

5 Ways to Correct a Learning Difference in Your Child

Related Posts:

Race for Spelling Patterns

Related Posts: