Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » homework

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.

Homework Tips and Strategies: Step 8 – Initiating Homework Assignments

colleen — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:36:47 +0000

As discussed from last week's article, homework meltdowns are not fun. In our first article in the series, I discussed how the leading cause of homework trouble is really weak cognitive skills. However, once the skills are strengthened your child needs to be instructed on how to approach the homework process.

I developed an 8 step process that takes a student from confusion to organized and independent in no time. Last week I discussed step 7 of my process. This week I will discuss Step 8 – Initiating Homework Assignments.

Step 8 of my process is to "initiate" homework assignments. You may be wondering why on earth I would make initiating homework the last step of my process. Well, let me tell you why! I found that the students that I work with do not have the skills to complete their homework. Therefore, even giving them incentive to start it on their own, without giving them the skills to be successful, does not make much sense. In fact, most students will fail to initiate independently.

In this step, you help your child stay focused, organized and manage their homework assignments by helping integrate all the previous steps. By the time your child has reached this step in the homework process, your child is able to do some, if not all, of their homework independently. For the assignments they can complete on their own, they will work to understand the follow through of homework completion.

Keep in mind, that the initiation step is an independent one that is different from helping your child start homework through prompting. Even though your child can do homework independently, you are now working to have your child start and complete the process themselves with very little to know support.

When I have a student at this step in the process, they are reminded of all they have learned and accomplished. We set up a "schedule" that helps to guide the student and removes the parent from the process. The student will work through the schedule on his own for about a week with incentive (external rewards).

Once the student has demonstrated that the homework process can be worked through without support (homework itself may need support), than your student/child is bridging the gap to independence. I usually leave off with providing the family with a parent/child contract laying out the rules of the land, per the family. I will help craft the contract until it meets the needs of the family with their unique requirements. Next, I introduce the contract concept to the student/child and then help the family schedule a family meeting for next steps and implementation.

The homework process can be extended to more steps depending on the student's age. For example, when I work with older students, I include additional steps around project planning and time management.

If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment below. I would be happy to speak with you in detail on how my programs may help to transform your child into an independent learner. Go ahead and schedule your FREE 30 minute consult today.

For your convenience:

http://www.els4kids.com/3-ways-to-help-your-child-remember-to-track-homework-and-pack-books/ Steps 1 & 2

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-organizing-the-homework-space/ Step 3

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-prioritizing-homework-assignments/ Step 4

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-chunking-out-homework-assignments/ Step 5

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-timing-homework-assignments/ Step 6

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-7-completing-homework-assignments/ Step 7

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-8-initiating-homework-assignments/ Step 8

You can also purchase and download a .pdf ebook of all the homework strategies and templates for only $19.95 Click Here

Homework Tips and Strategies: Step 7 – Completing Homework Assignments

colleen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:00:17 +0000

I developed an 8 step process that takes a student from confusion to organized and independent in no time. Last week I discussed step 6 of my process. This week I will discuss Step 7 – Completing Homework Assignments.

Step 7 of my process is to "complete" homework assignments. This is an important step for a few reasons. Mainly, our children do not internalize that homework is not complete until it is handed in to the teacher.

In this step, you help your child stay focused, organized and manage their homework assignments by helping them to understand that homework is complete once it is handed into the teacher. By the time your child has reached this step in the homework process, your child is able to do some, if not all, of their homework independently. For the assignments they can complete on their own, they will work to understand the follow through of homework completion.

The follow through of homework completion is to stress that there are additional steps to completing homework. Once your child closes textbooks or finishes homework worksheets, homework is not completed. Your child needs to understand that concept of follow through or follow up with the teacher.

In order to work through this step, you may need to model the behavior with your child. For example, for younger students who have their teacher ask for the homework, I would play the role of their teacher. We would act out coming into the classroom and I would request the homework. Then we would agree the homework is now completed.

For older students that must hand in homework themselves, we act out the process of going into each classroom per subject. I would play the role of the teacher and explain the process of handing in homework. The student would need to hand in the homework according to their process in school.

In some cases, we would set up a routine when the child comes to work with me, they have to hand in "make believe" homework before we start our sessions. Eventually, it becomes routine.

In some rare cases, I would visit the school with the student. We would visit classroom to classroom after school – to give the student the real walk through experience of what is expected of them.

Most of the time, you will find students who are very literal, will struggle when this step is initially introduced because they expect the teacher to remind or ask them for their work. The bridge to independence is their for this type of student but they need a little practice and reassurance walking across the bridge.

I will connect with the classroom teacher(s), when requested, and we will work together to help the student (your child) bridge the gap successfully. Some students need to work on this step for months and in some cases it may take the first year that they are introduced to this step. This is the year that this student has begun intermediate school, for example, or middle school where they are now just being requested to hand in homework on their own without prompting.

In other cases, once the student is given the "process" and can understand the concept, they are fine. The steps in my homework process are rely heavily on processing, attention, memory and imagery (concept). That is why I will always stress and encourage that your child receive brain training prior to working through this process. I usually provide about 30 hours of brain training with a student and then overlap this process, if it is needed, while finishing the brain training program.

For some students that are really struggling with remembering to hand in their homework, you can use the buzzing watch I mentioned in an earlier article. Set the buzzing alarm for each of the classes start time for your child. Model for your child when the watch buzzes it means its time to hand in homework. That will get you started. You can also add in reminders in your child's locker and assignment books.

Just a quick note to parents: from your perspective remember that to really help your child benefit with homework completion means being able to help your child understand the different concepts of the process and not just focusing on the end product of a finished worksheet.

Next week, I will continue writing about my 8 step process. I will begin discussions around what it really means to initiate doing homework. This is the last step of my process because I find it helpful to introduce the concepts, steps and model independent homework sessions prior to requesting initiation of the student.

For your convenience:

http://www.els4kids.com/3-ways-to-help-your-child-remember-to-track-homework-and-pack-books/ Steps 1 & 2

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-organizing-the-homework-space/ Step 3

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-prioritizing-homework-assignments/ Step 4

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-chunking-out-homework-assignments/ Step 5

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-timing-homework-assignments/ Step 6

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-7-completing-homework-assignments/ Step 7

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-8-initiating-homework-assignments/ Step 8

You can also purchase and download a .pdf ebook of all the homework strategies and templates for only $19.95 Click Here

Homework Tips and Strategies: Timing Homework Assignments

colleen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 20:00:47 +0000

I developed an 8 step process that takes a student from confusion to organized and independent in no time. Last week I discussed step 5 of my process. This week I will discuss Step 6 – Timing Homework Assignments.

Step 6 of my process is to "time" homework assignments. This is an important step for a few reasons. Mainly, we are proving to our children that homework will not take hours to complete.

In this step, you help your child stay focused, organized and manage their time by literally tracking the time they start their homework and finish. By this step in the homework process, your child is able to do some, if not all, of their homework independently. For the assignments they can complete on their own, they will track how long it takes to complete. Here is a snapshot of the "concept" in action.

This step will help to prove to your child that completing a math worksheet really can take as little as 15 minutes. Now, when the anxiety kicks in and your child begins their "negotiations" with you to put off completing the math worksheet, you'll have proof to calm them down. You can shorten or avoid the anxiety homework meltdown by reminding them they have completed their math in very little time. This is key discussion around the math worksheets you know your child is already comfortable with and the anxiety is prohibiting them from starting the sheet.

The other reason this step is important is for families with Individualized Education Programs (IEP). This technique can also be used for anyone trying to prove their point to a teacher. I have used this technique with students where the parents discussed concern over homework taking 2-4 hours a night. The child study team responded that it was the parent's fault for not providing structure in the home. Actually, that is a common response from IEP teams untill you can help them understand and they need proof.

By using this form for tracking over a few weeks time, you begin to tell a story. You begin to recognize that, perhaps, math is the one subject that is proving the most difficult for homework. You now have the time tracking to prove it, too. In our example, this chart will help you and your IEP team discover that math is the culprit taking 2 hours a night and the only subject requiring so much hands on support from the family, With this information, the teachers can then look at the homework being presented and begin to develop alternative methods of homework without sacrificing the homework grades (for those in upper grades).

I have had great success using this technique. **For a very small investment of $9.97, you can download a PDF copy of the Homework Time Tracker Tool today. Directions for use are included on the worksheet tool. Free Adobe Reader is needed if you do not already have the ability to open pdf files on your pc or mac.

Next week, I will continue writing about my 8 step process. I will begin discussions around what it really means to complete homework assignments.

For your convenience:

http://www.els4kids.com/3-ways-to-help-your-child-remember-to-track-homework-and-pack-books/ Steps 1 & 2

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-organizing-the-homework-space/ Step 3

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-prioritizing-homework-assignments/ Step 4

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-chunking-out-homework-assignments/ Step 5

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-timing-homework-assignments/ Step 6

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-7-completing-homework-assignments/ Step 7

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-8-initiating-homework-assignments/ Step 8

You can also purchase and download a .pdf ebook of all the homework strategies and templates for only $19.95 Click Here

Homework Tips and Strategies: Chunking Out Homework Assignments

colleen — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:00:13 +0000

As discussed from last week's article, homework meltdowns are not fun. I discussed how the leading cause of homework trouble is really weak cognitive skills. However, once the skills are strengthened your child needs to be instructed on how to approach the homework process.

I developed an 8 step process that takes a student from confusion to organized and independent in no time. Last week I discussed step 4 of my process. This week I will discuss Step 5 – Chunking Out Homework Assignments.

Step 5 of my process is to "chunk out" homework assignments. Most children simply open their planner/agenda and begin their assignments in overwhelm. They look at a page of math equations and immediately begin the internal talk of "I'll never get all this done tonight."

In this step, you help your child stay focused and organized by "chunking out" or focusing on a small amount of work at a time. For instance, if your child gets a full page of equations that require your child to show their work, then you can literally cover up all the equations on the page except for the first three.

By doing this, you help to shift your child's mindset. You begin to help your child understand that they are in control and will be able to get through this page of work. It is a matter of doing a little at a time.

If your child has focus issues, then you can add a ten minute break onto the third equation being done. So, your child can do 3 equations and take a 10 minute break.

If you rather not limit your child to a number of equations or amount of content, then simply use a timed approach. Inform your child they can work on this subject for the next 30 minutes and then take a break. For some students, having a timed session alleviates them from getting off task and spending too much time on one subject.

I often recommend the timed timer to help your child keep track of how much time is left until their break. I use this timer myself when I am working with students in sessions.

Next week, I will continue writing about my 8 step process. I will begin discussions around what it really means to track and time homework assignments.

For your convenience:

http://www.els4kids.com/3-ways-to-help-your-child-remember-to-track-homework-and-pack-books/ Steps 1 & 2

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-organizing-the-homework-space/ Step 3

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-prioritizing-homework-assignments/ Step 4

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-chunking-out-homework-assignments/ Step 5

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-timing-homework-assignments/ Step 6

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-7-completing-homework-assignments/ Step 7

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-8-initiating-homework-assignments/ Step 8

You can also purchase and download a .pdf ebook of all the homework strategies and templates for only $19.95 Click Here

Homework Tips and Strategies: Prioritizing Homework Assignments

colleen — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:30:38 +0000

I developed an 8 step process that takes a student from confusion to organized and independent in no time. Last week I discussed step 3 of my process. This week I will discuss Step 4 – Prioritizing Homework Assignments.

Step 4 of my process is to "prioritize" homework assignments. Most children simply open their planner/agenda and begin their assignments starting at the top of their list. Sometimes, by luck, this approach works just fine. However, it usually leads to messy workspace and books piled on the table around your child. Your child is confused and overwhelmed instead of calm and organized.

What your child really needs during this step is to have you provide the "language" and model the associative behavior to prioritize the assignments. Think about when you, as an adult, pays your bills. Most likely, you will gather your bills, prioritize which needs the most attention, regardless of your predetermined plan or budget, take all the bills out of their envelopes and pile them according to the order you have determined works best for you. You then have your supplies needed to pay each bill whether that be your check book and ledger or your computer. All of these steps are done automatically and silently as you begin your process of paying your bills.

Your child, however, has never been taught how to "prioritize" assignments yet. You can provide this "script" or language to your child until it becomes automatic.

Simply sit with your child and ask:

"Which assignments must be completed today?"
"Of these assignments, which do you feel you can do by yourself?"
"Of these assignments, which do you feel you need assistance with?"

There is more to consider in the process that I take students through but you get the idea now, right? Based off of the answers to these questions, you proceed accordingly.

For example, if your child does not feel any assignment can be completed without your help, then you need to step your child through asking for your availability. When you work through the homework with your child, be observant if they do really need your help with the content or is it more about the approach.

If you feel it is about the approach, then you need to step back further from the above questions and perhaps break out the question around needing assistance to create yet another layer of task analysis. Create questions, script and then model the behavior of your new task analysis for your child.

For example, perhaps you create language and steps similar to the following:

"Let me look at my first assignment. It says, complete the math problems on worksheet A."
"Let me take out my worksheet A and look it over."
"I think Worksheet A looks fine. I will do a few problems on my own and see how it goes."

Get the idea? Some children need to have everything that comes automatic for you, the adult, broken down and taught. This is called approach to task with task analysis. This approach works very well for children who have difficulty with memory, attention and sequential processing and are in the process of strengthening their skills.

If your child has not had brain training yet, I strongly recommend that you look at my programs sooner than later. As you are preparing for brain training, I would recommend that you create this script/steps onto a checklist format for your child. This will alleviate and compensate around weak memory, attention and sequential processing.

For your convenience:

http://www.els4kids.com/3-ways-to-help-your-child-remember-to-track-homework-and-pack-books/ Steps 1 & 2

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-organizing-the-homework-space/ Step 3

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-prioritizing-homework-assignments/ Step 4

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-chunking-out-homework-assignments/ Step 5

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-timing-homework-assignments/ Step 6

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-7-completing-homework-assignments/ Step 7

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-8-initiating-homework-assignments/ Step 8

You can also purchase and download a .pdf ebook of all the homework strategies and templates for only $19.95 Click Here

Homework Tips and Strategies: Organizing the Homework Space

colleen — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 20:00:33 +0000

As discussed from l ast week's article , homework meltdowns are not fun. I discussed how the leading cause of homework trouble is really weak cognitive skills. However, once the skills are strengthened your child needs to be instructed on how to approach the homework process.

I developed an 8 step process that takes a student from confusion to organized and independent in no time. Last week I discussed steps 1 & 2 of my process. This week I will discuss Step 3 – Organizing the Homework Space.

Step 3 of my process is to "Organize" the homework. What that means at this point in the process, before we prioritize our assignments, is to have our backpack/books and planner/agenda in our work space area.

Every where you go and read about organizing the homework space, you see the same old things. Be sure to set up a private area with ample supplies and you are good to go. However, for me, I discovered many of my students needed a "staged" approach to having their own homework area.

For example, for beginners who were never able to get through their work by themselves, the idea of being told a work space in private will do wonders is a bit scary. Your child literally may need to be weaned off your support at the end of my process but in the beginning, your child may need baby steps to independence. Here is an example of a beginner workspace that still provides for independence yet allows for as much support as needed.

In the above picture, the child is not intimidated by the thought of having to organize the space and at the same time organize their work, time, etc. This open type of design represents the availability for support and discussion through the homework session. At this level, you are beginning to teach your child how to organize their space.

In a more intermediate – advanced level, your child will be ready to organize their workspace, resources and area. Doing so takes strong executive functioning skills and a lot of practice. When your child is at this level, you can literally set them up in a desk in a designated open area.

The desk now has drawers for organization of supplies. I place a child into this category when they can do some homework on their own and organize well yet still need some assistance on specific areas of study. Below is an example of this type of setup. This is a picture of an executive desk (protected by tablecloth) with a full set of drawers.

In the drawers are the most common supplies utilized on a daily and weekly basis by the child. For example, weekly handouts from school that need to be used for assignments. Specific resources that the child's class is using – story books, etc.and calendars for planning purposes.

As you can see, both examples show the child's workspace within an existing room. So, at these levels, your child still needs your assistance so they are not being sent to a separate room with the door closed and completely in private. The above pictures are in what would be my formal dining room. I have converted this space into my own classroom and implement my 1:1 training with students from this area.

I literally set up a 12' table and keep the work space open and avoid desk settings. I have found that my students respond much better to the open home environment instead of the clinical learning center approach. My process has helped many students transfer their skills into their own home life and most importantly into their classroom.

If you look closely at the picture, you can see my dog "Roxy" under the table. She, along with my other dog, Odie, are used as therapy dogs for those students that arrive at my door with anxiety issues. Allowing the children to be greeted by the dogs and, if needed, the dogs will stay on command by the child's side to comfort the child. I have had great success to date with the approaches used for Step 3 of my process and hope you find them helpful, too.

For your convenience:

http://www.els4kids.com/3-ways-to-help-your-child-remember-to-track-homework-and-pack-books/ Steps 1 & 2

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-organizing-the-homework-space/ Step 3

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-prioritizing-homework-assignments/ Step 4

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-chunking-out-homework-assignments/ Step 5

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-timing-homework-assignments/ Step 6

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-7-completing-homework-assignments/ Step 7

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-8-initiating-homework-assignments/ Step 8

You can also purchase and download a .pdf ebook of all the homework strategies and templates for only $19.95 Click Here

Homework Tips and Strategies: Remembering to Track Homework and Pack Books

colleen — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 15:00:53 +0000

Homework meltdowns are no fun. I have helped to inspire many students to prevent meltdowns and be able to complete homework successfully. I have an 8 step approach that takes a child through start to finish with great success. This article contains Steps 1 and 2 and focuses on helping your child remember to remember homework and the supplies to complete the homework.

Step 1: Strengthen Cognitive Skills Through Brain Training.

Brain training deals with building new neuropathways in your child's brain. It also deals with strengthening your child's cognitive skills. There are 6-7 domains of cognitive skills that every child needs to succeed in life. They usually fall into the domains of attention, logic/reasoning, processing, auditory analysis (inclusive of auditory processing), visual processing, auditory memory and visual memory. When any of the cognitive skills within these domains are weak, your child experiences learning differences.

Learning differences present themselves in a myriad of ways. As parents or teachers you usually see weak cognitive skills presenting as behavioral symptoms or problems with learning such as attention issues (inability to stay on task), not following directions, the need to have directions repeated, inability to remember what was read, the ability to remember what was read but the inability to infer from the data, inability to remember math facts, weak test taking skills, inability to "understand" what is being asked via print questions, and so on.

Once your child's cognitive skills within the 6-7 domains are strengthened, he/she is more conducive to learning. Since your child can now attend longer and better for example, the teacher's transfer of knowledge is being processed better and easier. Since your child can now remember more of what is being said, the teacher's verbal instructions do not need to be repeated. You get the idea now, right?

So, next time, when you have the urge to get frustrated with your child lack of attention or inability to follow your instructions to the tee, just reflect on the possibility that your child's cognitive skills need a tune-up. Just like your child's eyes and ears get checked annually, your child's brain processing abilities and skills need to be checked for learning success!

Your first step is to have your child's cognitive skills assessed online. The assessment is non-academic so it is not threatening to a child with learning differences. There is no academic achievement questions your child will have to face on this assessment. Your child's underlying ability to learn is assessed within 30-40 minutes with immediate feedback.

Every child I have worked with has great potential and is a champion. They just need a little help tapping into their great strengths! My Student Transformation System helps to Train your child's brain, Teach skills for School and Transform your child into an independent learner.

This brings us to Step 2 in my approach to homework success.

Step 2: Track and Pack

Theoretically, you have strengthened your child's neuropathways, cognitive skills and created a few new neuropathways along your journey. Your child is primed for learning. At this point of my process, I begin to help transfer the new stronger skills into the home and school. I will focus on the homework portion for this article.

To help your child be able to do homework, he / she must be able to "Track" the homework assignments throughout the day. At the very least, your child must be able to look over the assignment blackboard (depending on your child's age) at the end of the day.

How can you help your child to do this? Well, with stronger skills the task of tracking assignments is much easier. However, I will discuss using strategies for a child who does not have strong enough skills yet but they are in process of brain training.

For example, I usually perform what is known as a task analysis on every skill or behavior that the child is having difficulty with and is within the agreed goals of our program. So you know, a task analysis is a fancy name that teacher's will use when helping students learn steps or objectives to reaching a goal.

For students with weak skills, such as memory and sequential processing, remembering items in steps may be difficult. Therefore, teacher's may need to break down the steps of copying homework into the student's planner and place them on a list for the child to reference.

For example, you may prepare a short list for your child, tape it to their home study binder or homework folder. For student's with reading difficulties, you may use a picture to represent the desired outcome. Depending on your child's skills, the list may contain lines of text for every academic subject that states Step 1: "listen for homework assignment," Step 2: "write down homework assignment in planner."

A last line under each academic subject might be "pack books needed for today's homework into backpack." Some families choose, for the initial stages of this approach, to show a line that states "bring home all books from locker." You know your child best at this point to choose which is appropriate to help with remembering to track the assignments throughout the day.

A great tip is to create and order your list based upon the order of your child's classes. Also, as all my students are instructed to color code their subjects, you would create your list in the colors assigned to their subjects. For example, all math books are blue so the math reminder is in blue.

Do you have an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) for your child? If yes, you can negotiate assistance by having either each teacher in every class ensure the homework is written down correctly or sign your child up for a study skills class. The study skills class usually helps your child be prepared for homework. Some schools will help your child with their homework, too.

For a child with very low skills, another approach is to use a specialized watch with 6 silent buzz alarms set for the end of each period. The alarm would be a signal or reminder to write down any homework for the day (if any was given). This was used for children with very weak attention and memory skills while working to strengthen said skills.

I used the watch approach for my daughter, Shannon, when she was required to use several cognitive skills that were in process of being strengthened. She was responsible to alert the teacher when it was time for her speech and reading therapy. Since Shannon could not tell time yet (i know it makes no sense right?) I gave her the buzzing watch.

Sometimes, you shake your head at what is being asked of your child. However, you can continue to work on the skill being requested while helping your child be successful in the meantime. We set the watch for the time of her scheduled speech and reading therapy sessions. Do you know the teachers were so impressed because not only did Shannon make it to her sessions on time, she reminded every other student, too.

There are two goals for creating a list to help your child remember to track homework and pack supplies. One goal is that by providing said language through written words on lists, the approach will eventually become automatic for your child. The second goal is that by strengthening said skills needed for these executive functioning skills, your child will not need a task analysis.

When the language becomes automatic due to strengthened skills you will see results. Your child will be able to jump from many small steps to the final steps of writing homework down in his/her planner and packing the necessary supplies for homework.

I hope you find these 2 steps to be helpful in helping your child be able to complete their homework successfully. I am happy to speak with you directly and answer your questions. Feel free to schedule your FREE 30 minute telephone consultation using my online calendar today!

For your convenience:

http://www.els4kids.com/3-ways-to-help-your-child-remember-to-track-homework-and-pack-books/ Steps 1 & 2

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-organizing-the-homework-space/ Step 3

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-prioritizing-homework-assignments/ Step 4

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-chunking-out-homework-assignments/ Step 5

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-timing-homework-assignments/ Step 6

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-7-completing-homework-assignments/ Step 7

http://www.els4kids.com/homework-tips-and-strategies-step-8-initiating-homework-assignments/ Step 8

You can also purchase and download a .pdf ebook of all the homework strategies and templates for only $19.95 Click Here color:black">

3 Steps to Strengthening Your Child’s Executive Functioning Skills

colleen — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 17:00:17 +0000

Executive Functioning is also known as self-regulation. It has to do with your child’s ability to socially regulate and refrain from impulsive behavior and also in the cognitive academic area, to be able to plan and organize. For example, to get through homework, projects and tests and do so with an organized approach and plan of action that works well.

What exactly is self-regulation in relation to your child’s brain? Self-regulation is controlled primarily by the frontal lobes. The frontal lobes are located in the front part of the brain and where most head injuries occur. When wiring is weak in this area or your child’s cognitive skills that support self-regulation are weak than your child exhibits the inability to approach homework, plan and implement project tasks and study independently for tests.

The first step to helping your child is strengthening his/her cognitive skills. Cognitive skills are the underlying foundation that enables your child to self-regulate to be successful in planning and organizing their homework and projects. Attention, processing, visual/auditory, memory, logic and reasoning are all very important skills that need to be strong for success. Additionally, the neuropathways that will transport the processing in your child’s brain need to be strong and available without any blockages.

When I work with my students, there is a three step process that I take each child through. My process will strengthen self-regulation to be able to participate in the learning process and successfully approach homework, projects and test readiness. Each part of my process has its own sub-process that we work through together.

My process begins with solid brain training. I work with only the best programs on the market and work to strengthen your child’s underlying cognitive skills. Next, I will reintroduce what was once difficult for your child relative to academics. Lastly, executive functioning skills are introduced to teach the skills of preparing, initiation, organization, prediction/time tracking, planning, study skills and test taking strategies.

One strategy that I use with my student’s is helping them logically chunk out problems or difficult situations. For example, if a student is overwhelmed with making a decision we will use this time-tested approach. I individualize this generic approach based on the student. If a child does not have the language yet to freely retrieve this process, I provide the language for the child.

Do you have a problem? (I may provide the language – There seems to a problem?)
What is the problem? (I may provide the language – You have a problem because ….)
What can you do about it? (I may provide the language – You can do the following or choose from the following options)
Encourage Positive Thinking (Provide Hope and Reassurance that the child can do this and the problem always has a solution, etc.)
Visualization Exercise (I remind a child that what they focus on becomes reality. We work on visualizing positive results and feeling good through the process)

I use a similar approach to working through a strategy for homework, project and study timelines.

As adults, we use these approaches every day without cognitively being aware. To help your child get started in being successful and functioning like an executive (executive functioning) you just need to take a few steps back to what you already do very easily and model the behavior for your child. Do this enough times and it will become automatic for your child.

4 Strengths Every Child Must Possess to Comprehend Successfully

colleen — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 15:30:05 +0000

One of the most common concerns that a parent will present to me is their child's weak comprehension skills. When we talk together, we cover many areas of concern where each variable plays an important role in impacting their child's specific challenges. However, in general, I will always review the 4 strengths every child must possess in order to comprehend successfully.

The first strength, as you can probably guess, is strong cognitive skills. Strong cognitive skills, in this case, means making sure, through assessment, that your child has the skills needed to remember and recall. This translates into having the ability to visualize pictures in their head in order to capture the story for retelling. It means making sure your child's ability to process the words and sounds they are reading without errors so they are reading and "hearing" the correct word.

Having strong cognitive skills for reading comprehension means making sure your child has several strong foundational strengths. This means having the ability to attend to the content, can process at a speed necessary so their short-term memory can make sense of the information; your child's memory areas (visual/auditory/working) are strong and large enough to hold the incoming information for recall and processing and that your child can make sense (understand) of what is being read. Phew, that is a lot to digest. All of these skills lay the foundation for reading comprehension. There are other cognitive skills that play into comprehending well but the above skills are crucial.

Once your child's cognitive skills are strong, your child now has the "ability" to comprehend. This still doesn't mean, necessarily that your child knows how to comprehend yet. That is why my Student Transformation System not only strengthens your child's ability to learn but also makes sure your child has the basics on how to learn.

The second strength every child must possess is the ability to decode what is being read. Your child needs to be secure in sound-to-code and code-to-sound. Why? If your child cannot decode a word to read it, most likely they are skipping over it entirely. This alone will leave your child with only parts of the story for recall. Worst case scenario is that the word or words that they skip over or decode incorrectly may be the adjective or verb that is leading to a climax or the main idea of the story. The sentence won't make a lot of sense with words missing so when your child reaches for the recall, it will be choppy at best. When I work with your child, I make sure they are able to decode/encode successfully.

The third strength every child needs for successful comprehension is the ability to recognize those words that cannot be decoded through strategy. Some reading programs have pages and pages and pages of these words which will require your child to have strong memory skills (auditory/visual/working and long-term memory) to retain and recall these words. Processing skills and speed along with attention need to be strong for the memory to be successful. When I work with your child, all these skills are strengthened. I use Master the Code which only has literally one page of words that are exceptions. Once your child has these irregular or sight words integrated into their memory and can recall them, you need to make sure they understand them.

The fourth strength I always talk about with a parent is the ability to understand language. Your child's purpose for reading may start out for entertainment reasons but as he/she gets older the purpose becomes more towards gaining information to learn. Your child needs to be able to read to learn; to gain benefit from the words and content. To be able to do this task, your child needs to understand the language, not just read decode it correctly.

Your child's expressive vocabulary, the words and meanings understood when your child is speaking or writing may be strong. However, a crucial piece for comprehension is your child's receptive vocabulary skills. Receptive vocabulary refers to your child's ability to understand the meaning of the words that are spoken verbally. This counts for the words given to your child when reading content from a teacher's notes, test questions or when participating in a discussion in class. If your child doesn't understand the meaning of the word than there is a good chance your child will not know what is being asked by the teacher. This is when your child can answer a literal factual question and get it right but when the data is presented along with words your child is not familiar with then they get the answer wrong. When I work with your child, we work through the first three steps and then touch upon this step using receptive vocabulary interventions. I will assess your child's receptive vocabulary skills and together we create a road map for success.

The above 4 strengths are required for your child to comprehend successfully. Each step is a small jaunt towards a bigger life-long journey. Set up your free 30 minute consult with me today and we can begin to pinpoint what is sabotaging your child from learning and comprehending.

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