Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » Memory

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!

Long-Term Memory

colleen — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:15:20 +0000

Most of us know the two main categories of memory: long-term and short-term. They’re both critical for learning and functioning in the world. If you have a child with ADD, you might already know that some memory functions can be impacted by the disorder, so it’s important to understand how it all fits together. I’ve gone over the category of short-term memory in a previous article, so in this article, we’re going to explore long-term memory.

In order to define long-term memory, I like to use the analogy of a file cabinet. We could say that the short-term memory is the paperwork on top of your desk. You sort through it and throw out what you don’t want – all of the junk mail and stuff that you don’t need any more. The papers that you need to keep, you put in your file cabinet, which is your long-term memory. Within the file cabinet are divisions to keep everything organized so you can find it again when you need it. Those are the categories within long-term memory. I’m going to go over them so you understand how this part of cognitive functioning works.

Declarative Memory: In this type of memory you need to consciously be thinking to access the remembered information. An example with your child would be if you asked them, “What kind of dog do we have?” Your child has to think the question through to come up with the answer. They’ll pull up a visual picture of the dog. Then they’re going to remember that you told them what kind of dog he was. Then they’ll access the memory of what you told them; that he was a mix of Border Collie and Lab.” That’s declarative memory.

Episodic Memory: This is the ability to remember things that had an emotional, experiential component. An example of this is when your child can remember specific details of a favorite family trip. You might be amazed that he can recall every detail of a particular fishing trip with Grandpa, including the color of the boat, what they ate for lunch, how many fish they caught and the names of the different fish, even though it happened several years ago. When an event strikes an intense emotional chord, it becomes an episodic memory. This is important to know, because you can increase your child’s memory by making certain exercises more enjoyable. That’s why when I’m doing brain training to create new cognitive pathways, I make a personal connection with your child and use exercises that are fun and exciting to create an emotional experience.

Semantic Memory: These are the more general memories that we may have learned in school, read about in a book, or picked up in conversations. An example would be that we know that zebras have black stripes, but we don’t remember where we learned it.

Implicit Memory: This is an almost automatic memory that’s learned through repetition and exposure. An example would be if I asked your child what their sister’s name is. They’d answer instantly, almost without having to think about it.

Procedural Memory: You know the saying used to connote something that you’ll always remember: “It’s like riding a bike, once you learn how to do it, you never forget.” That’s what procedural memory is. It’s a type of memory that’s learned by doing something over and over again until you know how to do it so well that you don’t have to think about it anymore in order to recall it.

With my Brain Training System, we incorporate the different types of memory into brain training exercises in order to increase the learning and functioning ability of children with ADD.

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:

Memory and ADD

colleen — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:15:16 +0000

We all know the general definition of memory. While our ability to remember things isn’t always perfect, if our memory works well, we pretty much take it for granted. But when our child’s memory is impacted by ADD or learning disabilities, then we need to explore and learn more about the subject and what we can do to improve it.

The two primary categories of memory are short-term (also called working memory) and long-term. There are sub-categories of memory, but I’m not going to get into those in this article.

Short-term memory is the ability to remember things that happened recently. In the instance of your child with ADD, it might be their ability to remember to take home their math book so they could do their homework. Long term memory would be their ability to recall a family vacation. You might wonder why little Joshua can remember the smallest details of the vacation you took three years ago, including what everyone had for breakfast at Howard Johnson’s, but he can’t remember to bring home his homework or take his backpack to school. That’s the difference between long and short-term memory.

Both types of memory play a part in learning, but the primary one that’s at work when your child is in the classroom is short-term. If your child is having trouble in school and can’t remember the information that’s being taught in the classroom, they’re going to be frustrated and fall behind. Their teacher might say that they’re not remembering their lessons because they aren’t paying attention. But in reality, if your child has ADD, the problem isn’t that they aren’t paying attention, it’s that they’re paying too much attention. This results in an information overload, which causes them to shut down. That’s when they’ll start fidgeting, talking, or jumping out of their seat in order to self-stimulate so they can start paying attention again.

Another way I like to illustrate this is through the example of a full cup. If our cognitive ability, of which memory is an important part, is functioning properly, we have a full measuring cup capacity to process information. Children with ADD might only have a half-cup capacity. In the classroom, let’s say the teacher is giving a full cup’s worth of information in a spelling lesson which lasts for half a hour, which is what most students can take in. In your child, when their half-cup is full after fifteen minutes, their ability to absorb any more of the lesson is expended. That’s when the lesson is effectively over for them.

Now the question is; do they remember the portion of the lesson that they were able to absorb? In this instance, we’re talking about their short-term memory, which is also called working memory. With a child who’s dealing with the cognitive disorders associated with ADD, they might not be able to remember the lesson that they were able to pay attention to. This happens for a variety of reasons, having to do with the different subcategories of memory that I mentioned earlier.

The good news is that using my Brain Training System we can strengthen your child’s memory, so that they can function much better both at school and at home. In addition to working with your child, I’ll show you exercises you can do at home to increase their ability to remember. These exercises can be fun to do and can be done in short amounts of time so that they don’t become a dreaded chore. You’ll find that life improves significantly for both you and your child when their memory begins to gain strength.

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:

What are Cognitive Strategies all About?

colleen — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:25:08 +0000

Cognitive functioning is managed by cognitive processes. Learning more about cognitive strategies is gaining popularity which goes back to 1956 when Bruner, Goodnow, and Austin discovered it.

Everyone uses cognitive strategies on a regular basis because it’s a part of our normal routine. Cognitive strategies help us with our behavior and thinking so it doesn’t matter if we’re a regular person, one with special talents, or one with a brain injury we use these strategies every day. This means no matter what we’re doing everything is controlled strategically.

We learn both formally and informally when it comes to certain strategies. Without this ability we would not be able to learn what we need to on a daily basis. We wouldn’t be able to learn certain characteristics and have memories of things. When we have these strategies we have the ability to remember long and short term things that will help us with everyday life.

We use cognitive strategies all the time whether we realize it or not. Most things we do are automatic and we know what we’re doing so it’s something we could do with our eyes closed and we don’t even have to think about it. That’s where the cognitive strategies that we’re not aware of come in and the kind of cognitive strategy is when we’re learning something for the first time or we struggle with something that takes a lot of concentration to accomplish.

Our experiences, age, and maturity level are a part of the strategies we use on a regular basis. With that said, it’s unlikely you’ll see the same decisions made or thoughts shared from an adult and a 12 year old child. Their entire thinking process is different and that’s true when you think about the cognitive strategies that are used. Now that doesn’t mean that’s always the case, because it’s possible their decisions could be the same depending on the situation, but most times they’re not.

The effects you see with decisions that are made could be different from one person to another or from an adult to a child. Even though it could be the same decision the effects they’ll have on each individual could and should be different. You see this when a decision is made and then later on down the road the effects are visible. This could be education or job related.

We all know the decisions we make now affect our future and the things that happens and those come from cognitive strategies we use and decisions that are made. Some could be good and some could be harmful depending on what they are and how we deal with them. It’s possible for a child to learn something incorrectly and not even realize it, and then they go back to use it again and find out they didn’t do it correctly and they fail a test or a class. That’s where it could be harmful.

Cognitive strategies are all around us. We use them all the time no matter what we’re doing. They vary depending on the person and what’s going on and no two people are alike and will have the same strategies. What we need to know here is cognitive strategies are a part of everyday life no matter if we want it them or not.

This is why I created my Student Transformation System. It is pertinent for success that a child’s cognitive functions be strengthened. This provides the child with an increased capacity to learn. However, stronger skills and new pathways are not the whole solution.

It is imperative that your child’s cognitive strategies to approaching homework, studying, note-taking, comprehension and more are observed and improved upon when necessary. Take all of this improvement and align it with the classroom, teacher, yourself, your child and anyone else involved and we manage to get everyone on the same page relative to your child’s overall performance and next step vision/plan for continued success.

Be sure to check out my latest reading comprehension program which is individualized to meet your child’s unique needs and can be implemented online. Feel free to schedule you’re a 30 minute consultation with me where we can discuss your child’s needs, create a vision and plan for success.

COGNITIVE STRATEGIES.(2006). In Encyclopedia of Special Education: A Ref erence f or the Education of the Handicapped and Other Exceptional Children and Adults. Retrieved from http://www.credoreference.com
/entry/wileyse/cognitive_strategies

Upcoming Webinars

colleen — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 02:06:28 +0000

Homework Tips and Strategies: 8 Steps to Success Register Now for the replay of the call completed on 1/27/11

Purchase the Ebook today which contains all the information from the webinar and the 6 weeks of article series all in one place. Plus you get forms to use with your child today. You get the parent-child contract, timing worksheet, track and pack and prioritization list. All 30 pages of information for only $19.95.

During this call, we discussed the Theory of Neuroplasticity and the following 8 Steps:

Steps 1&2: Remembering to Track Homework and Pack Books
Step 3: Organizing the Homework Space
Step 4: Prioritizing Homework Assignments
Step 5: Chunking Out Homework Assignments
Setp 6: Timing Homework Assignments
Step 7: Completing Homework Assignments
Step 8: Initiating Homework Assignments

Reading Comprehension – Get the Picture?

colleen — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 19:15:29 +0000

Comprehension Program

Language Comprehension

Language comprehension is the ability to associate and make sense of both written and oral language. The ability to comprehend language finds its foundation within cognitive skills. Auditory and Visual Processing, to name a few, are big factors in one's ability to understand both written and oral language.

What I have found in my working with students thus far is that strengthening one's cognitive skills is the main focus to help a child increase their capacity to learn. However, just as important is the necessity to "teach" the student how to use their newly strengthened skills. Hence the creation of my Student Transformation System which trains your child's brain and then teaches how to use the new skills and transforms your child into an independent learner. T

herefore, strong language comprehension skills require a strong cognitive foundation and in most cases, teaching an approach to task on how to comprehend. I have found that students who come to me because of weak reading comprehension, will complete intensive braining training and post-assess with huge gains in their cognitive skills. Job well done!

However, although a student will objectively measure with huge increases in their underlying cognitive skills, some students are still very weak in reading and overall language comprehension. They may still struggle with higher order thinking skills such understanding the main idea, inferencing, predicting and may not understand what is being asked of them on tests or through oral requests. I wanted to know why ?

Visualization, Imagery and Comprehension

Intensive Brain training does a great job in strengthening visual processing, visualization, symbol imagery and beginning concept imagery. Symbol imagery is the static representation of sounds and letters in words, numerals in numbers and facts from stories. Children with weak symbol imagery are often tagged as dyslexic. Symbol imagery, by the way, is worked proficiently, in my professional opinion, through Master the Code. Concept imagery is the big picture and requires trainers to help students first visualize the parts and then understand the whole. Brain training does this especially well when working with a trainer in person who can adapt to meet the student's specific needs in this area.

I began to understand the importance of using the stronger visualization and imagery skills to prevent words from just going in one ear and out the other. For example, when I would work with a student on reading comprehension, I would make sure the student could visualize.

However, I never connected the visualization to language in general. Although a student could read and spell for me very well after working through the brain training, they still were not seeing a full movie in their mind when they read. They were unable to fast forward or rewind through the facts in order to predict or infer. When I would ask for information about what do you think will happen next? The student would reply, "I don't know?" What I should have been asking all along was, "what would you picture or see happening next?" Perhaps then, the student would have replied, "I don't see anything?" Ah then I would have realized sooner than later that although my students have the skill to image and visualize with action, they just don't know what to do with the skill!

So, what happened to these students you may ask? They all received the help they needed through my referrals to other learning centers. The really crazy thing in all of this is that I had the program that I was referring them to receive from someone else. My students parents knew I had this program because I would tell them and they would request to have me take their child through the program. I would reply, "no." I just never connected the program to actually working because I was still convinced all you needed was brain training to be able to comprehend and help in "how" to comprehend (process of comprehension like cause and effect, etc.).

Concept Imagery

My three plus years of intensive brain training work has taught me a tremendous amount of knowledge, research and understanding. Reading and comprehension has always been my specialty, my niche, if you will. I have come to understand and experience that concept imagery is ability for a student to understand the whole by first seeing its parts. Even then, the student must be able to "visualize" the concept imagery into action. For example, a student may read the cow jumped over the moon. Even though I have the student at the point of imagery to see a cow and then see a moon, the student may only see a moon with a cow on top of it. Instead, I want the student to see a moving film in the mind so the cow is seen running and then leaping into the air with the goal of jumping over the moon.

Why? Because once I can bring the newer, stronger sensory processing skills forward into action, the student will now begin to form movies, not just a picture, for what is being heard or read. This will prevent words from going in one ear and out the other. The brain will be able to take advantage of working memory, processing speed and more to make this become automatic. The student will then begin to grasp and understand the concept or gestalt of the imagery that is being created in their mind.

The end result is a child who will begin to understand directions, jokes, remember what is being read, understand what is being read, and more. This same student would be able to finally … wait for it …. conquer the open-ended question! Remember those from school? Some children dread the open-ended question or OEQ! These same children, if not visualizing an image into action and grasping the concept/gestalt have nothing from which to pull from in order to give a prediction or inference.

Comprehension Must Have's

The new program that I am offering will help students be able to improve in their ability to image concepts and visualize them into action. Like I said before, I had the full program already and in fact I have recently received professional development training for the program. I have listened to the requests of my clients and I already a few students working through the program. The wonderful thing is because the children have brain training the program time is dramatically reduced for seeing any benefit.

While working with students, I watch to see if there is a change with their eyes. For example, if I asked you to list the books you have on a bookshelf in your home, you most likely would look up or to the right – change your eye focus from me to begin "visualizing and looking for the answers."

However, I know you are visualizing but I don't know what you are visualizing until you verbalize it to me. This is important because if the print reads "a big plant" but you verbalize "a plant about as big as a tea cup" well – we have to discuss your perspective a bit. You may end up missing the big picture because your parts are not fully correct.

Understand? In brain training I do visualize and verbalize with my students to ensure they are imaging and visualizing. I still find it necessary though to integrate this skill into reading and comprehension exercises using a structured and systematic process approach.The advanced students of this program do continue with training to use their skills to begin strengthening their written expression when writing essays and open-ended questions.

Brain Training or Reading Comprehension Program

Bringing it all together now, I want to make sure that you understand the importance of first having your child's cognitive skills strengthened. Your child needs to have the capacity to visualize and image before they can even put this into action to learn language and reading comprehension. Even where brain training (this refers to in person training) works abstract imagery such as being able to image a picture and visualize into action a "brave" person, this skill needs to be exercised and integrated into the everyday of written and expressive language. In my opinion, a combined approach of brain-training and V/V are necessary. Take away points from this article are as follows:

Language comprehension is the ability to understand what is heard and what is read.
Being able to image is the first step in preventing words coming into the brain and leaving without providing meaning.
Visualization helps to understand and connect the concept or gestalt with the imagery by creating movies with action in the mind.
Concept Imagery (understand the gestalt) allows for higher order thinking skills such as predicting, inferencing, etc. to take shape and become successful tools for your child.
Brain training is a necessary step in remediating comprehension issues. Have your child go through my Student Transformation program using either BrainSkills or BrainWare online to develop the cognitive skills needed for imagery and visualization. You can also work in person using PACE and Master the Code. Not sure on where to start? I will always recommend your first step is to assess your child's cognitive skills online for only $29.95.
If your child has language comprehension issues (understanding reading or what is being said) I will recommend that we work your child through the brain training and overlap the Comprehension program. The program has been adapted to work successfully online.
If you still have questions, you can schedule a free 30 minute consultation. I provide new clients with a free 30 minute consultation to help answer questions and when appropriate we build a vision and plan.

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