Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » reading and comprehension

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.

Q&A on Brain Training for Kids

colleen — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:00:36 +0000

What are the major causes of Learning Disabilities?

About 85 to 90 percent of learning difficulties are due to poor underlying learning skills. These skills include:

Attention/Concentration: the ability to stay on task or ignore distractions. For example, continuing to read a book while another group is in a discussion.

Phonetic awareness: the ability to blend sounds, segment (unglue) sounds, and analyze sounds. Problems with reading new words or spelling errors in writing result from poor phonetic awareness.
Memory: the ability to recall short or long term information. For example, copying from a board (short term) or taking a final history exam (long term).
Comprehension: the ability to understand.
Visualization: the ability to create mental pictures. For example, seeing "in the mind" a math word problem before trying to solve it.
Processing Speed: the ability to handle and process information quickly.

Are learning difficulties due to a lack of instruction?

This is easy to determine. If you or your child is able to understand and perform as others do with extra help or tutoring, then the cause of the struggle is poor or inadequate instruction. But if good performance is achieved only after long hours, sweat, or many mistakes, then the problem is deeper.

Is the lack of motivation the cause of learning problems?

Very few enter school or a job not wanting to succeed. It is only after they find it difficult, experience failure, or are ridiculed that they avoid the activities that give them pain. In other words, a lack of motivation is usually the result of a learning problem – not the cause.

Are learning difficulties inherited?

Heredity does play a role, but it is minor. It is generally believed that between 40% and 70% of our mental abilities are learned, not inherited. Therefore, we can accomplish far more if we stop blaming the problems on genes, which we can't change, and start enhancing the skills that are learned and can be changed.

Can a child with normal intelligence have a problem with learning?

Absolutely. IQ is only an average of many different learning skills, which means it's possible for someone who has "normal" intelligence to have scored high on some skills and low on others. And if those "low" scores are in the skills required for reading or math, then reading or math achievement will be low even though IQ is "normal."

If learning skills are learned, then why are they not learned in school?

Every school activity a child does has the potential to further develop an underlying learning skill. But this will only happen if the activity is challenging. School lessons are often either too hard (frustrating) or too easy (boring) because children seldom have equal learning skills. Therefore, to make significant improvement in these skills, individual attention is required.

Many schools simply don't have the time or funds to provide this very intensive and structured one-on-one training. Also, most teachers tend to teach to the child's stronger skills. By avoiding the weak skills, they don't get developed. The result may be a life-long learning handicap.

What is a training task like?

Brain training procedures are made up of tasks that are designed to meet specific goals. The tasks are related, make repetitive demands on a deficient skill, and progressively increase in difficulty. This is a process-specific approach to training (as opposed to a general stimulation approach). A process-specific approach targets the same function systematically and repetitively with related tasks.

Do the results last?

Yes. The skills developed are used each day the student is in school or at work. They are constantly being used and therefore don't regress. This retention is reflected in a study that showed that 98.7% of the one year follow-up cognitive test scores were at least as high as they were at the completion of their brain training programs (specific to PACE)

Can you tell about Processing and Cognitive Enhancement (PACE) Program?

Yes, here is a very quick 11 point overview:
PACE is based on the best scientific research available and is continually modified to incorporate new scientific data.
PACE targets and trains those skills that are most likely to have a meaningful impact on learning performance and academic abilities.
PACE is provided individually to achieve significant results quickly.
PACE consists of sequenced procedures to challenge – not bore or frustrate – the student.
PACE is provided on a one-on-one basis to allow immediate feedback (error correction and positive reinforcement).
PACE improves the student's self-esteem by allowing him or her to actually see the difference in his or her own performance.
PACE drives new skills to the subconscious so that they become habitual and automatic.
PACE procedures appear to be non-academic so that they are different from the schoolwork with which the student may have had negative experiences.
PACE develops meaningful skills that are used in the student's daily activities so that there is a high level of retention.
PACE produces valuable results (there is a high return) when considering committed effort, time, and finances.

Activities – Book Through the Summer

colleen — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:00:37 +0000

Summer is a wonderful time for kids. Not only do they get a well-deserved break from their busy school schedule, but they get time to reflect, grow, and experience. Whether your child will be attending camp, staying home, or going to visit family or friends, it's bound to be memorable! To keep those memories alive forever, help him create a summer book that encourages writing practice over his three-month break.

Writing Process Review:

Brainstorming: Includes thinking, taking notes, talking to others, outlining, and gathering information.
Pre-Writing: Putting your ideas into an outline or using a graphic organizer.
Draft: The meat of the writing, in which you include the ideas and thoughts from brainstorming and pre-writing.
Editing: The re-reading of the story. Does it make sense? Are all of the details included? Is the grammar, punctuation, and format all correct?
Revising: Correcting, changing, or adding to your writing from the edit stage.
Final Copy: Writing the whole story with edits and revisions complete.

What You Need:

Rough draft paper (lots of it)
Final draft paper
Construction paper or card paper for book cover and back
Pencils
Illustration tools (they choose)
Dictionary/Thesaurus

What You Do:

Help your child pick out a quiet spot to focus on his writing. He may already have a place designated to do homework, but as it's summer, how about sitting outside under a tree?
Encourage him to brainstorm a topic he's excited about. He may choose a subject or setting that he's experiencing quite a bit this summer. Is he spending time at the beach? Summer school? Focusing on learning a musical instrument? Once he has a topic picked out, sit with him and discuss his ideas and thoughts. Be enthusiastic about his choice and encourage him to get as many ideas down on paper as possible. This is brainstorming! He can organize them later.
From this point, your child can start outlining his story and deciding what he wants to include. What happened first, next, and last? Where, and when, did the events occur? This is the pre-writing stage, so he can jot down ideas in the form of notes, or even sketches.
Next, have him write his story. Encourage him to include as much detail, description, and personal touches as possible.
When he's completed his first draft, have him read it to you. You should ask questions about the story, such as, “What happened at the lake when Joe Doe fell in the duck pond?” "Why did Jason act that way?" Encourage him to reflect on what went on behind the scenes.
Using the dictionary, thesaurus, and a good listener for grammatical structure (indent paragraphs, use of capitals, punctuation, parts of speech, and spell correctly), have your child edit this story for the final draft.
Next, have your child apply his corrections and revisions to the final draft, making it ready for publication!
Upon completion, invite your child to include some illustrations, making drawings to go with the writing or using photographs they took that go with the story. The more original and creative, the better!
Once bound, share with friends, family, and classmates upon returning for a new school year. Your child's summer book will be a great ice-breaker for making new friends and having something to talk about with old ones, too!

submitted by by Alicia Danyali
Alicia Danyali, BS Elementary Education, taught primary-level students for four years at the International School of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The last four years of her teaching career, she taught at the Washington International School in Washington, D.C. She recently completed writing a series of children's picture books and is a mother of one young son.

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

Is your Child Struggling with a Learning Disability?

colleen — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:00:06 +0000

Even the brightest students and the ones that score very high on an IQ test may have problems reading. Some may thing they’re stupid because they can’t read, but if you look at the tests and their grades in other classes, you’re sure to see this is far from the case.

If you think your child has dyslexia, then you know how hard it is to have this diagnosis achieved. Most schools don’t know how to test for this and they certainly don’t know how to help children overcome this issue.

In 1925 a gentleman by the name of Samuel Orton created a system that would help these otherwise bright children become better readers. This program is still used today, but only in select schools. Most times it’s used in a one-on-one setting and in private schools.

Dr. Orton wanted to find a teaching method that would use both the right and left brain. Grace Fernald was a psychiatrist and she created a kinesthetic approach that included air writing and word tracing. While using these writing styles the child would say the words out loud.

Phonics is also something that is important in this practice. Phonics is basically sounding out the words one letter or sound at a time. Once the child has learned the sounds of each letter and combination of letters it will become easier for them to read and write.

The program is called Orton-Gillingham and Anna Gillingham helped him create the 70 phonograms that are used today. There are 44 phonemes (sounds) that make up the English language. This program helps children to learn these sounds and remember them.

There are five steps to achieving the Orton-Gillingham program are listed below.

1. Phonemic Awareness
2. Phonics
3. Syllables
4. Rules and Probabilities for sounds
5. Roots, Affixes, and Morphology

Once all of these steps have been achieved, you’ll start to see changes in your child’s learning ability. His reading skills will improve and you’ll see changes in your child’s eagerness to learn.

The Orton-Gillingham technique was such a successful program that they’ve used it as the basis for creating more programs to help many other disabilities in children.

Dyslexia is found in a large number of children, but is rarely diagnosed in a regular school setting. Most times it’s found when the parents become discouraged and take action to help their children improve. This action is usually taken through programs outside of the school. Hiring a tutor is one option and another is special programs for children with learning problems.

These children need to learn and be taught in a completely different way then other children and you don’t usually find a teacher within a regular public school that has the ability to teach in this manner.

If your child has a learning disability and you’re struggling to find the right help, consider finding someone to help you with the Orton-Gillingham program. If you don’t have a program in your community, search online for someone to help. It’s important for your child’s future that you do the research needed to find someone to help them overcome this disability.

Be sure to check out http://www.helpfordyslexicchildren.com to find out about a great reading program based on Orton-Gillingham.

Colleen Bain, M.A. Awarded Industry Expert for 2010 by Who’s Who of Cambridge

colleen — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:33:56 +0000

Colleen Bain, M.A. was Awarded Industry Expert for 2010 on May 10, 2010 by Who's Who of Cambridge. She won the exemplary honor of being the one person in the field of Education – Specifically within Brain Training (Neuroplasticity) working with children. An Official Press Release is forthcoming.

Colleen dedicates this award to her family, her husband, Thomas who has supported her efforts and continues to do so when times are tough realizing the importance of her work for children around the country and the school systems. She gives special thanks in forms of hugs and kisses to her two children, Shannon and Sean. Both have been the driving force behind her business and advocacy efforts of neuroplasticity.

A very special thank you goes out to all of the families that have entrusted their child with Colleen's expertise. With their help, together, they have changed many lives.

Mrs. Bain will be highlighted on a special website honoring her achievements and successes. She will also have a full chapter dedicated to her lifelong passion of working with children and families in assisting children enhance their ability to learn easier and more efficiently. Her chapter will discuss her journey, discussing how she became who she is today, her Student Transformation System and her recent efforts towards creation of a Student Transformation Certificaction Program to help others who share her passion become independent brain trainers using some of the top brain training tools on the market.

Published by Cambridge Who’s Who Publishing, Inc., the Top 101 Industry Experts book features biographical information and exclusive interviews with prominent Cambridge Who’s Who members. Selected from more than 400,000 executives, professionals and entrepreneurs, these exemplary leaders stay at the top of their fields by possessing unique experience and wisdom, all the while exhibiting innovation in their work.

Categorized into 20 industries and 113 individualized fields, each chapter conveys the objectives and triumphs these experts have achieved to earn success. While people become experts for many reasons (due to mastery over their work or after years spent cultivating the solution to a problem, for instance), it is not clear at what point a layman becomes an expert. This abstract concept of expertise is explored in detail in many of the interviews. Each offers tangible advice on getting ahead in your field.To explore Top 101 Industry Experts, click here to read the foreward, introduction and browse a few chapters of the book.

For more information about the Cambridge Who’s Who members who were selected to appear in Top 101 Industry Experts, click here.

Colleen Bain, M.A. Awarded Industry Expert for 2010 by Who's Who of Cambridge

colleen — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:33:56 +0000

A very special thank you goes out to all of the families that have entrusted their child with Colleen's expertise. With their help, together, they have changed many lives.

Published by Cambridge Who’s Who Publishing, Inc., the Top 101 Industry Experts book features biographical information and exclusive interviews with prominent Cambridge Who’s Who members. Selected from more than 400,000 executives, professionals and entrepreneurs, these exemplary leaders stay at the top of their fields by possessing unique experience and wisdom, all the while exhibiting innovation in their work.

Categorized into 20 industries and 113 individualized fields, each chapter conveys the objectives and triumphs these experts have achieved to earn success. While people become experts for many reasons (due to mastery over their work or after years spent cultivating the solution to a problem, for instance), it is not clear at what point a layman becomes an expert. This abstract concept of expertise is explored in detail in many of the interviews. Each offers tangible advice on getting ahead in your field.To explore Top 101 Industry Experts, click here to read the foreward, introduction and browse a few chapters of the book.

For more information about the Cambridge Who’s Who members who were selected to appear in Top 101 Industry Experts, click here.

Stop Committing Children to Virtual Wheelchairs – by Roger Stark

colleen — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:06:28 +0000

For the first time since 2003, 4^th graders failed to make any progress in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Why improvement before and none since? The push with NCLB (No Child Left Behind) raised the concept of accountability, measuring and providing consequences for not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress. What this suggests to me is that simply paying attention drives some progress (low hanging fruit) but what’s been going on in education hasn’t gotten at the root cause of our most challenging populations.

Imagine an athlete on the field who breaks a leg. Not a coach alive would admonish the player and demand that they get up and run down the field. The coach, the trainer, the doctors, the parents gather around and figure out how to mend that broken leg and to rehabilitate it to the point where the athlete can perform as before, or better.

Our classrooms are filled with athletes with broken legs. Read More Now

Orton-Gillingham at Home – Help for Dyslexic Children

colleen — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:30:27 +0000

Introducing ….. Language Tune-Up Kit at Home™
Help For Dyslexic Children with Instruction in English and Spanish!

At Last, You Can Help Your Child to Learn to Read at Home With a Fully Interactive Orton-Gillingham Based Program! Your Child Will Learn:

Phonemic Awareness – children with reading challenges, the first step you need to do is go back to the foundations of language. You need to teach your child that the words, syllables have sounds associated with them.

Phoneme/Graphemes - You child needs to learn our language has codes (letters) that represent sounds and that sounds correspond to letters (codes). This allows them to blend phonics, spell and read words and syllables.

Rules - For children with reading challenges, our language code does not make sense. It is important that along the way to learning about phonemes and phonological awareness, they learn some of the rules in the language. Knowing the rules will help your child achieve more success in reading and spelling.
Syllables - When your child knows rules – for example – about syllables, your child will recognize the sound of the vowel in the syllable. This helps your child with reading and spelling.
*Orton-Gillingham – The program uses this multisensory approach known as Orton-Gillingham. The same approach used by the professionals, public schools, tutors, learning centers and expensive private schools to help your struggling reader learn to read and create the neuropathways in the brain to match those of a proficient reader.

Find out more today by visiting http://helpfordyslexicchildren.com/

SAT Vocabulary – Semaphore

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

Semaphore

BrainWare for Professionals

colleen — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:49:56 +0000

BrainWare Safari for Professionals

Cognitive Skills Defined

Cognitive Skills Strengthened by BrainWare

Research Summary of BrainWare Implementations in Schools

Cognitive Skills and Math

Cognitive Skills and Reading

A Study of the Effectiveness of Cognitive Skill Therapy in Video Game Format

Dr. White, Superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools provides Letter of Recommendation for BrainWare Safari

http://www.youtube.com/brainwaresafari

1MRnu152Ons Would you recommend BrainWare SAFARI and why? 8 views	How does BrainWare SAFARI work with older students? 3 views 1 week ago	How do you fit BrainWare SAFARI into the school day at Glenwood? 4 views 1 week ago
Why did you Choose BrainWare SAFARI 3 views 1 week ago	Curtis Boehmer speaks on BrainWare Safari Part 2 6 views 2 months ago	Curtis Boehmer speaks on BrainWare Safari Part 1 5 views 2 months ago
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Single User License, Basic License Bundles and Bulk License Packages Available with additional support, implementation and training options. Contact Colleen Today for more information! I would be happy to coordinate a BrainWare Safari webinar for you and your school today!

Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » reading and comprehension

4 Strengths Every Child Must Possess to Comprehend Successfully

Related Posts:

Q&A on Brain Training for Kids

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Activities – Book Through the Summer

What You Need:

What You Do:

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Is your Child Struggling with a Learning Disability?

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Colleen Bain, M.A. Awarded Industry Expert for 2010 by Who’s Who of Cambridge

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Colleen Bain, M.A. Awarded Industry Expert for 2010 by Who's Who of Cambridge

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Stop Committing Children to Virtual Wheelchairs – by Roger Stark

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Introducing ….. Language Tune-Up Kit at Home™
Help For Dyslexic Children with Instruction in English and Spanish!

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BrainWare Safari for Professionals

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Enhanced Learning Skills for Kids » reading and comprehension

4 Strengths Every Child Must Possess to Comprehend Successfully

Related Posts:

Q&A on Brain Training for Kids

Related Posts:

Activities – Book Through the Summer

What You Need:

What You Do:

Related Posts:

Is your Child Struggling with a Learning Disability?

Related Posts:

Colleen Bain, M.A. Awarded Industry Expert for 2010 by Who’s Who of Cambridge

Related Posts:

Colleen Bain, M.A. Awarded Industry Expert for 2010 by Who's Who of Cambridge

Related Posts:

Stop Committing Children to Virtual Wheelchairs – by Roger Stark

Related Posts:

Orton-Gillingham at Home – Help for Dyslexic Children

Introducing ….. Language Tune-Up Kit at Home™ Help For Dyslexic Children with Instruction in English and Spanish!

Related Posts:

SAT Vocabulary – Semaphore

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BrainWare for Professionals

BrainWare Safari for Professionals

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Introducing ….. Language Tune-Up Kit at Home™
Help For Dyslexic Children with Instruction in English and Spanish!