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4 Listening Tips for Learning Success

In life, of all the language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – listening is used more than the other three added together. Children (and adults) can learn a lot through listening. Regrettably, this is not an instinctive skill. Listening must be taught and developed.

Students in math class - resized

Driving home, last week, I noticed some activity on an empty plot of land. There was a tractor digging a deep hole. Nearby, I saw a stack of concrete blocks. A house was going to be built on the property. Preparation was being made. The first step was laying the foundation…a solid foundation.

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Do Boys Have More Trouble Learning Than Girls?

The National Center for Educational Statistics tells us that boys are 30% more likely to fail or drop out of school.

Lady_Bird_Johnson_Visiting_a_Classroom_for_Project_Head_Start_1966 - resized

Now get this – according to education achievement data, there are more “boy geniuses” than “girl geniuses.”

They also outnumber girls in the top 1% of the IQ scale.

Why then are so many boys struggling or failing in school?

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Learning for Success in School and Life: Endangered Species – The American Boy

According to Ryan D’Agostino of Esquire.com, if you have a son, there’s a one in seven chance that he has been or will be diagnosed with ADHD…a psychiatric condition. By high school nearly 20% of all boys (6.4 million) will have been diagnosed with ADHD.

Meet Stephen Tonti, a successful businessman who grew up with the “disorder.”

As Stephen gave his story in the video above, he brought out some key points:

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Upside-Down Teaching?

Theories about learning styles abound, and can become confusing. However, the newest discoveries in brain research have made things simpler by looking at thinking and learning from the perspective of the different functions of the two hemispheres of the brain.

Left Brain - Right Brain

Neuroscientists have described the left hemisphere of the brain as auditory-sequential. Left-brain functions include language, reading, writing, science, mathematics, logic, analysis, and time-orientation. Left-brain thinkers and learners appear rational, objective and reality-based.

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3 Warning Signs Your Child May Have a Learning Disability – Part 3

This is the 3rd of 3 articles in which I talk about the impact of movement on learning.

Learning & Movement – Rhythm (warning sign #3)

Matt walked into my speech-language therapy room. I knew he liked music and had learned the alphabet letter sounds and months of the year through song, so I had some music playing when he entered. His face lit up, he began to clap his hands and jump around. Neither his clapping nor dancing were in time with the beat of the music.

Not only is Matt awkward in his body movements, but he also stutters when he speaks. In addition, he receives occupational therapy for handwriting issues.

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3 Warning Signs Your Child May Have a Learning Disability – Part 2

This is the 2nd of 3 articles in which I talk about the impact of movement on learning.

Learning & Movement – Handwriting (warning sign #2)

Cindy strolls into her first grade class and stands by her desk.

 

“Hang up your coat and bag.”

“Ok.”

“Take out your journal to do your writing for today.”

“Ok.”

 

Handwriting samples

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3 Warning Signs Your Child May Have a Learning Disability – Part 1

This is the 1st of 3 articles in which I talk about the impact of movement on learning.

Learning & Movement – The Pencil Grip (warning sign #1)

Today, I proctored a state test for a group of five students who receive special education services. The photographs below show how they held their pencils. None of the pencil grasps demonstrated here match what the writing experts call “correct.” The tripod grip.

Pencil Grip - ChristopherPencil Grip - JonnyPencil Grip - EdrasPencil Grip - JaylaPencil Grip - Roy

 

 

 

 

 

Writing must be tiring for these children.

As I circulated among their desks, I wondered if from their toddler years, every time they held a pencil or crayon, their parents and teachers ever thought that they were giving a signal that they needed help.

Pencil grip and learning?

You may be wondering, “What in the world is she thinking? What does one have to do with the other?”

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Autism is Speaking…Are You Listening?

Autism Acronym

This month, April, is Autism Awareness Month. Did you know that?

Every day, I work with children. As they carry out the tasks and activities in our intervention sessions, I notice traits in some of them that are listed in the symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

There’s Jay who gets very upset if I change the schedule for therapy, even just slightly. Don has to sit in the same seat every time, and keeps up a conversation whether you respond or not. Then I have Ray who speaks in a no-inflection monotone, through almost-clenched teeth.

Do you know someone who is autistic?

They usually have difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors.

Over two million people in the United States are autistic. On March 27, 2014, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that they classify around 1 in 68 American children as on the autism spectrum–a 30% increase since 2008.

Do you find that alarming?

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Have You Joined The Learning Revolution As Yet?

So often, many people think that education is synonymous with learning. But it is not. Education is all about systematic instruction, while learning has to do with acquired knowledge…whether from experience, personal study, or teaching.

Quite often in my inquiry into learning and the many paths it takes, I come across someone who trumped the system and excelled to tell about it. Jonathan Mooney is one such young man.

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Sound Listening for Sound Learning

3D Ear

Did you know that we function better if our right ear plays the leading role in our listening?

“Why is that?” you may ask. It is because the language center is on the left side of our brains. That is where language is processed.  Since each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body, we want meaningful sound to go through the right ear so it can proceed directly to the left side of the brain.

It’s almost time for one of my therapy groups. As they walk into the room, I greet them and tell them we’ll be playing a calling game. There’s a play phone on the table, in front of each seat. The students sit at the kidney-shaped table, and I pretend to call from my phone. They all reach for their phones, lift them to an ear and answer. With one exception, they put the phone to their left ear.

Now I am no scientist, but recent research shows that there is more of a link than previously thought between listening difficulties and learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

The article below from Rafaele Joudry offers a solution to the dilemma.