These are ‘hot’ topics of interest

Increase Memory in Children

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Memory is important for learning and a weak memory system hinders your child’s learning. Does your child’s memory seem inconsistent?  For example, some children learn math facts and forget them.  Do you tell your child a word on one line but he or she don’t recognize it a few lines later.  Still other children can remember movie lines or video game stats but can’t remember to turn in school assignments. If you increase memory capacity, you will improve your child’s learning.

Memory Systems

We have three main memory systems: short term, working, and long term memory.  Short term memory is holding information for a few seconds to minutes.  Working memory is the scratch pad of the brain and is our ability to hold information and change it such as doing mental math.  Long term memory is remembering information from days to years later. Identify which one is holding your child back and target intervention to increase your child’s capacity for learning.

Strategies to Increase Memory

Increase your child’s memory and consider these games and activities. First, have your child memorize how to spell his or her name backwards as this will exercise working memory.  If your child found that easy, try reciting the alphabet backwards.  Memorize Pi by learning one digit per day and see how many digits your child can remember.  If your child is younger, have him or her memorize your address and family members’ phone numbers.  Amazon has tons of memory games.  Cogmed is an intensive computer-based memory training program for kids and adults.

Mnemonic Memory Strategies

Most people can remember seven items plus or minus two.  Think about our phone numbers and social security numbers.  They fall within this range and numbers are chunked together a few at a time.  Chunking information helps us remember more material.  First letter mnemonic (pronounced new-monic) strategies also help us chunk information to remember.  One example is ROY-G-BIV to remember rainbow colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet).  Apply chunking or mnemonic strategies to help your child remember more.

We can help you understand and help your child.  Call us to discuss your needs.(561) 625 4125

Fathers Are Important

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Hey dad, got a minute?  You have a hard job: fatherhood.  It’s one of the most important jobs you’ll ever have and one that is much harder than expected.  The time you spend with your children will pay off immeasurable future dividends. I have children and I’ve loved being a dad since the day my first child was born.  I’ve done my best to be intentional in spending time with my children.   Regardless of where you are in your fatherhood journey, it’s not too late to start or even increase time spent with your child.

One way to spend time with your child is bike riding.  Unplug from technology and rent a bike at Riverbend Park and ride the trails.  Alternatively, the Palm Beach Bike Shop rents bikes to ride the Palm Beach trail.  Second, buy a tent and camp out at Johnathan Dickinson State Park. If you’re not into tent camping, head to the Okeechobee KOA and rent a camping cabin.  Third, consider a father-son or father-daughter weekend experience.  I did this through Christ in the Rockies and it was the best thing I did to galvanize my relationship with my son.

Moms usually bring their child to work with me so I don’t get to meet dads until we do a review meeting. When I work with kids I say, I didn’t meet your dad so tell me about him.”  The child’s response tells me how involved a dad is. Some kids discuss the activities they do together whereas other kids say, “He works a lot.”  I follow up and ask, “What do you and your dad do together?”  It’s unfortunate but some kids, who live in the same house with their dad, come up empty.

I encourage you to fill up your child with experiences and emotional encouragement.  Fatherhood is tough and it’s hard to go alone.   A great resource is Tony Dungy’s website: AllProDad.com.

How To Motivate Unmotivated Kids

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How To Motivate Unmotivated Kids

“Just do it,” as Nike says is catchy but most people don’t become highly motivated by a picture and an inspirational saying. If that worked, I would not hear from parents, “My child is unmotivated and lazy.”  Why are some kids so difficult to motivate? Does your child get too much screen time or is it the absence of recreational programs due to COVID?  Does your child have a developmental problem?  Maybe it’s just that many kids in our area live in the land of entitlement.

Start at Home

Start at home if you want your child to be a motivated self-starter. Give your child age appropriate responsibilities rather than doing tasks yourself just because it’s easier as compared to nagging your child. Kids feel better about themselves when they feel like they are contributing to the family. Regardless of your child’s age, start now. Ask yourself, “What am I doing for my child that he or she needs to do for him or herself?”  Make a short list and then have a sit down to discuss your child’s new responsibilities.

Motivate with Prestige, Power, Praise

Most parents try to motivate their child using incentives including toys, screen time, or events such as a play date.  While that works for some children, other kids are motivated by either prestige, power, or praise.

If your child is motivated by prestige, then reward him for a job well done with a best kid award to put on the refrigerator, a public compliment in front of friends, or something that makes him feel prestigious.  If she is motivated by power, give her choices.  “When your work is done, you can do this or this. Which one do you prefer?”  Or say, “When the work is done, you get to pick the restaurant for dinner.”  If praise motivates your child, lavish authentic verbal praise upon him.  If he had great behavior at school, verbally praise him and then place a praise note in his lunchbox so the praise encourages another great day.  Motivating kids occurs in small steps and motivators change with time.  Check out Rick Lavoie’s book, “The Motivation Breakthrough.”

What is My Child’s Learning Style?

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If you are like many parents, helping your child complete schoolwork online was a tiring process.  Many kids struggled with focusing, maintaining effort, and getting every assignment done without a battle.  One parent told me she developed a new appreciation for what teachers do in the classroom.  Being your child’s home education teacher might have made you wonder about your child’s preferred learning style.

Auditory Learning Style

Some children are primarily auditory learners.  These kids learn best by listening to audio books, podcasts, and discussion.  Auditory learners have stronger reading comprehension when they softly read aloud so they can hear themselves.

Visual Learning Style

Other children are primarily visual learners, they learn best by seeing a diagram, map, or watching a video.  Children who are visual learners study their notes for a test and then during the test can visualize the page of notes that has the answer.

Multisensory

Many children are multisensory learners and they learn best using a variety of strategies.  They benefit from touching flash cards and sorting them into categories as they study.  Color coding important information helps multisensory learners.

Kinesthetic

Kinesthetic learners need to be moving as they learn.  These children can bounce a ball to a rhythm while saying aloud their multiplication facts.  Some children stand or walk around as they study.  Kinesthetic learners benefit from hands on learning.

Testing

I can test your child to determine his or her learning style and then give you recommendations on how to build upon these strengths to help your child excel in school.  You can also Google “online learning style survey” and complete a free one or try this one: http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-quiz.shtml.

Once you understand your child’s learning style, you can use it to help make learning more interesting and fun.

We can help you understand and help your child. Call us (561) 625-4125

Three Ways to Help A Struggling Learner

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Is your child a struggling learner?  Learning struggles cause frustration for parents and kids.  Most kids who struggle with learning do so in reading as approximately 80% of learning disabilities are reading related.  Kids who continuously struggle to learn become turned off to school so being a proactive parent can help prevent future problems.  Here are three ways to help your struggling learner.

Struggling Learner Help Number 1

First, capitalize on your child’s interests to help make learning fun.  If your young child struggles with reading, use his interest in Minecraft to learn sight words.  Make flashcards using a Minecraft type font.  You could create a fun way to memorize sight words by making a flashcards Minecraft concentration game. Or, you and your child can staple paper together and use some sight words to write a story about your son and Minecraft. He can practice reading the story which can motivate him to read.

Struggling Learner Help Number 2

Help your child make the most gain in the shortest time by using specialized reading tutoring.  As a well-intentioned parent you might hire a teacher to work with your daughter but many teachers don’t use a specialized reading program.  Hire a reading specialist that uses the Barton, Wilson, or Lindamood-Bell reading programs.  These are designed to help kids with persistent reading difficulty.  To make improvements use at least twice weekly tutoring.

Struggling Learner Help Number 3

Last, test your child to pinpoint the exact struggle.  My testing helps you understand the root cause of the struggle and know how to best proceed with focus. This can help you know if the struggle is a behavior or neurological issue.  It’s my belief that you don’t want to punish your child for something he or she can’t help.  Many times learning disabilities are hidden disabilities because they occur internally and are only apparent when kids struggle with academic and learning expectations.  Testing gives you understanding about your child.

We test kids age 5 to 25 for dyslexia, ADHD, processing problems, and gifted. Call (561) 625-4125