Ready to Learn Mom

As we anticipate the upcoming holiday season and all its excitement, you may have had a chance to participate in the base tree lighting ceremony which will took place Dec. 3 at Building 11777. It was an occasion upon which we could spend time with family and friends to welcome this special time of year.

And, as we approach the holiday season and the New Year, it is a great time to reflect on the past year’s accomplishments. One purpose in doing so is to evaluate where you stand and then take the time to set or update your personal and professional goals for the next year and beyond. As part of the “Year of the Air Force Family,” personal and professional development is the focus area for the month of December 2009. I both encourage and challenge you to take the time this month to plan for your education.

Click Here to read more…

Are your students too focused on the “gimme” elements of the holiday season? Teach about the true meaning of the season by emphasizing the giving over the getting. Included: Ten classroom activities that focus on doing good things for other people!

Christmas trees spring up in shopping malls even before the trick-or-treaters have arrived at your doorstep.

The gifts — even kids’ toys — grow more sophisticated and more expensive each year.

TV ads scream out buy, buy, buy! — as they compete to out-scream one another…

Getting caught up in the commercialism of the holidays is easy — but teachers are in a unique position to remind students that holiday time is as much about giving as it is about getting. Lessons in holiday-giving present models of good citizenship for a new generation; and giving unselfishly can generate good feelings that students will carry with them for a lifetime!

Click Here to read more…

I came across an article in the CEC SmartBrief that came from the Newton Daily News in Jasper County, Iowa, titled “Teacher writes book to raise awareness,” written by Jessica Lowe.  It is about Jennifer Springer, a special education teacher at Delaware Elementary School, who was concerned about the teasing and bullying she had seen her students endure at the hands of fellow students.  She was quoted in the article saying:  “One of the more unfortunate things I have seen in my experience as a special education teacher are instances where my students are made fun of and rejected by peers. I feel that the issue for most kids is not that they are just cruel children, but that they are not educated and do not understand whey children with special needs do the things they do.” 

As a tutor of those with learning disabilities I do not often see the actual bullying, but I have stories recounted to me by my students about their experiences of being teased and bullied.  On a more personal level, my son, who is dyslexic, has shared with me his painful struggle with these types of encounters.  The one that he remembers most and brings up occasionally is being called “dumbo” by a class mate after he received a low score on a spelling test.  Others have made fun of his handwriting, which looks very juvenile with floating letters of different sizes and incorrect spacing due to his dysgraphia.   I agree with Springer that these kids are not just cruel children but really do not understand the issues associated with dyslexia and so to them, it does appear as it will to most that these students are simply unintelligent.

While painting together at the easel, Sonia and Ashley keep dipping their brushes into all of the paint containers. After they make a fascinating discovery that the paints have turned a muddy brown, the preschoolers abandon their brushes and begin to make handprints on the easel paper. Then, continuing this messy process, the four-year-olds giggle as they decide to paint-print each other’s faces!  

Because young children frequently make a mess with art media, you need to think through about how you feel about the mess. For example, did you feel that the girls were developing their cognitive skills as they experimented with color mixing? Did they discover that paint could be applied with a tool other than a brush? Were they learning about the concept of cause and effect? Was this a pleasurable social interaction between friends? Or, were you more apt to feel that they were making a mess because they ruined all of the paints and got paint all over themselves?

Click Here to read more…

Foreword

Families play a vital role in educating America’s children. What families do is more important to student success than whether they are rich or poor, whether parents have finished high school or not, or whether children are in elementary, junior high, or high school.

Yet, for all that common sense and research tell us, family involvement often remains neglected in the debate about American school reform. To focus more attention on this important subject, the U.S. Congress recently added to an initial list of six National Education Goals another that states:

Every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children.

The Office of Educational Research and Improvement has produced Helping Your Child With Homework to contribute to the drive to increase family involvement in children’s learning. As the handbook points out, we know that children who spend more time on homework, on average, do better in school, and that the academic benefits increase as children move into the upper grades.

Click Here to read more…

All of these methods may not work with every student, but some may be the key for some students. These are geared toward parents, but apply well to teachers:

1. Research on reading generally agrees that the most critical aspect of reading is how a child feels about reading. Positive reinforcement from parents and teachers helps. Children need to know that adults in their lives care about reading.
2. Research also agrees that in most cases, forcing a child to read will yield no positive results. Most children should not be REQUIRED to read each day, especially if it’s forced reading for pleasure. Some families find that having a reading time when the whole family reads works. Even if the child is reluctant, he knows that the time is reserved for reading. Let him choose to read light material, if nothing else.

Click Here to read more…

“Don’t talk back to me!” Thus scolded in irate and ignorant mother to her young son. The boy was attemping to make her understand his view of the matter. Her words to the boy simply said to him: “I don’t want to hear your side.” Many parents tyrannize over their children in this manner. The superior strength or official authority of the older person is used to shut off, in advance, all argument from the child. He is forced to accept in silence what he conceives to be a false statement of a case.

The child feels that he is being unjustly treated. He feels that he is entitled to a hearing. When he does not receive this, a spirit of resentment and rebellion is kindled in his mind. His whole disposition and temper is affected by it. To demand a mechanical and unreasoned obedience from a child, where a reason can be given, is little short of a crime against the child. Those who hold that children should not be reasoned with, but should be made to obey orders without question or hesitation would make good slave drivers but poor parents and educators.

This section is from the “The Hygienic Care of Children” book, by Herbert M. Shelton. Also available from Amazon: Hygienic Care of Children

Click Here to read more…

The first contact with your child’s teacher, in many ways, is the most important, This is the time you are building rapport and developing a relationship of trust. Therefore, an appropriate time and setting is important for the first brief encounter. A phone call, a note, or, best of all, an initial face-to-face meeting is best. A good time to contact your child’s teacher is during the first week of school. This gives you an opportunity to meet one another when neither has any complaints. Otherwise, the first teacher contact can be unpleasant. The teacher is usually calling to describe some unacceptable behavior or report a child’s tack of progress and her concern that a learning problem may exist. This kind of contact usually puts a parent on the defensive, and communication can be hampered. Neither party wins, and the biggest loser is your child.

However, during the first week of school, the teacher probably knows very little about your child. Thus, you are in a position to provide some helpful information. This is the time to mention then identify these. And, last but not least, assure the teacher that she has your full support and cooperation. Provide the teacher with your phone number and tell her to feel free to call when help is needed from home. Let the teacher know from the start that you want to work with her, not against her, so your child will learn. Do not feel you are intruding or asking for special treatment. You are simply indicating that you are truly concerned that your child receives a good education.

Click Here to read more…

I have kept a journal of my experiences with my children. Sam and I had a difficult time staying on task with his NACD program today and I went back to reread an entry that helps me to keep things in perspective for days such as these.

The Walk

Today was a beautiful spring day, but someone forgot to tell Sam that news. He woke up in his usual fashion, happy and more than willing to give a morning hug and kiss with an enthusiastic, “Goooood Morrrrning, Mommy”. He even drank his juice (which for Sam consists of vitamins, coconut milk kefir and distilled water) which was requested beautifully with a “Mommy, I want juice please”….but that is where the happiness ended. He didn’t want to get dressed which resulted in a full blown sobbing jag along with throwing his clothes across the room. When he finally got dressed his pants were on backwards and after some subtle prompting and complaining they finally got turned around. He didn’t want to start up his daily NACD program…his vocabulary seemed to only consist of a single word “NNNOOOOO”. I tried to give him choices which he was more than happy to scatter across the table. I tried to reason with him which just made the ever present “NO” even louder. I tried to move our program elements outside for more intensity, Sam instead ran off happily waving “Bye Bye”. I tried to turn his running into a learning game, he quickly figured it out and promptly told me to “Go Away”. I brought out his book and began reading it to myself hoping to lure him in…he simply ignored me. I began to pray…because I know when the morning begins this way I quickly lose my intensity and the negative aspects of raising a child with special needs hit me smack in the face. I asked him what was wrong…as if I expected him to simply tell me what was bothering him. I continued to spiral to that place that no special needs parent likes to go.

Click Here to read more…