Promoting Success

Neck Pain Relief with a New Pillow

2012-01-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

Where do you typically purchase your pillows? I usually buy mine at Walmart or Kmart, and, of course, they have to be frequently replaced. I am a side sleeper. The past couple months I was having a lot of neck and shoulder pain. I would frequently wake up during the night having to lift one arm with the other hand because my entire arm was alseep. I saw this pillow on Amazon and thought about purchasing, but didn't. I was at Walmart and decided to by a $15 pillow supposedly from the kind in motels. Turns out it was exactly like the older one I had at home. It was new and fuller, so I tried it. It may have helped a little, but it seemed so huge and not really comfortable. I recently signed up for Amazon Prime, so I decided to order the Mediflow Waterbase pillow. I'm glad I did. It is so cozy and comfortable. I haven't woken up with "Dead" arms since I bought it! HA. Click on the link to check it out. Perhaps it will help relieve your pain as well.

100 Books For Kindergarten - Woodbridge Library

2012-01-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

100 Books For Kindergarten - Woodbridge Library

Click on the link about for a list of 1oo books to read in kindergarten.

Caps for Sale was one of my favorite books as a child! Click the picture to find it for your Amazon kindle.

Snowmen File Folder Games

2012-01-12T16:30:00.001-08:00

This is a favorite student activity for your math learning center. Print the 10 snowman pages on cardstock and/or laminate for durability. Supply your math center with buttons of various sizes and shapes. Parents or grandparents are a great resource for supplying buttons! Otherwise, the last two pages are printable "buttons."

Students place the correct number of buttons on each snowman as indicated by the number found in each picture.

Ready to print and use in your classroom. Click here!

Highlighter for Time Telling

2012-01-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

Highlighter for Time Telling

A simple strategy for helping students tell time.

Valentine's Day File Folder Games

2012-01-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

Greetings!

I just added Valentine's Day File Folder Games to my TpT site! Check it out! Click here.

These games address the following essential skills:
Feelings
Alphabet
Numbers
Patterns
Dolch Words (pre-primer)
Counting
Shapes

CyberMonday Sales

2011-11-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

It's Cyber Monday! I am having a 20% off sale in appreciation for all of the amazing teachers. Please visit my store for lots of ready to print teaching materials for elementary and special education.
CLICK HERE

Here are some of the resources you will find:
The Grouchy Ladybug
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Mouse Count
The Lion and The Mouse
Frogs
File Folder Games
and so many more!

Psst...The 20% off sale goes through Tuesday, November 29!

Improve Reading Comprehension for Students

2011-11-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

From Doing What Works...
Teach students how to use several research-based reading comprehension strategies.: Good readers use comprehension strategies including activating prior knowledge or predicting, questioning, visualizing, monitoring, drawing inferences, and retelling. Children should be explicitly taught these strategies, have them modeled by the teacher, and be given opportunities to practice them with guidance and independently.

Teach reading comprehension strategies individually or in combination.: Teaching reading comprehension strategies, whether one by one or in combination, improves children’s reading comprehension. Single-strategy instruction provides time for students to practice each strategy for a period of time before the next strategy is introduced. Multiple-strategy instruction introduces several strategies simultaneously to be practiced in combination. This approach helps readers learn to use strategies together from the very beginning, providing a more authentic reading experience.

Teach reading comprehension strategies by using a gradual release of responsibility.: A gradual release of responsibility involves teachers first explaining and modeling a strategy, then giving students more and more independence in practicing and applying the strategy over time.

Teach reading comprehension with multiple genres of text.: Teachers should introduce both literary and informational text to their students when teaching reading comprehension. Literary texts include narratives, which portray a story, or a sequence of related fictional or nonfictional events involving individuals or fictional characters, and poetry. Informational texts analyze or describe factual information about the natural or social world.
Choose high-quality texts of appropriate difficulty.: Teachers should choose texts carefully and consider both the content quality and difficulty level. Difficulty is defined by the text demands (e.g., decodability of the words, complexity of the sentences) and content demands (e.g., how complex, subtle, or abstract the information is).

Use texts that support the purpose of instruction.: Reading comprehension instruction serves many purposes, and the text used should fit the purpose of instruction. For example, lessons on text structure begin with a text about a familiar topic in which the structure is easy to identify. When teaching students to make predictions, select a text that is unfamiliar to students or one in which many outcomes are possible.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Teaching Unit

2011-11-19T18:57:00.000-08:00

By Bill Martin, Eric Carle - H. Holt (1996) - Hardback - 26 pages - ISBN 0805047905

A big happy frog, a plump purple cat, a handsome blue horse, and a soft yellow duck-- all parade across the pages of this delightful book. Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle's flat, boldly colored collages. Combined with Bill Martin's singsong text, they create unforgettable images of these endearing animals.

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Click below for a 44 page teaching unit:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Brown-Bear-Brown-Bear-What-Do-You-See-Math-and-Literacy-Unit

Well, I finally finished another math and literacy unit! This one is based on the book: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. It was one of my daughters' favorites!

Here is what the teaching unit includes:

This teaching unit is 44 pages of math and literacy skills based on the K-1 Common Core. It is based on the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. Students will practice retelling using key details and supporting pictures related to the book. Sight words are reinforcement through animal words in the book and a word wall. Word recognition is enhanced even further through rhyming words. The five senses from your science curriculum are included as well. Students will love creating a little book which includes all the five senses and lots of opportunity for art and creativity. Activities for color words and number words are also included. A tiny little flip book, created by the students, will allow for lots of review. Student will have opportunity to practice counting, along with their addition and subtraction skills. Number concepts, such as ordering and comparing, are reviewed in several pages. Students will enjoy beginning geometry skills by drawing and matching shapes. Place value is also reinforced through base ten activities. The unit concludes with several writing and journal activities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Store Retelling and Sequencing 3
Sight Words 5
Word Wall 6
Rhyming Words 8
Rhyming Words KEY 9
Five Senses 10
Five Senses KEY 12
Brown Bear Little Book 13
Color Blocks 16
Number Words 17
Number Flip Book 18
Counting 1-10 19
Addition 21
Subtraction 23
Ordering Numbers 25
Comparing Numbers 27
Comparing Numbers KEY 28
Comparing Numbers 29
Comparing Numbers KEY 30
Shapes 31
Base Ten Counting 33
Base Ten Counting KEY 35
Creating Numbers with Base Ten 37
Color Writing 39
Journal Writing 40

5 Homework Strategies that Work for Kids

2011-11-16T17:23:00.000-08:00

Are you trapped in a nightly homework struggle with your child? The list of excuses can seem endless: “I don’t have any homework today.” “My teacher never looks at my homework anyway.” “That assignment was optional.” “I did it at school.” If only your child could be that creative with their actual homework, getting good grades would be no problem!

Pre-teens and teens often insist they have no homework even when they do, or tell parents that they’ve completed their assignments at school when they haven’t. If your child’s grades are acceptable and you receive positive reports from their teachers, congratulations – your child is doing just fine. James Lehman advises that students who are doing well have earned the privilege of doing their homework whenever and however they see fit. But if their grades reflect missing assignments, or your child’s teachers tell you that they’re falling behind, you need to institute some new homework practices in your household. For those classes in which your child is doing poorly, they lose the privilege of doing homework in an unstructured way. For the classes they are doing well in, they can continue to do that homework on their own.

Trying to convince your child that grades are important can be a losing battle. You can’t make your child take school as seriously as you do; the truth is, they don’t typically think that way. Remember, as James says, it’s not that they aren’t motivated, it’s that they’re motivated to do what they want to do. In order to get your child to do their homework, you have to focus on their behavior, not their motivation. So instead of giving them a lecture, focus on their behavior and their homework skills. Let them know that completing homework and getting passing grades are not optional.

If you’re facing the rest of the school year with dread and irritation, you’re not alone. By following the tips below, you can improve your child’s homework skills and reduce your frustration!

5 Strategies to Get Homework Back On Track

Schedule Daily Homework Time
If your child often says they have no homework but their grades are poor, they may not be telling you accurate information, they may have completely tuned out their teacher’s instructions, or need to improve some other organizations skills, for example. The Total Transformation Program recommends that whether your child has homework or not, create a mandatory homework time each school day for those classes in which you child is doing poorly.

Use the “10-Minute Rule" formulated by the National PTA and the National Education Association, which recommends that kids should be doing about 10 minutes of homework per night per grade level. In other words, 10 minutes for first-graders, 20 for second-graders and so forth.

It will be most effective if you choose the same time every day. For example, you might schedule homework time for the classes that your child is doing poorly in to begin at 4:00 p.m. every school day. If your child says they have no homework in those subjects, then they can spend that time reading ahead in their textbooks, making up missed work, working on extra credit projects, or studying for tests. If they say “I forgot my books at school,” have them read a book related to one of their subjects. By making study time a priority, you will sidestep all those excuses and claims of “no homework today.” If your child has to spend a few days doing “busy work” during the daily homework time, you may even find that they bring home more actual assignments!

Use a Public Space
It’s important to monitor your child’s homework time. For families where both parents work, you may need to schedule it in the evening. In many instances it may be more productive to have your child do their homework in a public space. That means the living room or the kitchen, or some place equally public where you can easily check in on them. Let them know they can ask for help if they need it, but allow them to do their own work. If your child would like to do his or her homework in their room, let them know that they can earn that privilege back when they have pulled up the grades in the subjects in which they are doing poorly.

Use Daily Incentives
Let your child know that they will have access to privileges when they have completed their homework. For example, you might say, “Once you’ve completed your homework time, you are free to use your electronics or see your friends.” Be clear with your child about the consequences for refusing to study, or for putting their work off until later. According to James Lehman, consequences should be short term, and should fit the “crime.” You might say, “If you choose not to study during the scheduled time, you will lose your electronics for the night. Tomorrow, you’ll get another chance to use them.” The next day, your child gets to try again – observing her homework time and earning her privileges. Don’t take away privileges for more than a day, as your child will have no incentive to do better the next time.

Work towards Something Bigger
Remember, kids don’t place as much importance on schoolwork as you do. As you focus on their behavior, not their motivation, you should begin to see some improvement in their homework skills. You can use your child’s motivation to your advantage if they have something they’d like to earn. For example, if your child would like to get his driver’s permit, you might encourage him to earn that privilege by showing you he can complete his homework appropriately. You might say, “In order to feel comfortable letting you drive, I need to see that you can follow rules, even when you don’t agree with them. When you can show me that you can complete your homework appropriately, I’d be happy to sit down and talk with you about getting your permit.” If your child starts complaining about the homework rule, you can say, “I know you want to get that driver’s permit. You need to show me you can follow a simple rule before I’ll even talk to you about it. Get going on that homework.” By doing this, you sidestep all the arguments around both the homework and the permit.

Skills + Practice = Success
Tying homework compliance with your child’s desires isn’t about having your child jump through hoops in order to get something they want. It’s not even about making them take something seriously, when they don’t see it that way. It’s about helping your child learn the skills they need to live life successfully. All of us need to learn how to complete things we don’t want to do. We all have occasions where we have to follow a rule, even when we disagree with it. When you create mandatory, daily homework time, you help your child practice these skills. When you tie that homework time to daily, practical incentives, you encourage your child to succeed.

If you are a Total Transformation customer, you can access our Support Line for help with these and other challenges you’re experiencing with your child. Support Line specialists have helped hundreds of parents customize homework charts and plans, and we can help you, too. Specialists can also work with you to formulate realistic, appropriate consequences to help enforce the daily routine.

5 Homework Strategies that Work for Kids is reprinted with permission from Empowering Parents.

EmpoweringParents

Megan Devine is a Parental Support Line Specialist and writer. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Goddard College. She has a children’s career book in pre-publication, and has several other books in the works.

Times Tables – Why so Difficult?

2011-11-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

A short web search only and you will find many utterances like the followings:“Learning the "multiplication tables" is one of the first traumas that children usually face when learning arithmetic.”

“The dread rite of passage all children face: the multiplication tables.”
“Parents often remark that their children experience difficulty retaining their math’s times tables.”
“On a personal level, as a kid I found learning my multiplication tables terribly hard.”

If the mastering of this simple skill brings appearance of so negative feelings, then, evidently, there is something wrong with school math education. To improve the situation, we should find the causes of the difficulties and try to eliminate them. Even a brief analysis of the state of affairs allows ascertaining the next ten sources of the difficulties.

Cause #1. Pupils begin to learn the times tables while many of them have not mastered simple mental addition and subtraction totally.

Cause #2. Pupils learn the times tables without simultaneous learning the corresponding to them division facts.

Cause #3. To memorize the multiplication facts, many pupils use the learning by rote only, and the knowledge which has been crammed is forgotten very soon.

Cause #4. Criteria of the mastering the multiplication tables are ill-defined. Teachers and parents have no exact method to determine whether a kid has mastered the skills totally or not.

Cause #5. The memorized results of the times tables are not used in ordinary calculations on a regular basis. Because of that they are forgotten gradually.

Cause #6. Some educators suppose that pupils must learn the times tables up to 20 by 20. But some results (16 by 17, 19 by 18, etc.) are too difficult for kids to remember for a long time.

Cause #7. Many pupils have poor memory in view of the fact that the methods of teaching mathematics which are used at school do not encourage the development of their memorizing abilities.

Cause #8. Pupils are allowed to use calculators too early, and, instead of development of their independent computational abilities, their brains get a cripple wheel-chair for moving in the world of numbers.

Cause #9. The math curriculum of the first four grades is overfilled with great number of various topics, and because of that there is no sufficient time for required quantity of exercises.

Cause #10. The worst method of teaching the times tables is used very often – "Just shut up and learn them, or you'll fail!"

Possibly, this list of sources of the difficulties is not full. Maybe some of the causes will seem insignificant or farfetched to readers. So I will try to motivate and detail my considerations in the next articles.

Victor Guskov, a teacher of mathematics, PhD, Pedagogical Sciences.
http://www.simplar.narod.ru/index1.html

Differentiation 101

2011-11-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

By: Jon M. Bennett

Wikipedia says:
Differentiated instruction (sometimes referred to as differentiated learning) is a way of thinking about teaching and learning. It means using a variety of instructional strategies that address diverse student learning needs. It places students at the center of teaching and learning and student needs drive instructional planning. Differentiated instruction is a way to enhance learning for all students by engaging them in activities that respond to particular learning needs, strengths, and preferences.

The goals of differentiated instruction are to develop challenging and engaging tasks for each learner (from low-end learner to high-end learner).

Translation: Challenge every student.

There are four key elements of instruction that can be altered in order to challenge ever student. When just getting started, modify only one thing at a time:

Content: Concepts, principles and skills,
Process: How the concepts are taught/learned; activities that promote understanding
Product: The artifacts and expectations after the process; criteria for an assignment
Environment: The setting in which the content is presented or the presentation itself

Which one you chose to modify, depends on the ability levels of your students and the objectives of the assignment.

Do's

The most vital element of a differentiated classroom is assessment. It is absolutely vital that you accurately assess your students. This is the baseline data that you use in order to know how to modify your lessons. A variety of formal and informal instruments can be used, as long as the focus is on what the student CAN do.
Look at your assignment and pull out the skills needed to complete it.
Decide on the "big picture" concept that you want your students to walk away with. This should be broad, something like, "compute fractions".
Based on your assessment of your students and your big picture, create some tiers. Tiers differ in the element that you chose to modify (see four elements above).
Develop an anchor activity. This is a task to complete in the event that any student(s) manages to fall above or below your tiers. It is important that this is not busywork, but instead a valuable opportunity to apply skills that's worth your students time.

Don'ts

Create separate unrelated work.
Use the same assignment and cut it short for some students
Employ static groups
Modify the same element monotonously
Stress out! Its not easy, but its not hard either; it takes time, practice and a great understanding of your students abilities.

Try it out and watch all of your students succeed!

About the Author

jonb06

Jon M. Bennett is currently a special education teacher and owner/administrator of www.exceptionality.net, a network of special educators, families and support systems.

Reading comprehension strategies that work: Anchoring visualizations

2011-11-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Some kids have trouble with reading comprehension. There can be many reasons they have difficulty, but one of the main causes of reading comprehension problems is that students do not create vivid images as they read.

In my educational therapy practice, I often listen to students read. Some students have difficulty with word recognition, but many do not. When your child has little or no difficulty sounding out the words in the passage, but still has comprehension difficulty, the problem may be that he or she is not skillful with visual imagery. And even if your child does have trouble sounding out words, he may still have difficulty with comprehension as well.

Researchers have noticed that students are not as adept at making pictures in their minds of the material they hear or read as they were years ago. Perhaps the explosion of visual images all around us has a lot to do with that. Kids are “fed” visual images from television, movies, magazines, and billboards. They may not be getting as much practice in generating their own images.

Visualization is used by top athletes and performers as an effective tool for positive outcomes. Research has shown that athletes who practice their sport only “on the field” do not reach the same levels of success as those who, in addition to practicing “on the field” also practice their sport “in their mind.”

The brain is highly adept at using visual information. In fact, more brain area is devoted to vision than to any other sense. The brain is also very good at using spatial information. These abilities have come down to us through the millennia as a survival mechanism. We are highly adept visual and spatial thinkers.

The “anchoring visualizations” strategy teaches students to create visual images, and then to “anchor” them to a particular spot in the room. What’s so amazing about this technique is that students are using two innate abilities, vision and spatial understanding, and the strategy can be used when students are involved in class discussions, lectures, or independent reading to significantly increase students’ visualization ability and reading comprehension.

Here’s how the “anchoring visualizations” technique works:

As students listen or read, they use their visualization ability to create “pictures” (I call them “mind movies”) of the information. These images should include rich detail because more vivid images will be remembered better.

The student directs his or her attention to a particular spot in the room, for example, the door, the chalkboard, or a picture on the wall.

The spot has now become a place to anchor the visualizations created while reading or discussing the contents from a story or textbook. The spot is the visual and spatial storing place associated with the parts of the story that need to be remembered.

To recall an important fact from the story, simply have the student look at the spot that anchors the information.

Applying the “anchoring visualizations” technique

Since it will be Halloween soon, let’s apply this technique to the story, “Little Red Riding Hood.” Although this is a story at the elementary level, the technique works for any information, at any level of sophistication.

The story begins as Little Red Riding Hood is asked by her mother to take some food to her grandmother, who loves Little Red Riding Hood so much she has given her a lovely red cape with a hood.

For this part of the story, a student can choose a place in the room, let’s say the TV set. While discussing or reading this part of the story, have your child look at the TV set and create a vivid image of a little girl. Ask questions such as: how old is she, what color is her hair, how long is the cape, does she have her hood up on her head or not, what color are her eyes, what is she going to carry the food in, what shape is the container...etc. The point of the questions is to teach your child how to create detailed images.

For the next part of the story, have your child choose another location, such as the table, as you read or discuss the next section of the story and encourage your child to make vivid images by using questions to get the information to come to life.

In our example, this technique was applied to an elementary-level story, particularly because the story of Little Red Riding Hood is well-known. But as I mentioned, it also works for middle school and high school content.

I’ve used this approach to teach kids about DNA, the story line in Romeo and Juliet, and other high school level material. It is an approach that works on any content, for learners of all ages, because it uses the concepts of locations in space combined with visual input, visual imagery, and language, making it a multi-sensory technique. And multi-sensory techniques work better because they engage more than one part of the brain.

What are the characteristics of “vivid images”?

Use your questioning to help your child create memorable images. What makes images memorable? First and foremost—images should stimulate emotion (think of a crying man holding a limp child). Another necessary quality is that images are unusual (try a blue dog). Encourage your child to include other aspects of memorable imagery: color, details and especially for kids of all ages—is the image gross! Yes, I said gross (think of a snot sandwich). The gross factor is very powerful for memory!

About the Author

klmiller

Dr. Kari Miller is the Director of Miller Educational Excellence, an educational therapy center in Los Angeles. Her informative and inspiring collection of articles, “Success Strategies for Students with Special Needs Such as ADD, ADHD, Autism, and Learning Disabilities” can be downloaded here .She is the host of two stimulating educational blogtalk radio shows: Special Kid School Talk and Education Revolution

To contact Dr. Miller:

Website: http://www.millereducationalexcellence.com
Email: klmiller555@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 310-280-9813

Why the Word "No" Sets off an Oppositional, Defiant Child

2011-10-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

By: EmpoweringParents

Many parents of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder feel hopeless and alone. They live in homes that become like little prisons as they deal with kids who are absolutely out of control and unmanageable. They don’t like their child any more, even though they still love him or her. And they’re confused about why nothing works. They tell me they feel isolated and lonely because they can’t socialize with other families due to their child’s behavior. Certainly things like sleepovers, days at the beach, parties—all those activities become affected by this kind of child. It’s not surprising that these families have a harder time in general, and often wind up emotionally, spiritually, and functionally bankrupt. The other siblings grow up in an atmosphere of intimidation and frustration. Attempts to just get the oppositionality to stop, however well-intentioned, are often met with frustration and failure. As a parent of a child with O.D.D., your strategy has to be to learn how to manage the oppositionality in a way that slowly leads to its extinction. In the thirty years I worked with kids with ODD, I found that the following strategies helped improve their behavior and taught them how to cope when someone told them “no.”

Why “No” Triggers an Explosion
Nobody likes the word no, especially children and adolescents. “No” means disappointment, “no” means not getting what you want, and that’s frustrating and disappointing for everyone. Most children learn to deal with this somewhere around the age of two and three, when their personality actually forms. Over time, they develop the ability to balance their inner wants and needs with outside expectations and responsibility. But for kids with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, the message they internalize is, “If I’m not in control, bad things happen. When bad things are happening around me, the only way I can survive is by being in control.” They react to the word “no” with yelling, threats, punching the wall or hurting one of their siblings. And the more chaos and inconsistency they perceive in their lives, the more they feel the need to stay in control.

For many of these kids, oppositionality and defiance become a way of reacting to authority. Every day brings a new fight as you try to exercise your authority. Whereas many children learn to accept that they can’t be in control all the time, children with ODD often experience a sense of panic when they see they’re not getting control. Their parents learn to walk around on tiptoes, and too many of them blame themselves or try to find some person, place or thing to point the finger at instead of focusing on the task at hand, which is, “How can I teach my child how to manage things today?”

Three Ways to De-escalate Oppositional, Defiant Behavior
“No” is a powerful word. All children have to learn how to deal with it, and children with ODD are no different. But there are things parents can do to avoid or escape from explosive behavior, or to redirect their child’s behavior.

I want you to remember those words: “Avoid", "Escape" and “Redirect.” Because we want to try to avoid conflicts with ODD kids, or escape those conflicts as soon as we can, and redirect them toward something positive.

Avoid the Conflict

One of the ways we avoid conflict is by having a written structure posted some place where everyone can see it, like on your refrigerator, for example. This is really a schedule that would look like the following:

Daily Schedule
Snack and relax: 3:30-4:00 p.m.
Chores and homework: 4:00-to 5:00 p.m..
Free time: 5:00-6:00 p.m.
Dinner: 6:00 p.m.
Free time after dinner: 7:00 to 7:30 p.m.
Homework: 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Bedtime: 8:30 p.m.

I think these kids do better if they come home from school or daycamp, have a little snack, do some chores or homework, have brief play time, and then have dinner. After that they can do a few more chores, have some free time, then go to bed. Evenings need to be as subdued as possible. When you have such a schedule and your child says, “I want to play now,” you can say, “You know the schedule, Tommy. Playtime isn’t till after dinner.” Now in this case, although you’re saying no, you’re really re-focusing that child on the schedule. Understanding the schedule and internalizing the structure are important coping skills that kids with ODD need to develop. So you’re accomplishing two things here: You’re avoiding a direct fight with “no,” and you’re focusing on structure and scheduling, which are coping skills these kids need to learn.

And as a parent, remember that the idea is to not to think about yourself as giving in, but rather, you’re avoiding situations where there's a higher risk of your child acting out. So if you find yourself having to avoid too many situations when you’re at the mall because of the fear of outbursts, my recommendation is that you avoid going to the mall with that child until he’s at the skill level where he can handle it.

Escape from Fights

The other strategy we want to look at is “Escape.” Once the fight with your child is starting or has begun escalating, you need to find a way to get out of it. First of all, you can state your position, turn around and walk away and not respond to the child’s backtalk. So, for example, you can say, “It’s not time for you to play video games now. It’s time for you to clean your room,” and then turn around and remove yourself from the argument. There are cases where you will find that a kid with ODD is backtalking to parents as they're on their way to do the chore you asked them to do in the first place. Sometimes it seems that their mouth and body are moving in two different directions! Don’t let yourself be pulled into the backtalk, either. Just simply go about your business and do something else.

Redirect your child’s behavior

The third important step in the plan to de-escalate the oppositional behavior is to “Redirect” the child. Redirecting is a strategy you can use when the child’s behavior starts to escalate. You can say, “Remember, you want to watch that show at 6:30, so stay focused,” and then turn around and walk away. This redirects their attention to something else and teaches them to focus on something other than the argument. Redirecting is also helpful in situations where there have been conflicts in the past, and where you know an explosion is likely. You can distract your child by getting him to do something differently early in the escalation period. So when you see that he is starting to get agitated, that’s the time to send him to do some alternate task that can be helpful for the family. For instance, “Please go get the lettuce out of the refrigerator and wash it for the salad. That would be a big help.”

Stop Throwing Fuel on the Fire
I think it’s important for parents to understand that once a kid with ODD starts arguing about being told “no,” he gets very invested in the process of arguing as much as the outcome. So in effect, the argument fuels itself. The first thing parents have to do is stop throwing fuel on the fire: Don’t argue or talk back to the child. State the rule, state the expectation or the task at hand, and walk away. When times are calm, sit down with your child and have a discussion and say, briefly and concisely, “I don't think arguing helps us solve our problems. So I’m not going to argue with you anymore. And the time you spend talking back and arguing with me when I’m not responding will be taken off your computer time tonight. 2 minutes for every 1 minute you argue.” Don’t overly explain or justify by giving examples. Tell him the rule, but don’t sit there and get into an argument about it. Get up and move on to something else. Expect him to argue right then and there. But understand that the best way you can deal with children with this particular disorder is to lay out a structure and stick with it.

I think it’s important for parents to remember that many of these kids do develop coping skills, it’s just that, as the poet Theodore Roethke said, “a slow growth is a hard thing to endure.” Time helps with these guys. Age helps. And they can learn problem-solving and negotiation skills, it just takes a little longer, and will take more patience on your part. Stick to a plan that on one end is flexible enough to deal with their impulses, but on the other is firm enough to hold them strictly accountable, and I believe you will see real change.

Why the Word "No" Sets off an Oppositional, Defiant Child is reprinted with permission from Empowering Parents.

About the Author

EmpoweringParents

James Lehman, MSW was a renowned child behavioral therapist who worked with struggling teens and children for three decades. He created the Total Transformation Program to help people parent more effectively. James' foremost goal was to help kids and to "empower parents."

Autism Learning Skills

2011-10-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

by Janine Honour

What is meant by autism learning skills?

There are several methods through which we learn: Through seeing (visually) Hearing (auditory), Touching or manipulating an object (kinesthetically or 'hands-on' learning).

An example of these would be, looking at a picture book or reading a textbook, this would be visual learning. Listening to a c.d., or going to a lecture this would be learning through hearing…and pressing buttons to determine how to operate a DVD involves learning kinesthetically, through touch and feel.

Mostly we learn through two or more of these learning skills. How we learn will determine how ell we do at school.

Most mainstream school adopt all of these learning methods, we visually learn through reading books and texts, we learn through listening to out teachers and we practice tasks to learn.

With autistic children they will nearly always be visual learners.

Some autistic children will also be kinesthetic learners and may well benefit form their teacher or helper actually guiding their hand while they undertake tasks.

Therefore, it is important that a teacher assess each autistic child in the class to determine which kind of learning skill they prefer.

The teacher can then adapt the teaching style to suit the autistic child's need's and build on their strengths.

However one very important thing to remember when assessing an autistic child is their need for repetition and sameness. Keeping this in mind when setting lessons will be of benefit.

A visual timetable should always be in place for the autistic student to refer too.

As with a normally developing child autism learning skills, can be enhanced by following these simple rules. Another good idea is to set up autism social skills stories. These help keep the autistic child on task, and work as an excellent tool in helping teachers explain why, what and how to their autistic students.

Using autism social skills stories will benefit the autistic student as they will encompass all autism learning skills, they can be read, auditory, they have appropriate pictures and images plus some text, visual and they can be handles kinesthetic, or used as a visual aid with attachable pictures etc…

…However you decide to use them they will nevertheless prove to be a valuable asset to autism learning skills.

To obtain school related autism social skills stories that can be downloaded quickly and effortlessly and are all in printable format please visit: www.autismsocialstories.com/school

FREE If You Give a Mouse A Cookie File Folder Game

2011-10-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a FREE file folder game to go along with the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. It focuses on math skills, including counting, adding and subtracting. Enjoy!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-If-You-Give-a-Mouse-a-Cookie-File-Folder-Game

Help for Struggling Speller

2011-09-12T18:57:00.000-07:00

Alternative Teaching Techniques for Low Achieving Students: Helping the Struggling Speller

Spelling is both an auditory analysis activity and a visual analysis activity. To become a good speller, the learner needs to pay attention to the sequence of sounds in words, and he needs to pay attention to the sequencing of letters. This information must be adequately integrated (visual-auditory integration), which means that the child must link together the visual information with the information that he hears. Activities such as seeing a word and saying it aloud, or hearing a word and writing it down are examples of visual-auditory integration. A problem in visual-auditory integration often leads to poor spelling ability. Traditional spelling activities and remediation do very little to help a struggling speller. To help these children, we can use alternative teaching strategies such as:

Strategies to Reinforce Auditory Memory

An exercise to help the child develop the ability to hear sounds in words is to write four words on a chart, chalkboard, or a piece of paper (e.g. dump, stone, slot, burst). Read the words aloud and have the child analyze the sounds by giving directions like, “Point to the word that starts with the same sound (or sounds combination) you hear in the word slime (slot)” and “Point to the word that ends with the same sound you hear at the end of the word first (burst).” If the child shows difficulty with this task, you can use a point-and-match approach; for example, “first-dump,” “first-stone,” “first-slot,” and “first-burst.”

Have the child tell the sounds in a word. For example, you say a word like breed and ask,

1. What’s the last sound you hear in breed? /d/

2. What’s the sound combination you hear at the beginning of breed? /br/

3. What sound do you hear in the middle of breed? (long e sound).

Remember that the child is saying sounds (//), not naming letters.

With longer words, you say the word slowly, pausing between syllables or chunks, repeat fast, and then have the child repeat the word, first fast, then in syllables or chunks, and again fast; for example, partnership: part ner ship, partnership.

Ask the child to write the cluster (letters combination) that say a specific sound in a word; for example, to spell hesitation, ask,

1. Write the letters that say the /ta/ sound

2. Write the letters that say the /hes/ sound

3. Write the letters that say the /tion/ sound

4. Write the letter that says the /i/ sound

Then, have the child write the word hesitation as you say each part, e.g. hes i ta tion. Finally, the child turns over his paper and writes the word from memory, saying the word aloud as he writes it.

Strategies to Reinforce Visual Memory

Show the child five-to-eight words written on a chart, chalkboard, or piece of paper (e.g. dump, stone, slot, burst, drift, pulls). Give the child scratch paper and say (do not show), “On your paper, select and write the word that ends with the same letter combination you see at the end of the word first (burst). Now, select and write the word that starts with the same letter combination you see at the beginning of the word stamp (stone).”

Using the cloze procedure, present a word partially spelled, and have the child write down the missing letters, e.g. dinosaur: d _ _ _ saur, dino _ _ _ _. Write a blank for each missing letter, and have the child fill-in different missing letters in the same word. Finally, the child spells from sight memory the whole word.

Give the child the letters that he is going to need to spell the word, but in a random order, and have the child unscramble the letters to spell the word correctly (e.g. dinosaur: sraudnio).

Rather than presenting new spelling words in isolation and lists, present each new word in a sentence. For example, “T-Rex is the fiercest _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ of the meat eating beasts.” Select the sentences and spelling words from the child’s readings, and write a blank for each missing letter.

Give the child a misspelled word and say, “This word is misspelled. Your job is to write the word in three different ways, and then, circle the spelling that ‘looks right’ to you. Be ready to defend your choice.”

Do visual recognition spelling exercises where you write the same word with three or four different spellings (only one spelling is correct) for the child to recognize and write down the correct spelling.

When you use lists of spelling words, it is better to include only words with the same visual patter, e.g. m atch, c atch, spl atch or per ish, self ish, brown ish.

Teach the child to “borrow words” she already knows to help her spell a new word; for example, joy-joyful, horn-hornet; mess + age= message.

Have the child search for words with the same visual spelling patterns in his readings.

Kinesthetic and/or Multisensory Strategies

With an older child, you can use a multisensory (seeing, hearing, and saying) chunk this word technique; for example, the child:

1. Sees and hears the word

2. Says the word fast

3. Says the word in syllables or chunks

4. Writes the word in syllables or chunks (assisted visually and/or orally if necessary)

5. Writes the whole word from memory

To reinforce kinesthetically, have the child spell the word in syllables while jumping rope, bouncing a ball, or tossing a beanbag from one hand to the other.

Have the child practice writing the same word using five different writing tools; for example, using a marker, chalk, a pen, a crayon, and typing the word.

Have the child write the same word in five different ways; for example:

dinosaur: DINOSAUR, dinosaur, di no saur, DINO saur, dino SAUR

You will get better results if the spelling practice is shorter but the new word is written in different ways, than with a longer practice where the same word is written the same way each time.

Individualize

Do not use separate lists for reading and spelling. The child’s spelling words should come from within her reading materials.

Have the child create her individualized spelling lists with the words that she frequently misspells.

Concluding Comments

In the school setting, spelling problems rank as one of the most common, and for some children, is also one of the most difficult to remediate. Children with weak auditory memory will have difficulty with phonetic spelling, or understanding how words sound. Children with deficits in visual memory will have difficulty recalling the visual features of words; that is, recalling how words look. A weak auditory and/or visual memory impairs the child’s ability to apply sound-letter correspondence to spell unfamiliar words. As an added problem, most weak spellers are inflexible in applying the right spelling strategy for the right word; for example, the child may try to spell a word like ought phonetically (using sound-symbol correspondence), when what the child needs to do is to recall the visual configuration of the word, or retrieve the word from sight memory. Children become spellers that are more efficient when they understand that there is a variety of approaches to spell different kinds of words, and when they keep a flexible approach in spelling new words. In other words, when the approach they are trying is not working, children need to remain flexible in changing the approach or the spelling technique, making sure that visual spelling strategies match visual word types, and auditory spelling strategies match auditory word types.

About the Author

The Psycho-Educational Teacher

Carmen Y. Reyes, MSE, has more than twenty years of experience as a self-contained special education teacher, resource room teacher, and educational diagnostician. Carmen is the author of 40+ books and articles in psycho-education and in alternative teaching techniques for students with low academic skills. To preview her books, read the complete collection of articles, and download a free skill-building guide, visit Carmen's blog, The Psycho-Educational Teacher.

Constructive Ideas for Teaching Addition skills.

2011-09-09T19:49:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this article is to put forward some ideas to help with the teaching of addition.
Combining groups of physical objects: for many students, this is their most basic experience of adding up. This process normally involves collecting two sets of objects, then counting how many objects there are in total. (For example, by building two towers of cubes, and then counting up every single block.) For many, this method can be too involved, particularly for those students who present attention deficit disorder. If the child cannot hold their attention for the whole of the activity, blocks will be put awry, towers will end up with additional blocks, blocks will get mixed up, and at the end, the wrong answer is arrived at. The length of the process means that if your child does not master the concept quickly, they are not likely to make progress at all. In addition, it is difficult to extend this process into a calculation that can be approached mentally: for example, try to imagine two large sets of objects in your head, and then count them all up. Even for adults, this is nearly impossible.
Simple drawings: jottings are a more useful alternative to the process described above. Write out the addition problem on a sheet of paper, and next to the first number, jot down the appropriate number of tallies (for instance, for the number 4, draw 4 tallies). Ask your student to predict how many tallies you will need to draw by the other number in the problem. When they come to the correct answer, ask them to draw the tallies. To finish with, ask how many tallies they have drawn altogether. This method is a much easier way of bringing together 2 groups, is less likely to be subject to mechanical error, and is better suited to students with poor focus. It also encourages the child to associate between what the written sum actually says, and why they are drawing a certain number of tallies.
Counting on: this is a technique based around your student's capacity to say number names. When your child has reached a stage where they know how to count to five, start asking them questions like, "what number is 1 more than..." (eg. what comes after 2 when we count?) This is actually equivalent to answering an addition problem of the type 2+1, but helps to connect the ideas of counting and addition, which is very powerful. This technique gets your student ready to use number squares and gives them the confidence to answer problems in their mind. The method can also be made more difficult, by asking, "what number is 2 more than..." When your child can confidently respond to such problems out loud, show them the question written down, and explain that this is the same as the problem you had been doing before. This will help the child to see addition and counting as fundamentally related, and that this new problem is actually something they have met before.
Playing board games: this activity can be both a mathematical learning experience as well as a pleasant pastime. Games that require a counter to be moved around a board do a lot to encourage children to count on. If the board has numbers on it, the child is able to see that the action is similar to counting out numbers aloud, or using a number line. Make a point of remembering to draw attention to the relationship between using board games and addition.
Learning number facts: usually, we rely on number facts learnt by heart to help us answer addition problems. In a nutshell, we do not have to figure out the answer to 7 and 10, we simply remember it. Having the ability to recall addition facts allows us to tackle simple maths tasks confidently. Improve your student's knowledge of known number bonds by singing nursery songs that tell stories of number. Take part in the game of matching pairs with the student, where the point of the game is identify the location of the question (for instance, 7+8) and the corresponding answer from a set of cards all turned face down. Create a set of flashcards with simple addition facts written on them, look at the cards one at a time, and ask the student for the answer, giving a good deal of applause when they give the right answer. When they are confident, expand the number of facts. Games will prevent your child perceiving addition as dull, and will build confidence.
Addition printables and worksheets: Practise makes perfect - and the right style of practice also lends more confidence. By utilizing simple worksheets, aimed towards your student's ability and attention span, you are able to significantly improve your child's ability with addition, both orally and written down. There are plenty of free internet sites that offer worksheets that help with the teaching of adding up, but it does matter what adding up worksheets you use. Ensure that the worksheets are aimed at the right level, being neither too difficult nor too easy, and are of the correct length to maintain the student's interest. You should be attempting to present questions that foster their recollection of number facts, along with a scattering of sums involving some calculation. On the occasions that the student is successful, use the opportunity to give them a lot of praise; when they make a mistake, do not appear frustrated, but briefly explain their mistake. Using adding up worksheets in a considered way can really boost your student's ability.

Crazy Love

2011-09-08T20:31:00.000-07:00

I'm am currently reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. There is an interesting exercise in Chapter 5 I thought I would share.

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Okay, are you ready for the exercise? Now, substitute your name for the word "love" or "it."

It's not meant to be demeaning or make you feel like you can't be good enough. It is just the ever so important reminder to ALWAYS first look in the mirror. Whether it is with a spouse or a student in your classroom...if you aren't obtaining the results you desire...LOOK IN THE MIRROR FIRST.

Have a wonderful Friday. Make it the best one yet!

ADHD Help in the Classroom!

2011-09-03T19:39:00.001-07:00

Things don't always go smoothly when our wonderful students come back to school. We recently had some younger elementary students not wanting to stay in their seats. Instead of continually telling them to sit down, here are some intervention ideas to treat the children with dignity and respect...while helping them become great classroom learners.
Create a "special note" cue in your building. For example, "We have a meeting at 4:00." If little Johnny is having a hard time focusing or if he needs to take a break to prevent major escalation, have him deliver this note to any teacher. It would be preferable to choose a teacher, custodian, counselor, etc., who Johnny prefers and has developed a positive rapport.
When the receiving adult receives your note, he/she will know to take a few moments with the student to provide the break he needs. When the student has deescalated or has gotten the "wiggles" out, send him back to the classroom with the note, "Thanks for the reminder!"
Try it. It is a great way to accomplish your intended goal (a focused learner) while respecting individual needs of all students! Happy Teaching!

Back to School

2011-08-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

Back to School

Whether you approach this time of year with anticipation or dread, it’s about to happen. Your child will have new teachers and classes, different rules and expectations. Children and parents can easily be overwhelmed with excitement and anxiety. Below are six ways to send your child back to school with success.

S - Supplies – Most schools provide a list of essentials for each child to bring on the first day of class. Make sure your child has exactly what is requested, and save enough cash for those supply needs that crop up the first week of class. Stock up on all types of paper, writing utensils, art supplies, notebooks and folders during the back to school sales. Gather an assortment of calculators and reference books. There is nothing that gives confidence like the satisfaction of having just the right tool for the job.

C - Communication – While summer is still in session, visit the school and meet the secretary and principal. Limit yourself to brief introductions, but offer your support to help make a great school year. Leave your name, telephone and email so the school can contact you if they need help. The first week of school, write the teacher a letter introducing your child, and briefly listing strengths and weaknesses. Share important information such as family situation and medical needs. Finally, tell the teacher you would like to meet during the second month of school to strategize ways to work together for your child’s education.

H - Habits – Children usually crave routine. A couple of weeks before school, transition children to the schedule they will follow once the year begins. Send them to bed and have them get up earlier. Adjust mealtimes. Once school is in session, quickly establish routines for homework and chore. Make it a habit to prepare the next day’s clothes, lunches, and school gear each evening.

O - Orientation – Familiarize your child with the all the places she will be during the school day. Follow the bus or car pool route. Arrange a visit to the school before it begins. Practice the route into the building. Find the bathrooms, the library, and the lunchroom. If your child is in middle or high school, let them walk their schedule until they feel comfortable. See if there are volunteer opportunities that will help your teen to feel more at home in the maze of corridors that line most campuses.

O - Organization – Buy into the adage “a place for everything, and everything in its place”. A two drawer file cabinet works well as a center to organize a child’s school/home communication, backpacks, shoes, and homework. Each afternoon, school gear and shoes go in. Before bed, add clothes, book bag, notes and homework for the next day. In the morning, everything is in one spot, and makes it easier for the child to get dressed and ready.

L - Love – Insensitive classmates, missed buses, forgotten homework and misunderstood math can make school a traumatic place. Shield your child by expressing your love over and over again. Tell her you love her. Give him a hug. Hide a love note or symbol in an Algebra book. Offer your time, your understanding, and your prayers. With the teacher as your partner, wrapping your children in love is the best way to spell a successful beginning to the school year.

About The Author

Kayla Fay is the publisher of "Who Put the Ketchup in the Medicine Cabinet?" and "24 Hour Science Projects". She and her husband live in North Carolina with their four sons. Visit Kayla at http://www.goaskmom.com or http://www.24hourscienceprojects.com.

articles@goaskmom.com

Improve Your Reading Comprehension

2011-02-24T17:53:00.000-08:00

Improve Reading Comprehension With a Four Step Process by: Jonathan Steele, RN

Would you like to improve your reading comprehension? Do you find yourself reading and re-reading a sentence or paragraph and still not remembering what you just read? Do you find that you can read and entire article and take nothing away from it? Do you find yourself day dreaming when needing to read technical information or study? Then this is for you.

You can improve both memory and comprehension with some simple changes in how you read and following four steps. There is one catch. You will have to take the time to learn how to and practice this method. This is not speed reading. This is training your mind to work the way it is designed.

Working the learning curve to improve reading comprehension can be a road block or a speed bump depending on how you look at it. So before you look at how to improve reading skills, consider why you should undertake the challenge.

To put the challenge into perspective consider a motivational story based on a 2000 year old proverb. It was about two men wanting to see who the best lumber jack in the world was. So they held a contest to determine just that.

The contest rules were simple. They were to start cutting at first glimpse of sunrise and stop at the last shimmer of sun set. No help, just man against man.

At the end of the day one man was a clear winner. The loser just couldn’t understand why he lost. He noted how the winner stopped to take breaks and refresh himself whereas he worked nonstop. The winner was truly was the best.

Wanting to learn the secret of the winner and how to improve, he started asking questions of his competitor. How did he do it?

“It was really quite simple,” the winner explained, “I did stop for breaks. The secret of my success that made the biggest difference was that while I was resting, I also sharpened my saw.”

The lesson is simple. We can sharpen our saws and improve our results or we can just work harder and have diminishing results. To sharpen our saws will require letting go of the work we want to accomplish with the end result of being more efficient at producing that work.

So how do can you increase the efficiency of your reading comprehension? You need to learn and then practice the four step process. To start the process, get a piece of paper, an index card works best. It should be blank. Also get a place free of distraction or any other sensory input. No music, no talking, no noise. Get a chair that is slightly uncomfortable. Next get something that would be fun to read however it should be informational writing.

1 First read the title. Then read the subheadings. Quickly think what you know about the subject. Only spend a couple of minutes. New memories are more easily recalled if they are connected to other older memories. This process in effect is like opening the filing cabinets of your mind. Now you’re ready to read the paragraph and start filing the information. However before you start you need to understand the process. You will be reading as fast as you can. Not speed reading. You will just read at a fast pace taking in the thoughts as they appear in the text. You will only read once. You will only read one paragraph at a time and you will cover the paragraph you just read with the index card on completion. You will not have a chance to go back. Resist any temptation to do so.

2 Once you read the paragraph, mentally review what you read and summarize it in one sentence. As a clue to help you with this, you can generally use the subject sentence as the one sentence. As you advance you will come up with more complex sentences including numbers and even statistics. As you do this, you are starting the clock of your short term memory. It should last for about 20-30 seconds. That is long enough for you to go on to the next paragraph and do the same. You are also forcing your mind to focus on what is being read. At the same time it is remembering the sentence you just formed. It will not have time to be distracted for at least 30 seconds. This in effect closes the other filing cabinets that you might be tempted to process at the same time of the reading. Our mind can process much more than we take in reading. Unless we turn off the other processes it will be nearly impossible to improve reading comprehension. On completing the first paragraph, covering it over and reciting the one sentence summation, move on to the second paragraph and repeat the process.

3 Now go back and repeat the first sentence and add to it the second sentence. You’re ready to move on to the third sentence continuing the process. Continue on with each additional paragraph, producing one sentence for each next paragraph and then progressively repeating all the sentences from the first to the last.

4 On completion of the article, summarize the entire article. Initially it will take you longer than usual to complete this process. Once you learn it however, you will find you can cut your reading time by 20 to 50 percent. More importantly, your improved reading comprehension will enable the recall of what you just read. For an even greater imprint on your mind, tell at least two people what you read. Give them a verbal summation of the entire article and eventually a summation of the entire magazine or chapter.

About The Author
© 2006 Jonathan Steele Working as an artist, a free lance public speaker, speaking coach and webmaster of a public speaking web site Jonathan Steele has taught thousands during his career. To learn more about the mind regarding both reading and listening go to http://www.speechmastery.com/mind.html

Einstein and Math

2011-02-23T19:13:00.001-08:00

My daughter is currently doing a report in the public school. She chose Einstein and isn't allowed to use the internet! WOW!

Einstein And Your Homeschool Math Curriculum by: Marin Lipowitz

Albert Einstein, arguably the greatest mathematician/scientist of our or any time, was by no means an honor student. School was not to his liking, and he did not excel in his classes. But he was able in spite of (or perhaps because of) that "shortcoming" to successfully nurture an inner genius that was prolific, productive, and formidable.

A homeschool environment is perhaps then the most likely option for children whose particular genius does not fare well in the classroom. Here’s what Einstein had to say about exams, "One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year." It’s possible to extrapolate this to a child who may be under the considerable stress of math fears or phobias. An obvious solution could be a homeschool math curriculum that’s an antidote to such a debilitating, stressful environment.

Here’s a few more of Einstein’s thoughts on education and formal schooling, "The only thing that interfered with my learning is my education." And, "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school." Perhaps a differentiation between schooling and education is relevant here. The root of the word education is educere from the Latin, "to lead out." Whereas schooling implies sameness and a sort of herding together, as in “a school of fish,” education can be seen as discovering the genius within and "leading it out" into the world. Your homeschool math curriculum can reflect this.

Mathematics should be a joy, not a chore. This is its true nature! And the math phobias and fears that are all too prevalent today can be much alleviated by two things: a curious, interested, adventuresome approach, and a tolerance for mistakes. Both of these qualities should be present in teacher and student alike. Einstein said, "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." And, "I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

Fear of making mistakes is perhaps the greatest cause of math anxiety. One way to create a climate that’s more friendly and tolerant of so-called mistakes is to encourage exploration in all of your homeschool math curriculum lessons. Honing the skill of estimation is a good example of guessing at the answer, along with a recognition that there can be more than one right answer.

Teaching a new concept with an exploratory rather than a definitive, finished attitude is another way to create a friendlier learning environment. Here’s an example. When first teaching the concept of fractions, use something concrete as a model, like a piece of fruit. Ask a lot of questions as you explore the possibilities. As you cut the fruit up, ask what is happening at each step, so the students arrive at an understanding of the whole and its parts on their own. They are constructing the lesson along with you the teacher, so the innate knowledge within them is growing naturally rather than the finished concept being foisted upon them without their making a contribution to the learning process.

As Einstein said, "Most teachers waste their time by asking questions which are intended to discover what a pupil does not know, whereas the true art of questioning has for its purpose to discover what the pupil knows or is capable of knowing." You can lessen math anxiety by conveying that even great geniuses had their moments of struggling with math. As Einstein said, "Do not worry about your difficulties in mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."

Yes, math should be a joy, not a chore. When its innate fun and beauty is included in all of your homeschool math lessons, this becomes possible. A willingness of the student to exert an effort, to gladly explore and learn all there is to know of the world and its wonder, is at the root of true education. To this, Einstein said, "Never regard your study as a duty, but as the enviable opportunity to learn to know the liberating influence of beauty in the realm of the spirit for your own personal joy and to the profit of the community to which your later work belongs." That says it all! And could be the essence and worthy goal of any homeschool curriculum.

Einstein was as much a philosopher as a mathematician/scientist. The sign hanging on his office wall at Princeton said,"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." Make your homeschool math curriculum count with lessons that honor the imagination and the creative genius that lives within each of your students.

About The Author
This article has been written by an expert associated with Math By Hand, a leading company providing homeschool math curriculum ships worldwide. Website: http://www.mathbyhand.com/

Top 3 Home Remedies - Apple Cider Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda

2011-02-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

If you had to sit around and determine the absolute best home remedies that are around it might take years to do, however there are several different options and choices that are accessible to you.
With several hundreds of different remedies available to try there are a plethora of options and some are going to be much more effective than others are. This is something that is only natural, but should always be expected. If you really wanted to know some of the most popular remedies around it would take hours to list of, rather than giving a never ending list we shall instead look over several different ingredients that are used quite frequently.
Apple cider vinegar would have to lead the pack amongst most popular home remedy. This is something that is used in a very large assortment of home remedies and never fails to get the attention of most people who are citing off their most popular remedy. The usages for apple cider vinegar are enormous; they can range from helping to control allergies that can range from pets and even foods, to helping to reduce the occurrence of sinus infections. There are even some usages that they apple cider vinegar can work to reduce the occurrence of fatigue, acid reflux, sore throats and even more. As you can imagine, this is something that you should always keep in your house so that you are fully prepared.
Hydrogen peroxide is another quite common home remedy that is extremely effective. Using it you can do anything from treat wounds and clean them to also clean out excessive earwax. Additional usages can even include using it to help build stamina and also prevent the flu! This is not something that is well known to most people, but the massive usages for hydrogen peroxide in addition to the cheapness of the potential home remedies that you can easily use.
Baking soda is another hugely popular home remedy. Taking advantage of the ability to use baking soda in a wide variety of usages will allow you to really reap a lot of benefits from the treatment. A small amount of baking soda mixed with some water makes a fabulous facial scrub. Other usages include treating stains and even killing bacteria. These small treatment options are treat for helping to avoid some of the problems that are otherwise associated with stains, smells, acne and problem skin as well as also treating bacteria.
Putting together the perfect home remedy is not always easy to do, but there are some ingredients that are typically extremely effective.
Starting out using home remedies with these extremely effective remedies is always a great place to get started since you can increase your own confidence to try many of the more advanced remedies that are not always quite so common. This ability to get started with something truly successful will allow you to really know how much fun you are having venturing into the world of home remedies without feeling as if you are completely in over your head.
Small ventures into home remedies is quite successful and starting with these three extremely popular choices make a perfect place to get started for anyone. From the simplest remedies for skin to those that help to prevent and treat the flu this is a great set of versatile options.
About the Author1000s of Affordable Health,Medical,Fitness and Beauty Products here -TradePlanets.com,EarlyPlanet.com,WorldHealthPages.comandWorldFitnessPages.com

Improve Test Scores!

2011-02-12T13:33:00.000-08:00

Test.

It's a loaded word. Important...something to care about...something that can mean so much we get apprehensive thinking about it.

Tests are important, especially to school children. A test may measure a basic skill. It can affect a year's grade. Or, if it measures the ability to learn, it can affect a child's placement in school. So it's important to do well on tests.

Besides, the ability to do well on tests can help throughout life in such things as getting a driver's license, trying out for sports, or getting a job. Without this ability, a person can be severely handicapped.

Your child can develop this ability, and you can help the child do it. Just try the simple techniques described in this report.

Why Test?
It's helpful for a child to understand why schools give tests, and to know the different kinds of tests.

Tests are yardsticks. Schools use them to measure, and then improve education. Some tell schools that they need to strengthen courses or change teaching techniques. Other tests compare students by schools, school districts, or cities. All tests determine how well "your child" is doing. And that's very important.

Most of the tests your child will take are "teacher-made." That is, teachers design them. These tests are associated with the grades on report cards. They help measure a student's progress--telling the teacher and the student whether he or she is keeping up with the class, needs extra help, or, perhaps, is far ahead of other students.

Now and then your child will take "standardized" tests. These use the same standards to measure student performance across the country. Everyone takes the same test according to the same rules. This makes it possible to measure each student's performance against that of others. The group with whom a student's performance is compared is a "norm group" and consists of many students of the same age or grade who took the same test.

Ask the School
It could be useful for you to know the school's policies and practices on giving standardized tests and the use of test scores. Ask your child's teacher or guidance counselor about the kinds of tests your child will take during the year--and the schedule for testing.
One other thing: some schools give students practice in taking tests. This helps to make sure that they are familiar with directions and test format. Find out whether your child's school gives "test-taking practice" on a regular basis or will provide such practice if your child needs it.

Avoid Test Anxiety
It's good to be concerned about taking a test. It's not good to get "test anxiety." This is excessive worry about doing well on a test and it can mean disaster for a student.
Students who suffer from test anxiety tend to worry about success in school, especially doing well on tests. They worry about the future, and are extremely self-critical. Instead of feeling challenged by the prospect of success, they become afraid of failure. This makes them anxious about tests and their own abilities. Ultimately, they become so worked up that they feel incompetent about the subject matter or the test.

For more information and printables to help your child or students study for the next test, click here: http://www.promotingsuccess.etsy.com/

Handmade Valentine's Day Gifts

2011-02-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

Stores and florists spend a great deal of time, money and effort promoting their products as perfect for Valentine's Day. This is done for good reason as most people turn to commercially available products on Valentine's Day to give a great gift to their loved ones.

However, with a little effort you may find you can give your partner a really great gift on Valentine's Day which comes straight from your heart. This can be done in the form of a homemade gift. Despite what you may be thinking it does not take a great deal of time or talent to make these great gifts. This article will provide a few ideas for homemade gifts you can give to your loved one on Valentine's Day.

A scrapbook is one of the most obvious homemade gifts you can give to your partner on Valentine's Day. It is also one of the easiest homemade gifts you can make and also one of the gifts which is most likely to be greatly appreciated by your partner. This is a great combination if you want to give your partner a spectacular gift on Valentine's Day.

To make a great scrapbook start out by selecting the pictures you want to use in the scrapbook. You can select pictures of each of you individually, pictures of the two of you together, pictures of places the two of you have visited together or any combination of the pictures previously mentioned. Once you select a series of pictures you really like there will likely be an obvious theme for the scrapbook. Once this theme emerges you can search for the scrapbook as well as accessories for the scrapbook such as stickers, ribbons or other graphics. Finally, assembling the scrapbook is as easy as gluing the pictures and accessories to the page and putting everything together in an order which makes sense.

Homemade candles are another great gift you can give your partner for Valentine's Day. Making candles is actually quite simple. You can find kits in craft supply stores which will not only include everything you need to make a great candle or two but also provide you with simple step by step instructions on how to melt the wax, insert the wick, pour the candle and allow the candle to set before releasing it from the mold. Also, there will likely be the opportunity to use dyes and perfumes to create a candle of a customized color and scent. When adding color or scent to a candle, care should be taken to add the dye or perfume at the appropriate time for the best results.

One final idea for a homemade Valentine's Day gift is a CD filled with your partner's favorite music or a DVD with pictures of videos of the two of you together. You can even combine the videos with movie clips or music which you think fits well with the rest of the images or video. This may sound like it is extremely difficult but it really is not. With the technological advancements being made, many of us would be surprised to learn that we can do a lot of these things on our own computers at home. However, if you are having a great deal of trouble, you might want to consider consulting a friend or family member for advice on how to accomplish your goal. This way you can still give your loved one a homemade gift for Valentine's Day but you will have some help with the most difficult parts of the project.

About the Author
Ryan Smith is the owner of MyCirclePal.Com, one of the Net's hottest dating sites! Post your free profile today at http://www.mycirclepal.com/

Math Homework Help

2011-02-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Adding up: Mathematics Printables And Activites That Work.

By: Sarah Currigan

A large number of students find addition really hard. The purpose of this article is to offer practical ideas to help teachers and parents provide a solid grounding in addition. Playing board games: this activity can be both fun as well as a learning experience. Games that ask the player to move pieces] around a board, such as snakes and ladders, do a lot to encourage children to count on. If the board has numbers on it, your child is able to see that the action is the same as counting aloud, or making use of a number square. When using board games, remember to draw attention to the relationship between this and adding up.

Handling money: allowing students to become familiar with money is an excellent way of encouraging the attainment of early addition skills. To start with, put out a few pennies, and help the student to count the coins, by tapping the coins in turn and counting aloud. For pennies, this is isn't difficult at all, as you only need to count up how many coins there are. Now increase the difficulty of the activity by adding two cents stuck together. Tell your student that when this coin is reached, you are going to count it twice as it is a "two". Go through the coins like you did earlier, tapping each as you go, but tap the 2 twice. Put in ever more 2's, repeatedly counting each one the relevant number of times. This simple activity will help your child add ever longer chains of money without using any apparatus, is a confidence booster, and help them see the very real connection between counting and addition.

Worksheets and printables: practice makes perfect, but the right form of practice also gives greater confidence. You will be able to vastly improve your student's ability with addition, both mentally and practically, by making use of worksheets and printables that have been differentiated for the student's skill level. Although there are many free and paid websites that offer worksheets to support addition, remember to pick any maths worksheets you use carefully. Ensure that the worksheets are brief enough to keep your student's focus, and are aimed at the right level. You should really be presenting a few sums that involve some working out, along with a larger number of problems that foster their ability to remember addition bonds. On the occasions that your student finds the right answer, use the opportunity to provide a lot of praise. If they make an error, don't focus too long on that question, but move on quickly. Although they will obviously need to learn from their mistakes, children succeed better when they feel strongly about addition. In short, using addition worksheets and printables in a considered way can really improve your student's ability.

Counting on: this is a strategy that is connected to your student's capacity to recall number names. When your child is able to count to 6, practise asking them questions similar to: which number comes after... For instance, when you are counting, what number follows three? This is actually the same as finding the solution to a sum like 1+1, but highlights the relationship between the concepts of addition and counting. Using this technique gets your student ready to use number squares and helps give them the confidence to answer problems in their head. The strategy can also be extended, with questions like, "what number is two more than..." Once your student can answer these problems out loud, give them the question written down, and explain that this is the same as the activity you had been looking at earlier. This should allow your student to appreciate that counting and addition are fundamentally related, and that this "new" problem is, in effect, something they have already met.

Learning addition facts off by heart: as a rule, we rely on facts we have committed to memory to help us solve addition problems, especially when working in our minds. In short, we do not have to compute the solution to 7 plus 3, we can remember it. We can find the answer to adding problems confidently and easily because we have the ability to remember addition facts. Singing songs that include number stories is a good way to widen your student's knowledge of number bonds. Try taking part in pelmanism (matching pairs games) with the child, where the object of the game is remember the location of the question (for instance, 0+5) and its corresponding answer from a small set of cards all turned face down. Another idea is to try playing bingo with the student; however, instead of just saying numbers out loud , ask a question such as, "The answer to 0 and 5". Providing an activity that is entertaining will stop the child from looking at addition as boring, and make them more likely to engage.

Sarah Currigan is the co-author of http://www.worksheetgenius.com/, a free website full of printable worksheets, puzzles and activities that can be differentiated and randomized at the touch of a button.

Facebook Friends

2011-02-08T19:08:00.000-08:00

Please join me on Facebook!

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Math from the Positive Side: Dealing with Anti-Math Bias

2011-02-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

This article points out the negative bias against the subject of Math in school and at home. The author, a long-time classroom teacher and now online math tutor, details how to overcome personal frustration and the anti-math bias of others when studying math. This is how to stay positive and rise above the roadblocks to higher confidence and success in the world of a developing math student.

Anti-math bias is a prevalent problem in our culture today. The attitude that math is hard, math is not worthy of study at higher level, that not everyone can be naturally successful at it hampers our ability to convince our children to work hard at it. As a result, too many high school students don’t take enough math classes before graduation, and the poor attitude towards math as a subject gets passes on to the next generation.

One of the contributing causes of this poor attitude about the subject of mathematics is that there actually is a clinical phobia that affects many math students. Even though it is a small part of the population, “arithmophobia” or “numerophobia” influences how some people think of numbers, calculations, and studying math in class. The author Marilyn Burns, in her book “Math: Facing an American Phobia” states that 2/3 of adults have hatred and deep fear of math. While I’m not sure her quantities are correct, this fear of numbers influence how parents talk to children, and accept failure at school at certain levels.

Similarly, in the book “Telling Math: Origins of Math Aversion and Anxiety”, Susan S. Stodolosky tells of how this fear of numbers leads to math avoidance and aversion of the subject.
This portion of people does need some professional help for their phobia of math, and it is part of the equation. But what about the rest of our parents and their school-age children?
The truth is that there is a misunderstanding about numeracy in our society: achieving a level of mathematical literacy is a survival skill. The “innumerate” population cannot understand connections, analysis, and patterns found in our world. They have difficulty comprehending probability events, making informed business and financial decisions, and predicting the future. Anyone who can succeed in school and become mathematically literate is empowered to take control of their own lives at a much higher level. How can parents influence their children to take on this challenge?

The answer lies in breaking down the mystery of mathematics. If studying mathematics could be likened to learning a foreign language, it wouldn’t seem so impossible. Like language learning, age makes a difference. Younger brains are wired better for this task, and it is made more difficult as we get older. Also, mature learners attempting to master a language (or a math class) might have emotional blocks and bad habits to overcome.

What do young children do when they are learning how to speak a language? If faced with a challenge, do they give up? No, they keep practicing, keep rehearsing, look around for examples and help to understand. In essence, they get right back up after they fall; they get back on the bicycle and try again.

Why don’t math students persevere? Because they hear all around them that it is OK to fail, that math is not logical or understandable, and that the best strategy is just to bide their time until they don’t have to do it anymore. “Eventually, it will just go away and we won’t have to deal with it.”

I think the root cause of all this is that children just don’t practice the basics enough, aren’t given the support and tools they need, and are given excuses to give up. We would never see this in young kids learning to talk, walk, or young adults learning how to navigate through the train schedule in a new city. Why do we accept it for math students working their way through the math curriculum structures at school?

The adults in a child’s life role model proper or improper attitudes towards math and numbers. Listen to the family and peer conversations: hearing phrases like “I hated math, too” OR “just get through it, soon you won’t have to do it anymore” OR “some people just get it, some never will” don’t help the situation.The solution to this prevalent problem is just a decision away. Students can learn math, must overcome the daily confusions and challenges of learning formal arithmetic, algebra, and higher levels of math, and need to see the worthwhile finish line. It will be worth it, and the cycle can be broken!

About the Author:

With more than 25 years teaching Math and English in public school systems, Terry VanNoy lends his expertise, creativity, and inspiration to students and home schooling families of all ages needing extra math support. He owns an online tutoring/teaching/consulting business called “Math Class with Terry V”, and serves students from the U.S., Canada, and other countries. Visit his online classroom at http://http://www.mathwithmrvonline.com/ for a consultation and free first session!

A new way to grade: Standards replace letters in Waukee

2011-02-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

Letter grades will be eliminated for Waukee middle school students next fall as the district changes assessment practices for its sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.Students will receive statuses of "beginning," "developing," "secure" or "exceeds" in 10 to 12 objectives - or standards - per subject instead of traditional letter grades.Waukee teachers say the change will give pupils, parents and educators a more accurate picture of student progress, and better measure a child's strengths and weaknesses.

Nationally, more schools are turning to standards-based grades as a way to improve student performance, said Doug Reeves, founder of the Leadership and Learning Center, an education research group based in Colorado. Other school districts in Iowa, including Ankeny and Des Moines parochial schools, are considering or using some form of standards-based grading.But some Waukee parents worry that doing away with A's and B's could zap motivation and leave kids unprepared for high school when grades will play an important role in their post-secondary options.

Most schools nationally do use a combination of traditional and standards-based grades, according to Reeves, which allows parents to still associate a letter grade with their child's performance while seeing what specific concepts they are struggling to grasp. And that leads to increased achievement, he said."It's a very emotional topic," Reeves said. "A big thing is it's not standards versus grades. It's, 'Are we giving parents and students better information to improve their performance?' "

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What do you think about standards-based grading?

To read more information, go here: http://bit.ly/eqW9uq

Ultimate Mental Math Trick

2011-02-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

Ultimate Mental Math Trick – How To Tell The Day For Any Date by: Stephen Tan

Can you tell the day for any date without a calendar at hand? Is that really possible? It is actually a simple skill that any one can learn. It is also very practical as you may always consider your availability for an activity or an event or you just need to know the day of anyone’s birthday. All you need is a little bit of practice, then you can quickly and easily tell the day of the week of practically any date in history or in the future.

Here’s the Secret

You may need to memorize some codes to learn this trick, but they are very easy to remember.

First, we assign a code number to every day of the week.

Monday – 1

Tuesday – 2

Wednesday – 3

Thursday – 4

Friday – 5

Saturday – 6

Sunday – 7 or 0

Second, we assign a code number for every month of the year. These month codes are used for every year with two exceptions. In a leap year, the month code for January is 5* and for February is 1*.

The month codes with the corresponding mnemonics are as follows:

January – 6* (WINTER has 6 letters)

February – 2* (2nd month)

March – 2 (You march with 2 feet)

April – 5 (APRIL has 5 letters)

May – 0 (May0 for mayonnaise)

June – 3 (JUN has 3 letters)

July – 5 (JULIE has 5 letters)

August – 1 (August begins with an A, the 1st letter)

September – 4 (SEPT has 4 letters)

October – 6 (Halloween TRICKS or TREATS have 6 letters each)

November – 2 (2nd last month)

December – 4 (XMAS has 4 letters)

Third, we assign a code number for every year. For example, the year code for 2011 is 6.

The Formula Day of the week = (Month code + Date + Year Code) mod 7

Note: mod 7 indicates the remainder you get when you divide by 7.

Examples What is the day for July 16, 2011?

Day of the week = (Month code + Date + Year Code) mod 7

Day of the week = (5 + 16 + 6) mod 7 = 27 mod 7 = 6 (Therefore, it’s a Saturday)

What is the day for December 25, 2011?

Day of the week = (Month code + Date + Year Code) mod 7

Day of the week = (4 + 25 + 6) mod 7 = 35 mod 7 = 0 (Therefore, it’s a Sunday)

Hooray! With constant practice, you are now ready to be the walking calendar. Amaze your friends, colleagues, students, teachers and everyone else.

For further information on how to find the year code, check out my blog at http://www.themathblog.com/.

About The Author
Stephen Tan has been teaching mathematics for almost ten years now. He has coached and trained students to compete in mathematics competition and through his leadership has won various mathematics awards. His teaching of mathematics is fun and very logical according to many students. He also teaches students to solve mathematics problems the shortest and easiest way. And now he reveals his secret on how to tell the day for any date without the aid of a calendar.

The author invites you to visit:http://www.themathblog.com/

6 Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension | Scholastic.com

2011-02-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

6 Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension Scholastic.com

6 Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension
Help your child retain what he reads — a crucial skill, especially as he gets older and needs to glean important information from textbooks.

1. Have him read aloud. This forces him to go slower, which gives him more time to process what he reads. Plus, he's not only seeing the words, he's hearing them, too. You can also take turns reading aloud.

2. Provide the right kinds of books. Make sure your child gets lots of practice reading books that aren't too hard. She should recognize at least 90 percent of the words without any help. Stopping any more often than that to figure out a word makes it tough for her to focus on the overall meaning of the story.

3. Reread to build fluency. To gain meaning from text, your child needs to read quickly and smoothly - a skill known as fluency. By the end of 2nd grade, for example, your child should be able to read 90 words a minute. Rereading familiar, simple books gives your child practice at decoding words quickly, so she'll become more fluent.

4. Talk to the teacher. If your child is struggling mightily with comprehension, he may need more help with his reading — for example, building his vocabulary or practicing phonics skills.
Supplement class reading. If your child's class is studying a particular theme, look for easy-to-read books or magazines on the topic. Some prior knowledge will help her make her way through tougher classroom texts.

5. Talk about what he's reading. This "verbal processing" helps him remember and think through the themes of the book. Ask questions before, during, and after a reading session. For example: Before: "What are you interested in about this book? What doesn't interest you?" During: "What's going on in the book? Is it turning out the way you thought it would? What do you think will happen next?" After: "Can you summarize the book? What did you like about it? What other books does it remind you of?"

You Can Improve Your Child's Attitude and Behavior

2010-02-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

There are no quick fixes to a child or teen with behavior problems, but the only, and I mean ONLY, way to improve your child's behavior is YOU - not the school, not the counselors, church, or any other outside influence! This article explains.
By Kate Carpenter

Child and teenager defiance and misbehaving can embarrass you, destroy your home, make you feel like a failure as a parent, and just plain drive you nuts! However, it does not have to be that way. There are no quick fixes to a child or teen with behavior problems, but the only, and I mean ONLY, way to improve your child's behavior is YOU - not the school, not the counselors, church, or any other outside influence!
It is your attention, your reactions that your child or teen is seeking. Unfortunately, children sometimes crave attention so much that they perceive negative attention from you as beneficial as positive attention. After all, it is better than no attention! Your child is not going to grow out of it. If your child's behavior is bothering you now, what do you think it will be like living with a defiant teenager?
Years ago, I was a high school art teacher in a very small, isolated town. The administration believed in the policy of 'busy hands are happy hands' and, therefore, placed most of the hard-to-manage students in my classroom. I had no idea this was being done. I started the school year with the philosophy that every student who walked through my classroom door had value and treated each one positively.
Several months later, I was in the teacher's lounge when one of the long time teachers said, 'That Tom Smith is nothing but trouble! I told him the first day he walked into my class that I knew about him and was going to be watching him.' I could not believe it! I had Tom in my class and he never had created one second of disruption. I even described Tom to this teacher to make sure it was the same one. Yep, same one, different behavior - determined by how the adult approached him - positively or negatively. That was enough to sell me on the powers of positive reinforcement.
You have most probably been focusing on your child's inappropriate or 'bad' behavior. It is easy to do when it seems it is never ending. Part of your child's motivation is to get a reaction from you! It is crucial, though by no means easy, to stay calm and patient as your child misbehaves. If your child is not getting a reaction from you, your child is not getting the attention he or she craves. This is a very difficult step in changing your child's behavior to the positive. It will take time and practice from you to be successful, but it will be worth the effort.
Along with ignoring the undesirable behavior, it is essential for you to focus on acceptable behavior. Even small events need to be praised and recognized as soon as they occur. Keep an eye out for any and all appropriate behavior your child exhibits, and acknowledge it with praise. Using positive reinforcement to strengthen a desired behavior is easy.
Just watch and wait for the acceptable behavior to occur, then immediately reinforce it with praise, a pat on the back or a special privilege. Sometimes, but not every time, reward your child for acceptable behavior. It does not have to be much - a juice box, extra game time on the computer, a trip to the store with you. Just saying, 'great job', 'wow!' or 'thank you', has a positive effect on your child. For that matter, acknowledge your spouse's accomplishments and actions positively while you are at it, and you will reap the benefits!
Your child does want to please you. Sometimes children just do not understand how. You must teach them by positive reinforcement. Your child only knows he or she is getting the attention he or she craves - it is a basic human instinct. As your child discovers how much better he or she feels after receiving positive reinforcement from you, your child will begin to seek it out. It will not happen overnight, it is an ongoing process and you must be consistent.
Your child, and your spouse, mirror your attitude, negative, indifferent, or positive. Do not ever forget that. Write a note or two to yourself to remind you to stay calm and look for the positive. Tape the notes where you will see them - the refrigerator, bathroom mirror, by the phone. After all the time your child has been trained to expect a reaction from his or her unacceptable behavior, it will take time, patience, and repetition of positive reinforcement to break the cycle and develop new habits. I know you can do it! It will make your life and your child's life so much easier and better, once the pattern of positive reinforcement becomes automatic in your life.
Keep a watchful eye for your child being good. It could have a profound effect on the atmosphere in your home. Whatever it takes, I assure you it will be worth the effort you make!

About the Author:For more support, resources and help to end your child's fighting, arguing and talking back, visit www.squidoo.com/ImproveBehavior. Article Source: 1st Rate Articles - http://1stRateArticles.com

Preparing for Preschool

2009-08-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

Parents And Children : Both Needs To Prepare For Preschool
by Sudha Gupta

Recently, an American research has revealed that people who did household chores as kids were much better adjusted, with warmer relationships and better social and family lives than those who were not given any responsibility or kept away from housework. The connection between housework and future happiness may not be clear immediately, but when one thinks about it, it does make sense in many ways. When one really thinks about it, it makes sense in many ways.

• Doing small tasks together strengthens the family bond. With the number of families where both parents work increasing, the matter of giving the right amount of attention to children becomes significant. With the child helping you in regular routine tasks after you come home, the time you spend together increases. Intimate talks or affectionate wordless communication can take place while working together harmoniously. Neither does the child nag you for attention nor do you feel frustrated about not giving him enough time.

• Doing housework instils a sense of responsibility in the child. It teaches kids how to contribute to family life. They become self-reliant and independent from an early age. Not only do they learn new skills but also learn to share and co-operate, realising that they are a valued and useful family member.

• No child is too small to help. Even a two year old can be taught to carry her dirty plate to the kitchen. As they grow older, they can learn to sort the laundry, learning about colours and sizes in the process. Soon they can fetch and carry, run small errands, make beds or lay the table. You need to organise and plan age-appropriate chores for them so that they grow into skillful, happy and responsible adults.

• Show them how instead of telling them what. Try to make every little chore fun. This way the child's interest will be retained. Break down the task into small parts and demonstrate it one at a time. For instance, show her how to clean her room while telling her about it. "First we make the beds, then we put away the clothes and shoes, then we arrange the toys." This will make her understand and she'll be able to manage it herself the next time you ask her to clean her room.

• Always shower praise. Appreciate and reward your child's contribution. Rewards can be in form of hugs or small treats but never give money as bribe. This will send out completely wrong signals. Praise her work or tell others about it in her hearing. This will reinforce positive feelings.

For your parenting related queries, write to the renowned parenting expert Sudha Gupta at sudha_gupta@mothersprideonline.com Selected questions will win 'Celebrate Childhood' by Sudha Gupta. HAPPY PARENTING

Click below for more articles http://www.presidiumonline.com http://www.mothersprideonline.com

About The Author
As an educationist, she has single-handedly revolutionized pre-school education. Her thoughts have inspired parents and teachers to look at early childhood education from a new perspective. Her emphasis on overall development of child and not just academics has opened new window for tiny tots to blossom into extraordinary beings. Now this visionary has set her eyes to transform formal education system through Presidium, a proposed senior secondary school. As an expert on parenting, she has given parenting its due importance and popularity. She conducts seminars and orientations regularly to guide parents about positive parenting. Her mission to transform parenting does not limit to a few thousand parents whose children pass out of various branches of Mother’s Pride but millions of parents across the country through her publications in leading newspapers and magazines. As a social activist, Sudha Gupta’s concern for the society and country is evident not only in her writing, but takes practical shape in the form of a NGO called Sparsh. Sparsh has so far reached out to millions of poor, needy, mentally and physically challenged children as well as generous contributions have been made as aid to families of Kargil martyrs and Tsunami victims. In just a few years, Mrs. Gupta has achieved more than what would ordinarily take a lifetime. Mother’s Pride is headed by the renowned educationist and sought after parenting expert Mrs. Sudha Gupta. Her vision encompasses not only children but parents, teachers and the society on the whole.

Visit the author's web site at:http://mothersprideonline.com

Shopping on a Budget

2009-08-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

Shopping for clothing, accessories, shoes and more can be tight on a family's budget no matter what the national economic situation is. Even when times are great, its a good idea to get more for your money. I used to just go shop right off of the racks, whatever was available that I liked. After being chided by friends repeatedly, I finally started to understand what they meant. Let's say I had $60-$70 to spend. We all know that isn't going to buy very much. Depending on where I choose to spend it, I may get an outfit out of that. Sometimes that won't buy just a pair of jeans or a skirtLet's imagine I spend that same $60-$70 with a plan in mind, and don't mind bargain hunting to get the best deal. In that case, I honestly could get two or three outfits for that. Once, on a bargain hunt, I got a nice dress, two blouses, and a pair of shorts for $25. That's right, I said $25! So how did I do it?

I think everyone is pretty aware of clearance racks at stores, but how much attention do you pay to them? I found an end of season clearance sale at a major department store and practically the entire store was on clearance. The great thing is, I live in an area where it stays warm longer than the official end of summer, so I was able to wear those great finds for several months before the actual end of the season. So, yes, the clearance rack is a great way to save on shopping. But, what if you don't live in an area where it stays warm longer than the season? You can still take advantage of these deals, it just takes some planning ahead. Seriously, if you can get all of that for $25, grab it for next season and just wait. That's a great way to save on Halloween costumes as well. Shop the clearance when the season is over, and you've got next year's outfit. Just don't forget to buy it in a size bigger, because obviously your child will have grown by the next year. There are some other ways besides clearance racks that a shopper can find a bargain. One is to realize that shops try to create urgency to get get you to buy now. They make those sales end at a certain time on purpose! They want you to feel like you're going to miss it. So the best way to combat that is planning ahead, and not being in a hurry. Be willing to walk away from a sale if need be. Chances are, that sale will end and that item will end up on the clearance rack marked down further than the sale. Of course, this is a risky strategy if you fall in love with a certain item. There is also the chance that someone else will grab up the deal or beat you to the clearance and you won't get the item. So try not to get too attached to one thing. Pick out several items you'd like to have and don't freak out if one of them isn't there when it finally gets marked down. But think of the benefits. In one case, I saw a great dress on the clearance rack, but I had already picked out other items that used up my $25 budget for the day. So, even though I tried it on and it looked fabulous, I left it on the rack. Not to mention it was $22 and would have been my only purchase for the day. Anyway, a week or two later, I was back in the same store and the dress was still there, only this time it was $7! At that point I was glad I had walked away. I still got the dress and for $15 less!

Thrift stores are another way a bargain shopper can make their money stretch further. A lot of people find it embarrassing to shop at a thrift store, but there's no need to. You have to be willing to look through the racks, but you can find things that people obviously bought and wore once (or not at all) before they donated. If you live in an area where the donations are not as nice, maybe thrift stores are not right for you, but you should at least check it out. If there's not a thrift store near you, or the donations are not as nice, look for outlets. They can be a money saver too. It is still brand new items, they just never sold off of the original rack and had to be moved out.

Don't forget shopping online. If you've never tried it, shopping online can be a great way to find the best bargains. You can find items that aren't available in stores, and possibly even get free shipping. Look for online coupon codes to your favorite stores, and try to combine offers when possible. For instance, if there is a minimum purchase requirement for free shipping, and that same store has a coupon code, and has sale items, you could shop the sale items, use the coupon code, and get free shipping. If you are having trouble meeting the minimum order requirement you could get together with a friend and make a purchase together and both reap the benefits. Often times online coupon codes last longer than regular ones, so find out when it expires and don't worry about waiting to use it at a more convenient time if necessary. Whatever you do, have a game plan before you shop. Set a limit of spending and stick to it, even if that means walking away (or clicking away in the case of internet shopping). This can make shopping a fund experience rather than a stressful one. You're on a treasure hunt! So, enjoy yourself and reap the rewards.

About The Author
Laura Taff is a stay at home mom and the owner of http://www.simplychicshopper.com

Kids and Money

2009-08-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

What To Tell Your Kids About Money – The 7 Essential Lessons by: Rachel Incoll

If I had a dollar for every time I have been asked by a parent what to tell your kids about money, I’d be a millionaire. There are many different aspects of money management you can & should tell your children about. Here I will share with you what I believe are seven of the most important principles:

1. Money can be exchanged for goods or services.
This is one of the first few lessons you should teach your child once they are old enough to understand – usually around the age of 3 years. Next time you go down to the corner store to buy one or two items, let your child hand the money to the cashier. By doing so, they will gain a greater appreciation of the concept of being able to exchange money for things you want or need.
2. One should be careful with money.
Some people I know, seem to think that any coins with a value under 50 cents are just too small to be bothered using, and so when cleaning out their loose change from around the house will simply throw these smaller coins in the bin. What a waste! Encourage your child to be careful with all denominations of money, and show them how those small coins can add up, by starting a family small coins box. Maybe you could use the money to fund small family outings (a trip to the shop to get ice creams).

3. Money has to be earned.
There are many people in the world these days that don’t seem to have ever learned this lesson. They sit around home and expect handouts so they can live, or turn to a life of crime to fund their existence. Be careful not to give your child money every time he or she asks, without expecting anything in return i.e. completion of household chores.

4. Encourage one-third savings, one-third donations, one-third spending.
The exact proportions in which your child divides their money are up to each individual family to decide, based on their beliefs and the needs of the child. This can quite easily be achieved by providing them with 3 piggy banks or moneyboxes – one for spending, one for saving & one for donating.

5. Avoid borrowing money wherever possible.
It is always much harder to repay money that has been borrowed, than to save your money. Some loans, such as home loans, tend to be unavoidable though. A good rule of thumb is if you don’t have the cash to buy it, you can’t afford it!

6. Money isn’t your best friend so don’t let it control your life.
Quite simply, try not to become so over committed with your finances, that you are forced to work 60 to 70 hours a week to continue the lifestyle. If you do, then you are letting the money control your life. You don’t usually need the fancy car (and car loan) or overseas holiday (and personal loan). All these things are nice, but only if you can easily afford them!

7. Show them how to budget & live within their means.
This is one of the most important skills that your child must know, that so many people don’t seem to know how to do. Recent surveys have shown, that many people are spending 10% to 20% above what they earn. They are earning enough money to fund their lifestyle, but they simply aren’t budgeting it, and so are wasting large amounts of money each week.

With these seven lessons under their belt, they will be off to a good start, but there are many more money skills that your child will benefit enormously from learning. Visit Kids Money Tips to find more simple tips & tools, along with fun worksheets, printable charts & exciting games, you can use to help your child manage their money more effectively.

About The Author
Rachel Incoll is the author of Kids Money Tips. She has helped show thousands of parents how they can teach their children everything they need to know about money in just a few simple steps. Visit her site http://www.kidsmoneytips.com to find out how your child can learn to save & manage their money more effectively. Sign-up for her free newsletter, & receive 10 bonus worksheets.

Raising Great Kids

2009-04-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

Throughout time, societies have recognized the need to educate the coming generation of adults to pass on knowledge and skills. Recorded history from long before the present era emphasizes that education must also develop character.

One of the great education reformers, Horace Mann, in the 1840s, helped to improve instruction in classrooms nationwide, advocating that character development was as important as academics in American schools. The United States Congress, recognizing the importance of this concept, authorized the Partnerships in Character Education Program in 1994. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 renews and re-emphasizes this tradition—and substantially expands support for it. Indeed, one of the six goals of the Department of Education is to "promote strong character and citizenship among our nation's youth" (Strategic Plan 2002-2007). To reach this goal, the Department of Education joins with state education agencies and school districts across our country to provide vital leadership and support to implement character education. Finally, a parent is a child's first and most important teacher. This is why NCLB recognizes parents' vital role in education!

Research indicates that children take values seriously only when they see that the adults they respect act in accordance with those values. Although parents must be the ones to determine which values they want their children to develop, they need the help of the community, particularly the schools, in reinforcing those values.

Being a person of good character often requires having patience and sticking to something.

Let your child see you practice patience when doing a new or difficult task or when facing life’s everyday frustrations, such as heavy traffic.

Let your child see you practicing empathy and helping others in need.

Let your child see you working together for the good of the family. Everyone is a part of this family, and everyone works together in work and play!

Let your child see you "look in the mirror" when things aren't going well. Instead of pointing fingers, reflect and improve. Take ownership.

ADHD Teacher Tips

2009-03-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

A student with ADHD can present unique challenges in the classroom. Inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity can be the source of frustration, but there are ways teachers can help students with ADHD to improve the educational experience and control the symptoms of the disorder. It is important for teachers to be aware of coexisting conditions such as learning disabilities, as well as reinforcing the importance of classroom and instructional structure.

The following are tips for teachers:
Work on the most difficult concepts early in the day;
Give directions to one assignment at a time instead of directions to multiple tasks all at once;
Vary the pace and type of activity to maximize the student's attention; and
Structure the student's environment to accommodate his or her special needs. For example, the student can be seated away from potentially distracting areas (such as doors, windows, and computers) or seated near another student who is working on a shared assignment.

Behavioral Approaches

Behavioral approaches represent a broad set of specific interventions that have the common goal of modifying the physical and social environment to alter or change behavior (AAP, 2001). They are used in the treatment of ADHD to provide structure for the child and to reinforce appropriate behavior. Those who typically implement behavioral approaches include parents as well as a wide range of professionals, such as psychologists, school personnel, community mental health therapists, and primary care physicians. Types of behavioral approaches include behavioral training for parents and teachers (in which the parent and/or teacher is taught child management skills), a systematic program of contingency management (e.g. positive reinforcement, "time outs," response cost, and token economy), clinical behavioral therapy (training in problem-solving and social skills), and cognitive-behavioral treatment (e.g., self-monitoring, verbal self-instruction, development of problem-solving strategies, self-reinforcement) (AAP, 2001; Barkley, 1998b; Pelham, Wheeler, & Chronis, 1998).

In general, these approaches are designed to use direct teaching and reinforcement strategies for positive behaviors and direct consequences for inappropriate behavior. Of these options, systematic programs of intensive contingency management conducted in specialized classrooms and summer camps with the setting controlled by highly trained individuals have been found to be highly effective (Abramowitz, et al., 1992; Carlson, et al., 1992; Pelham & Hoza, 1996). A later study conducted by Pelham, Wheeler, and Chronis (1998) indicates that two approaches-parent training in behavior therapy and classroom behavior interventions-also are successful in changing the behavior of children with ADHD. In addition, home-school interactions that support a consistent approach are important to the success of behavioral approaches.

The use of behavioral strategies holds promise but also presents some limitations. Behavioral strategies may be appealing to parents and professionals for the following reasons:
Behavioral strategies are used most commonly when parents do not want to give their child medication;
Behavioral strategies also can be used in conjunction with medicine (see multimodal methods);
Behavioral techniques can be applied in a variety of settings including school, home, and the community; and
Behavioral strategies may be the only options if the child has an adverse reaction to medication.

The research results on the effectiveness of behavioral techniques are mixed. While studies that compare the behavior of children during periods on and off behavior therapy demonstrate the effectiveness of behavior therapy (Pelham & Fabiano, 2001), it is difficult to isolate its effectiveness. The multiplicity of interventions and outcome measures makes careful analysis of the effects of behavior therapy alone, or in association with medications, very difficult (AAP, 2001). A review conducted by McInerney, Reeve, and Kane (1995) confirms that the effective education of children with ADHD requires modifications to academic instruction, behavior management, and classroom environment. Although some research suggests that behavioral methods offer the opportunity for children to work on their strengths and learn self-management, other research indicates that behavioral interventions are effective but to a lower degree than treatment with psychostimulants (Jadad, Boyle, & Cunningham, 1999; Pelham, et al., 1998).

Behavior therapy has been found to be effective only when it is implemented and maintained (AAP, 2001). Indeed, behavioral strategies can be difficult to implement consistently across all of the settings necessary for it to be maximally effective. Although behavioral management programs have been shown to enhance the academic performance and behavior of children with ADHD, followup and maintenance of the treatment is often lacking (Rapport, Stoner, & Jones, 1986).

In fact, some research has shown that behavioral techniques may fail to reduce ADHD's core characteristics of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention (AAP, 2001; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 1999). Conversely, one must consider that the problems of children with ADHD are seldom limited to the core symptoms themselves (Barkley, 1990a). Children frequently demonstrate other types of psychosocial difficulties, such as aggression, oppositional defiant behavior, academic underachievement, and depression (Barkley, 1990a). Because many of these other difficulties cannot be managed through psychostimulants, behavioral interventions may be useful in addressing ADHD and other problems a child may be exhibiting.

Vista Flash Player Problems AGAIN

2009-03-18T21:22:00.001-07:00

Okay for those of you using Vista, you know there are problems with Adobe Flash Player. Since a new upgrade just came out, we've all been clicking away trying to install it. I installed it, and it still didn't work. I checked my programs, and it had installed successfully! However, my dear daughters still couldn't view the ever so essential "log-in" button on Webkinz! I remember last time I found some computer help websites that attempted to walk me through several fixes. Of course (being the computer wizard that I am - yes, that is sarcasm) I started searching message boards for help once again! Luckily, I found an easy fix at the second website I visited. First, I used their link to uninstall my flash player - yes, the one I just installed. Next, I installed the stand alone version. Worked great! Here is the link:
Flash Player 10 issues on Vista? Try this stand alone installation: http://www.softwarepatch.com/network-security/flashdownload-security.html

I hope it is successful for you as well! Blessings!

ADHD Parenting Tips

2009-03-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

Caring for children with ADHD may be challenging, but it is important to remember that these children can learn successfully. It is critical that parents remember that some of their child's disruptive behavior is a manifestation of the disability and that the challenge is finding ways to help their child change the inappropriate behavior. Key to this is remembering to focus on the need for structure and routine for your child's daily schedule and thereby reinforcing the importance of learning self-control and self-regulation. The following are suggestions for parents:

Focus on discrete rewards and consequences for appropriate and inappropriate behavior:
Tangible rewards and treats;
Movie night for a good week at school;
Removal of privileges; and
Time-out from reinforcing activities: the child is essentially removed from situations that foster inappropriate behavior.

Set a daily routine and stick to it. Bedtime and preparation for school are much easier if there is a structure already in place.

Have tangible reminders:
A big clock in the bedroom;
Charts for chores;
Assignment pad to record homework and a specific folder to put work in upon completion; and
Gain the child's attention before speaking to him or her. Have the child repeat back directions for things that are really important.

Avoid the following:
Repeating patterns of inappropriate behavior followed by ineffective punishment;
Administering consequences without prior warning or without the child understanding why he or she is receiving them; and
Responding inconsistently to inappropriate behaviors.

The Windows Through Which We Look

2009-03-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.

'That laundry is not very clean', she said. 'She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap'

Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:'Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?'

The husband said, 'I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.' And so it is with life.

What we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look.

Great resource for your classroom!

2009-03-12T12:16:00.000-07:00

Exploratorium Online features dozens of online learning activities and exhibits. Make a mold terrarium, pinhole projector, telescope, or hair hygrometer. Explore the brain, biodiversity, Antarctica, DNA, frogs, structures, or illusions. Learn about magnetism, electricity, motors, eyeballs, perception, Mars, chocolate, seasonings, or the science of cooking, sports, and music. Search over 3,000 photos and movies. Watch webcasts of science demonstrations by teachers. (National Science Foundation)

http://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/handson.html

Reading Comprehension Strategies

2009-03-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

Teachers should provide adolescents with direct and explicit instruction in comprehension strategies to improve students’ reading comprehension. Comprehension strategies are routines and procedures that readers use to help them make sense of texts. These strategies include, but are not limited to, summarizing, asking and answering questions, paraphrasing, and finding the main idea. Comprehension strategy instruction can also include specific teacher activities that have been demonstrated to improve students’ comprehension of texts. Asking students questions and using graphic organizers are examples of such strategies. Direct and explicit teaching involves a teacher modeling and providing explanations of the specific strategies students are learning, giving guided practice and feedback on the use of the strategies, and promoting independent practice to apply the strategies. An important part of comprehension strategy instruction is the active participation of students in the comprehension process. In
addition, explicit instruction involves providing a sufficient amount of support, or scaffolding, to students as they learn the strategies to ensure success.

How to Help Students Who Are Struggling in Reading

2009-03-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a comprehensive early detection and prevention strategy
that identifies struggling students and assists them before they fall behind. RtI systems
combine universal screening and highquality instruction for all students with interventions
targeted at struggling students. Iowa encourages a similar (if not the same) system called Instructional Decision Making (IDM). These are both in response to the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which encourages states to use RtI to
help prevent reading difficulties and to identify students with learning disabilities.

Recommendation 1.
Screen all students for potential reading problems
at the beginning of the year and again in the middle of the year. Regularly
monitor the progress of students who are at elevated risk for developing
reading disabilities.

Recommendation 2.
Provide differentiated reading instruction for all
students based on assessments of students’ current reading levels (RTI Tier 1).

Recommendation 3.
Provide intensive, systematic instruction on up to
three foundational reading skills in small groups to students who score
below the benchmark on universal screening. Typically these groups
meet between three and five times a week for 20–40 minutes (RTI Tier 2).

Recommendation 4.
Monitor the progress of tier 2 students at least
once a month. Use these data to determine whether students still require
intervention. For those still making insufficient progress, school-wide teams
should design a tier 3 intervention plan.

Recommendation 5.
Provide intensive instruction daily that promotes
the development of various components of reading proficiency to students
who show minimal progress after reasonable time in tier 2 small group
instruction (tier 3).

Behavioral Intervention Strategies

2009-03-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

Schools use the following common strategies to help reduce problem behaviors and teach children positive behavioral skills.

Stop, Relax, and Think teaches children how to think about the problem they are having and find a solution. Children learn the steps:
Define the problem.
Decide who "owns" the problem.
Think of as many solutions as possible to solve the problem.
Select a solution to try.
Use the solution.
Evaluate its success.
After children understand the steps, role-play and practice can help the process become habit. Helping children to recognize their own response to stress (clenched hands, voice tone, etc.) may become part of the instruction needed to use this strategy effectively.

Planned ignoring is useful in stopping behaviors that are annoying. For example, it is useful for students who yell or interrupt the class to attract the teacher's attention or that of students who are not prepared for class. Planned ignoring acknowledges that children's problem behaviors serve a function. If the purpose of a problem behavior is to gain adult attention, then not providing attention means that the behavior does not work. The behavior lessens over time and eventually disappears. Ignoring nonserious behavior is especially useful for parents when their child is having a tantrum for attention. Many adults find it difficult to ignore behaviors, however, especially if the behaviors inter-rupt what the adult is doing. Also, attention-seeking behaviors often get worse before they eventually go away.

Planned ignoring is not suitable for behaviors that are extremely disruptive. It also may not work if other children laugh at the problem behaviors the adult is trying to ignore. Some behaviors, including those that are unsafe or that include peer issues such as arguing, can grow quickly into more serious behaviors. It may not be possible to ignore these kinds of behaviors. Planned ignoring should never be used for unsafe behaviors. As children grow older and want attention more from their friends than from adults, planned ignoring is less useful.

Preventive cueing (also called signal interference) lets a child know when he or she is doing something that is not acceptable. Teachers or parents can frown, shake their head, make eye contact, point to a seat for a wandering child, or snap their fingers, to let the child know he or she needs to pay attention or to stop the problem behaviors. When using preventive cueing it is important not to smile or look pleased with a child. Preventive cueing may be used in steps, de-pending on the behaviors and how often they occur or how serious they are. For instance, a hand motion may work the first time or two, but it may need to be combined with eye contact or a shake of the head for the next offense.

Proximity control means that a teacher or adult moves closer to the child in a gentle way. If the teacher does not get the child's attention by using cues, then he or she may move closer to the student or give the lesson while standing near the child's desk.

Touch control, meaning touch that is not resisted, is a nonverbal guided intervention. It is used to direct a student toward positive behavior. For example, a teacher may gently place a hand on a child's shoul-der to steer the child back to his or her desk. Touch control should never be used with children who react angrily or when school policy does not permit its use. If a child's records show that he or she has a history of violence, has been abused or maltreated, is anxious, or has a mental illness or psychosis, touch control should not be used, unless specifically agreed to by a physician or psychologist.

Humor directed either at the teacher or the situation—never at the child—can defuse tensions as well as redirect children. Humor must never be used to demean a child or be used in a manner that might encourage others in the class to ridicule the child.

Nonverbal warnings give a child the opportunity to regain control without being singled out for a verbal reprimand. For example, a teacher might place a colored warning cue card or a note on a desk as he or she moves through the room, or hold up the number of fingers that corresponds to the rule being challenged.

Discipline privately. Many children see it as a challenge when teachers attempt to discipline them in front of their peers. Children rarely lose these challenges, even when adults use negative conse-quences. Young people can gain stature from peers by publicly refusing to obey a teacher. A child is more likely to accept discipline if his or her peers are not watching the process.

Positive phrasing lets children know the positive results for using appropriate behaviors. As simple as it sounds, this can be difficult. Teachers and parents are used to focusing on misbehavior. Warning children about a negative response to problem behaviors often seems easier than describing the positive impact of positive behaviors. Compare the difference between positive phrasing and negative phrasing:
Positive phrasing: "If you finish your reading by recess, we can all go outside together and play a game."Negative phrasing: "If you do not finish your reading by recess, you will have to stay inside until it's done."
Positive phrasing helps children learn that positive behaviors lead to positive outcomes. This, in turn, can help them gain control of their behaviors.

I-messages, described by Thomas Gordon in his 1974 book Teacher Effectiveness Training, helps children learn about how their problem behaviors affect others. It also demonstrates the importance of taking responsibility for one's own behavior. For example, parents or teachers will use language like "I'm upset when . . ." not "You are bad when . . ."
When a child has a good relationship with parents and teachers, I-messages can help him or her to understand how the problem behaviors affect adults. If the child dislikes the teacher, though, using I-statements can be a problem. It may even help the child to more effectively annoy the teacher.

Behavior shaping acknowledges that not all children can do everything at 100 percent. If a child does not turn in papers daily, expecting that papers will be turned in 100 percent of the time is not realis-tic. By rewarding small gains and reinforcing the gains as they occur, children learn how to stick with a task and to improve the skill.

Clear routines and expectations let children know what comes next in their school day, reducing anxiety or fear. Teachers who post and review the rules daily establish expectations for behavior during the day.

What is an FBA?

2009-03-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

An FBA is a Functional Behavioral Assessement. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not define how a functional behavioral assessment is done. The process may vary with the needs of each child. However, several specific steps are always part of this kind of assessment. The process begins with identifying the specific behaviors that must change. If a child has many problem behaviors, it will be important to focus on the most serious one or two behaviors. The problem behaviors are described in a way that helps everyone to understand exactly what the behaviors are. These are typical steps:
* Identify and agree on the behavior(s) that most need to change.
* Determine where the behaviors occur and where they do not. Identify what may contribute to the behaviors. The team will ask these kinds of questions:
1. What is unique about the environments where behaviors are not a concern?
2. What is different in the places where the problem behaviors do occur? Could they be related to how the child and teacher get along? Does the number of other students or the work a child is asked to do cause the problem? Could the time of day or a child's mood affect the behaviors? Was there a bus problem or a disagreement in the hallway?
3. Are the behaviors likely to occur in a specific set of circumstances or a specific setting? What events seem to support the problem behaviors?
* Collect data on the child's performance from as many sources as possible.
* Develop a hypothesis about why problem behaviors occur (the function of the behaviors). A hypothesis is an educated guess, based on data. It helps predict where and why problem behaviors are most likely to occur, and where and why they are least likely to occur.
* Identify other behaviors that can be taught that will serve the same function for the child.
* Test the hypothesis. The team develops and uses positive behavioral interventions that are written into the child's IEP or behavior intervention plan.
* Evaluate the success of the interventions.
* Change or fine-tune as needed.
If children have behaviors that place them or others in danger, they may need a crisis intervention plan. Crisis interventions should be developed before they are needed. The team should decide what behaviors are crises and what they (and the child) will do in a crisis. By having a plan that guides actions, teachers can help children through difficult emotional situations.

Behaviors Serve a Function

2009-02-28T06:31:00.000-08:00

Problem behaviors usually serve a function, or purpose, for the child. Sometimes we see problem behaviors when a substitute teacher is in the classroom. In this case, we must be careful not to assume that the child doesn't like the teacher or that the child wants to show off for friends. Perhaps the child likes his or her regular teacher and is upset when she is not there. Or the child may be anxious about what to expect with a new teacher. A child who is upset about having a new teacher may use problem behaviors in order to be placed in a less stressful setting. Some children would rather be in a timeout space than in their classroom.

Unfortunately, consequences that improve the behaviors of most students do not work with all. Sending a child to the principal's office, for example, can be ineffective if the consequence does not address the complex function of a child's behavior.

What a child does (the behavior) and why a child does it (the function) may be unrelated. Skipping school and getting good grades are two very different behaviors. Yet they may serve the same function for different children—gaining adult attention. Two children may both want to be noticed by their parents; one may study hard to have good grades while the other skips class. They do very different things to get the attention they want. While the function of both behaviors is positive (parent attention), skipping class is not an acceptable way to be noticed.

What is a Functional Behavior Assessment? FBA?

2009-02-24T08:47:00.000-08:00

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a process for collecting information. The data the team collects are used to help determine why problem behaviors occur. The data will also help identify ways to address the behaviors. Functional behavioral assessment data are used to develop a positive behavioral intervention plan. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act specifically requires an FBA whenever a child with a disability has his or her current placement changed for disciplinary reasons. This does not mean that we should not think about FBA at other times, too.

The evaluation requirements of IDEA make it clear that children must be evaluated in "all areas related to the suspected disability." This means that if your child has problem behaviors that are not improving, your child may need an evaluation to examine the behaviors more closely. You may request an FBA at any time if your child's problem behaviors are becoming worse, or when the team cannot explain to you why the problem behaviors occur.

There are many reasons a child might misbehave. Some have to do with the nature of the child, such as allergies to dust, foods, or plants. A sinus infection, headache, or toothache can also lead to problem behaviors. Some children have a medical diagnosis, such as bipolar disorder or attention-deficit/hyper-activity disorder that affects behavior. The team's responsibility is to collect data to help it understand why a child has problem behaviors.

The people who complete the functional behavioral assessment use different ways to collect data. School staff may interview you and your child. They observe your child in different settings, such as the lunchroom or classroom, or on the playground. They gather reports from teachers and others. The team reviews your child's records, including any assessments you would like to share.

The results of this process should lead to a hypothesis about why problem behaviors occur. A hypothesis is an educated guess, based on the data the team has gathered. Assessment results are used to develop a positive behavior intervention plan.

Table Saw Trauma

2009-02-19T17:26:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday night dear hubby decided to have a duel with a table saw. Needless to say, he didn't win. We spent the night in 2 different ERs. Without being too graphic, he cut his hand across the palm including some of the bone. He was supposed to have hand surgery today; however, after he checked in to the hand people, they sent him directly to the ER due to high blood pressure 210/153. He is home now on blood pressure medicine. We're praying it goes down, so he can have surgery on Tuesday. There is only a 2 week window to have this surgery in order for any chance of repair. We don't have a lot of time left. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow to follow-up on the blood pressure. I'll keep you posted.

Taking a Break from Work

2009-02-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

Taking a small break from work together - or at least trying. I have a hard time leaving work at work - physically and mentally.

http://www.beautifulbrushstroke.etsy.com/

Today I am focusing on one of my hobbies - painting. I have added new scrabble tile pendants to my store and have also lowered the prices. I know they are probably too low, but seriously it is a hobby that I enjoy. I don't want hundreds of pendants sitting around in my house, so please go take a look and ENJOY!

Some hot topics in my world right now are Chapter 103 Iowa Administrative Rules regarding corporal punishment, restraint, confinement and detention. In addition, I'm attending a Co-Teaching Conference with guest speaker, Marilyn Friend! Amazing! I will tell you all about it! Finally, I am doing some research regarding formative vs. summative assessments, and are we really assessing what we think we are? Darn, I guess I didn't get work off of my mind after all! LOL Grab your favorite beverage (if you haven't already), and go shop in my store! Blessings!

Are we preparing our students for the 21st Century?

2009-02-10T18:22:00.001-08:00

I just read an article Educational Leadership (October 2008) that discusses if schools are failing to prepare students for 21st-century careers and citizenship. Tony Wagner wrote the article and identified 7 survival skills to thrive in the new world of work. These skills were identified after extensive research and interviews with business leaders.

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration and Leadership
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepeneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination

NCLB requires 100% proficiency on standardized tests. However, show me where these essential skills are found throughout these tests? Hmmmmm? Are we teaching our students to memorize or to think, problem solve, communicate, etc.? We can teach and develop these survival skills within the content areas...but are we???

Tony Wagner is the Codirector of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education - http://www.schoolchange.com

Homework Help

2009-02-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

General Homework Tips for Parents

Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework. Avoid having your child do homework with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as people coming and going.
Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available. Ask your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and get them in advance.
Help your child with time management. Establish a set time each day for doing homework. Don't let your child leave homework until just before bedtime. Think about using a weekend morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the project involves getting together with classmates.
Be positive about homework. Tell your child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework will be the attitude your child acquires.
When your child does homework, you do homework. Show your child that the skills they are learning are related to things you do as an adult. If your child is reading, you read too. If your child is doing math, balance your checkbook.
When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going gets rough, someone will do the work for him or her.
When the teacher asks that you play a role in homework, do it. Cooperate with the teacher. It shows your child that the school and home are a team. Follow the directions given by the teacher.
If homework is meant to be done by your child alone, stay away. Too much parent involvement can prevent homework from having some positive effects. Homework is a great way for kids to develop independent, lifelong learning skills.
Stay informed. Talk with your child's teacher. Make sure you know the purpose of homework and what your child's class rules are.
Help your child figure out what is hard homework and what is easy homework. Have your child do the hard work first. This will mean he will be most alert when facing the biggest challenges. Easy material will seem to go fast when fatigue begins to set in.
Watch your child for signs of failure and frustration. Let your child take a short break if she is having trouble keeping her mind on an assignment.
Reward progress in homework. If your child has been successful in homework completion and is working hard, celebrate that success with a special event (e.g., pizza, a walk, a trip to the park) to reinforce the positive effort.

Parents: Easy Ways to Promote Math Learning

2009-02-08T07:55:00.000-08:00

Talk about numbers and use number concepts in daily routines with your child. For example:

"Let's divide the dough into two parts so we can bake some cookies now and put the rest of the dough in the freezer for cookies next week."
"We're going to hang this picture six inches above the bookshelf in your room. Let's use this ruler to measure."
"How many plates do we need on the table? Let's count: One for Mommy, one for Daddy and one for Jenny. How many plates does that make? Three! Great!"

Talk about numbers that matter most to your child-her age, her address, her phone number, her height and weight. Focusing on these personal numbers helps your child learn many important math concepts, including:

Time (hours, days, months, years; older, younger; yesterday, today, tomorrow). To a young child, you might say, "At 2 o'clock, we'll take a nap." When you plan with a preschooler, you could point out, "It's only three days until we go to Grandma's house. Let's put an X on the calendar so we'll know the day we're going."
Lengths (inches, feet; longer, taller, shorter): "This ribbon is too short to go around the present for Aunt Susan. Let's cut a longer ribbon."
Weight (ounces, pounds, grams; heavier, lighter; how to use scales): "You already weigh 30 pounds. I can hardly lift such a big girl."
Where you live (addresses, telephone numbers): "These shiny numbers on our apartment door are 2-1-4. We live in apartment number 214." Or: "When you go to play at Terry's house, take this note along with you. It's our phone number: 253-6711. Some day soon you will know our phone number so you can call me when you are at your friend's."

Provide opportunities for your child to learn math as he plays. For example:

Reading aloud counting books or books with number concepts can support your child's math learning.
Playing with blocks can teach your child to classify objects by color and shape. Blocks can also help him to learn about depth, width, height and length.
Playing games that have scoring, such as throwing balls into a basket, requires your child to count. Introduce him to games that use dice or dominoes. Have him roll the dice and count the dots. Let him try to roll the dice and match numbers.
Counting favorite toys.

Resegregation

2009-02-07T06:53:00.000-08:00

This information came from a report of the Civil Rights Project. Data suggests we are not getting closer to Dr. King's dream. Minority segregation is increasing in highly unequal schools. The average black and Latino student is now in a school that has nearly 60% of students from families who are near or below the poverty line. Here is a summary of the report:

American schools, resegregating gradually for almost two decades, are now experiencing accelerating isolation and this will doubtless be intensified by the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. In June 2007, the Supreme Court handed down its first major decision on school desegregation in 12 years in the Louisville and Seattle cases. A majority of a divided Court told the nation both that the goal of integrated schools remained of compelling importance but that most of the means now used voluntarily by school districts are unconstitutional. As a result, most voluntary desegregation actions by school districts must now be changed or abandoned. As educational leaders and citizens across the country try to learn what they can do, and decide what they will do, we need to know how the nation's schools are changing, what the underlying trends are in the segregation of American students, and what the options are they might consider.

The trends shown in this report are those of increasing isolation and profound inequality. The consequences become larger each year because of the growing number and percentage of nonwhite and impoverished students and the dramatic relationships between educational attainment and economic success in a globalized economy. Almost nine-tenths of American students were counted as white in the early 1960s, but the number of white students fell 20 percent from 1968 to 2005, as the baby boom gave way to the baby bust for white families, while the number of blacks increased 33 percent and the number of Latinos soared 380 percent amid surging immigration of a young population with high birth rates. The country's rapidly growing population of Latino and black students is more segregated than they have been since the 1960s and we are going backward faster in the areas where integration was most far-reaching. Under the new decision, local and state educators have far less freedom to foster integration than they have had for the last four decades. The Supreme Court's 2007 decision has sharply limited local control in this arena, which makes it likely that segregation will further increase. This report shows that the country is far into the dual processes of racial transformation and resegregation. These trends likely will be accelerated by the new Supreme Court decision. The country risks becoming a nation where most of the new nonwhite majority of young people will be attending separate and inferior schools, and educators will be forbidden to take any direct action likely to bring down the color line. The experience in districts which have already been forbidden to carry out voluntary programs suggests that segregation may rapidly intensify. Obviously educators still face many choices that will be related to the intensity and degree of this resegregation, but there is no simple alternative.

To read this article in full, please visit:

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3d/43/fc.pdf

10 Most Effective Strategies for Student with Autism

2009-01-26T18:04:00.000-08:00

1) Visual Schedules
Students with autism perform best when their daily routine is predictable, with clear expectations.Establishing and following a visual schedule eliminates the unexpected and assists students in anticipating and preparing for transitions. Schedules must be visual and kept in the same location at all times. For pre-readers, an object schedule can be used. A tangible object that is related to the class or activity it represents is attached to an icon and the printed word. Other students are able to follow an icon schedule and strong readers can use a printed schedule.A "check schedule" transition cue is then given to the student each time he is to transition to a new activity or class.

2) Environmental Considerations
Visual and auditory stimulation in the classroom must be taken into consideration.Many students with autism are sensitive to auditory input and have a more difficult time processing auditory stimulation. Their work stations should be placed away from excessive auditory stimulation and away from unnecessary movement.

3) Visual Structure
The environment needs to be structured visually to help the student clearly see and understand what is expected of him. Work stations must be clearly defined. Some students will need three-sided work stations, while others will be able to work in more open areas. Taped outlines on the floor, chairs labeled with the student's name or using furniture to reduce visual and auditory stimulation are examples of environmental considerations. Work stations also need to be structured. Activities should be designed with strong visual cues so less auditory directions are needed. Each station also needs to clearly show what needs to be done, how much needs to be done, when the student will be finished, and what's next.

4) Alternatives to Verbal Communication
Many students with autism have impairments in communication, particularly expressive communication. For those who are non-verbal, an augmentative communication system must be in place. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) has been very effective. Voice output communication devices may be very appropriate. For those students who do have verbal communication skills, many benefit from having some form of augmentative communication available as a back-up system for times when expressive communication may fail them. It is very common for students to be unable to access verbal communication when in a stressful emotional state. Having a back-up visual form of communication can assist with expression and reduce aggressive behaviors.

5) Direct Instruction of Social Skills
The majority of students with autism need direct instruction in social skills. Most do not learn interaction skills by simply being placed in social environments. They need to learn social interaction skills in the same way they learn other academic skills. Using strong visual structure, activities can be designed to teach about identifying emotions in self and others, situations that can cause certain emotions, and how to respond in certain social situations. Social stories have been found to be very useful. They are short stories written about specific social situations that briefly describe a social situation, how others may respond in this situation, and how the student should respond.

6) Literacy Instruction
Because many students with autism rely on some form of augmentative communication, even if it is only a backup, literacy instruction is very important. If a student is literate, s/he will be able to communicate at a much higher level than if the child is forced to depend on communications devices that are programmed with limited vocabulary. Literacy instruction should begin at a very early age and continue throughout all school years.

7) Sensory Opportunities
Most students with autism have some sensory needs. Many find deep pressure very relaxing. Others need frequent opportunities for movement. All students should have a sensory profile completed by an occupational therapist or other professional trained in sensory integration. Based on the profile, a sensory "diet" can be created and implemented throughout the day.

8) Consistency
All students do best when the daily program remains consistent with clear expectations. All staff working with students with autism need to be well-trained and must implement the daily program as consistently as possible.

9) Take advantage of student strengths and interests
Many students with autism have particular strengths and interests and these should be taken advantage of in the classroom. For example, if a student demonstrates an interest in trains, the student should have opportunities to read about trains, write about trains, do math problems about trains, etc.

10) Functional Curriculum
Students with autism have a great deal of potential to live and work independently as adults. The curriculum should place a strong emphasis on following a functional curriculum. Skills that emphasize daily living skills, community skills, recreation and leisure and employment need to be incorporated into the curriculum. Students in inclusive settings can follow the regular curriculum, but emphasis should be placed on those skills that are the most functional. Functional academics should always include literacy (reading and writing), basic math, time and money skills. Self-care skills, domestics, recreation and community experiences should also be emphasized. Older students should have formal employment opportunities beginning in middle school.

Information provided with written permission from Kirby Lentz, Ed.D.
http://www.chileda.org

Helping Your Child Become a Reader (ABCs)

2009-01-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

For children ages 2 to 6

Sharing the alphabet with your child helps her begin to recognize the shapes of letters and to link them with the sounds of spoken language. She will soon learn the difference between individual letters—what they look like and what they sound like.

What You Need
Alphabet books, ABC magnets, Paper, pencils, crayons, markers, Glue and safety scissors

What to Do
The first activities in the list below work well with younger children. As your child grows older, the later activities let her do more. But keep doing the first ones as long as she enjoys them.
With your toddler sitting with you, print the letters of her name on paper and say each letter as you write it. Make a name sign for her room or other special place. Have her decorate the sign by pasting stickers or drawing on it.

Teach your child "The Alphabet Song" and play games with her using the alphabet. Some alphabet books have songs and games that you can learn together.

Look for educational videos, DVDs, CDs, and TV shows such as "Between the Lions" that feature letter-learning activities for young children. Watch such programs with your child and join in with her on the rhymes and songs.

Place alphabet magnets on your refrigerator or on another smooth, safe metal surface. Ask your child to name the letters she plays with and to say the words she may be trying to spell.

Wherever you are with your child, point out individual letters in signs, billboards, posters, food containers, books, and magazines. When she is 3 to 4 years old, ask her to begin finding and naming some letters.

When you show your child letters and words over and over again, she will identify and use them more easily when learning to read and write. She will be eager to learn when the letters and words are connected to things that are part of her life.

When your child is between ages 3 and 4, encourage her to spell and write her name. For many children, their names are the first words they write. At first, your child may use just one or two letters for her name (for example, Emily, nicknamed Em, uses the letter M).

Make an alphabet book with your kindergartner. Have her draw pictures (you can help). You can also cut pictures from magazines or use photos. Paste each picture in the book. Help your child to write next to the picture the letter that stands for the object or person in the picture (for example, B for bird, M for milk, and so on).

FREE Cause and Effect Lesson Plan

2009-01-20T17:44:00.001-08:00

I am offering a FREE cause and effect lesson based on the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff.

Here is the direct link for immediate FREE download:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/If-You-Give-A-Mouse-A-Cookie-Cause-Effect-Lesson/Description

You may also click on Free Lesson to the right...

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Here is my store's homepage:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Promoting-Success

This is an wonderful site to market your teacher created materials! Here you may sell physical and digital products. I have had a very successful year with minimal work. I created the materials and put them in my store. When an item sells, TpT completes the transaction, including emailing the product! If you are interested in selling your own teacher created materials online, please click through my referral link:

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If you sign up via my link and list at least 1 product in your new store (in addition to the required free download), I will send you any product from my store absolutely FREE! You pick the free item!

What about Section 504?

2009-01-19T18:43:00.000-08:00

Section 504 is a federal law designed to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Section 504 provides: "No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States . . . shall solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance . . . ."

What services are available for students who qualify under Section 504?
Section 504 requires recipients to provide to students with disabilities appropriate educational services designed to meet the individual needs of such students to the same extent as the needs of students without disabilities are met. An appropriate education for a student with a disability under the Section 504 regulations could consist of education in regular classrooms, education in regular classes with supplementary services, and/or special education and related services.

What is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity?
The determination of whether a student has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity must be made on the basis of an individual inquiry. The Section 504 regulation, at 34 C.F.R. 104.3(j)(2)(i), defines a physical or mental impairment as any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genito-urinary; hemic and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine; or any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities. The regulation does not set forth an exhaustive list of specific diseases and conditions that may constitute physical or mental impairments because of the difficulty of ensuring the comprehensiveness of such a list.

Does a medical diagnosis of an illness automatically qualify a student for services under Section 504?
No. A medical diagnosis of an illness does not automatically qualify a student for services under Section 504. The illness must cause a substantial limitation on the student's ability to learn or other major life activities. For example, a student who has a physical or mental impairment would not be considered a student in need of services under Section 504 if the impairment does not in any way limit the student's ability to learn or other major life activity, or only results in some minor limitation in that regard.

What is NCLB, IDEA, and LRE?

2009-01-18T21:02:00.000-08:00

What is NCLB?
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) -- the main federal law affecting education from kindergarten through high school. Proposed by President Bush shortly after his inauguration, NCLB was signed into law on January 8th, 2002. NCLB is built on four principles: accountability for results, more choices for parents, greater local control and flexibility, and an emphasis on doing what works based on scientific research.

What is IDEA?
It is an acronym for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, our nation's special education law. IDEA was first passed in 1975, where it was called the Education for All Handicapped Children's Act (PL 94-142.) Every few years, the law has been revised (a process called reauthorization.) The most current version of IDEA is Public Law 108-446, passed in 2004 and called the “Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004.” It's still most commonly referred to as IDEA, or IDEA 2004 (to distinguish it from other reauthorizations.) Final regulations for IDEA 2004 were published in 2006.

What is LRE?
IDEA emphasizes that special education is a service and not a place, and as such, supports and services should be delivered to the child in the least restrictive environment. This is based on the presumption that the general education environment is the first choice for educating all individuals.

Although IDEA provides that children with disabilities are to be educated with their nondisabled peers, to the maximum extent appropriate, the nature or the severity of the disability of a child may be such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved. In such cases, IDEA provides that schools make available a continuum of alternative placements to meet the needs of children with disabilities for special education and related services, including: instruction in regular classes; special classes; special schools; home instruction; and instruction in hospitals and institutions. The placement of a child in the LRE must be as close as possible to the child’s home.

How do I know if the student is in the LRE?
The team establishing the student’s placement must answer the following questions:
1. What accommodations, modifications and adaptations does the individual require to be successful in the general education environment?
2. Why is it not possible for these accommodations, modifications and adaptations be provided within the general education environment?
3. What supports are needed to assist the teacher and other personnel in providing these accommodations, modifications and adaptations?
4. How will receipt of special education services and activities in the general education environment impact this individual?
5. How will the provision of special education services and activities in the general education environment impact other students?

General Education Teacher as an IEP Team Member

2009-01-18T21:00:00.000-08:00

The general education teacher participating in a student’s IEP meeting should be the teacher who is, or may be, responsible for providing services, accommodations, adaptations, modifications or supports for the student.
The general education teacher must participate, to the extent appropriate, in the development, review, and revision of the IEP for the student.

The general education teacher:
· participates in discussions about how best to teach the student;
· provides expertise regarding the general education curriculum and environment;
· assists in determining:
o appropriate positive behavioral interventions and strategies;
o special education services, activities and supports needed by the student;
o accommodations and modifications;
o support for school personnel; and
o assists in designing a program for the student that assures FAPE.
As an on-going member of the team:
· Provides services – as indicated on Page F of the IEP;
· Reviews and summarizes student progress;
· Relates student progress to district standards and benchmarks;
· Collects data and evaluates effective modifications and accommodations;
· Determines appropriate positive and behavioral interventions and strategies; and
· Assist in collecting data for monitoring progress on IEP goal.