Skip to main content

100 Powerful Learning Specialist and Educational Therapy Materials

This week I wanted to tell you about my online store, Good Sensory Learning. I’m Dr. Erica Warren, and I established this site so I could share all the materials that I have created over the last 20+ years as a learning specialist and educational therapist. When I first began my private practice, Learning to Learn, I had great difficulty finding fun and multisensory materials for my students that were effective and engaging. So back in 2005, I made it my mission to design and distribute high-end, remedial products as well as memorable, motivating lessons that bring delight to learning. If you would like to try a free sampling of my activities , CLICK HERE . How Are the Products Organized at Good Sensory Learning? You can download my Free Printable Catalog or you can browse the site using the grey “search all products” bar in the top right of any page with keywords such as dyslexia, working memory, and executive functioning. What’s more, drop down menus in the red banner allow you t
Post a Comment

Dyslexia Strategies: Improving Your Memory for Names

I think we are all familiar with the embarrassment of occasionally forgetting a person's name.  However, this is a common difficulty for individuals with dyslexia, and it is called a word retrieval or word finding difficulty. They may know someone's or something's name one day, but are unable to access the same information the next.
Dyslexia and Word Retrieval Problems
What Causes One to Forget Names?
There are four factors that can impact one's ability to encode and then retrieve a name. 
  • Environmental Factors that impact the senses can pull one's attention away from a learning experience.
    • Auditory distractions such as a noisy environment can make it difficult to encode new information.
    • Visual distractions, like kids playing outside the window, can also pull one's attention away from the present moment.
    • Physical distractions, such a a touch or someone jogging the table can also complete for one's attention.
    • Olfactory distractions, like the smells of lunch cooking can also divert attention.
  • Cognitive Factors can impede learning if students have weaknesses or deficits any of the following areas:
    • Auditory Processing
    • Visual Processing
    • Working Memory
    • Long Term Memory
    • Attention
    • Stamina
    • Processing Speed
  • Emotional Factors can trigger the amygdala and a fight, flight, or freeze response can block memory.  Some common emotions that can impede learning are:
    • Stress or anxiety
    • Fear
    • Anger
    • Worry
  • Situational Factors can also get in the way of both encoding and retrieving information.
    • Lack on sleep
    • Being hungry or thirsty
What Can Be Done to Improve One's Memory for Names?
  1. Manage environmental factors so that there are little to no competing distractors.
  2. Strengthen any cognitive based weaknesses or deficits with cognitive remedial tools.
  3. Teach students memory strategies:
    1. Tell a Story: Creating a story about the name to be learned can help with both memory encoding and retrieval. If stories are humorous, it’s even better.  For instance, you might meet a boy named rich and you could imagine a story that he won the lottery. 
    2. Create Visual Associations: Visual associations allow students to connect a mental or drawn image with the name to be memorized.  For example, if a girls name is Vera and she happens to be wearing a v-neck shirt. One can always picture her in this shirt to offer a clue to the first letter of her name.
    3. Create Auditory Associations: Auditory associations can help with learning words too. A name may sound like something that reminds you of the person or object.  
    4. Verbal Rehearsal – Teaching Material: Some students are assisted when they are able to process information aloud. Many individuals do not really know what they are thinking until they have had the opportunity to articulate it. Being able to discuss new topics, or even teach the material to others, can be an effective way of securing information into one’s memory. 
    5. If you would like to learn about other memory strategies CLICK HERE.
  4. Be aware of any students that might appear triggered by words or situations.  Try to pick wording and situations that motivate students and get them excited to learn.
  5. Teach mindfulness techniques so that students can learn how to manage their own attention.
Cheers, Dr. Erica Warren
Dr. Erica Warren is the author, illustrator, and publisher of multisensory educational materials at Good Sensory Learning and Dyslexia Materials. She is also the director of Learning to Learn and Learning Specialist Courses.

· Blog: https://learningspecialistmaterials.blogspot.com/
· YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/warrenerica1
· Podcast: https://godyslexia.com/
· Store: http://www.Goodsensorylearning.com/ & www.dyslexiamaterials.com
· Courses: http://www.learningspecialistcourses.com/
· Newsletter Sign-up: https://app.convertkit.com/landing_pages/69400

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

10 Free Ways to Improving Visual Tracking for Weak Readers

While reading, tracking across the page from one line to the next can be tricky when the text is small, but for students with dyslexia or weak reading skills, it can be a problem regardless of the font size.  So why is this the case?  Perhaps one of the problems is poor tracking skills. What Exactly is Tracking? Tracking is the ability for one's eyes to move smoothly across the page from one line of text to another. Tracking difficulties happen when eyes jump backward and forward and struggle to stay on a single line of text.  This results in problems such as word omissions, reversals, eye fatigue, losing your place while reading and most importantly it can impact normal reading development.   Can Tracking be Improved? Tracking can be improved by strengthening eye muscles as well as getting your eyes and brain to work cooperatively.  There are three eye movements that need to be developed:   Fixations: The ability to hold one's eyes steady without moving
Post a Comment
Read more

Do I have dyslexia - Explaining Symptoms and Myths for Kids

What do you do when you learn that your child has dyslexia? Should you hide this diagnosis to protect them from labels and misunderstandings, or should you tell them? If you do decide to tell them, how do you do this? Can you help them to overcome any potential fears or misunderstandings? These are the questions that I will answer in this blog that includes kid-friendly graphics. What are the Benefits of Telling Your Child That He or She Has Dyslexia? Educating your child with dyslexia about the common signs and misconceptions can help them to: understand that they learn in a different way than other kids that don’t have dyslexia.  shed negative labels such as stupid, careless, unmotivated and lazy. correct any misunderstandings. identify with other successful people that have or had dyslexia. acquire the needed intervention and instruction in school. learn that many people with dyslexia have strengths that others do not have. Individuals with dyslexia are often: great
Post a Comment
Read more

Teaching Students Metacognitive Strategies Improves Grades

We are living in an information, distraction-rich time and multitasking seems to be a common way of navigating the complexities of reality. Our youth have grown up observing their parents juggling multiple responsibilities at one time while they have also been immersed in the modern-day influx of technology. As a result, many young learners have applied their observations to academic endeavors, and homework is often completed while laying prey to constant interruptions from social media, online video chatting, texting, television and more. Although there is some utility in life to being able to multitask, the learning process is hindered when attention continually shifts. In contrast, to this multitasking approach to learning is metacognition, and this can play a critical role in successful learning. How Can Students Learn to Do Schoolwork with Greater Efficiency? The foundation to instructing students how to maximize their learning potential is teaching them metacognitive strat
Post a Comment
Read more