Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from February, 2017

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

Creating the Ultimate Student Planner - Executive Functioning Success

Why is it that more and more students are struggling with the process of recording, completing, and turning in homework assignments? It used to be that every teacher had a similar process. They: Wrote assignments on the blackboard. Asked students to record this information into their planner. Collected the student’s daily assignments. Now that teachers use varying degrees of technology, it seems like each teacher has different expectations as well as different procedures. As a result, those students with weak executive functioning skills, often struggle with the homework process. Without a consistent, structured routine, planning, time management, and organization can fall by the wayside. Sadly, many of these students are often mislabeled as careless, lazy and unmotivated and they may struggle to get the grades that they deserve. Is it the Student's Fault when they Fail to Turn in Assignments? It’s easy to see that it is not a student’s fault if they are paraly

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

Social Media Disrupts Homework - Five Management Strategies for Success

Although many students think that they can manage an onslaught of distractions while they are doing their home work, there is a price to pay. Pings from social media and bleeps from electronic devices present constant interruptions that pull attention away from the task at hand. In fact, because many students try to juggle multiple activities, divided attention can turn an hour of assignments into three hours or more. An added problem is that diversions prevent learners from fully engaging in their work on a deep level and their learning curve takes a sharp dive. As result, these students often have to take the additional time to relearn the information at a later date - if they don’t want their grades to suffer.               What Can We Do to Help This Generation of Young Learners Manage Social Media? Teachers can integrate social media into classroom and homework assignments.  Start a group for your class so that students can share study tips and strategies.  Record your

Mindfulness Training Improves Weak Emotional Intelligence - Symptoms and Strategies Defined

I find that more and more parents and teachers are complaining that our youth have underdeveloped social skills. Instead of face to face encounters, many youngsters have their attention buried in their electronic devices, and they are not learning to read important social cues. As a result, many children are not developing their emotional intelligence. We are now learning that mindfulness-based approaches can be very beneficial to both the learning process and the development of emotional intelligence. This is a form of metacognition that can help youngsters gain a sense of control over both their thoughts and emotions. In addition, these practices can improve self-esteem and resilience. What Does Mindfulness have to do with Emotional Intelligence? Psychology Today defines emotional intelligence as "the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and those of other people." It involves the following three skills: emotional awareness, emotional application,