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Showing posts from June, 2013

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
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Quick Individualized Solutions for Struggling and Dyslexic Readers

There is no single reading program or method that will address all the needs of struggling readers, because each learner has his or her own unique strengths and weaknesses. In fact, there are many cognitive processing weaknesses that can effect young learners and if you want quick and optimal results, it’s important to pursue a comprehensive evaluation. A good assessment will help uncover the areas of difficulty. Then educational professionals, such as an experienced reading specialist or educational therapist can focus on strengthening those specific areas of cognition. What Are Some of The Cognitive Processing Areas That Impact Reading? There are many cognitive processing areas that can impact reading. Here are the most common: Tracking: is the ability of the eyes to follow the movement of an object in motion or follow words across the page from left to right. Visual Synthesis – is the ability to pull the pieces together to create a visual whole. Visual Closure - i
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Sharing a Powerful Analogy used by Sir Kenneth Robinson

Sir Kenneth Robinson continues to inspire educators around the globe with his ideas for educational reform. He uses the following analogy in a recent Ted Talk entitled: How to Escape Education's Death Valley. To view the whole video, click on the link below. http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_how_to_escape_education_s_death_valley.html 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
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10 Easy Ways to Strengthen the Weaknesses Associated with Dyslexia

Dyslexia is the new, hot topic in education around the globe, and it is frequently featured in educational conferences, news articles, YouTube videos, and even movies. New estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 10 children have this difficulty, making it the most common type of learning disability. Although dyslexia is common, many with this condition remain undiagnosed. Furthermore, many others who have received this diagnosis don’t fully understand it and never receive the needed remediation. So, how can we help this underserved population? Here are some suggestions: 1. Because black text on a white background can be visually uncomfortable for many with dyslexia, provide them the option of using color overlays . You can make your own overlays by taking transparent, colorful pocket folders or report covers and slicing them into strips that can also be used as bookmarks. You can get a selection of tinted glasses that your students can use on sites like Amazon.com. The most pop
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Can Hemisphere Integration Exercises Help Students with Dyslexia?

It is common knowledge that the brain has two hemispheres and that they are bridged by a bundle of nerves that travel across the corpus callosum. However, because this overpass exists, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is always used. In fact, you will often hear of people claiming to be right or left brain dominant, and many people function quite well using predominantly “half a brain.” But if we could learn to unite the power of both hemispheres and assimilate experiences for optimal learning, wouldn’t that be great?  This can be achieved by doing either cognitive or physical activities. Cognitive activities can be used as mental warmups or remedial activities. I like to use The Working Memory and Hemisphere Integration Bundle because it offers fun, game-like activities that help students exercise attention, strengthen working memory and engage both hemispheres of the brain. Many of the activities were created with the Stroop Effect in mind - named after John Ridley S
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Sight Word Bracelet Project and Game

Learning all the sight words in the English language can be a challenging task for beginning readers and finding fun and engaging activities to help them master these phonetically unconventional words can be a chore. One of my students recently came to a session with a charming bracelet that she had created with the use of letter beads, and it ignited an idea for a fun classroom or home project and game. Sight Word Bracelet Project: Go to the craft store or Amazon.com to purchase letter beads and twine or cord. Personally, I like to use cord that stretches, so that children can easily slip their creations on and off their wrists. I included some links at the bottom of the post.  Make a list of challenging sight words. Have your student(s) select a challenging sight word and have them place the letter beads onto the cord in a sequence so that they spell the word. You can limit each bracelet to one sight word, or you can do two or more by placing spacers between the words.
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Student Mind Maps: Revealing the Remedial Needs of Struggling Writers

Having an understanding of how each student processes information and conceptualizes ideas is key in the remedial writing process. Students can think in a sequence of images, a series of words, webs of pictures, an outline of phrases, a collage of imagery, a patchwork of terms, movie-like scenes and more. By evaluating the ways your students conduct the process, you can help them to tweak their method so that writing can become a fluid and enjoyable process. This can be done through discussion, but what I find to be most helpful is having your student(s) conduct a drawing of how their mind works – a mental mind map. I discovered the utility of this mindful approach when working with a student, JT. Time and time again, JT struggled to get his ideas on paper, and beginning the process was always a chore. What’s more, first drafts tended to be a hodgepodge of overlapping ideas. We often referred to JT’s difficulties as road blocks, and when I finally asked JT to draw
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