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

Back to School Tools and Methods for Kinesthetic Learners

Some students can sit quietly at their desks while others seem to struggle to stay in their seats. This later group of learners may annoy the teacher or their peers by tapping their pencil, jogging their leg, fidgeting, leaning back in their chairs and asking for repeated bathroom and water breaks. Many of these students are kinesthetic learners and having to sit still and listen to a lesson is an uncomfortable battle that feels like trying to tie your shoes while in a straight jacket.
Tools for kinesthetic learners
What are Some Products that can Help Kinesthetic Learners at their Desks?
Kinesthetic Meditations for kids
Multi Sensory Brain Break Meditations
    kinesthetic learners in school
  1. Inflatable discs and wedges can offer your kinesthetic learners some movement while staying seated. These products can be placed on any seat and they allow students to move their hips and develop core muscles (see below for product link).
  2. Safeco, a furniture company, just came out with the Zenergy Ball Chair for older students and the Runtz for younger students. Both of these products offer four stable legs with an upholstery covered exercise ball. Unlike swivel chairs, that allow students to spin away from their work, this product allows students to have short bouncing breaks while attending to their work. Again, this product develops core support as students must balance on their chair. Likewise, Abilitations Integrations offers an inflatable Six-Leg Ball chair that offers a little bit more mobility (see below for product links). 
  3. Many companies now offer adjustable desks that allows students the option of standing at their desk or sitting on a high stool. In addition, under the desk is an attached swinging foot rest which allow students to expend excess energy while working at their desk. If you would like to see a video on this technology click here
What are Some Teaching Methodologies that can Help Kinesthetic Learners?
  1. Have pairs of students or a student and a teacher toss a ball or balloon back and forth while practicing new material.
  2. Break instruction into short lessons and offer kinesthetic, brain breaks. If you are searching for some energizing brain break ideas, consider purchasing David Sladkey’s Energizing Brain Breaks (see below for product link).
  3. Integrate movement into lessons. For example, when teaching the adding and subtracting of integers, place numbers on a staircase and explain that when adding you go up the stairs and when subtracting you go down the stairs. Give the students problems and allow them to solve them by traveling up and down the stairs.
  4. Create a place in the back of the classroom where kinesthetic learners can exercise their need to move. 
I hope you found these ideas helpful. If you have any of your own ideas that you would like to share, please post them below this blog.



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

  1. RaeAugust 17, 2013 at 11:01 AM

    This is a great post! I'm going to highlight in my next blog post so others can find it too. Thank you:)

    Rae
    Mindful Rambles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RaeAugust 17, 2013 at 11:37 AM

      This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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
Read more

How to Develop Reading Stamina for Struggling Readers

Building reading stamina for struggling readers can be a tricky endeavor.  After a few pages of text, many lose interest because reading is a difficult and cognitively taxing chore.  So what can be done to increase endurance and help learners find joy in reading. What is Reading Stamina? Reading stamina is a learner's ability to sustain attention and effort when reading independently. Why Do Some Students Struggle with Poor Reading Stamina? Poor reading stamina is often associated with other areas of cognitive-based weaknesses.  If readers, for example, are placing too much attention and energy on decoding words, there is little mental space left - if any - to comprehend the material.  Perhaps they can decode words, but their tracking, visualization skills, or working memory are lacking.  Again, they may not have the cognitive room to make sense of what they are reading.  Here are a few possible processing areas that could get in the way: Weak visual proces...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why Visualization Skills Offer Key Benefits for Students

In the classroom, many students are discouraged from using their imaginations or visualization skills, because, in the past, they have used mental imagery to escape the lesson.  However, when kids learn how to take the reins of their imagination and tame their mind's eye, they can use mental images as well as their inner voice to drop into the teachable moment. What is Visualization? Visualization is the mind's ability to create internal images.  Like a dream or a movie, it's the capacity to imagine objects, experiences, or solutions on one's inner sketchpad.  Some learners have a strong mind's eye and they can easily visualize past memories, ideas, or coming events.  Other's can struggle with what I call a blind mind's eye, and they need to develop this skill with explicit instruction.  As a result, there is a large continuum of abilities. How Can You Assess a Student's Visualization Abilities? If you would like to evaluate a learner's baseline or c...
Post a Comment
Read more