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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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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 processing skills Poor auditory
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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
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How Can Auditory Processing Be Improved with Fun Games?

Many students that struggle with auditory processing weaknesses can be irritating to teachers and family members because they just don't seem to pay attention or follow verbal directions.  In addition, when these struggling learners attempt to follow through with directives, they may miss sequence tasks, leave out steps altogether, or they may completely misunderstand or misinterpret what was said.  Many times they feel agitation and frustration in those around them, and this can exacerbate the problem. What Can Be Done to Help These Struggling Learners? Be patient and loving because increasing their anxiety level will only make their problems worse.  Don't laugh or make fun of misunderstandings as this often feels embarrassing or shameful. Slow down and speak clearly. Encourage them to repeat back verbal directives.  If you are asking them to complete multiple steps like go upstairs, brush your teeth, and put on your pajamas, ask them to tell it back to you.  To make it fun, y
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What is Auditory Processing and How Can I Strengthen This Skill?

Although it may appear that a child or student is not paying attention or listening, sometimes it has nothing to do with that.  In addition, it may not be an issue of effort or intellect, rather they may be lost in a world of words that are difficult to process and understand.   What is Auditory Processing? Auditory processing involves the cognitive functions that recognize, interpret, and make sense of the sounds that we perceive through our ears. What are the Different Types of Auditory Processing? Auditory processing can be broken down into a number of subskills.  This can be very helpful when one is trying to support and remediate the cognitive weaknesses of those with a central auditory processing disorder or auditory processing weaknesses because it enables one to tailor and personalize an intervention plan. Auditory discrimination: the ability to distinguish between sounds that are similar but are distinct. Auditory closure: the ability to understand words when some sounds or ph
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