Dyslexia: UK Charity teaches prisoners how to read and write

Patron: Rebecca Harris MP

A PIONEERING scheme aimed at cutting reoffending rates in prisons has been hailed as a success.

UK charity The Cascade Foundation has been carrying out a three-month pilot project in Doncaster Prison to provide education for inmates with dyslexia-related learning difficulties.

The charity teaches offenders basic literacy skills and diagnoses those suffering with learning difficulties.

It is hoped the work will stop prisoners reverting back to a life of crime and provide the skills to keep them on the straight and narrow.

The charity was set up by campaigner Jackie Hewitt-Main in her home in Kents Kill Road, alongside Benfleet councillor Andrew Sheldon and Chelmsford resident Karen Osman.

Ms Hewitt-Main said: “A large number of offenders in British prisons have learning difficulties. If offenders haven’t learned to read and write by the time they finish their sentence, they have little hope of properly interacting with society, getting a job and staying on the straight and narrow.

“We are taking them out of the traditional prison classroom environment with our teaching and setting up a support network of mentors amongst the offenders themselves to give them these skills and get them one step closer to rehabilitation.

Castle Point MP Rebecca Harris, who is dyslexic herself and a founding patron of the charity, added: “I am very proud to be a patron of the Cascade Foundation and it was great to travel up to Doncaster to see first-hand how their efforts are changing the lives of these offenders and through education, cut the chances of them committing further crimes.”

Reading with your Child: Poster

Child Poster: Children Need and Deserve Patience

If it takes a poster to help you remember that children need and deserve your patience and understanding to help them learn, then use this poster to help you.

Here are some more quotes to amuse and inform you.

"School is indeed a training for later life not because it teaches the 3 Rs (more or less), but because it instills the essential cultural nightmare fear of failure, envy of success, and absurdity."

Jules Henry

"Schools have not necessarily much to do with education...they are mainly institutions of control where certain basic habits must be inculcated in the young. Education is quite different and has little place in school." 

Winston Churchill

“School prepares for the alienating institutionalization of life by teaching the need to be taught.” Ivan Illich

Jay Berckley at TEDx: Dream Boldly For the Future of Our Children

Do you remember a mentor in your life that always comes to mind when you think of someone who really listened closely, influenced your outlook and performance, and taught you life-long lessons that helped shape who you are today?

Jay Berckley Meritas Family of International Schools, remembers, and is driven to help connect all students to the right mentors and methods that will shape the decision makers of tomorrow.

He will bring his experience and passion to the stage this November as he shares with us his own lessons learned and how multi-disciplinary environments can play a role in truly shaping a better future for us all.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience.

Dyslexia: Tablet Computer Apps to Aid Learning

The following apps have been carefully selected to meet most of the criteria outlined above. 

Each is identified by the app name, developer, iTunes URL, intended audience, content, and a brief description. 

All are affordable for the teaching professional or parent.

1. SoundLiteracy Developer: 3D Literacy, LLC
Teacher utility; Phonemic awareness, Phonics (spelling), Morphology
User(s): Teacher with student

Sound Literacy is a large, well-organized collection of electronic “tiles.” It includes blank tiles for phonemic awareness activities; graphemes—individual letters and consonant and vowel clusters such as sh, ng, igh, aw for phonics activities; and morphemes—prefixes, suffixes, Latin roots, and Greek combining forms—for advanced word study activities. It also includes sound charts for consonant and vowel phonemes. Teachers with Apps named it one of the 12 Best Apps for Special Needs of 2012. Disclosure: A portion of all proceeds benefits The International Dyslexia Association.

2. Beginning Sounds Interactive Game
Developer: Lakeshore Learning Materials
Phonological Awareness
User: Student independent

Students match pictures that share the same beginning sound. If the child makes an incorrect choice, the picture re-circulates for another try.

3. Letter Find
Developer: Matthew Thomas
Alphabet (letter naming)
User: Student independent

Letter Find challenges young children to identify a pre-selected lowercase letter when it is among many other letters. Children tap on the letter, which turns green and provides a pleasant sound if correct, and red with a buzzer sound if incorrect. The negative feedback, though, is quite amusing to some children, who persist in responding incorrectly to hear the buzzer.

4. LetterSchool
Developer: Boreaal
Alphabet, Handwriting, phoneme-grapheme correspondences
User: Student independent

This app provides three progressively more challenging ways to practice writing numerals and manuscript letters—both lowercase and capital forms—in three different typefaces (Handwriting Without Tears, D’Nealian, or Zaner-Bloser). Each of the three practice activities includes immediate, explicit, and engaging feedback.

The app is very intuitive; children as young as three learn to use the activities with minimal instruction. However, very small children may not have sufficient finger strength to do the most difficult activities without parental assistance.

The introduction to the letter includes a keyword picture and sound, which present the most common short vowel and consonant sounds with only two exceptions: The keyword for the letter u is “unicorn” and for x, “xylophone.” The benefits of the letter formation practice make this a very worthwhile app!

5. Starfall Learn to Read
Developer: Starfall Education
Phonics (decoding and spelling); interactive book (decodable)
User: Student independent

This app mirrors the decoding and spelling activities in Starfall.com. It includes making words from common rimes (e.g., at in cat, ake in cake), sorting one-syllable words by syllable type, games for matching words and pictures, decodable stories, and engaging cartoon videos explain phoneme-grapheme correspondences. The speech is a child’s voice, with excellent and accurate pronunciation.

6. Bob Books #1 - Reading Magic HD
Developer: Learning Touch
Phonics (decoding and spelling); interactive book (decodable)
User: Student independent

This app is an interactive version of the decodable “Bob Books.” Students practice spelling common CVC words within the context of simple stories; the task menu provides four levels of progressively challenging tasks for beginning readers.

7. Word Wizard - Talking Movable Alphabet & Spelling Tests for Kids
Developer: L'Escapadou
Phonics (spelling)
User: Teacher with student; student independent

This app is appropriate for both spelling practice in teacher-directed small groups or for independent practice using pre-set lists of words: CVC words, high frequency words, and common content words (numbers, colors). Settings are easily changed to suit the purpose of the activity; for example, when touching each letter, a human voice speaks either the sound (good for single letter-sounds) or name of the letter (appropriate for digraphs). A unique feature is that “naughty” words are transformed instantly into “oops.”

8. SpellingCityDeveloper: SpellingCity
Phonics (reading and spelling); vocabulary; alphabetizing and handwriting. User: Teacher with student; student independent This app features seven activities to reinforce spelling, vocabulary, and alphabetizing skills.

The sample lists include homophones and content-based words (e.g., colours, beach, space). However, one can easily create custom lists to practice any spelling pattern using a personal account on the free, accompanying website.

Words to spell are dictated using a natural, human voice, and words are all put into the context of a sentence. Personal lists also feature a choice of appropriate sentences to include in the activities! An added bonus is that any word list can be easily printed in manuscript or cursive on “lined” paper, combining spelling and handwriting practice.

9. abc PocketPhonics: letter sounds & writing + first words
Developer: Apps in My Pocket Ltd
Alphabet (letter naming, handwriting), Phonics (spelling)
User: Student independent

This app provides individualized spelling instruction in a carefully sequenced progression of consonant and vowel sounds, starting with single letters and progressing to consonant and vowel digraphs. Players sign in by name, enabling the app to track individual progress.

A human voice pronounces the phonemes (e.g., /kw/) and then prompts the player to trace the grapheme (e.g., qu,) that represents the sound. After reading and writing isolated phoneme-grapheme associations, the player uses known graphemes to spell words, sound-by-sound (e.g., quit).

The correct response rewards the player with a comical illustration of the word’s meaning. The app includes digraph ng, unvoiced th (with) and voiced th (then), a rare and welcome feature in phonics apps! However, the app could be improved with a more animated and less monotone voice.

10. PopOut! The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Developer: Loud Crow Interactive Inc.
Vocabulary, Comprehension; interactive book (literature)
User: Teacher or parent with student; student independent

This award-winning interactive book is one of several produced by Loud Crow Interactive, a company that converts children’s literature and comic books to an electronic form that truly enhances the text and vocabulary, a rare feature among interactive books.

In The Tale of Peter Rabbit, a pleasant British voice reads the narrative, while the app highlights each spoken word. At the end of the page, one can tap on any word to hear it pronounced again.

Like the other Pop Out books produced by Loud Crow Interactive (The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, The Night Before Christmas), the interaction mirrors the original pop-out effects as it reinforces rich vocabulary (e.g., the animation and text illustrates how Peter squeezed under the gate.).

Loud Crow also produces Goodnight Moon, several Boynton books (e.g., Barnyard Dance! Moo, Baa, La La La!), Charlie Brown stories (e.g., It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown), and the first-ever, fully interactive comic book app, Marvel’s the Avengers: Iron Man – Mark VII).

11. Nursery Rhymes with StoryTime
Developer: ustwo™
Phonological Awareness, Comprehension; interactive book (literature)
User: Teacher or parent with student; student independent

This interactive book reads familiar nursery rhymes aloud. The exquisite illustrations invite young children to trigger the interactions, which reinforce the content of the nursery rhyme.

12. Word Wit
Ballpoint Inc.
Vocabulary
User: Student independent

Designed for English-Language Learners, or native-speaking middle school students and older, Word Wit makes it fun and easy to learn the difference between frequently confused words (e.g., affect/effect).

It presents sequential activities that include explanations, quotes, and quizzes designed to deepen one’s understanding. Wrong answers cycle back for added practice. One can look up words individually, or let the app randomly select word pairs for you.

13. Vocab Rootology HD – Greek and Latin Roots and Etymology
Developer: PrepInteractive
Morphology, Vocabulary
User: Student independent

This is a flash-card tutorial of Latin roots and Greek combining forms for the serious, older student, teacher, or parent. It features flash cards for pre-testing and study, drills, and a report card to track progress. It is one of the few apps to provide feedback on a grading scale (A to F), appropriate for more mature audiences.

14. Inspiration Maps
Developer: Inspiration Software, Inc.
Written Composition
User: Teacher with student; student independent

Inspiration Maps is a portable version of the popular Inspiration composition software; it helps organize topics for writing or studying with graphic organizers.

It includes dozens of pre-made templates in a variety of forms, both expository (e.g., compare and contrast) and narrative.

15. Draw Everything! GLOW Note Free!
Developer: Jae Kwang Lee
Teacher Utility
User: Teacher with student; student independent

This app is a portable drawing/writing surface with day-glow colors. Kids can use it to practice writing letters and numbers; teachers can explain concepts electronically and display it on an overhead projector.

16. Smart White Board HD
Developer: Pad read
Teacher Utility
User: Teacher with student; student independent

This app is a portable, electronic white board for use by students and teachers. Kids can use it to practice writing letters and numbers; teachers can explain concepts electronically with the option of displaying it on an overhead projector. It includes four “pen” colors for detailed explanations.

17. Explain Everything
Developer: MorrisCooke
Teacher Utility
User: Teacher for the student (prepared in advance); student independent

This is an extremely versatile app for teachers in primary grades through university courses. Instructors can import pictures, PDF documents, and Powerpoint files into the app, where one can augment them with annotations, animated arrows and shapes, pictures, even a laser pointer!

There also is the option to record a video of the presentation, including handwriting on the screen, voice, and animated laser pointing. The finished products can be saved as a PDF document or video, which can be shared electronically with students. It is easy to learn and fairly intuitive.

18. Dropbox
Developer: Dropbox
Teacher Utility
User: Teacher, parent and/or student

Dropbox is a free cloud storage system that synchronizes files. Files placed in this folder are accessible through applications and a website, so you are able to access the file anywhere there is an Internet (or telephone) connection worldwide.

One also can create folders accessible by several people. This is the perfect application for teachers and students on the go! You never have to search for the latest version.

LD: Facing the Challenges of getting a good College Education

With high school guidance counselors, teachers, and even parents focused on college admission rather than how to succeed when they get there, students with LD remain largely uneducated about the dramatically different culture they’re about to enter.

 Even parents who graduated college themselves remain ignorant of the obstacles kids with learning disabilities encounter at the college level.

As a result, students cross the chasm between high school and college filled with misconceptions. They have no clue that their world is about to be turned on its head.

Upon entering college, students are blindsided by a totally different landscape in which the tried-and-true methods that got them through high school no longer work.

Following are the major factors that make college such a difficult proposition for students with learning disabilities:

• Pressure from parents and/or peers: It is often expected that students enroll in college despite lack of ability, desire, readiness, or significant knowledge of their strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Besides, with such a tight job market, what else is there to do? Sadly, parents learn the hard way that they can’t legislate motivation. To achieve success, motivation must come from within. In many cases, it comes with maturity.
• Semester vs. year: Material covered in a year of high school is expected to be learned in a 15-week semester, making the college workload faster, heavier, and more difficult than that of high school. It requires more time, organization, and a greater mental commitment. In addition, because a semester proceeds so quickly, students often don’t recognize they’re in academic trouble until it’s too late.
• Lack of an IEP: Students with disabilities in high school are covered under IDEA, the law that provides an individualized education plan (IEP) aimed at guaranteeing success. In college, IDEA vanishes and Section 504 takes over. All the support to which students have become accustomed is suddenly pulled out from under them. Now they are only guaranteed non-discrimination through accommodations (assuming they disclose); the onus for success suddenly shifts from the parent and school to the student.

This raises the issue of self-advocacy. Prior to college, parents were charged with looking after their child’s best interests.

In the span of 12 years, how many times did you contact the school, dissatisfied with services your child was receiving?

In college, this burden falls on the student who, up until now, has taken a passive role. This dramatic change is often underestimated and is a frequent cause of college failure.

Read more of this article here

Teaching Children With Dyslexia

Unfortunately, the label of 'being dyslexic' is often seen as a negative one. One which can produce upset, limitations and hurdles to the students involved .

However, with the right training, teaching and encouragement it can also produce strengths, talents and creative gifts.

What are the effects of dyslexia?
Research suggests that individuals with dyslexia have great difficulties in fluent and/or accurate word identification, often resulting in a slower reading ability, poor concentration, difficulty with spelling and grammar and in some cases trouble with organisation and planning.

A key concern for people with dyslexia is the lack of confidence and the negative effect it can have on a student's self-esteem.

Low self-esteem leads to other challenges such as a lack of motivation, concentration, and self-belief and in some cases, anxiety.

Tips for teaching students with dyslexia:

1. Be Visual: Dyslexics are predominantly visual thinkers, so try to include diagrams, flow charts and pictures wherever possible.

2. Squash Distractions: Think about the level of distraction around the classroom and how you can reduce disruptions and distractions. Working in a quiet, comfortable room, with little to distract the brain, will allow students to focus and therefore improve their concentration.

3. Play to the Strengths: Really think about the positives - creativity, imagination and a hands-on approach; and integrate them into your teaching techniques.

4. Use Mind maps: Mind maps work the way the brain works, which isn't in nice neat lines. Mind maps are a very visual way of teaching, and because the brain best memorises keywords and images, they are ideal for teaching students with dyslexia.

5. Develop Organisational Skills: These will benefit students for the rest of their lives. Use colour-coded folders to separate different subjects or subject topics and encourage them to implement and stick to a daily routine. Schedules are very useful for individuals with dyslexia as they help them know what to expect and what is coming up next.

6. Use the Tools: Use approved specialist software to diversify teaching techniques and encourage willingness to learn. Software such as word and grammar based games; word processors as well as digital voice recording are useful for teaching dyslexic students. Get creative and make it fun, they will respond to new and exciting teaching techniques.

7. Short Term Memory Loss: Students with dyslexia may struggle with short-term memory and concentrating for long periods of time. Be aware that you may have to repeat yourself often and try to break up the lesson with short breaks such as learning games, chats and active learning techniques.

8. Focus on Verbal Reasoning: Don't just hand out sheets of paper for the student to read, as they may struggle to absorb and understand the information. Discuss the topics with them and engage them in conversation; it's a much more effective way of teaching.

Read more on this approach here

Dyslexia: Taking a Different Path

Dealing with Dyslexia is not about taking the easy option, it's about finding the right path that suits the learner. 

Teaching Dyslexic children means helping them find their most appropriate learning style and guiding them down a different path from the others. 

Pupils that scan their words from right to left can be taught to read, spell and be interdependently creative, just like Leonardo da Vinci.

Having the gift of Dyslexia means seeing the world another way from others. It's not a curse. 

None of us really knows how others perceive their world until we talk to them and ask them to explain and describe what and how they feel.

Acceptance is the beginning of understanding, which should lead to teaching and mentoring. Persistence and determination also help.

It's not the easy, well trodden path that leads to discovery, it's often the most difficult route that leads to breakthrough and discovery. 

Are you ready to accept the challenge, as a dyslexic learner or as a teacher of dyslexic children? I believe you are.

You've come this far, start the rest of your journey of discovery today. Which path you take is for you to decide.

Phonics: Children who do not respond

What happens when a child cannot learn to read through phonics? 

Educational researchers call these children nonresponders or  treatment-resisters. They use these terms because direct and intensive teaching of phonetic skills is usually the first approach taken to help a young child who is falling behind but a surprisingly large number of children fail to progress to phonics-based interventions.  

Researchers have found that 25% to 50% of children with learning disabilities fall within this category. That is, one-fourth to one-half of kids with reading difficulties won't learn with the methods that are most likely to be offered at their schools. That is a higher percentage than the reported number of children with dyslexia.

New research confirms that the children who do not progress with traditional phonics-based tutoring are highly likely to be dyslexic. 

Unfortunately, schools often follow up the failed intervention with more of the same -- the teachers try harder, reasoning that the child must need to have more repetition and practice to learn but the research evidence also shows that the children who do not learn from phonics-based teaching at the outset do not improve over time; if anything, their performance tends to get slightly worse.   

Most dyslexic kids will struggle to learn to read that way, and those who struggle at the outset will continue to find traditional approaches to reading to be difficult or near-impossible. 

Learn more about the Davis Method:

• Is your child a nonresponder?  
• Research Update: Nonresponders & Dyslexia
• Davis Methods - A Brief Explanation 

Is Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) an unintended consequence of Modern Teaching?

Computer usage is on the rise in the classroom, and its giving rise to an unintended consequence:  An increased risk of computer vision syndrome.

Students now have instant access to endless streams of information in multiple formats – video, text, music, anything.

Computers are a fixture in the classroom, as indicated by these statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics:

• In 2009, 97% of teachers had one or more computers located in the classroom every day.
• Internet access was available for 93% of computers in the classroom.
• The ratio of students to computers in the classroom was 5.3 to 1.
• Teachers reported that they or their students used computers in the classroom during instructional time (40%) or sometimes (29%).

Technology in the classroom, and at home, is exciting but it’s also resulting in Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).

What is Computer Vision Syndrome?
CVS is eyestrain resulting from near work on the computer.  It can cause headaches, sore eyes, blurry vision, fatigue, and potentially even myopia (near-sightedness) among students.

An article in the Wall Street Journal cited a study by the National Institute of Occupational Safety, which indicates that CVS affects some 90% of the people who spend three hours or more per day at the computer.

That unintended consequence is the bad news of extended computer usage.  The good news is that visual problems can be offset if you practice good visual health while at the computer workstation.

As we noted in a previous post, there are techniques to help you avoid CVS.  These include:

• Sitting on a chair with feet flat on the floor and legs at a ninety-degree angle.
• Avoiding viewing computers screens, iPads, or smart phones while lying down on couch.  You should be upright and the screen should be straight ahead, not viewed at an angle.
• Using the Harmon Distance (the distance from the big knuckle on your middle finger to the tip of your elbow) when viewing a screen. Note that many people hold smart phones too close to their eyes - especially children. 
• Adjusting the level of brightness of your monitor for comfort.

Dyslexia: Teaching in Specialised Schools - CReSTeD

Click on the picture to visit their website

ACLU alleges Michigan school district violated students’ ‘right to learn to read’

In the first case of its kind, the American Civil Liberties Union is charging that the state of Michigan and a Detroit area school district have failed to adequately educate children, violating their “right to learn to read” under an obscure state law.

The ACLU class-action lawsuit, to be filed Thursday, says hundreds of students in the Highland Park School District are functionally illiterate.

“None of those adults charged with the care of these children . . . have done their jobs,” said Kary L. Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan. “The Highland Park School District is among the lowest-performing districts in the nation, graduating class after class of children who are not literate. Our lawsuit . . . says that if education is to mean anything, it means that children have a right to learn to read.”

The complaint, to be filed in state court in Wayne County, is based on a 1993 state law that says if public school students are not proficient in reading, as determined by tests given in grades 4 and 7, they must be provided “special assistance” to bring them to grade level within a year.

But at Highland Park, a three-school district bordering Detroit, most of the struggling students are years behind grade level and never received the kind of assistance required by law, the ACLU said.

Sara Wurfel, press secretary for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), said it was “impossible and imprudent to comment on a lawsuit that we haven’t been served or read yet.”

But she said the administration is working to address “a long overdue fiscal and academic crisis that was crippling the district, shortchanging its students and threatening the schools’ very existence.

Everything we have done and are doing is to ensure that the kids of Highland Park schools get the education they need and deserve.”

Efforts to reach the Highland Park School District were unsuccessful. The published telephone number at the district headquarters was busy all Wednesday afternoon.

One student in the Highland Park district, a 14-year-old boy named Quentin, just finished seventh grade.

Quentin, whose mother asked that his last name be withheld, reads at a first-grade level, according to an expert hired by the ACLU.

When asked to compose a letter to Snyder to describe his school, Quentin misspelled his own name, writing, “My name is Quemtin . . . and you can make the school gooder by geting people that will do the jod that is pay for get a football tame for the kinds mybe a baksball tamoe get a other jamtacher for the school get a lot of tacher.”

[Click here for samples of writing from Highland Park students who are plaintiffs in the suit, including Quentin.]

During the school year that just finished, Quentin was enrolled in both a regular language arts class and Read 180, an online program designed to help struggling readers.

It was up to Quentin to decide whether to attend his regular class or participate in Read 180 each day, according to the complaint. This was the first year Highland Park used the Read 180 program, according to the ACLU.

In the Read 180 classroom, “the teacher did not provide any instruction while the students read books on their own, or in groups, or completed self-directed work on the computer. . . .

The longest writing assignment Quentin had to complete this year was a three paragraph summary of a book,” according to the lawsuit.

“Kids are getting plopped in front of computers with no teacher in the classroom or the teacher is just sitting there, not engaged,” Moss said in an interview.

“A couple of our plaintiffs were put in the Reading 180 program, but it’s not been made available to every kid. There’s no individualized assessment of what they need, how they’re doing or monitoring of what’s going on.”

The district’s record-keeping is shoddy and student files are incomplete, making it nearly impossible to identify which students need remedial help, the complaint alleges.

The most recent state test scores for Highland Park schools show that 65 percent of fourth-graders and 75 percent of seventh-graders were not proficient in reading.

Read the full article here: ACLU alleges Michigan school district violated students’ ‘right to learn to read’

Attention Towards Special Education Drives Global Special Education Software Market

Special education for students with disabilities is gaining significant attention across the globe.

Pertinently, related institutions are spending more on technologies and software that assist in furthering the dissemination of learning to students with special needs.

Technology remains the answer to all the needs of disabled students in their search for learning, despite their differing disabilities.

Novel technological developments with respect to software and hardware are creating substantial opportunities for students with physical, cognitive or process disabilities to gain from general curriculum.

A recent trend, though, has been the exploration of utilizing this technology for providing skills required by all students.

The growth of digital content and the Internet has emerged as transformative advancements for the disabled, enabling them to speak, read and write.

Assistive technologies in the area of special education have witnessed rapid advancement over the years which has enabled emergence of less costly, portable, and faster devices and software products.

With increasing penetration of web-enabled software programs and classrooms, demand for customizable educational content that is ready-to-use is gaining pace.

Major players profiled in the report include Crick Software Ltd., DynaVox Mayer-Johnson, Excent

Read the full article here: Growing Attention Towards Special Education Drives the Global Special Education Software Market

Dyslexia-Ville by Peggy Stern - Video

 
Visit Dyslexia-Ville here

Learning Disabilities, What Are The Different Types? - YouTube

Talking about transition at Our Special Families Village

The Village is a growing community where families find information and mutual support. Sharon is the gifted and passionate creator of the Village. In this one-minute welcome video, she explains what you’ll find there.

The Village offers a growing collection of interviews on a wide range of topics.

Our audio interview is over an hour long. And we don’t tippy-toe around difficult issues.
It’s a candid dialogue about practical responses to tough questions:

• how can parents negotiate their changing role during adolescence?
• how can we support teens to make informed choices and speak for themselves?
• what happens when there’s conflict on the IEP team?
• how can teens find out about career options?
• where do we start in the maze of adult agencies?
• how can teens learn what to do when they face roadblocks?

If you’re feeling some anxiety about these topics, you’re not alone.

You can listen to our conversation here.

Resources

During the interview we talk about these resources:
A Maze of Agencies – Where to Start?
Problem Solving Graphic Organizer
My Next Move   
Reading Free Career Interest Tools  
Transition portfolios and planning tools  

Talking about transition at Our Special Families Village

Sunbird Educational Products Fruit & Veg Maths - YouTube

Fruit and Veg Maths is a truely interactive maths resource. Not because it can be used on an electronic whiteboard but because it can be manipulated by the teacher and/or the students.

It’s colourful and bright and guaranteed to keep your students engaged in maths lessons. Our resources are created to show students that maths lessons can be fun and interesting.

Fruit and Veg Maths allows children to practise real world situations when they are given a shopping list and have to calculate the cost.

Sunbird Educational Products

US The Literate Nation Movie - YouTube

This shocking video gives startling facts about the rapid deterioration of America because it is neglecting to educate its young people with even a basic education—much less world class. EDUCATION: What are the FACTS?

Teaching Number Bonds

Number bonds.
An extract from the SJBWriting blog:
 
"We all use them in our adult life without even realising it. When adding up items in our basket at the supermarket, we know that 3p and 7p is 10p, and that 2x 50p is £1.

When we buy something for £5.60 at the market and hand over a £10 note, we know that £5.60 + 40p is £6 and another £4 makes £10, so we know to expect £4.60 change.

Knowing our number bonds is extremely useful, but a lot of children struggle to learn them.

Over the years I have successfully taught many children how to remember their number bonds. As with times tables, the key is to find multi-sensory ways to teach, and to make practising fun.

Some children respond very well to visual clues, and to help these I use colour sticks.

These are strips marked out in 10 sections and coloured in contrasting colours, so that children can see clearly that 2 red squares plus 8 green squares equals 10 squares altogether, and that 8 green squares plus 2 red squares also equals 10 squares altogether.

They are small enough to hold in the hand, and I tend to use them in conjunction with other methods. The children I tutor find them really useful to refer to during games.

Snap and pelmanism are always popular games, and I have made two sets of cards for this. The first set is colour-coded, so when the children turn the cards over there is a visual clue as to whether the two cards add up to 10.

When they turn over the first card, I encourage them to work out what number they need to find to make 10.

When the children are a little more confident I switch to the black and white ones to remove the visual clue, but we still play the same games to keep some familiarity."

If you find this interesting and want to read more of this article, go to SJBWriting

Improve handwriting with small changes

The best way to encourage children to change is to offer them something they want and then let them find out how to go about getting it. A bit like the carrot on a stick.

Find out how to write neatly by observing someone who is a neat writer and notice what they do that is different from what you do, be like a detective and watch them really closely, just what is it that they are doing differently?

Helping children learn from each other and discovering the information in a fun and enjoyable way will help them be better at remembering the things they must do to improve their handwriting.
If you don’t get the chance to observe someone, here are some things that you can do:

1. Ensure that your child is sat with both feet flat on the floor and sat up straight. This helps concentration and gets children ready to write. Slouching over their desk and resting their head on their hand is not good for being alert and concentration. It could also mean that they need to visit an optician that specialises in helping children with handwriting and vision problems.
2. Turn the paper about 20 degrees away from the hand that they write with, this will give their elbow room to move as they write and their hand can relax on the paper.
3. Hold the pencil with a tripod grip, this is the most effective way to hold a pencil for neat handwriting.
4. Grip the pencil by imagining it is a baby bird, you don’t want it to fly away but you don’t want to squash it either. This is helpful for
   children to understand just how tightly they need to hold it, especially for children who hold on to their pencil so tightly their fingers go white at the knuckles.
5. If your child is having problems holding the pencil then invest in a good quality pencil grip to help them master the tripod grip with ease.

Sometimes there’s resistance to these changes which could mean your child is not ready or wanting to change. Encourage small changes with lots of fun practise focusing on pencil holding skills regularly, not just with writing but with drawing and painting. They will take time to master, but once mastered, they will lead to success in handwriting for a lifetime.
You can learn more about how to hold a pencil properly and find the right kind of pencil grips for adults and children here
Improve handwriting with small changes