Join Bonnie Terry’s call and find out what you can do in just 20 minutes a day to boost your child’s reading, writing, and math skills and have fun at the same time.

I’m hosting a FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday July 14th at 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, and 5 pm Pacific. Upon registering you will receive a FREE Handbook on the 5 steps you can take to help your child over the summer even if they have a learning problem, LD, dyslexia. The activities and steps are for all age students – kindergarten through adults.

Those that attend the Live Teleseminar will also receive a surprise FREE gift. And, of course, if you can’t make it live on the call, you will get access to the recording!

Mid-Summer Training Call
FREE Live Teleseminar on Wednesday July 14th at 8 pm Eastern, 7 pm Central, 6 pm Mountain, and 5 pm Pacific.
Space is limited. You can attend via phone or via internet!

Reserve your space for the Teleseminar now at:

Title: Searching for Summer Activities to Improve Your Child’s Learning Skills and Still Have Fun?
Time: Wednesday, July 14th at 5pm Pacific, 6 pm Mountain, 7 pm Central, 8 pm Eastern.
Listening method: Phone + Web Simulcast

To register, visit:
Mid-Summer Training Call

Learn About:
1. How to improve your child’s reading, writing, and math skills in just 20 minutes a day
2. 5 steps you can take to help your child
3. Activities to do at home, in the yard, or in your neighborhood

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

As a parent, do you approach IEP meetings with fear and dread? If so, here are some suggestions to help you feel more at ease and able to participate as a full member of the team that plans your child’s special education program.

Before the Meeting:

• Build a positive relationship with at least one person on the IEP team, such as the classroom teacher, principal, or school psychologist, before the meeting. Such a relationship will help you feel more comfortable and know someone else hears your point of view.
• Plan ahead and put your thoughts down on paper, so you won’t forget to mention what’s important to you during the meeting. Complete the IEP Planning Form before the meeting. Know the purpose and format of the IEP meeting and who will be there ahead of time. That way you won’t be surprised by the number of people around the table or the process being followed. IDEA 2004 contains new provisions that you should be aware of, including who can be excused from IEP meetings, and alternative ways to hold IEP team meetings.
• If you wish to share the results of a private evaluation with the IEP team, send copies of the reports to the team ahead of time so they can be familiar with the data before the meeting, rather than take valuable time during the meeting to review them. In some cases parents may feel that sharing this report (or particular aspects of the report) will not be of benefit to the IEP process; it’s your choice whether to do so.
• Review current reports, last year’s IEP (if applicable), and Parents’ Rights and Responsibilities sent to you annually.

For more, go to: Tips for a Successful IEP Meeting

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When preparing to attend your child’s IEP meeting, it is important to have a complete understanding of your child’s learning problems. One way to do this is to use an informal assessment tool. With it you gain the understanding of what the specific problems are and how they impact learning in the classroom. It empowers you to speak knowledgebly about your child’s struggles.

Hope this is helpful,

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Typically when a child has difficulty with spelling it is due to problems with the auditory processing areas of auditory discrimination, auditory closure, auditory memory, auditory visual integration. Visual processing may also impact spelling, specifically visual memory problems.

However, learning to spell doesn’t have to be hard. All children can learn to spell when you teach spelling in an auditory, visual, and tactile method that teaches the structure of the language at the same time.

One of the hidden secrets of spelling is that we only put letters together 8 ways to make words. See an example of how I teach the first of the 8 spelling patterns.

Hope this is helpful.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

P.S. Be sure to leave a comment below or ask a question to your right.

What would it be like if your kids started taking notes from their books confidently and independently, without complaining! That’s what happened after my kids started using the graphic organizers from Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills. They are specially designed with the end use in mind, so that even kids with dyslexia or a learning disability, or ADHD could use them with ease.

Watch this video of kids using the specially designed graphic organizers from Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills. They decide which form to use with their assignment. You’ll see how easy it can be as well as learn other uses of the graphic organizer forms!

Hope this has been helpful. Please leave a comment below or a question to the right.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

What can you do to make your life a lot easier? Anna Weinstein from education.com contacted me earlier this week and asked if she could interview me about what parents of LD children could do to help there kids have a great start to the school year. We recorded the interview, so you can hear it here.

Here are a few of the highlights that you will hear Bonnie talking about:

At 4 min: There is a special tip regarding school supply tips to help your child be more organized.
At 6 min: How do you organize your homework area
At 7:29 min: Specific supplies that help the homework time
At 15:53 min: How much time should kids spend on homework – especially when they have dyslexia or LD?
At 17:30 min: How do you talk to teachers?
At 21:05 min: Specific things to tell the teacher to set your child up to have a great year
At 25:40 min: Can you just contact the teacher via email or does it have to be in person?
At 29:44 min: Isn’t there a system put in place already for me to meet all of my kid’s support team?
At 31:54 min: Doesn’t the teacher already know what my child needs – he was pulled out last year for services?
At 38:45 min: Why you want to have a clear understanding of what is going on with your child
At 40:00 min: Ways to keep track of your child’s assignments
At 42:40 min: Parent self care & support for parents
At 47:30 min: Evening family routine
At 51:27 min: Best way to speak with the teacher or principal

Listen to it here!

Has anyone used visual charts with pictures of items and clock faces
that show time? I am having trouble finding websites so I can get one
set up for school to show my son when he will be doing things. I talked
last year about it but the teacher never did it and I want to try this
year and see if it helps but I can not find sites

Any ideas?

Nichole from MI

Nicole,

I would love to have whatever info you get.  Can you use
Boardmaker?  We asked the school if WE could provide our son with a visual
schedule to help him at school, and they said “no – then the other kids
would want one.”  The sad part is that we didn’t pursue it.  This year,
though, we are at least going to do that at home.
-Susan

Nicole,
I’ve used visual clocks but I’ve made them myself. What I would do is to
make up my own clocks and then go in to meet the teacher and say something
to the effect of “I’m so glad to meet you. We’re looking forward to a
great year with you. I know you have my son’s (daughter’s) best interest
at heart and want to help him/her succeed. I just wanted to give you a
heads up on what has worked for us. Using visual clocks that are on
his/her desk to denote the change in subject or class makes a big
difference in their day. I know how busy you are with the start up of the
year so I went ahead and made them up for him/her. If you could just tell
us your transition times so we can fill them in that would be great.”

This type of statement tells them rather than asks, but tells them in a
nice way and you are being helpful by making them up and taping them to
the desk. It is also giving the teacher credit for working with you to
help your child succeed as well as getting them off the hook with the
statement that you know how busy they are with starting up the school
year.

I hope this helps!

BTW: I’m a parent as well as a teacher
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

P.S. Feel free to ask you questions and/or leave a comment!

A question came in today regarding auditory processing problems…

My 8 year old daughter just got diagnosed with auditory processing disorder, mild dyslexia, attention issues, and eye teaming issues.  She is on a beginning 2nd grade reading level and a post 1st grade math level.  She is currently doing interactive metronome and then will start Ken Gibson’s Pace Program.  She is also starting a computerized home vision therapy program.  I have always home schooled her and her older sister (who has no issues).  Also, I will be starting moving with math by math teachers press as soon as it arrives.

I guess my question is what else can  I do with her this school year as far as curriculum?   Are there any other training programs you can suggest?  And what about her future…can we overcome this?

Thanks so much, April

Yes, auditory processing can be improved. Remember, most of these areas of perception are learned which means they can be improved.

I will be posting another article in the next few days with more auditory processing activities.  Additionally, the spelling program Making Spelling Sense addresses & improves auditory processing skills with the specific method used in the book. The book was designed specifically to work on auditory processing at the same time it teaches spelling. That way you work on a specific skill and at the same time address the underlying causes of most spelling problems – which are related to auditory processing.

A good computerized program for addressing auditory processing skills is Earobics.

Here are a variety of posts that relate to auditory process in one fashion or another. The March 26th, January 12th, and January 7th posts should prove to be very helpful to you.

Teaching Reading: The Short Vowels to Dyslexics, ADHD, & Homeschooling Kids Aug 3rd

Spelling Problems? What is the Cause and What Do I Do About Them? June 4th

My son has Speech Problems, What do I do? May 30th

My son is 8 and has really struggled with learning. What do I do? Where should I start? May 27th

How to Improve Reading in 5 Minutes a Day May 20th

Is a Language Disability Considered a Learning Disability? May 1st

Why Should I Do an Informal Assessment of My Child? April 8th

Question about The Comprehension Zone Game March 30th

Feeding Your Auditory and Visual Processing Systems March 26th

Questions regarding the LD Screening Tool March 25th

Will Music Really Help Improve Reading Skills? March 18th

New study links Dyslexia to slower processing of sounds in the brain March 16th

What Do I Do? I Know There Is a Problem & the School Says No Feb 11th

My 13 yr Old Wants To Just Read and Not Write, How Can I Help? Jan 27th

Homework Help for Children With Learning Disabilities Jan 26th

18 Auditory Processing Activities You Can Do Without Spending a Dime! Jan 12th

My son was just diagnosed with CAPD. How can I help him? Jan 7th

Reading Problems, Dyslexia, Difficulties, or Deficits and Rapid Naming, What is the Connection? May 23rd (2008)

Reading Problems, Dyslexia, Difficulties, or Deficits and Rapid Naming, What is the Connection? May 21st (2008)

I hope this is helpful!

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

It’ll only take about eight minutes. Click Here For the Survey

Thanks again! I really appreciate it. This will help me to be of better service to you.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET