Back to School Teleseminar

Thursday August 18th: 5pm PST; 8pm EST

Join Bonnie Terry, M. Ed. BCET, America’s Leading Learning Expert for a Special Back to School Homework Help Tips teleseminar.

For the first time ever, Bonnie is opening up her private Awaken the Scholar Within Call to all parents. This is a one time opportunity to have your  homework help questions answered so that you can set your child up for a successful school year. We will be going over a variety of school tips as well as tips on homework help. You will also have an opportunity to ask your own questions.

Homework time doesn’t have to be difficult anymore!

When my children were in elementary school, my stomach would start to tie up in knots at the beginning of August. I started remembering all the homework hassles we had had the previous school year. I’m a parent too, and my kids were just like yours. They did not like homework.  Eventually I figured it out, how to make homework time a good part of family time. So what can you do to make homework time more pleasurable? Join parenting coach Susan Epstein and myself for our Back to School Homework Help Teleseminar this Thursday night!

Back to School Tips You Will Learn Include:

1. Tips on how to help your child organize their backpacks

 

2. Tips on setting up study space for easier homework time

 

3. Tips on managing homework time

 

FREE Teleseminar is this coming Thursday August 18th 5pm PST 6pm MST 7pm CST 8pm EST

Back to School Homework Help Teleseminar

Just enter in your name and email and you will be sent the call in information.

Dyscalculia or Math Disability -

Which Is It?

Dyscalculia may be a new word for many of you, it means math disability. Dyscalculia is to math what dyslexia is to reading. In other words, if you have difficulty with math you may have dyscalculia. That being said, it doesn’t actually get at why you are having problems or difficulty with math.

Just like dyslexia doesn’t tell you why you struggle with reading, dyscalculia doesn’t tell you why you struggle with math. It just says that you do struggle with math. So we need to dig a bit further to get at what specifically hinders or causes dyscalculia – a math disability. Math problems or dyscalculia are typically due to one or more underlying causes. (We are able to discern the underlying causes when going through the informal comprehensive assessment.) There are actually 3 roadblocks to math success.

Math Disability: The 3 Roadblocks to Math Success

• Memory Problems: Trouble remembering math facts and steps to solving problems
• Math Concepts: Cognitive Development Problems – Understanding the relationships
between numbers – How numbers grow and shrink with addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, math vocabulary
• Visual Spatial or Alignment Problems:
Trouble aligning numbers into columns for calculations, place value, or reading maps and graphs

Math Disability: The Underlying Causes

A math disability is typically due to one or more of these three problems. They have a variety of underlying causes.

Memory problems can be either visual memory or auditory memory problems.

Math concepts problems can be due to visualization difficulties, auditory language association or classification difficulties, or visual language association or classification difficulties. The language areas that I just spoke of (auditory and visual) are the areas of perception that refer to seeing relationships between concepts or words.

Visual Spatial or Alignment Problems are typically due to spatial difficulties, directionality, and contact difficulties.

There is a lot you can do as a parent to address these difficulties. In fact there are 3 specific solutions that will help address these difficulties.
Additionally, reading problems can also interfere in math because in math you do more than just solve calculations. You also have to solve word problems.

There are three solutions to a math disability or dyscalculia: the first is in the form of a math calculation game, the second is a math reference guide, and the third a special tool for math alignment and spatial problems.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

It’s the almost middle of Summer Vacation and as you know, it is the perfect time to give your child a boost in their learning skills, but you still want to have fun…

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

Sorry for not posting for awhile…I’ve been with my mom who was in intensive care. She just passed on…just shy of her 87th birthday.
I have been very blessed to have her for so long as well as to be with her during her last weeks! I am hoping to get back to posting in the next week or so.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

I just came across this article on preparing for an IEP and wanted to share it with you.

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

………………………………………………………………….

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

I often hear from parents that are concerned about their child struggling to learn to spell. In fact Kathy B. writes about her son, “He reads well, but cannot copy from the board or from a book without many spelling errors. The spelling issue is very evident in his written expression also.”

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.

Note Taking and learning study skills doesn’t have to be hard. I know you might be rolling your eyes at that statement, thinking:  “Right – Bonnie has got to be kidding!” But, I’m not kidding. I do know almost every time I used to ask my kids to take notes they dreaded it. In fact, they often just stared at blank sheets of paper, totally frozen, not knowing where to start.

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

Back to School…

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!

I’ve been in contact with two parents regarding using visual clocks to help their children keep track of transition times at school. Thought you might be interested in their questions and my response to them.

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!