Blog
“Jargon & Phonemic Awareness”
There are many terms within education and dyslexia that don't translate well. My criteria for determining whether something translates well is the person-on-the-street standard. That is, if you stop the average person on the street and asked them what a term means and...
“Delivering the Message – Eminent Clarity”
Building on last week’s theme regarding the way parental messages are delivered ( "Your Inside Voice"), a mom recently talked to me about her very strong willed, temperamentally challenging child named Abbey. You know the type - the ones that always go against the...
“‘Your Inside Voice'”
Modern parents can make you nostalgic for the good old days. You know, those were the days when children went outside to play and basically did not see their mother for a solid 8 hours (except when she made them a nutritious bologna sandwich on white bread, which were...
“‘When I Was Born There Something Wrong With My Brain, So I Took This Pill…”’
Jacob is an endearing, extremely verbal 7-year-old. Whenever asked a question, Jacob talks with great enthusiasm taking you on a verbal roller coaster ride. In psychology jargon, Jacob also has a problem with “self-regulation.” (Don’t you love all the terms out...
“At the Self-Checkout”
Going through the self-checkout lines in supermarkets and in other major stores, I notice the combined feeling of sadness and irritation as the automatized voice (yet another) commands how to pay and where to put my bags. This reminds me of a reflection piece, “Those...
More on the ‘Drip, Drip Dripping’ of Behavior”
It looks like the description of the “drip, drip dripping” of behaviors resonated with some people. People asked (rightfully) whether I had “strategies” for such children, like Carter who was previously referenced (."Drip, Drip, Dripping") It will be essential that...
“The Drip, Drip, Dripping of Behavior”
Not sure why (I have my theories), but there has been a considerable increase of children landing on my doorstep with behaviors that have become something of a water torture of “drip, drip, dripping” to others around them. The social fallout is the result of this this...
“The Marginally Ready Child”
Over the years, I’ve been a bit of a hoarder. Like most things, there are advantages and disadvantages to this habit. One advantage (not that my wife agrees) is that I have held on to different journals that were in the dustbins of Temple University’s renowned Reading...
“Stamina” (Part II)
Last week we talked about the idea that “stamina” is not a word parents reference much to when talking about their concerns ("Stamina" (Part I) This lack of stamina probably manifests in many different forms, much of which overlaps with some of the concepts of the...
“Stamina?”
It’s always interesting to me how words or terms come in and out of favor. When parents come in to talk about their children, “stamina” is a word that I don’t hear mentioned too often. Parents will make reference to a child having difficulty with “executive...
“Like Giving Them Oxygen”
Last Sunday on the front page of the New York Times was a major piece on the proponent of “balanced literacy,” offering some type of retreat for the philosophy behind “balanced literacy” that has been espoused for decades having failed legions of children (NYT...