Blog
“Spelling Really Doesn’t Matter”
Let’s say your 12-year-old, 6th grade child spelled the following words: bref (brief) susess (success) edcccate (educate) resolt (result) kicten (kitchen Then he wrote the following story to a picture prompt “Once a o pon a time there was a kid that was a million air...
“Welcome to the World of Dyslexia” (Part I)
https://shutdownlearner.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/triangle.png(***For every one of these blogs (500+ and counting), I feel I need to put out a front-end disclaimer, in case people get riled up. What is said here is an opinion. Take it for what it’s worth!) So, let’s dive in the opinion pool again. Not sure when this light bulb...
“What About the Grandparents? (Part II)”
This is an opinion driven business. Sure, there’s research on child behavior and clinical theories, but ultimately it comes down to an opinion. So, here’s one more. When it comes to the question raised in the previous blog on the role of grandparents (Role of...
“What About the Grandparents?”
I will confess. In the years that this blog has been written I haven’t given grandparents much of a thought. In over 500 posts, I don’t think there was one of them where the grandparents were in my sights. A good friend of mine, Lloyd, who has been a faithful reader...
“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...