Blog
Screens, Distractability & ADHD
"Children surrounded by fast-paced visual stimuli at the expense of face-to-face adult modeling, interactive language, reflective problem- solving, creative play, and sustained attention may be expected to arrive at school unprepared for academic learning—and to fall...
“Moving Down the Road: (Stage 0)”
In the previous blog post from 9/17/2 , we introduced an “old school,” but still very relevant, concept - “The Stages of Reading Development,” developed by Dr. Jeanne Chall in the 1960’s (Getting a Roadmap). Knowing the stages and what is expected typically at a...
Getting a Roadmap
When it comes to their children struggling with reading, parents could use some road maps. An “old-school” concept not discussed much anymore, but that is still quite relevant has to do with the “stages of reading development.” The stages provide a type of road map,...
Feeling the Twinge
Sometimes I can feel the twinge coming on. It usually occurs when I hear the misinformation parents are given from schools or have heard through the grapevine. Here’s a small sampling of what parents are frequently told regarding dyslexia: “Well, we really don’t know...
“My Child Doesn’t Pay Attention – Do You Think He Has ADHD?”
Practically every week I hear an array of concerns regarding distractibility and inattentiveness. There's always the question of, "Does my child have ADHD/ADD." In the discussion with parents a lot of territory is covered and I do my best to broaden the narrative...
Executive Functioning & the Goldilocks Standard
My overall mission on www.shutdownlearner.com is to present to parents in down-to-earth, understandable terms, concepts that I think have become unnecessarily complicated. “Executive Functioning” is a term I hear parents use a great deal, but when I ask them what they...
“Just Use Spell Check”
Let’s say your 12-year-old sixth grader, spells the following words: bref (brief) susess (success) edcccate (educate) resolt (result) kicten (kitchen Then he writes the following story to a picture prompt: “Once a o pon a time there was a kid that was a...
Playing Music & Learning to Write
Let's say a child knows a few notes on the piano, but does not yet know any songs. Would it make sense to ask him to play a challenging song that was clearly beyond his/her ability level? I don't think so. It would only create undue frustration. Well, young Ethan,...
“Help!!!! I Have a Low ‘OQ'”
I don’t know how to describe it in more clinical or scientific terms, but there are a bunch of kids I’ve assessed recently who seem to me to lack, “oomph.” While “oomph” may be one of those words that are not currently in modern usage, I think it conveys an important...
Dyslexia Mythologized: Part I
Not a week (perhaps not a day) goes by where I don’t have parents coming to me concerned their child has “dyslexia.” I will ask, “Why do you think she has dyslexia,” Commonly the response is a variation of, “Well, I think there are these ‘was/saw’ and ‘b/d’...
“Fun Dad Nation”
Every generation creates its own parenting style based on a variety of factors and variables shaping our view of what it means to be a parent. For some time, I’ve jokingly referred to modern dads as a part of “Fun Dad Nation.” These dads are a blast. Involved with...