Blog
“Does Spelling Matter – Part II” (#Dyselxia)
Last week we raised the question of whether spelling matters (,https://shutdownlearner.com/does-spelling-matter-2/), as the issue of struggling spellers is often dismissed since there are a variety of spell check tools available. Almost always, struggling spelling is...
The Under-Functioning/Over-Functioning Dance We Do
13 Year Old, 7th Grade Boy - Composite Profile: Engrossed in screens – Video games, YouTube, Instagram, iPad, etc., etc. Poor time management.. Low level study skills and organizational skills. Variability of academic performance/under-functioning. “Socializing” on...
Getting Beyond the IQ
I recently had the pleasure of facilitating a webinar sponsored with the Dyslexia Training Institute called "Assessment Boot Camp for Parents." (You can still register for the webinar and listen in your own time by going to this link...
Selznick 10 Point Summer Plan
It's that time of year, the time where parents start to let their guard down, but at the same time they stress over what they should be doing with their children to keep them academically on track in the summer. Here are a few pointers to keep in mind for the summer:...
Boredom Intolerance
Does your child have “BID (Boredom Intolerance Disorder)?” Don’t Google it or look it up on WebMd. I made it up. Let’s look at boredom intolerance. To start, If 100 kids (or adults for that matter) were asked, “How many of you would like to take part in a boring...
Reading Decline
Researchers have found a sharp decline in reading enjoyment after the age of eight. Sixty-two percent of children between six and eight say they either love or like reading books for fun, but this percentage drops to just 46% for children between the ages of nine to...
#Dyslexia Mythologies Perpetuated
In spite of state training initiatives around the country, there are so many persisting mythologies hampering the understanding of “dyslexia.” Besides the top one of, “Isn’t that when a child reads upside down and backwards,” the second is the myth that “Only medical...
The Writing Road: Write On, Write On
Those of you who have been following Shut-Down learner for a while know that I have a bit of an obsession with kids' writing. It’s true. I am endlessly fascinated by the writing samples that they generate. When I look at a writing sample, usually I know immediately...
“Parent Brain” & the Anger River
Last week we talked about the “Anger River” that resides, often unseen, beneath the “ADD Swamp. ” Control battles, punishments and other attempts at compliance feed the river. (See Anger River: https://shutdownlearner.com/the-anger-river-below-the-add-swamp/)...
The Anger River Below the ADD Swamp
Do you know about the river that lies below the ADHD/ADD swamp? It’s the Anger River and it lurks down below, often unseen, but detected at times by certain actions or behaviors from either child or parents. How do we detect the Anger River? Punishments have...
Self-Monitoring (Not really)
Flexibility of thinking and problem solving are two interacting skills impacting academic and social functioning. Children who have difficulty with these also have trouble with “self-monitoring,” that is the ability to be aware of the correctness of your output to a...