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My Interview with Documentary Film Director, Jamie Redford (#Dyslexia)
(***This blog is a revision of an earlier post.) Understanding dyslexia is challenging, primarily because of the deeply embedded mythologies that we hold. Chief among them is “the reversal thing.” To illustrate, try this experiment. With any friend or relative ask...
Gumby Parenting
In the 1950’s into the early 1960’s rigid, authoritarian parenting was one of the predominant styles of parenting. Perhaps a function of so many men formerly being in the military, children were often treated like little soldiers who had to march to...
ANGER: “YOU CAN’T MAKE ME”
What do these behaviors sound like to you? o Not handing in homework consistently o Avoiding responsibilities o Procrastinating o Not sustaining mental effort o Underachieving...
“MOM! THERE’S LINCOLN WHATEVER FIELD”
Should a bright fifth grader be able to read the word "financial?" Well, when driving by the Philadelphia Eagle’s stadium the other day, fifth grade Carrie got excited when she saw the stadium with the sign outside that read "Lincoln Financial...
ADHD KRYPTONITE: THE LUNCHROOM & the PLAYGROUND
Scene 1: The Lunch Room – Jack’s Brain “Gee, it’s so wild and noisy in here. Everybody’s throwing stuff. Haha. Jake is so good at putting food in his nose. Maybe I’ll try that too.”...
MY HEAD IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE HEARING THESE THINGS!
Modern parents make you nostalgic for the good old days. You know, the days when children went outside to play and basically didn’t see their mother for a solid 8 hours (except when she made you a nutritious bologna on Wonderbread sandwich, before your ran back...
MESSAGES FROM THE LIFE BOATS
Last week we talked about the "Curriculm Ship" that leaves the dock in September, plowing forward until it reaches its destiny. That some have fallen off the ship appears to be immaterial. The ship must proceed. The blog generated a fair...
All Aboard the Curriculum Ship
Is your child falling off the "Curriculum Ship?" The Curriculum Ship leaves the dock in early September and keeps going forward until middle to late June, arriving at port somewhere on the other side of the ocean. This is not a ship that slows down, even if...
OLD SCHOOL CONCEPT #2: INSTRUCTIONAL LEVELS
Last week I reminded us of an “old school” educational concept that isn’t talked about as much as I think it should be – “task analysis.” (www.shutdownlearner.com/blog) This week’s old school concept is Instructional...
OLD SCHOOL CONCEPT #1: TASK ANALYSIS
There are a number of old school concepts in education that I don’t hear much about any more that I think still apply. “Task analysis” is one of them. With task analysis the idea is that any end point task that you want someone to master should...
REPORT FROM THE FRUA CONFERENCE
This past weekend it was my honor to be a presenter at the two-day FRUA (Families for Russian & Ukrainian Adoption: www.frua.org) conference, held at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A range of speakers covered a variety of different...