Blog
“Do You Have a ‘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 is that I have held on to different journals that were in the dustbins of Temple University’s renowned Reading Clinic, which at one time...
“Ineffective, Inefficient, Irrational, Immoral and Indefensible”
Most of you understand the concept of standard error of measurement (SEM). In a nutshell, SEM tells us that on any given day that you can be within an interval of confidence that an obtained score is accurate. For example, if the obtained IQ score is 100, you can have...
“Homework??? That’s So Yesterday.”
More and more, parents tell me that their children never get homework. When there is homework, it is often a battleground. Refrains such as, “It’s stupid,” “I hate it,” “It’s not fun,” and variations on these themes occur across the country starting in the...
Podcast Interview Released
As a changes of pace, I am excited to share a recent interview that was conducted with me by "Beautifully Complex: Navigating Neurodiverse Parenting." The interview is only about 30 minutes. Would love to get your feedback on it. If you enjoy it, please share it...
Remember the Child’s Primary Motivation
Understanding what children want can bring about a major shift in your thinking. If you embrace this concept, I predict your perceptions will change for the better, which then will impact your child. So, what is your child's primary motivation? At the root of most of...
“Math Disability? Not So Fast”
Not sure when the reverence for word problems emerged, but it seems that children are almost exclusively taught math through word problems. I believe it’s linked to the theory that math should always be enhancing “higher order thinking.” Let’s look at Chris, age 7, a...
“Pictures Telling the Story”
Largely supported by the medical model, when parents have their child assessed they are often focused on “the diagnosis.” Such a model embodies a, “Yes, they have it,” or “No, they don't have it,” (whatever "it" is) perspective. In my corner of the universe, I...
“And Now, For a Change of Pace”
My marketing manager (my daughter Julia) has been pushing me to create more short videos to spread around. So, as a change of pace here are two that were posted to YouTube. TRUST ME. THEY ARE VERY SHORT!!!! Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think. The first one...
“Does Spelling Matter?”
Let’s say your 12-year-old sixth grader spells the following words: (brief) bref (should) shood (grown) gron (success) susess (educate) edcccate (result) resolt (kitchen) kicten Then the child writes the following story to a prompt: “Once a o pon a...
“Floaters”
A common concern raised by parents (well, mostly the moms) is their child’s lack of what they label as “executive function deficits (EFD).” With EFDs there’s always the underlying question of whether these issues are a biproduct of immaturity, skill deficits or a...
Turning Down the Parental Heat
Parents do various back flips to address meltdowns and school avoidance. Mostly, parental responses are reactive, delivered in the heat of the moment (e.g., “That’s it!!! You’re not allowed on your iPad for the next two weeks,” after the child has rolled around on...