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CLICK HERE TO WATCH FULL VIDEO Transcript Early intervention is very important because in many instances effective instruction can prevent dyslexia.  It includes early screening because in order to identify children who are at risk we need to identify them early and introduce effective instruction at a time where we can really optimize a child’s access to print.  It’s much better to intervene earlier than to wait until the child actually fails because remediation is demonstrably less effective. And one recent study by Maureen Lovett, for example, she found that outcomes were almost twice as good if they were delivered in first and second grade [...]

Parents are often the first to suspect their child has a reading problem. An expert alerts parents to some of the earliest indicators of a reading difficulty. by: GreatSchools Staff Read full article on Great Schools Parents often ask: What are some early warning signs of a reading difficulty? What should I look for? In this article, Susan Hall, Ed.D., answers these questions. A parent may be the first person in a child’s life to recognize a reading problem. A parent’s observation is critical because some of the earliest signs that foreshadow a reading difficulty can be seen during preschool [...]

Kids learn to read at different speeds. But at what point should you actually start to worry? Here are the red flags to watch out for. By Lisa Kadane. Read full article on Today's Parent Most people view reading as a mysterious skill that becomes knowable when, as in a cartoon, a light in the brain suddenly turns on. In reality, reading happens as a series of steps that begins with letters and sounds, and grows to include words, sentences, paragraphs and chapters that contain ideas, plots, stories. Some kids just get it—they seem to be reading naturals and are [...]

Most likely your child will come into contact with a peer who has a disability of some kind. Each student learns differently and those with special needs may require extra support and resources at school. Every child wants to be accepted by their classmates, and make new friends. In preparation for the new school year, you can encourage your child to learn more about disabilities and how to befriend a child who has a disability. The following article discusses the importance of having conversations with your child about accepting differences. https://themighty.com/2018/08/please-talk-to-your-kids-about-disabilities/

Executive functioning is a term psychologists use to describe the many tasks our brains perform that are necessary to think, act, and solve problems. Executive functioning includes tasks that help us learn new information, remember and retrieve the information we've learned in the past, and use this information to solve problems of everyday life. A person's executive functioning skills make it possible for him to live, work, and learn with an appropriate level of independence and competence for his age. Executive functioning allows us to access information, think about solutions, and implement those solutions. Because executive functioning is a theory and not [...]

Most parents know that talking to their child helps them develop. But a new study has revealed that it’s how you talk to your child that really matters for their brain growth. Rather than just spewing complex words at them, or showing flashcards in the hope of enriching their vocabulary, the key is to engage them in “conversational turns” – in other words, a good old chat. In a study of children between the ages of 4 and 6, cognitive scientists at MIT found that such back-and-forth conversation changes the child’s brain. Specifically, it can boost the child’s brain development and language [...]

When my daughter was a toddler, I regularly spilled milk in front of her during meal time. “Oops, oh well, no big deal, let’s clean it up!!” I would say in my high-pitched, goofy mom voice. Before she could speak, I sensed that she was wired for perfectionism (something very familiar to me), so I attempted to normalize day-to-day mistakes and to show her how easy it was to bounce back from them. For many teens, perceived faults loom large as their self-consciousness grows. Theorist David Elkind’s classic description of an adolescent’s sense of an “imaginary audience” may not be [...]

Only 17% of parents of kids ages 9–11 read aloud to their children. Yet 83% of kids ages 6–17 say being read to is something they either loved or liked a lot. (Scholastic’s “Kids & Family Reading ReportTM”) Mom Andrea Chisholm, echoes this sentiment, “Even though my older one can easily read books himself, he still loves to be read to at night.” For many kids, being read to by their parents is a cherished ritual. But it’s also much more than that. Reading aloud to kids helps expand their literacy skills, love of reading, worldview, and more. Here are some [...]