Your Child's Journey

wisdom for the big steps little children take

Learning Differences (LD)

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Learning Differences are often called by other names: Learning Disabilities or Dyslexia. Whatever name is used, children with LD have trouble learning with the traditional education methods.

The symptoms are often difficult to clearly diagnose until about 8 years of age, as many children ‘grow out of’ these during their first few years of school. Many of the LD symptoms are also symptoms of other conditions like AD(H)D or autism spectrum.

But if your child does not seem to be maturing at a similar rate to other children their age, please consider early intervention. The earlier these differences are recognized and appropriate therapy is started, the more likely there will be fewer long-lasting difficulties.

For a descriptive list of symptoms of LD see: Learning Differences: Signs and Symptoms

Preschool Signs of Learning Difficulties – an interview with Steven E. Curtis, author of  Understanding Your Child’s Puzzling Behavior (Greenleaf, 2008)

Early Signs of Learning Problems

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Great Schools interviewed Steven E. Curtis, author of the book Understanding Your Child’s Puzzling Behavior (Greenleaf, 2008) and a licensed child clinical psychologist specializing in the assessment and treatment of children with emotional, behavioral, developmental, and learning difficulties. He offered to walk through the first signs and symptoms of a learning disability for kids in preschool through high school.

GreatSchools: Preschoolers’ normal behavior ranges from very civilized to utterly silly to something akin to wild animals. How can you observe such complicated little creatures — who don’t usually read or do math — and know which of them will have learning issues in the future?

Steven Curtis: One of the first things you want to look at is whether a kid can listen to stories and comprehend language. Most learning disabilities are language-related, so this is the best place to start.

Another early indicator is the lack of ability to distinguish phonemes — the basic sounds that make up words. If kids have trouble understanding these differences, then they’re at risk.

A lisp is one of those things that is common but is also a red flag. If kids have lisps, it might be because they’ve had frequent ear infections — so they literally can’t hear. If it goes on for too long, they can have trouble differentiating sounds. So when kids have speech issues, you should always have their ears checked. It could be the tip of the iceberg. It could be a motor issue, or it could be a cognitive problem— due to not understanding certain sounds.

Read the whole interview at: Great Schools

Teaching Math Concepts to Your Preschooler

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Great Schools.com has a great article on what your child should be learning about math in preschool.

For this post I will just extract the things you, as a parent, can do at home to reinforce math learning in preschool. Have fun and teach at the same time!

  1. Show how math relates to daily life. Involve them in measuring ingredients when you cook or in figuring out if a container is big enough to hold their toy cars and trucks.
  2. Play board games using dice or play money. Help your child count out the spaces to move his piece on the board. Play simple card games like Go Fish.
  3. Count things at home and on the street: cars, books, toys, silverware. Count objects in book illustrations.
  4. Call attention to different patterns and shapes: plaids, polka dots, paisleys, and triangular and rectangular shapes in the sidewalk.
  5. Use terms such as above, beneath, level, larger, smaller, and equal, and words such as horizontal, vertical, perpendicular, and parallel, to describe things you see. You might ask your child to bring you the smallest cookie or to find the book beneath the large table in the living room.
  6. Take your child to the supermarket with you and involve her in comparing prices.
  7. When you balance your checkbook or pay bills, explain to your child what you are doing.
  8. Take your child to the bank with you and let him watch you count money from the ATM.
  9. Weigh and measure your child and make a chart to record her growth.
  10. Buy a set of hardwood blocks for your children to build with (look for a secondhand one if new ones are too pricey). The educational benefits of blocks are unlimited; they will be one of the best investments you make.
 Read the entire article at: GreatSchools.com

 

Practicing Patience

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I read this great article this morning and I don’t want to wait to pass it on to you. 🙂 Please click to see her great ideas for teaching patience to toddler through teens. Practicing Patience by Tammy Darling

One of my most popular sayings is “Honey, you’ll just have to wait.” But as you know, that’s not something any child wants to hear. Instant gratification has become a hallmark of our culture.

Do you give your kids practice waiting? Or do you serve them quickly to avoid a meltdown? We must understand that the more we appease our kids, the more impatient and rude they’ll be as adults.

Why Wait

Learning to wait is more important than we may realize. In a landmark Stanford University study, a group of 4-year-olds were each given a marshmallow. The kids were promised another one if they could wait for several minutes without eating the first one. Fourteen years later, as high school seniors, those who had quickly eaten the first marshmallow had lower self-esteem and were more prone to frustration, envy, and conflict. Those who had waited, were more socially competent, coped better with stress and frustration, and got better grades. In fact, those who waited scored an average of 210 points higher on their SATs.

The ability to wait teaches self-control and self-discipline. Kids who learn to wait are better able to think before they act and to understand the potential consequences of their actions. They learn respect and submission to authority. And learning to wait now will enable our children to “wait patiently for the Lord” as Scripture instructs in Psalm 27:14.

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Prenatal Test for Autism: Would You Want to Know?

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Right after Casey was diagnosed, I went to an autism convention. They brought up the fact that there were new genes being linked to autism all of the time. I got all excited. That would mean I wouldn’t have had to jump through all of those hoops to get him diagnosed! It would be like it is with Down syndrome; I could have just known in advance and been prepared.

Fast forward several years. I have a baby with Down syndrome. A baby I thought everyone would just think was beautiful, wonderful, etc., because that was the bubble I lived in. I thought anyone would want a baby with Down syndrome. I remember being so jealous of the kids with Down syndrome in Casey’s Early Intervention classes because they didn’t scream and kick every time they were dropped off. I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that some people aborted babies because they had Down syndrome, but I thought that was rare.

That bubble burst when I learned most of babies who are prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted.

Please take a moment and read the rest of this article at Mamapedia