Archive for the ‘Reading Problems’ Category

Take Advantage of our Neuro-developmental (ND) Screenings

Certified Neuro-developmental Screener

Nancy Williams will be providing ND Screenings in Spring, TXMay 1st, 2013.  If you’d like to get a snapshot of your child’s current developmental function, then please email Nancy ( nwilliams@littlegiantsteps.com ) for appointment times, location details, and answers to any questions you may have.

For more details about what screenings cost, how they differ from a full professional ND Evaluations, please visit this page on our website.

Little Giant Steps, a neurodevelopmental/educational consulting group, has been providing services to those who struggle with learning for over twenty years. Remember, you can improve the levels of academic success – learning difficulties do not have to last a life-time! Conact Nancy today, space is limited.  nwilliams@littlegiantsteps.com

No More Tears Reading ~ part 2

By Jan Bedell, M.Ed. M.ND, Certified Teacher, and Neuro-Educational Specialist ~ Little Giant Steps

(Remember, keep it fun, exciting as play and don’t underestimate the importance of  INPUT ~ you’ll know when they’ve got it!)

In the previous posting, we talked about the Quick Flash Method.  After you have used this method and your child has read through the Dick and Jane, or similar, books (or tools to help), your child will be ready to read other books using the following method:

• parent reads one paragraph,
• child reads that same paragraph,
• parent reads next paragraph,
• child reads that same paragraph, etc.

In order to ensure the child is following along while you are read, pause every once in a while before reading a word you know he knows and let him say the word.  Also, while the child is reading, don’t listen to him struggle to sound out a word, just tell him the word.  You will find the child’s confidence begin to grow.

Don’t forget to work on auditory processing in the mean time.  You can order a booklet on Auditory Processing online at www.littlegiantsteps.com.  When your child reaches an auditory processing level (digit span) of 6, you can add phonics back into his curriculum with a lot more success and a lot less frustration.

P.S.  If you haven’t tested your child’s processing ability, please order the FREE Auditory Processing Test Kit.  It will give you a snap shot of just how grade appropriate your child is functioning.  If they are 5, they should be able to hold 5 pieces of information and recall it from short term memory. The test tells you how to give this short test, and some of the things to look for.  It will give you a bench mark from which to proceed.  It will also answer questions. If they’re not up to grade level, then it can be an easy fix that will last a lifetime! Please read up on the free articles, too. There are so many helpful things we publish for our audience.  Take advantage of them!

 Fireworks is what we expect to see on the 4th of July.  In many ways  fireworks are somewhat representative of what happens in our brains when learning.  The fuse is lit, vital connections are made and a beautiful celebration of  color, light and sound fill the night sky!  Can you imagine if the explosive agents (connections) in a firecracker didn’t work? How much a of a bang  would you get?  Can you imagine if the triggering mechanism wasn’t installed correctly?  The firecracker certainly would never live up to its potential (light, sound, movement), because there would be no way for energy to flow properly so all that was supposed to happen could be delivered.  All the parts were there, but  weren’t connected so it could work successfully.

Little Giant Steps have been solving learning problems over the past two decades.  We make sure the connections are there so the best performance of the brain and body can happen! We call it neuro-efficiency when there is extremely high velocity of signals flowing through the neuropathways between the brain and body working in an organized fashion.

A child, teen or adult won’t ever reach their full potential if the “wiring” or “connections” in the brain aren’t developed and in place properly.  Your brain needs to be developed so there is organization and connections, much like the requirements in a firecracker. We are seeing epidemic proportions of students who are smart, but struggling and falling behind in school.

Can the lack of organization and lack of connections be fixed?  YES!  And quite frankly it is a natural progression  that should occur in the early months and first years of a child’s life, but for whatever reason those vital steps are being missed. ( See the article “Teaching Babies” for a better explanation).  Little Giant Steps neuro-educational programs are designed to provide curriculum AND embedded in those programs are activities that will organize the brain and cause enough specific stimulation to the brain so massive connections are created by doing these programs every day (5 times a week, twice a day for no more than 5 minutes each session!)  Does that sound like an exceptionally difficult fix?  For normal pre-schoolers, down syndrome, or mentally challenged we have the “Early Learning Foundations“.   For those older children (even adults) the “Developmental Foundations” will do the trick.  For those who have more complicated situations, then we recommend a professional Neuro-developmental Evaluation.  The important part is get busy.   Educate yourself, investigate and then get with the program.  Let’s get these learning issues dealt with so your child, teen or even yourself can experience being free from learning disabilities!  Let Independence Day have a special meaning this year, one that will last for a lifetime of freedom!

If The Brain Is Disorganized, Behavior And Thinking Is Disorganized

    It may sound strange to talk about “brain disorganization” as a part of the problem of a child being so “un-together”.  But, the fact is, what you are looking at is a very basic developmental issue.  Nature provided for our infants to arrive “unfinished”.  There is much in the way of development that must occur after they arrive.  Unfortunately, as our society and our practices of child rearing have changed; the needs of a developing infant haven’t.  There are steps and stages that they most pass through in order for them to reach their God-given potential.

   Specifically the one issue we believe has had an epidemic effect on our children, is the fact we bring our infants home from the hospital in a seat, and for the rest of those critical early months, instead of  placing them on their tummies on the floor during their waking hours, so the body can literally “map” the brain; they are placed upright in a sitting position, which seriously lacks what the brain and body need to develop properly.

You see, the visual, tactile, auditory systems must be developed through experiential means. Each one of those experiences must be logged into the central nervous system and neuro-pathways are generated which is a part of the massive network of connections that accounts for the brain to function with phenominal speed and accuracy.  The best way for an infant to get those much-needed sensations that help develop and organize the brain are from encountering hard surfaces, experiencing textures, temperatures, and pressures of all sorts.  Can you imagine just how much stimuli is experienced by the trunk of the body, the arms and legs as the infant sits in a seat with their arms, hands, feet and legs swinging about in mid-air and feeling no pressure or mobility from their movements?  They can’t experience much of anything!  The newly developing pathways between the brain and the body go lacking significantly. Thank heavens our babies get picked up and they experience the pressure changes, warmth and textural differences from being held, having diapers changed, and clothes changed. 

One of the most important developmental factors in getting an organized brain has to do with those early sensations.  As nature provides, there are steps of locomotion that are imperative in getting not only the brain to function in an organized fashion, but to get the body to function in an organized fashion.  As the brain develops, there are lower levels of the pons, the medula, and on toward high functions that must have the base experiences those early movements beginning with random reflexes, but soon become more organized, lateral, and bi-lateral, which also relects what’s happening in the brain as the two hemespheres in the brain develop.

So, if your child is very disorganized, it would be to your advantage to create some fun activities that involve them doing the army crawl (belly on the floor, opposite arm and leg moving up and pushing them forward, then the other opposing limbs coming up to complete the full cycle of propelling them forward.) Start out doing this activity twice and day for two minutes for several months.  Also, have them creep (up on their hands and knees) with the opposing hand and knee striking the floor at the same time, again 2 times a day for 2 minutes.  Then, have them do cross marches. They walk forward with their right hand touching their left knee, and then the left hand touching the right knee as it comes up for the next step.  All this activity is called cross-patterning activities.  Do these consistently for four months and you may say what a mother once told me, “I couldn’t believe what a difference it made in him!  He’s like a new kid in that he’s not so frustrated and just functions better!”  

Remember, make it fun, give them some incentive that’s important to them, but get them to do it!  You follow through and the brain organization will too!

   Have you ever heard of echo reading? Well, it is really helpful for those children who have difficulty with speech and reading.  In neuro-educational programs we focus on “input”, where most focus on “output”.  The more you “input” information and practice, but better the neuro-connections will be in the areas concerning reading skills.

In the world of neuro-development it is never too late, nor is anyone too old! Why? Because as long as we live and breath, the brain’s repairing ability is available through the neuroplasticity of the brain ~ a feature we are born with lives as long as we do!  What that means is that when we’ve suffered an insult to our central nervous system or our brain (it could be physical, chemical, or even severe emotional trauma) it can be fixed by utilizing activities that activate the repairing features of neuroplasticity which allows the brain to change. If there is disorganization (cognitive), or motor, or emotionality (fears, phobias, anxiety) all can be addressed with the new program called:   Memory & Motion.

ND Tip:  No More Tears Reading part 2

By Jan Bedell, M.Ed. M.ND, Certified Neuro-Educational Specialist ~ Little Giant Steps

In the previous article, we talked about the Quick Flash Method.  After you have used this method and your child has read through the Dick and Jane, or similar, books, your child will be ready to read other books using the following method:

•  parent reads one paragraph,
• child reads that same paragraph,
• parent reads next paragraph,
• child reads that same paragraph, etc. 

In order to ensure the child is following along while you are read, pause every once in a while before reading a word you know he knows and let him say the word.  Also, while the child is reading, don’t listen to him struggle to sound out a word, just tell him the word.  You will find the child’s confidence begin to grow. 

 Don’t forget to work on auditory processing in the mean time.  You can order a booklet on Auditory Processing online at www.littlegiantsteps.com.  When your child reaches an auditory processing level (digit span) of 6, you can add phonics back into his curriculum with a lot more success and a lot less frustration.

ND Tip:  No More Tears Reading part 1    

By Jan Bedell, M.Ed., Certified Neuro-Educational Specialist ~ Little Giant Steps

What is the secret to motivating children to do anything?  They must feel a sense of accomplishment, that they are progressing, and that they are successful in their endeavors. How do you promote these feelings in your children when they are struggling with their schoolwork and they hate math, hate reading, hate writing, etc?  Here are some tips on how to motivate your children to want to learn to read…

Some children have had a negative experience with the phonics approach to reading.  This is often due to poor auditory processing. One way to build confidence in reading is by using the Quick Flash Method.  You can use flash cards with common words or there are computer programs that teach common words on our website. The object is to use the flash card to produce a quick, intense input to the brain using 8 to 10 words at a time for a short 1-2 minute session.  This session should be almost 100% input – you will tell the child the word every time it is flashed up in front of him, not ask him to output (say) what he doesn’t know.

After just one week of this kind of input twice a day, find a book in which these 8-10 words are used often.  ”Days Go By” books are a good example where the same words are used repetitively.  Highlight in the book, everywhere the 8-10 words you have been flashing appear.  Then read the pages to the child, pausing so the child can read the highlighted words.

Many parents have found that a child’s self esteem is greatly enhanced when they go from struggling to sound out every word, to reading quickly through the Days Go By books.  Don’t worry, they will be able to learn their phonics later and they will have the best of both worlds; a good sight word vocabulary and phonic utilization when their auditory processing comes up.  www.littlegiantsteps.com

Suggested help in reading:  Detailed Reading Comprehension (pg 2)

Each of us is born with tremendous potential.  A well functioning tactile system is imperative for receiving information and taking that potential to the next level, which will then be transmitted into producing intentional movement (crawling, walking, running, etc.).  Movement makes “memories” which causes the circuitry that releases intelligence.  There is tremendous brain growth in the early years and unless the brain cells are connected through neuropathways that are built early, they can be lost. It is a use it or lose it scenario.  Early development is like building a house, you have to have a good foundation in order for everything else to function properly.  The good news for an older individual is that even if these pathways are immature or incomplete, they can be rebuilt with proper stimulation. 

In recent decades, our society has become very mobile; with most families having two cars and the convenience of air travel, society as a whole is living farther and farther away from extended family members.  Neuro-educational specialists believe this separation from the extended family has caused many erroneous beliefs about child rearing to emerge.

 MYTH #1:  Babies should be on a blanket if placed on the floor. 

TRUTH:  As stated in an earlier newsletter, the tactile input to the brain would be limited by the blanket.  In addition to that, have you ever seen an infant try to crawl (tummy on floor) while lying on top of a blanket?  They just get all tangled up and frustrated because they can’t get anywhere.

 MYTH #2:  Infant seats are a necessity!  When an infant is sitting in an infant seat, they somehow seem more human; i.e., it is easier to see their faces and for them to see you and they seem happier. 

TRUTH:  The best place for an infant is on their tummy on the floor.  ON the floor in a prone position (on the tummy) is where they build the muscles for sitting alone and walking.

 MYTH #3:  Walkers are a great way to prepare the child for walking alone. 

TRUTH:  If a child does not go through the stages of tummy crawl and creeping on hands and knees for a long enough period of time, a ripple of adverse effects will occur.  Gross motor coordination, organizational abilities and eye-hand coordination are just a few of the areas that could be adversely affected.

 MYTH #4:  The more gadgets, i.e. Johnny jump ups, fancy walkers, play pens, etc., I put my child in the better. 

TRUTH:  The more time a child spends in these gadgets, the less time the child spends on the floor, which means less opportunity for the brain to be organized at the lower levels.  Lower level development is the foundation upon which all other development is built. 

 I encourage you to get your infants out of these gadgets and put them on the floor for lots of tummy time.  www.littlegiantsteps.com

This mother shared with the staff at Little Giant Steps what she’s learned in the process of having her son evaluated and the hope and promise for him in the future in academics:

“We wanted to take a moment to thank you for evaluating Isaiah on Friday. It has given us hope that Isaiah can be the best reader in the Burr family one day! He certainly is the most compassionate, sensitive and cuddly kid we have! Although it has been very hard to see him struggle with academics as he sees his siblings seemingly breeze through, these sufferings have really created an amazing heart of empathy in Isaiah for those in life who have to try a little harder than others. As always, suffering is an invitation to go deeper with Christ and know him in a way we would never have known him before. Isaiah has accepted the invitation with a noble grace.

We look forward to incorporating the Little Giant Steps Neuro-Educational Program into our daily life. As a mother there is always the measure of guilt associated with hindsight, but also the awareness that God has gone before us in many ways already. It’s been our family’s educational culture to read a lot! To ourselves and aloud. We use Sonlight as our curriculum and so it’s been hard to not see Isaiah sprawl across the couch engrossed in a book like his brother and sister. Not knowing that reading aloud was something Isaiah needed, it’s always been captivating to me how much he remembers and narrates and almost word for word. It has been as if a glass door has kept Isaiah enshrined from exploring the world through books on his own; however, now we feel that we have the keys to help set this little man of God free!”

This mother describes her son’s reading problem with great clarity.  It is true, if they have missed the developmental steps that allows the brain and body to process information efficiently, then it is as if they hampered by a glass door.  The good news is that he is improving now that he’s on the LGS Neuro-Educational Program and is finding a destiny he thought was only reserved for his siblings.