How to create a rich language environment for your child
Research suggests that the amount of interactive language a child is exposed to in the home correlates greatly with the development of verbal expressions and reading skills. To put your child on the right track for language and reading development, make sure your home is a rich and encouraging language environment. Here is a list of tips and strategies that can be used to promote healthy language growth in children: Read together daily Often parents stop reading to their children once the child learns to read independently. This is a big mistake. Parental reading skills...
read moreAuditory Processing Disorder and Learning
Almost every school activity, including listening to teachers, interacting with classmates, singing along in music class, following instructions in physical education, etc, depends on the ability for students to process sounds and have a strong auditory system in learning. But what happens if this auditory system has deficits? Can a child still learn? Does my child have Auditory Processing Disorder? Auditory Processing (APD) is a very common learning disability and affects about 5% of school-age children. Auditory Processing can present itself with many different...
read moreAvoiding the Summer Learning Loss at Pride Learning Center
As the school year ends, many students are busy during the summer months with camps, play dates, recreational activities and vacations. Some students might even be bored during the long summer months. When summer ends, students go back to school and often forget much of what they learned the previous year. This is what we call the summer learning loss. Studies show that summer loss for all students equals about a month of academic learning. For students with learning disabilities, this loss may amount to as much as 3 months! Weaknesses in memory, processing speed, attention and...
read moreDyslexia and the Middle and High School Student
It may be very frustrating to learn about the importance of early intervention when that window of opportunity has already passed for your middle or high school child with dyslexia. However, acting on behalf of your child will require moving beyond this frustration point and really focusing on what needs to be done in the present. Rest assured that most middle and high school students with dyslexia can be helped and can catch up to grade level. This will take more time, more effort, and more intensity of instruction, but it is never too late to do something about reading and writing...
read moreHas my Child Reached the Reading Benchmarks for First Grade?
The school year is coming to an end and as a parent of a first grader your thoughts are probably turning towards second grade. Is your child ready for second grade reading? How do you know? Here is a list of benchmark reading accomplishments for first grade that was included in a report prepared by a National Academy of Sciences panel titled Preventing Reading difficulties in Young Children, Catherine E. Snow. Makes a transition from emergent to “real” reading. Reads aloud with accuracy and comprehension any text that is appropriately designed for the first half of grade...
read moreDyslexia and ADHD Co-morbidity
The diagnosis of dyslexia is often missed by child psychiatrists, who are frequently asked to validate a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), generated from a psychological evaluation because ADHD is a fairly common disorder with a prevalence of 10% in the US, and because roughly 80% of children with ADHD respond to stimulant medication, the role of a child psychiatrist is often circumscribed to diagnosing and treating ADHD with medication. However, because the co-morbidity, i.e., “the parallel track diagnosis” of ADHD and dyslexia has been described to...
read more