When my kids were young they were not “allowed” to say the word CAN’T at least not in the context of “I can’t do that”. Whenever I would hear those words come out of their mouths, my response was “I think you mean ‘I haven’t learned how to do that yet.’” Yes I know it sounds cheesy but as they got older I noticed that on their own, the language changed and instead of saying “I can’t” I would hear things like, “Let me see if I can figure this out.” Or, “there must be a way.” Etc.

I am sure there are things I did not do well with my kids. There are things I should have done differently and there are things I could have done better. But when I look at them now I see three adults who are willing to try anything, who are willing to push themselves and figure out how to do the things they haven’t yet learned. I see three adults who, in spite of a flawed mother, are good people who care about others, and who are not willing to let hardship get them down. I see three individuals who don’t fall on the excuses that start with I can’t and instead push through toward success – even if they are unable to achieve it.

Children need to know that they are capable of doing the tough stuff. They need to be given the tools and encouragement to try things outside their comfort zone and most importantly, they need the opportunity to fail and pick themselves back up so they can learn from that failure.

Giving children confidence to try is not about empty compliments. Children need to hear true praise, words that affirm their hard work not just the outcome. As parents we need to look at the process of success and acknowledge that with each step toward adulthood our children are learning how they will act, react, function, and succeed or fail as adults.

Success looks different for everyone and learning the critical skills needed to push through challenges and experience growth is important. Learning to look at struggle and failure as a stepping stone instead of a reason for discouragement is key to a child’s future.

When you praise a child’s work or success, praise the specifics that can be observed. For example “look at how carefully you painted that line. It is as straight as an arrow!” Or if they have failed a test, acknowledge the work that they put into studying and then ask your child what can be done differently in the future. Give your child time and opportunity to consider what did and did not work well and come up with other options.

Most importantly, as parents we must show our children that failure is not a reason to quit and that no matter the struggle they can come to us for help and encouragement without fear of criticism.

Amy is a Christian mother of three amazing adults, a small business owner, and the director of student services for Essential Learning Institute. Her passion is helping children who are struggling to learn, find and reach their potential. Her daily motto is, “Find the joy in your moments”

Goals are important in most areas of life and the LDHope Learning therapy program is no exception. Throughout the program it is important for the student and parents to keep their goals in mind.
Students are often excited and hopeful when they begin the LDHope therapy.  Occasionally, as the newness wears off there is a danger of the program becoming routine. To help keep motivation and enthusiasm high it is important to develop goals and record positive changes as they occur.

Step 1 – Developing Goals

Sit down with your child and find out what they want from the program, i.e. to read easier, remember my spelling words, be able to follow instructions, etc. After discussing their goals write them down. Be creative, design a poster with their goals in the center and post it where they will see it everyday (the refrigerator or by their computer). This will daily remind them of their goals and what they are working toward.

Step 2 – Success Stories

Record positive changes that you see. Keep a tablet handy so that when you see positive events you can write them down. A success can either be academic or related to daily activities. A change can be anything from eye contact when spoken to, to a 100% on a spelling test.

I received a phone call from a parent a couple of weeks ago who told me that her daughter made a pitcher of lemonade by herself. You may say, “Big Deal”.  But it was a big deal for this girl. Before starting her LDHope therapy she would ask her mother how to do everything step by step. So, when she took the initiative to take a tin of lemonade from the cabinet, read the directions on her own, and make a pitcher of juice, that was progress!

By keeping a journal you will be able to look back at all of the progress seen – no matter how big or little the progress – it is a step closer to your goals!

Instead of: “Why can’t you…” “I hate it when…” “Do it this way.”

Try Saying: “What if we…” “It might be better if…” “Consider doing…”

Amy is a Christian mother of three amazing adults, a small business owner, and the director of student services for Essential Learning Institute. Her passion is helping children who are struggling to learn, find and reach their potential. Her daily motto is, “Find the joy in your moments”

Does your student have trouble staying on the line when writing? Are the margins properly maintained? Do the letters continually change from small to large? With handwriting struggles there are many factors involved, and with LDHope we have seen marked improvement in writing skills after therapy. This is a result of increased perception and sensory transfer to the motor movements of writing.

Visual memory and sequencing skills are also a part of the visual package. When a student sees a “b,” “d,” “p” or “g,” he must recognize the difference in the position of the stick. Then he must link it with an appropriate symbol and remember it. To do this, the brain’s visual processing area must be fine-tuned to recognize subtle changes in shape and remember them.

Once the symbol is correctly perceived and remembered, a sensory transfer must occur. This allows the hand to reproduce the correctly perceived symbol.

Several parts of the LDHope therapy affect perception and sensory transfer. The exercises are developed to target both visual perceptual skills, as well as sequenced memory, then transitions to a focus on the transfer of information to writing.

For many students exercises related to the integration of vision, perception, sensory transfer and handwriting are the focus. Rapid flash speeds as well as many multiple flashes in Repeat IT help to fine tune the ability to perceive different shapes quickly and efficiently.

Allowing bonus points for small increases in handwriting proficiency help motivate the student to concentrate more on writing skills.

Don’t let your child’s handwriting struggles hinder their ability to study and learn. There is HOPE, we can HELP.

Amy Highland
Director of Student Services

Are You Really Serious About Achieving Something? Are you willing to plan for it?

• The first step in getting from here to there is to identify here and there. By “identify,” I mean write down specifics. Where are you now? Where do you want to be?
• Second, decide the time frame. Age 70? Age 50? Next year?
• Third, decide why: the benefits. Write them down.
• Fourth, make an estimate of how much it’s going to cost: (1) money, (2) time, (3) emotional distress, (4) forfeited opportunities.
  Write it down.
• Fifth, write down the major action steps and put dates on them. Then create a review/reminder system, date by date. This will tell you if you are sticking to your schedule. It is easy to forget what has to be done. This applies to everything you say you want to do. Don’t say, “I’ve got to lose some weight.” Say, “I’ve got to lose 20 pounds in the next six months. I must maintain the weight permanently, especially through the Christmas holidays. If I gain two pounds at any time, I will take specific steps to get them off.”

Goals without plans are dreams. Dreams don’t come true without plans.

Do you want more pay? Go through this procedure.
Do you want to live in a safer place? Go through this procedure.

The procedure should not be complex, but it should be specific. Specificity forces us to count the costs. We don’t want to count the costs. We prefer dreams to reality. We tend to give up on reality, which is another way of saying that we give up on ourselves. This makes us prime candidates for self-deception.

So, ask yourself these three questions:

What do I want to achieve?
How soon do I want to achieve it?
What am I willing to pay?

This will get you started.

Amy is a Christian mother of three amazing adults, a small business owner, and the director of student services for Essential Learning Institute. Her passion is helping children who are struggling to learn, find and reach their potential. Her daily motto is, “Find the joy in your moments”

A fifth grader started LDHope in May of last year. He had a low reading level and disliked both reading and writing. His mother said he rarely read on his own and got upset every time he had to write.

After 5 months on the program he was ready to quit. We encouraged him to stay on for 2 more months. According to his mom, in those last two months he transformed almost overnight.  During one of the check-in telephone calls he announced loudly to me that he had read a whole book the day before. It was a large book too. He also proceeded to tell me the whole story from memory, something he was unable to do in the beginning. Today he is reading and writing with success.

The Diamond Dipper is an old legend with a lesson for everyone.

Once upon a time it was very hot and very, very dry. No rain had fallen for days and days. The thirsty birds had stopped singing. The plants withered and the animals were dying for want of water. All the people were praying for rain.

One morning a little girl started out to find some water for her sick mother. In her hand she carried a tin dipper.

She climbed a high hill hoping to find a spring. Up and up she climbed. On her she saw the way dusty plants, the quiet birds, and the suffering animals.

The sharp stones cut her feet. High rocks towered above her head. Their strange shapes filled her with fear. But she thought of her sick mother and she would not turn back. At last she came to a great wall of rocks, and could go no farther.

“Oh, that some good fairy would show me where to find water!” she cried.

And then a beautiful fairy stood before her in a robe like the clouds at sunset. She pointed to a narrow path among the rocks. The child followed the path and soon came to a spring hidden under green fern leaves.

She filled her dipper to the brim. How carefully she held it! How softly she stepped, so as not to spill one drop!

In her path down the hill there lay a rabbit almost dead from thirst. The little girl needed all the water, but she poured a few drops upon the rabbit’s tongue. Then something wonderful happened! The rusty tin dipper was changed to shining silver.

The little girl hurried home. With a happy heart she gave the water to her sick mother. The gentle mother raised the dipper to her lips, but she did not drink. “My faithful nurse, let her drink first,” she said.

As she gave the silver dipper to the nurse, behold! it was changed to yellow gold.

Again the mother raised the water to her lips. Just then a shadow fell across the floor. In the open doorway stood an old woman. She was ragged and pale and weak. She could only stretch out her thin hand toward the water.

The mother and the little girl looked at each other. Could they give up the last drop of water? The mother nodded her head, and the little girl put the golden dipper into the hands of the stranger.

The poor old woman took the water and drank it all. As she drank, her rags were changed into beautiful garments, and the dipper sparkled with diamonds.

“Oh, mother, look! There is the fairy I saw in the mountains,” cried the little girl. “And see! The dipper shines like diamonds!”

They looked again, but the fairy was gone. It was not long before the clouds spread over the sky, and a gentle rain began to fall. Soon there was water for all the plants, the birds, the animals, and the people.

But the dipper could not be found. Night came, and the little girl looked up at the stars. There, in the sky, she saw the dipper shining like diamonds.

And now, when the evening stars twinkle overhead, the mothers point out the great dipper in the northern sky and tell this story to their children.

“Is the story true?” the children ask when the tale is ended. And the mothers smile as they

answer:-  “When you can tell what the story means, you will know that it is true.”

Amy is a Christian mother of three amazing adults, a small business owner, and the director of student services for Essential Learning Institute. Her passion is helping children who are struggling to learn, find and reach their potential. Her daily motto is, “Find the joy in your moments”

I came across this article written by Sister Monica Foltzer. Her book A Sound of Reading has been used for decades to teach struggling students as well as those where English is the Second Language.

“Sister, can you teach me how to read?” an inmate of a Cincinnati city jail asked Sister Mary Germaine early in February 1993. Since Sister Germaine was a high school math teacher, she was a bit perturbed, but said she would try. Terry was 26 and had attended nine years of schooling. From the first grade, he had been classified as Educable Mentally Retarded, because he could not read. He even pointed to the word -the- and said he didn’t know that word.

Sister Germaine came home to me, and asked my advice. I gave her a copy of a book I had written many years ago and proceeded to tell her how to teach Terry to read.

“He will learn the sound of three consonants and one vowel isolating them from my Picture Key Word cards with your help: from mop, M, from tent, T, from sun, S, and the short sound of A from apple. You will help him slide these together: ma, sa, ta. It is important for him to blend these sounds together with your help. Then help him to sound out these words by himself: mat, sat, tat.

Next he will string some of these words into sentences; thus he will be reading on the very first page, limited reading, but real reading nevertheless: Sam sat. Matt sat. Sam sat at a mat. You will continue with more consonant sounds and more vowel sounds until Terry learns all 42 of them.”

At the next class session, Sister Mary Germaine went to the jail, took Terry into the hallway where he wouldn’t be seen or heard by the other students, and proceeded to teach Terry the way I had instructed her. After Terry had read about four sentences, he said delightedly, “I can READ! WOW!” Then he leaped out of his chair and bounced into the classroom and announced, “Guess what, guys? I can READ!” This from a young man who all his life had hidden the fact that he was illiterate.

Since Sister Germaine’s time was limited and Terry was eager to learn, one of the other inmates who had attended two years of college and knew some phonics, offered to tutor Terry twice a day. At the end of a little less than three months, Terry, with his tutor’s helpful affirmation, finished the first reading book, learning even the four syllable words. Terry also read eight primary readers and during the last few weeks, was able to read parts of the newspaper. He proved to be a very intelligent student.

On his last day of school, Sister Germaine decided to give Terry a diploma in reading. He was so excited and asked if I could come for the presentation. I agreed, and together with his tutor and Sister Germaine, we gave Terry his reading diploma.

Terry’s last remark to me was that his jail time had proved to be a blessing in disguise. Monday, two days later, April 26, 1993 he was dismissed from jail. He said the first thing he was going to do was to get a library card, so that his two children would not have to suffer the way he had. You see, they had also been diagnosed as “Educable Mentally Retarded!”

Would you like to help someone else learn to read? Would you like to get involved in a worthwhile, national project helping others? The National Right to Read Foundation is looking for people to serve in its National Tutor Network. For information please call us today at 703-425-5388.

Sister Monica Foltzer taught at Xavier University in Cincinnati for 23 years and is the author of Professor Phonics.

Children are made into readers on the laps of their parents.

• When you read to your child, let your child select the book. Follow the words with your finger as you read.
• Explain words to your child and ask questions to be sure he/she understands. Have your child draw a picture and/or write a few sentences about what has been read.
•   Be a good listener when your child tells stories, asks questions, or reads to you. This encourages your child and helps in language and reading skill development.
•   Read to your child, or with your child, every day (for 20-40 minutes, preferably).
•   Write down your child’s stories or have him/her write them down (if writing skills are developed). Seeing his/her own words in print helps to connect reading and writing concepts.
•   Talk about what you are reading and allow your child to interrupt and ask questions. This helps involve him/her in the story or reading material, and also increases understanding of what is read.
•   Be a good reading model for your child: if s/he sees you read, s/he is more likely to be interested in reading.
•   Have a variety of reading materials available (books, magazines, newspapers).
•   Provide your child with a desk to read or study in a quiet area, and provide a shelf on which to store books.
•   Take your child to the library regularly (get a library card…it’s free!); browse through the books or ask the librarian for help. Attend the library story-times with young children.
•   Go to bookstores, used-book stores, or flea markets, to look for books. Buy books for your child and/or encourage him/her to buy books.
•   If your child is having a particular problem, teach him/her that there are many books that can be helpful and address all kinds of personal difficulties (death of a family member, divorce, ADHD, how to handle anger, etc.).
•   Encourage your child to read all kinds of things: labels; signs; magazines; adventure books; game rules; assembly instructions; food labels; billboards; travel brochures; recipes; World Wide Web site information; etc.Show your child that whatever s/he is interested in, there are books on the subject. Read books on those interests (e.g., sports, dinosaurs, art, animals, hobbies, cooking, science, nature, etc.).
•   Buy a dictionary for your child and encourage using it to look up words. This helps develop a good vocabulary and gives practice in alphabetization.
•   Let him/her look up information to read in the phone book (Yellow Pages give great information on stores).
•   Teach your child respect for books. Never let a child destroy a book. Be sure library books are returned on time and in good condition. Keep books in good repair (e.g., mend pages that are torn, etc.).
•   Praise your child’s <strong>efforts</strong> at reading and writing. Give encouragement when he or she tries.
•   Let reading and writing be fun; play games that include reading/writing tasks.
•   Encourage your child to write (even a very young child can ‘write’); be sure to s/he has adequate paper, pens, pencils, a ruler, crayons, etc.
•   Let your child help make the grocery list, look for coupons in the newspaper, and find the items in the store.
•   Subscribe to an appropriate magazine for your child. S/he will love getting his/her own magazine each month.
•   Read the newspaper together (the comics, an event of interest, TV program listings, a movie advertisement, local happenings, church events, or a favorite sports team article).
•   Read a favorite recipe. Together you can buy the necessary ingredients, follow the recipe to make the dish, and then enjoy eating it!
•   Help your child make a birthday list of family and friends. S/he can send a letter or make a card for the friend or relative. Always have your child send thank-you notes for gifts received. Holidays are also good times for notes or cards.
  
  Read together for enjoyment and fun, as well as for learning!

Amy is a Christian mother of three amazing adults, a small business owner, and the director of student services for Essential Learning Institute. Her passion is helping children who are struggling to learn, find and reach their potential. Her daily motto is, “Find the joy in your moments”