Touch Math Games

Touch Math is a commonly used tactile strategy that helps students to get off their fingers when adding, subtracting and even multiplying.  However, this methodology can be even more enticing for students when this technique is taught and then reinforced through fun kinesthetic games.  

Here are some fun ideas:

1. Take a foam football and place the numbers and the touch math symbols on it.
2. Blow up a balloon and cover it with the numbers and touch math symbols.
3. Write the touch math numbers and symbols on large place mats with a non-skid backing.
4. If you have access to a playground with a hard flat surface, write the numbers with their touch math symbols on the ground with colorful chalk.  What's even better, let the students do it themselves.  

If you would like free printable touch math strips and you would also like to learn some more strategies, get some specific game ideas and also obtain images of the touch math numbers, touch math strips as well as touch math activities, come check out my newest publication by clicking HERE

Cheers, Erica

The Difference between a Tutor, Learning Specialist and an Educational Therapist: Choosing Your Best Option

Is your child struggling in school?  Are you considering outside help, but you just don’t know where to start?  Finding the right individual to work with your child is often a difficult task.  What’s more, it’s challenging to determine the type of professional that is required.  To help you with the process, here is a breakdown of the responsibilities and expertise you should expect from these three professions. 

Tutor:

A tutor is a private instructor that has an expertise in a specific school subject.  They teach or re-teach classroom concepts, and they may or may not have formal experience or training in education.  Many offer assistance with homework, and some can offer advice with time management or study skills. 

Learning Specialist:

A learning specialist is a private instructor for students, parents, and teachers.  They focus on metacognitive as well as compensatory learning strategies.  Many also offer instruction, training and remediation in specific academic areas such as reading, writing or math.  A learning specialist should have advanced training and degrees in education and significant coursework, if not degrees in special education, psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, and neuropsychology.  Specific understanding of learning disorders, psycho-educational evaluations, and intervention strategies is paramount.  An expertise in multisensory learning, alternative learning and teaching strategies, self advocacy techniques, and schooling accommodations is a must too.  In addition, they should be versed in assistive technology, software tools, educational websites and apps. 

Educational Therapist

An educational therapist is a private instructor for students and other individuals that wish to improve their mental functioning.  They too offer metacognitive and compensatory learning strategies but also include cognitive remedial training.  This involves strengthening specific areas of cognition that are weak, such as auditory discrimination or visual memory.  Moreover, the educational therapist should be versed in strategies that address social and emotional aspects that impact learning.  Many also have an expertise in working with students who struggle with executive functioning as well as attentional difficulties.  Like the learning specialist, educational therapists have degrees in education and significant coursework, if not a degree, in special education, psychology, school psychology, educational psychology, and neuropsychology.  Specific training in learning disorders, psycho-educational evaluations, and interventions strategies is vital.

What's most important is that you speak with each professional to learn more about their approach and educational training.  If you have any questions, I would love to here your thoughts!

If you are interested in purchasing learning specialist / educational therapist materials, go to: www.goodsensorylearning.com

Cheers,

Erica

Dr. Erica Warren, Learning Specialist and Educational Therapist

www.learningtolearn.biz

www.goodsensorylearning.com

Motivating Strategies for Reluctant Readers

I just wrote a blog that offers strategies that motivate reluctant readers.  Come check it out on my new community blog (Westchester Professionals for Community Empowerment) that offers free advice from the top professionals in Westchester, New York.  CLICK HERE

Cheers, Erica

5 Fun Ways to Teach the Vowel Combinations or Vowel Teams

   1)   Place the vowel combinations on a balloon with a permanent marker, or have the students do it themselves.  Pass the balloon from student to student.  They will then say the first vowel combination they see and then they share the sound that it makes.  In a more advanced version, they can share a word that uses that vowel combination.

   2)   If you are looking for something more durable than a balloon, you can purchase playground balls and write the vowel combinations on them.

   3)   Use old scrabble tiles.  Place two tiles together to make a vowel combination and then let the students come up with as many words as they can by adding additional tiles.  Write all the words down that are created into a list for all the students to see.  For added fun, they can add up all the numbers on the tiles to gain points. 

   4)   If you don’t have scrabble tiles, you can purchase small kitchen or bathroom tiles and write the letters on them with permanent markers.  If you get the small, rectangular tiles, they can fit both vowel team letters on one tile.

   5)   Give the students a newspaper or magazine article and a highlighter.  Have them highlight all the vowel combinations they can find.  Then have them write all the words and as a group read the words aloud and discuss what sound the vowel combination makes in each word.

If you are looking for more fun ways to teach the vowel combinations.  Come check out my downloadable workbook, Vowel Combinations Made Easy.  You can even get a free sampling of the publication!  Click Here 

Cheers, Erica

Reading Assessment for Orton Gillingham and Phonics Based Reading Programs

I just wanted to announce my newest publication: Good Sensory Learning Reading Assessment.  It was created for teachers, reading specialists, learning specialists and parents who need a simple but comprehensive reading evaluation instrument that can direct instruction so specific reading needs can be targeted.   It works seamlessly with any phonics or Orton-Gillingham based reading program.   Moreover, the evaluation can also be utilized post remedial intervention to define cognitive growth as well as areas that require continued attention and support. Twenty three, quick subtests are administered to a single student, and the test can be administered in one or more sitting(s). 

If you are interested in seeing a free, full length preview.  Feel free to click on the following link, where you can download it for free, and if you like it, you can purchase the item too.

http://goodsensorylearning.com/reading-assessment.html

Cheers, 

 

Help for Struggling Readers

Many students struggle with the cognitive skills needed to be good readers.  With weak abilities in the areas of visualization, tracking, visual processing, auditory processing and/or memory, the practice of reading can soon become, frustrating, tiresome and laborious.  When kids pair negative associations and feelings with books, they may avoid picking up a book altogether.   For the same reason that you would not build a sky scraper on a weak foundation, for these kids, it is important to strengthen the individual areas of cognition first.   Many of these skills can be developed through game like activities that kids enjoy.    Here are a few ideas that you might like to try:

1)        When reading to your children have fun sharing your visualizations with one another by imagining what the settings and characters look like.  You can even encourage your children to come up with their own illustrations for stories.   

2)        Pull out a newspaper and encourage your child to find a specific word, such as the word the, on the page.  Encourage them to follow the words from left to right so that they are strengthening their tracking skills.  They can use their finger, a thin strip of paper or even a highlighter to keep their place.

3)        Play games such as the memory game - where students flip cards to find pairs, or get a free app like the old game Simon which strengthens visual and auditory memory.

In addition, I also offer four publications that might be helpful.  I have two visualization training PowerPoints, and I also have two workbooks titled Reversing Reversals and Reversing Reversals 2 that work on these foundational skills.  Click on the images below to learn more and download a free image of the 10 visualization skills as well as free samplings of both of my workbooks. 

Cheers, Erica

Alphabet Cookies - Practical and Delicious

Now you can take your favorite cookie recipe and cut the dough into the alphabet!  You can use it for learning the letters, spelling names, and even making words and sentences.  If you don't want to use them for cookies, you could use it to cut up a pan of jello!  Finally, if you want to make it into something that is not edible, you could use the cutters to make the letters out of clay or play-dough   See below for a link where you can buy them!

Have fun!