Basis of learning differences
Key points for seminar – Basis of learning differences
Thinking Skills
The Fight over Rote Math
By Fernette Eide If you think you’ve been hearing conflicting information about rote math in the news or from schools, you’re absolutely right. The fight is spilling over into educational policy makers and makers of standardized tests such as the College Board. For dyslexic and dyscalculic students the risk is of being caught in the …
Online courses for students with learning disabilities
Landmark College, the first college in the United States for students with learning disabilities, is growing enrollment in its online courses. The rural Vermont college is designed exclusively for students who have diagnosed learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder or ADHD. “These are bright students, intelligent students, but often they have not succeeded …
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Understanding, Emotions and Books Beyond Words: A neuroscience perspective
In last month‘s issue Leading SEND & mental health consultants Prof. Barry Carpenter, Jo Egerton and Stas’ Smagala introduced a study involving Books Beyond Words. Part 2 this month looks further at pictures and accessing emotions. In addition to information, illustrations are ‘supreme in their capacity to arouse emotions’ (Hibbing and Rankin-Erickson, 2003). According to …
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20% of adults in the UK are innumerate – But it doesn’t have to be this way!
Maths Explained – a low stress way to improve numeracy. Say the word ‘maths’ and many people panic. Memories of times tables, tricky lessons and difficult tests abound. It has a reputation for being dry and difficult. For people with dyscalculia (a specific learning difficulty with mathematics) the difficulty is even greater. It’s estimated that …
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The Problem With Literacy Programs
By Mike Schmoker A cautionary tale: Not long ago, I was assisting a school district that had adopted a prominently endorsed literacy program. Our work began with a review of the program, which had an unassailable conceptual base. Yet as several of us examined it, we noticed some profound shortcomings: The program abounded in minutiae, …
Human vs Artificial Intelligence
With robots increasingly blurring the lines between human intelligence and its artificial equivalent, the essential human qualities of ingenuity, agility and curiosity are more important than ever. Despite leaving the industrial age for an era of innovation, our compulsory mass schooling model reflects old-fashioned factories. If we want to distinguish ourselves from robots, we need …
Improving Math by techniques
Many people find mathematics daunting. If true, this piece is for you. If not, this piece is still for you. What do you think of when you think about mathematics? Perhaps you think about x’s and y’s, intractable fractions, or nonsensical word problems. The cartoonist Gary Larson once depicted hell’s library as containing only giant …
The right music can hit the sweet spot between predictable and chaotic for which the brain has a strong preference
‘The right music can hit the sweet spot between predictable and chaotic for which the brain has a strong preference.’ Illustration: Sophie Wolfson Supported by About this content Dean Burnett @garwboy Saturday 20 August 2016 07.30 BSTLast modified on Saturday 20 August 201607.32 BST Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ Shares 244 Comments 26 Save for later Many …
Is Mandarin too hard a language to learn for dyslexic schoolchildren
Is Mandarin too hard a language to learn for dyslexic schoolchildren? 16:45 03 March 2015 Imogen Blake Highgate Primary School mandarin lessons. Head Teacher William Dean with Chinese Cultural teacher Rhona Pennington and year 4 students Maisie (9), Dylan (9), Deeya (8) and Aidan (8) all from class 4PB. More and more schools are eschewing …
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Background speech hindered toddlers
Background speech hindered toddlers’ ability to learn words, according to a new study. Credit: © angiolina / Fotolia The environments children are in, including how much and what kinds of stimulation they are exposed to, influence what and how they learn. One important task for children is zeroing in on the information that’s relevant to …
Schools to be forced by law to give equal weighting to vocational and academic routes
Schools to be forced by law to give equal weighting to vocational and academic routes TES 24th January 2016 at 09:31 Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Careers Schools State schools will be forced to give vocational routes as much weight as academic options when giving careers advice to their pupils. Ministers are plotting legislation …
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New writing tools
Despite the abundance of technology that I surround myself with (laptop, phone, second monitor, tablet, camera, ridiculously heavy and terrible iPad charger) the two tool that never outlive their welcome in my daily repertoire is a pen and notepad. I’ve tried using a whole range of different organization apps, to do lists on my phone …
Judging by the number of learning apps available to classrooms around the country
Judging by the number of learning apps available to classrooms around the country, the education technology market aimed at elementary through high schools is booming. There are more than 3,900 math and reading apps, classroom management systems and other software services for schools in the United States, according to LearnTrials, a start-up that helps school …
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Always an alternative!
A-levels are not the only route to university, says Ucas By Katherine Sellgren BBC News education reporter 28 January 2016 From the section Education & Family Image copyright ThinkstockImage caption Ucas says A-levels are still the most popular route into university, but there are other options A-levels are not the only route to university, with …
MIND Set
MIND-Strengths, Mindset, And Striking Gold With Dyslexia By Fernette Eide|May 1st, 2015|Being Dyslexic, MIND strengths, Social and Emotional|Comments Off on MIND-Strengths, Mindset, And Striking Gold With Dyslexia Welcome to MIND-Strengths Mayat Dyslexic Advantage! As we begin our month-long exploration of the strengths associated with dyslexic “wiring”, we want to start by looking at an important point about …
Drumming for 60 minutes a week can benefit children diagnosed with autism and supports learning at school
Drumming for 60 minutes a week can benefit children diagnosed with autism and supports learning at school, according to a new scientific study. The project, led by the University of Chichester and University Centre Hartpury, showed students’ ability to follow their teachers’ instructions improved significantly and enhanced their social interactions between peers and members of …
The right music can hit the sweet spot between predictable and chaotic for which the brain has a strong preference.
Dean Burnett Many people listen to music while they’re carrying out a task, whether they’re studying for an exam, driving a vehicle or even reading a book. Many of these people argue that background music helps them focus. Why, though? When you think about it, that doesn’t make much sense. Why would having two things …
The Highly Sensitive Person
Elaine Aron has studied the highly sensitive person (HSP), an easily overaroused and overwhelmed individual who is sensitive and often anxious. Aron believes that evolution has favored the careful, reflective style that tends to accompany the highly aroused individual, and not high arousal itself. If understimulated and sometimes impulsive people like those with ADHD, live …
From Dyslexia Trust, Oxford Vision & Coloured Filters
Summary – Recent research by the DRT and others has suggested that magnocellular (M) neurones in the brain play an important role in reading and that M- deficits contribute powerfully to reading problems because the M system is so crucial for directing visual and auditory attention and eye movements to letter and word features and …
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primary school children will have to sit new computerised maths exams from next year
Education secretary Nicky Morgan recently announced that primary school children will have to sit new computerised maths exams from next year. The tests will go up to and include the 12 times table and schools have been warned that they will be held to account if pupils do not make the grade. This initiative has …
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Background speech hindered toddlers’ ability to learn words, according to a new study.
The environments children are in, including how much and what kinds of stimulation they are exposed to, influence what and how they learn. One important task for children is zeroing in on the information that’s relevant to what they’re learning and ignoring what isn’t. A new study has found that the presence of background noise …
Background speech hindered toddlers’ ability to learn words, according to a new study. Read More »
Read aloud on Kindle
You don’t even need to lift a finger when you’re done playing Jeopardy! on Amazon Echo and want to relax with a book. Simply say “Alexa, read [Kindle book title],” and the voice assistant will start narrating almost anything you purchased from the Kindle Store, borrowed from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library/Kindle Unlimited or got …
Glancing at Greenery Can Markedly Boost Concentration Levels
These are the images shown to study participants, one with a green flowering meadow on the city roof and the other of a stark concrete view. (Source: University of Melbourne). A University of Melbourne study shows that glancing at a grassy green roof for only 40 seconds markedly boosts concentration. The study, published in the …
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Best practice for reading IS reading!
In people with dyslexia, less grey matter in the brain has been linked to reading disabilities, but new evidence suggests this is a consequence of poorer reading experiences and not the root cause of the disorder. A study compared a group of dyslexic children with two different control groups – an age-matched group included in …
New app launched for dyslexic and visually impaired rail users.
A NEW application has been developed to help dyslexic and visually impaired train passengers. Southern and Gatwick Express have launched the app on their websites – www.southernrailway.com and www.gatwickexpress.com – which is designed to help users access content with much more ease. The system, called Recite, allows those with visual impairment and/or dyslexia to customise …
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While thousands of school leavers…
WHILE thousands of school leavers anxiously await their university offers on Thursday, those who miss out are urged not to despair – a successful career doesn’t have to hinge on tertiary education. Just ask Daniella Boutros, who at 16 was forced to quit school because of severe dyslexia but has gone on to forge two …
It’s still Dyslexia, even if you can read well!
We are a reading family. Each one of us, at any given time, is in the middle of two or three books. Over winter break, I read historical fiction and short stories. Cooper polished off three novels, all with some sort of fantasy or science fiction element. Katie immersed herself in realistic fiction with a …
Dyslexics find e-readers easier to read from.
As the trend of e-readers is getting popular, researchers at the Smithsonian have discovered that people with dyslexia can read more easily and quickly and with greater comprehension from a e- reader as they can be set up to display only very words per line. This finding was published in journal PLOS ONE in September, …
A white matter circuit may be to blame for dyslexics.
Mapping dyslexia: A study found that the area that sorts and stores the auditory building blocks of language, in yellow, is similar between dyslexics and a group without reading problems A faulty connection between where the brain stores the auditory building blocks of language and where it processes them may be to blame for dyslexia, …
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