Tips for Easing Back into the School Year

Annnnd We’re Back!

Wait.... What happened to summer? I’m not ready!

Well, it’s that time again! Welcome back! We certainly hope you were able to take some time to recharge this summer between side jobs, curriculum revision, and all the “life catch-up” you do during the summer season. For a lot of us, the transition back to the school-time routine can be a shock to the system. But there are things you can do to make it easier. Here is  some solid “tried and true” tips to help you take the plunge back into the classroom.

10 Things to Say Instead of ‘Stop Crying’

As a parent, you deal with a LOT of feelings on a daily basis. Right? And sometimes, it can all get to be just a little bit much! When you’ve had what seems like hours of multiple people crying at you, the temptation to make it stop is high!

We’ve all said it, or at least thought it. ‘Stop crying! Just stop!’

Or maybe you heard it as a child?

“Don’t be silly”

“Shh, everyone is looking at you”

“Stop that noise, right now!”

“Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about!”

The Difference Between Dyspraxia and Dysgraphia

Dyspraxia vs. dysgraphia: Both of these learning issues can affect fine motor skills and impact writing. But they’re two distinct conditions, even though they can co-occur in some kids. This chart can help you understand the areas where dyspraxia and dysgraphia overlap and where they differ.

  

What does your child's behaviour mean?

12 Steps to Gentle Parenting: A Year of Baby Steps to a Happier Family

   It’s been said that it takes twenty-one days to make or break a habit and that change comes easiest and lasts longest when it’s undertaken in small, bite-sized chunks. Those same principles apply when trying to transform your parenting, as well. Simply resolving on January 1^st that, from that day forward, you are going to be a gentle parent and trying to change everything all at once is just setting yourself up for disappointment, frustration, and, more than likely, failure followed by that age-old enemy of peace…mommy guilt.

What to Say to Calm an Angry Child

Doors slamming. Teeth gritted. Feet stomping. The anger just rolls from such a tiny body and leaves you feeling helpless. You are doing everything you can to keep your cool, “It’s going to be okay” is all you seem to be able to muster. 

Your child is convinced the world is against him and that it is for sure NOT going to be okay. 

Understanding Down Syndrome - the Basics

Down syndrome (DS), or Trisomy 21 is a naturally occurring chromosomal arrangement that has always been a part of the human condition, exists in all regions across the globe and commonly results in variable effects on learning styles, physical characteristics or health.

Adequate access to health care, to early intervention programmes and to inclusive education, as well as appropriate research, are vital to the growth and development of the individual.

Your Toddler or Preschooler and TV

 If you want a child who can spend long hours entertaining herself (which will afford you many breaks and make you the envy of all your friends with children); and if you want your child to have the best chance of reaching her educational potential, be able to listen and retain what she learns and need to spend less time doing homework, studying for tests, stressing about school in general; then don’t turn on the TV for the first 2 to 3 years. It is much easier than you imagine. But once you begin using TV, it’s harder.

-Janet Lansbury

The Best YouTube Channels for High School Classrooms

With the increasing popularity of blended learning and flipping the classroom, teachers are hungry for new and exciting ways to engage their students, while meeting 21st century standards.

YouTube has been around since 2005, but it is really just now beginning to hit its stride as an educational tool. More and more, entertainers are collaborating with educators in order to create content that reaches and engages our modern-day, tech-savvy students.

Lesson Methodologies - Resource for Class Room Teaching

There are many different ways in which you can effectively teach your students. Learn about many different methodologies here. New teachers will find this resource particularly valuable when they're determining which method is most effective for them.

Methodology is the way(s) in which teachers share information with students. The information itself is known as the content; how that content is shared in a classroom is dependent on the teaching methods.

Recognizing Learning Disorders in the Classroom

Characteristics of learning disabilities that can hide in plain sight 

Teachers are often the first to notice that a child might have a learning disorder. Sometimes the signs are easy to spot — a student who just isn’t making headway in reading, for example. Or a child who, despite obvious effort, can’t seem to master the times tables. But the signs are not always as clear, and many children, embarrassed that they are struggling to do things that seem easy for other kids, go to pains to hide their difficulties.

Here are some less-obvious signs of learning disorders in children to watch for in the classroom.

10 Signs That You Have A Strong-Willed Child

 If you are exhausted from perpetual power struggles with your child, are tired of hearing “no” multiple times every single day and in general, are awed by the stubbornness of your feisty kid, chances are you are dealing with a “Strong-Willed” or “Spirited” child. Raising a strong-willed child is emotionally and physically draining and quite frankly, extremely challenging, to say the least.

How Kids Learn Best

Set Kids Up for Success

 HOW kids learn best? What makes learning and performing more challenging for some kids, and what can we all do to improve our education system – both at home and at school?

Cooperative Learning

Get information on cooperative learning, an instructional strategy in which small groups of students work together on a common task. This teaching method is an excellent way to allow students to think critically without relying on you for answers.

Bullying Affects Students' Academic Achievement

 In an attempt to look past the mere effects bullying has on a child's psychological well-being and development, new research has taken a look at the effects bullying has on a child's academic achievement.

According to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, children who are bullied have "lower academic achievement, a greater dislike of school and less confidence in their academic abilities," said CNN.

The Homework Dilemma: How Much Should Parents Get Involved?

What can teachers do to help parents help their children with homework?

Just what kind of parental involvement - and how much involvement - truly helps children with their homework? The most useful stance parents can take, many experts agree, is to be somewhat but not overly involved in homework. The emphasis needs to be on parents' helping children do their homework themselves - not on doing it for them.

Why My Child Chews on Pencils and Sucks on Clothing?

This post contains information regarding oral sensitivities and oral defensiveness. Affiliate links are included for your convenience.

If you have a child who is constantly sucking on their shirts or clothing, chews on their pencils at school, enjoys extreme flavors of foods, or is constantly chewing on their toys, it could be a sign that their sensory receptors are in need of that tactile sensation in their mouth and are using it as a defense mechanism. Depending on your child, the sensory receptors in their mouth can either be hypersensitive (too sensitive) to textures and foods or they can be hyposensitive (needs more tactile sensations).

Tactile Defensiveness: Why My Child Hates Hugs, Tags and is in Constant Fight or Flight Mode

This article provides helpful information for children that struggle with tactile defensiveness. Affiliate links are included for your convenience.

The word tactile refers to our sense of touch and to the information our body gets from our skin. Our sense of touch is important for helping us understand our own body, our surroundings and environment. Touch is also the link between people. Through touch comes bonding and relationships. Tactile sensations are sent between mother and child as soon as the infant is born, especially when the baby is feeding.

To better understand your child’s tactile system and how it relates to learning, here are a few things to consider:

• Some of the tactile receptors are close to the surface of the skin and others are deep.
• Light Touch sends a signal message to the brain, which usually means, “Pay attention!” This is a useful sensation to create awareness while increasing your child’s focus on what is going on around them.
• Touch Pressure sensation occurs when someone firmly touches your skin. Most people find comfort in touch pressure input (massages, deep pressure therapy, foam rollers).
• Highly sensitive areas on the body including the fingertips, tongue and lips can have as many as 100 pressure receptors in one cubic centimeter.
• Less sensitive areas, like your back, have as few as 10 pressure receptors in a cubic centimeter.

Lack of Sleep Makes Anxious Kids Worse. How to Help!

Is Lack of Sleep Making Your Anxious Kids Worse?

Almost every anxious child has sleep issues. This is not a freaky coincidence. Child anxiety and sleep deprivation are best buddies. They feed off of each other. They like to snuggle up and keep each other warm. Sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on most children’s mood, but it can make anxious kids implode!

It is a vicious cycle that gains momentum as time goes by. Worries keeps anxious kids up. It keeps them checking under their beds and staring at dark shadows. It keeps them obsessing over worries. It keeps them hyper vigilant and pumped full of adrenaline.

Feeding Picky Kids

Parents of young children commonly commiserate about their kids’ eating habits. Complaints often relate to a child’s exceedingly limited “kid food” diet, rejection of anything green, refusal to try anything new or the explosive mealtime battles that make dinnertime stressful for everyone.