‘Learning Disabilities’ Blog Posts
How Reading Fluency Improves Comprehension
January 30th, 2024 2024-02-01T10:00:18-08:00 2024-01-30T20:15:06-08:00 Rick Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Rick Terry
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand and retain the information given in the text as you read it. Reading fluency, on the other hand, is the accuracy and speed of reading without conscious attention to the mechanics of reading. A fluent reader has the ability to read and understand words automatically. They are able to more easily comprehend complete sentences and entire reading selections.
Laterality and Directionality: How Does it Relate to Learning?
February 16th, 2022 2022-02-17T15:24:24-08:00 2022-02-16T21:06:13-08:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
We read from top to bottom and left to right. We form letters in specific directions. Even writing your letters correctly involves directionality. Starting letters at the top and moving down is easier and faster and coincides with how we read. Yet, kids left to there own often start writing letters from the bottom up. These are often the kids that haven’t learned the top down orientation of reading, starting at the top of the page and reading from left to right.
What is Reading Fluency? How to Become a Fluent Reader in 5 Minutes a Day
November 22nd, 2019 2020-04-23T18:18:36-07:00 2019-11-22T22:41:25-08:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Reading fluency is the speed and accuracy of reading without conscious attention to the mechanics of reading. In other words, a fluent reader has the ability to retrieve and read words automatically. Efficient readers are fluent readers. Multiple studies show that slow single word reading leads to both poor comprehension and frustration.
Spelling and Auditory Processing
October 14th, 2019 2020-04-29T07:55:17-07:00 2019-10-14T00:38:57-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Auditory processing skills are foundational skills for both reading and spelling. Phonemic awareness and phonics are the first steps in learning to read as well as spell. Both phonemic awareness and phonics depend on the auditory system. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate the individual sounds – phonemes – in spoken words. Phonics is the ability to accurately relate an auditory sound with a visual symbol. This is exactly what we do when we spell.
What is Rapid Naming? How does it relate to reading and dyslexia?
September 4th, 2019 2020-04-23T17:15:55-07:00 2019-09-04T18:40:37-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Children that struggle with rapid naming, dyslexia, or learning disabilities typically perform more slowly on tasks that deal with the speed of processing. So, when helping a child with dyslexia or learning disabilities, we also need to help them improve their processing speed.
Brain-Based Learning: Auditory Processing Activities
March 12th, 2019 2019-03-13T18:41:05-07:00 2019-03-12T10:02:33-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Three brain-based auditory processing disorder activities for kids of all ages. These activities improve learning skills while you have fun. Auditory processing is one of the three avenues we learn academic skills from. Remember, we learn by hearing (auditory processing), seeing (visual processing), and doing (tactile/kinesthetic processing). That being said, APD – an auditory processing disorder was found to be present in 43.3% of those that struggle with learning (2009 The National Center for Biotechnology Information). Read on to learn the behaviors that indicate your child may have difficulties with auditory processing.
Visual Discrimination and Reading Fluency
November 13th, 2018 2019-08-28T16:43:45-07:00 2018-11-13T03:43:30-08:00 Rick Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Rick Terry
Visual discrimination is directly connected to reading fluency. Visual discrimination is the ability to discern subtle similarities and differences visually. This is the process of seeing details. What is the same? What is different? Shapes, sizes, and colors are details to be looked at. An additional part of visual discrimination is ‘form constancy.’
Strategies to Improve Reading Comprehension
October 29th, 2018 2018-10-30T21:22:49-07:00 2018-10-29T00:07:28-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand, analyze, synthesize, and use what you have read. Without comprehension, there is really no point to reading. Graphic organizers allow you to easily take notes and turn what you read into a graphical display or story structure. These strategies improve critical components of reading comprehension.
Activities to Improve Executive Function Skills
February 26th, 2018 2018-11-13T18:18:42-08:00 2018-02-26T21:37:59-08:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Before we can get into executive function activities, it is important to understand what executive function is. So, what Is Executive Function? Executive function is the term used to describe a set of mental processes that helps us connect past experience with present action. We use executive function when we perform such activities as planning, organizing, strategizing and paying attention to and remembering details.
How the 5 Senses Impact How We Learn
February 19th, 2018 2019-01-01T12:11:43-08:00 2018-02-19T12:16:52-08:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
The 5 Senses Impact on How We Learn – How we learn, how we intake information directly impacts our ability to succeed in school. Parents frequently email me or call my office looking for help for their child or teen. They don’t know why their child struggles in school. They just know that they do. Learn what impacts learning skills.
11 Auditory Processing Activities You Can Do Without Spending a Dime!
December 4th, 2017 2020-04-23T11:49:05-07:00 2017-12-04T11:10:21-08:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Auditory processing is a critical component to reading success. We work on a variety of auditory processing areas every time we do activities from the Reading Pack: Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills, Making Spelling Sense, Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills, and The Comprehension Zone. For example, The Comprehension Zone is a game where we play for both auditory memory, auditory comprehension, and reading comprehension. Making Spelling Sense is where we work on auditory discrimination, auditory closure, and auditory memory.
Learning Disabilities Help
August 28th, 2017 2017-08-31T19:44:37-07:00 2017-08-28T09:22:51-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Learning disabilities and ADHD impact between 15% to 20% of the population. That is 9 to 16 people on a street with 20 homes. That being said, according to the CDC, less that 1 in 3 children with ADHD receives both medication and behavioral therapy. And, students with learning disabilities earn lower grades and experience higher rates of course failure. Listen to find out what you can do to help learning disabilities kids improve their skills.
Homework Help? Practical Solutions
August 21st, 2017 2018-12-12T16:47:02-08:00 2017-08-21T09:00:00-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Homework is something most students deal with if not on a daily basis, then a weekly basis. Homework time can be a lot easier using tips, strategies, and specific tools. Watch the video for some practical tips to help make your evenings a lot smoother and give you back your sanity.
5 Steps to Improve Reading Comprehension with Family Field Trips
August 15th, 2017 2017-08-02T02:49:11-07:00 2017-08-15T12:00:08-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
By having a framework or structure to your family fields trips, you can drastically improve memory skills. If you do not have a bit of a structure to your trips, your kids are not as likely to remember the great things you have done as a family together. With these family field trips, you can improve your vocabulary, memory and factual knowledge base.
As Summer Break is Winding Down, Get in a Few Family Activities
July 24th, 2017 2018-09-01T00:04:59-07:00 2017-07-24T22:17:43-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Summer break is winding down, but there is still time to have fun and bring your child’s skills up. There is nothing like taking the last few weeks of the summer and infusing in some extra fun while gearing your kids up for the new school year. This is especially important if your kids have any learning problems, dyslexia, or ADHD. Giving your kids the best start you can is one of the most important things you can do as a parent.
6 Fun Family Activities Prevent the Summer Slide!
July 19th, 2017 2018-12-12T16:04:18-08:00 2017-07-19T15:17:48-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
It’s not too late to prevent the summer slide with fun family activities. The activities are geared for elementary, middle, and high school kids. Listen to the audio. Activities include weekly trips, nature adventures, and home activities.
How to Teach and Improve Vocabulary
April 18th, 2017 2018-12-12T16:51:46-08:00 2017-04-18T12:00:28-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Improve vocabulary is one of the five components to teaching reading as well as improving reading skills. Vocabulary is a strong indicator of student success. Knowledge of words and word meanings is an important key to reading, speaking, and listening success.
Dyslexia Treatment and Solutions
March 21st, 2017 2017-03-22T03:43:43-07:00 2017-03-21T12:00:25-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Best Practices for Dyslexia Treatment, Learning Disabilities, and Reading Problems. Best practices for improving reading skills also improve thinking and writing skills. Attention needs to be given to multiple areas to improve reading skills of those with dyslexia, learning disabilities, or those that have reading problems. Additionally, there is a hierarchy of instruction for improving reading skills. You will want to start with improving phonemic awareness and then incorporate phonics and fluency. As fluency starts to improve, you will add in the vocabulary and comprehension piece.
Learning Disabilities Help for Your Child
August 29th, 2016 2018-12-12T16:02:49-08:00 2016-08-29T06:03:38-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Learning disabilities and ADHD impact between 15% to 20% of the population. That is 9 to 16 people on a street with 20 homes. That being said, according to the CDC, less that 1 in 3 children with ADHD receives both medication and behavioral therapy. And, students with learning disabilities earn lower grades and experience higher rates of course failure. Listen to find out what you can do to help your learning disabilities kids improve their skills.
Summer Reading List: Top 5 Books to Read by Grade Level
June 5th, 2016 2017-05-19T09:21:26-07:00 2016-06-05T01:04:50-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Have a summer reading plan for the lazy, hazy days of summer. Kids should be reading on a daily basis. This can happen for 15 to 30 minutes after lunch, before swimming, or before bed. Kids should be reading pleasure books at one to two levels below their grade level so they are easy to read. Get the top 5 books to read this summer too.
Holiday Activities Reduce Stress Over the Holidays for Dyslexia and ADHD
December 5th, 2015 2015-12-05T02:29:05-08:00 2015-12-05T01:40:36-08:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Holiday Activities: Keeping my children engaged over the holidays can be daunting or it can be fun. I don’t like being stressed so I always think of a plan to keep everyone engaged in a variety of activities that can be done without a ton of running around. To that end, I have created the following list of family holiday activities. Each activity builds family comradery as well as learning skills.
Dyscalculia? Need Math Help? Learning Disabilities?
October 13th, 2015 2016-02-25T01:03:26-08:00 2015-10-13T23:32:21-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
I’m sure you remember how it was in school. Your teacher explained how to do a particular type of math problem in class and you got it. It seemed so easy to solve it. Then you switched to another subject, and another as the day progressed. You got home, took out your math homework and totally forgot how to do the problem. Read to find the solutions to math homwork problems and dyscalculia.
Learning Disabilities Awareness Month – Teach Planning and Organizational Skills
October 1st, 2015 2018-12-12T16:28:36-08:00 2015-10-01T20:54:03-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Learning Disabilities and Dyslexia Symptoms
April 21st, 2015 2015-07-08T19:24:12-07:00 2015-04-21T01:33:07-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
Learning Disabilities and Dyslexia, are broad terms that cover a wide variety of problems with many possible causes, symptoms, treatments, and outcomes.
There are a lot of areas to look at for both learning disabilities and dyslexia, so it can be difficult to diagnose the specific causes. However, the National Institute of Health states that learning disabilities and dyslexia can be divided into three broad categories.
Reading Help Is More Than Reading Comprehension
March 25th, 2015 2016-03-22T08:39:33-07:00 2015-03-25T22:43:34-07:00 Bonnie Terry Bonnie Terry Learning Bonnie Terry
You know your child is bright but you still have homework struggles. It seems like the struggles will never go away. There are a few things to check into when your child is struggling with reading. You need to become the detective. Their reading problems are typically due to more than reading comprehension problems. In fact, they can be due to one or more of the following reasons.
