As a special educator with 45 years experience and training in Orton-Gillingham, I have always believed in the value of using multi-sensory tools and strategies to teaching reading and math. The Orton-Gillingham approach to reading is a language based, multi- sensory, structured, sequential, cognitive and flexible program. Orton-Gillingham is a well known and respected reading…
Whole Body Listening in the Classroom
As a child in a busy classroom how many times do you hear: “Pay attention,” “Quiet down and listen up,” “I’m not going to tell you again; You should have been listening to the instructions,” “Didn’t you hear me?” Teachers use many different strategies to gain the attention of their students and get them to…
He’s not a ‘bad kid’, he has a sensory processing disorder
How our body and brain receives, interprets, organizes, and utilizes sensory information SHOULD be an automatic process that occurs accurately and efficiently, without effort or conscious choice. A sensory processing disorder (SPD) is an “invisible” challenge, characterized by a disorganized way that the nervous systems attempts to understand and make use of sensory information. Considering…
Lunchroom Noise, Does it Really Matter?
Common concerns over short lunch periods, appropriate seating, and the challenge of nutritional choices in school lunches are common. But have you considered the effect of the noise in the cafeteria on healthy food choices? Susan Gross, PhD, MPH of John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has, and her results (2014) may give us…
Rethinking Classroom Decorations
Rethinking Classroom Decorations Have you ever walked into a classroom and been overwhelmed by the amount of projects and decorations on the walls and supplies on the shelves? You look to the left and see maps, shapes, paintings of the children’s favorite stories, letters, calendars, and schedules. Then you turn right and see blocks, dress up containers, pretend kitchen…
Dysgraphia, More Than Just Bad Handwriting
“I can’t write! It hurts my hand! I hate writer’s workshop! I’m never going to be a good writer!” Do you know a child like this? Doesn’t it make your heart sink, seeing how that child’s academic challenges are tied so closely to their self esteem and sense of self? Can you imagine that child’s…
