Educating intellectually gifted children
Educating intellectually gifted children can be a rather tricky business. Many assume that children will very high IQ’s will automatically do well at school, but without the correct intervention intellectually gifted children may never reach their full potential – becoming bored and disillusioned with school, many intellectually gifted children have been known to drop […]
Pencil grip development and why it matters
As part of my assessments I routinely check fine motor control and pencil grip and often while reporting to a parent that their child’s pencil grip is inferior I am asked: “What does it really matter? What difference does it make how my child holds his / her pencil?” We’ve all heard of the brilliant […]
How to support your ADHD child
The most hotly debated topic around ADHD is usually whether to medicate or not. And even though this is a very serious question, which needs careful consideration I would like to step beyond the Medication vs Alternative treatment debate for a bit. Let’s put the medication debate behind us for a bit and consider some […]
ADHD – Tips for Teachers
Managing a busy classroom can be stressful at the best of times. But there is a lot that you can do to support your learners diagnosed with ADD or ADHD. These interventions include classroom layout, lesson presentation and behaviour modification techniques Classroom layout •Arrange desks in rows or semi-circles rather than in groups. •Place the […]
Signs and symptoms commonly associated with Dyslexia
There are about 27 accepted definitions of Dyslexia and experts cannot seem to agree on exactly what this learning disorder is and how it presents itself in young children. There are dozens of Dyslexia Tests on the market, but not one single universally accepted test to try and identify this learning disorder. For this reason […]
Intellectually gifted children with learning difficulties
It’s seems completely contradictory for a child to be intellectually gifted and have a learning difficulty at the same time, right? Yet, experts estimate that about 2% – 5% of gifted children have learning difficulties. Gifted children with learning difficulties are referred to as being twice exceptional (abbreviated as 2e) and may suffer from any […]
IEB concessions / accommodation application process
A recent psycho-educational assessment is often required when making an application for an IEB Accommodation / Concession. However the decision as to whether an accommodation will be granted lies with the IEB and its accommodations panel NOT with the practitioner who conducted the assessment or with the school. The following guidelines outline the general application […]
Help your child succeed in school
There are general things that you can do as a parent to help your child succeed in school. Success in life and at school is about more than just the child’s intellectual ability or IQ, it is essential that we consider a child’s emotional intelligence, talents and self-esteem. Talents need to be identified and […]
Spelling strategies for kids
There are 26 letters in the alphabet, which make about 44 sounds individually and combine into a possible 577 letters and sounds. This can be intimidating for even the most confident child. Spelling is not quite as simple as understanding what sound each individual letter makes, a child also needs to understand what sound it […]
Reading games for preschool kids
Here are some reading games to play with your preschool kids: I spy: play I-spy to introduce phonics, ensuring that you use the letter sound and not the name, for example, ‘ah’ (a), ‘buh’ (b), ‘cuh’ (c), rather than ‘Ay’ (A) ‘Bee’(B), ‘See’(C). The game goes like this: “I spy with my little eye, something […]
