All posts by Julie Gisbon

Make a Difference with Intensive Instruction: Imagine Your Child’s Potential

Australia, Instruction

 

Those who are new to Lindamood-Bell may be more familiar with traditional tutoring and accommodations which are conducted over the course of semesters or years. Therefore, our daily instruction, that changes reading or comprehension in a short period of time, may be unfamiliar. An “intensive care” learning environment can be ideal for students who are not performing to their potential. Lindamood-Bell pioneered the concept of intensive instruction—four hours a day, five days a week with our research-validated instruction.

 

Why is daily beneficial?

Nanci Bell, co-founder, explains daily intensive instruction in the following excerpt from Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking:

“The rate of learning gain can be improved with intensive intervention. Students with severe weakness in concept imagery may be years behind in language comprehension. For example, Johnny, a student in the fifth grade with reading comprehension at the second-grade level, has a three-year gap between his grade level and his reading comprehension. Even with adequate oral vocabulary and decoding skills, Johnny didn’t gain a year in reading comprehension for each year in school…intervention has to decrease the learning gap by increasing the rate of learning. To increase the rate of learning, you need to provide the right diagnosis and the right instruction, in the right environment. The last is often intensive intervention, four hours a day, five days a week, which results in years of gain in weeks of instruction.”

 

Why do some students struggle?

Reading is an integration of processing skills: word attack, sight word recognition, contextual fluency, oral vocabulary, and comprehension. Students with poor comprehension, critical thinking, writing and memory may have weak concept imagery—the ability to create an imagined gestalt (whole) from language. Students who are poor decoders and spellers, or slow readers, may have weak symbol imagery—the ability to visualise letters in words. These difficulties are not only frustrating for a student, but prevent them from accessing school curriculum.

School at any grade can include the kind of good challenges that foster learning: discovering a solution in science lab, writing a poem, or even studying for a big test, can all be positive learning experiences. However, if a student has a weakness that affects learning to begin with, they may not be getting everything they should from school. Their challenges with reading or comprehension may be hindering their ability to fully participate in schoolwork. And, rather than catch up eventually, a struggling student will typically fall farther and farther behind as the year goes on.

 

Will intensive instruction be “too much” for my child?

Parents may worry that their child will not be able to maintain focus for so many hours. We get it! Even the most disciplined student would have difficulty attending to a teacher for twenty hours per week of typical reading help.

Our continued success with students, including those with a previous diagnosis of a learning difficulty and/or attention issue, is due to our unique approach. We accurately assess individual needs and provide research-validated instruction in a safe, positive, focused environment.  Lindamood-Bell sessions feature a high level of interaction, movement, games, and motivational rewards.  Students work with a different instructor every hour to keep attention rate and intensity high and the sessions interesting.  Our instructors are energetic and passionate about maximizing learning throughout every session. As a result, our students see success quickly and realize they can learn given the right tools!

An alumni family describes Intensive Instruction:

 

 

Imagine Your Child’s Learning Potential

If school is hard for your child, you need to know why and that there is help. Identifying strengths and weaknesses is the first step toward helping your child learn to their potential. A learning evaluation will uncover the strengths and weaknesses that are affecting school. In a thorough results consultation, we will discuss an individualised learning plan to make school easier.

Some students come to us with a previous diagnosis such as dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, or a general learning challenge—and we make a difference for each of them.

Some students seek our help to enhance their skills or to just make learning easier—and we do.

 

Summer is a great time to schedule intensive instruction, and get ahead for the next school year.  Get started today by contacting our learning centre  to discuss your child’s needs: Double Bay (02) 9328 7119 | Chatswood (02) 9410 1006 | Melbourne (03) 9815 2949.

Is Weak Comprehension Making School Hard?

Comprehension, Specials

 

“Time’s up!”

 

Looking around at her classmates, Lauri starts to worry—they all seem to have written more than she has. “Why do they all have highlighters out?” she wonders to herself. It’s too late to find out now, and even if there was time to ask, she’d be too embarrassed to be the only one to “not get it” yet again.

 

“Once you hand in your test paper, grab your bagged lunch so we can head to the bus!”

 

Lauri sighs. She knew her fifth grade class was going to the planetarium, but she couldn’t picture exactly when and she hadn’t remembered to bring a lunch with her today. She gets a sinking feeling in her stomach as she realizes she may not have turned in her permission slip either.  She quickly glances into her desk and sees broken pencils, crumpled up papers and her math book. There in the very back of her desk was the permission slip. Had she remembered to get it signed? Phew! She had.

 

While her classmates bound over to get in line, she quickly and quietly walks up to Mrs. Gregory’s desk and hands her the permission slip.

 

“This was due last week, Lauri,” she scolds. “Why, I think you’d lose your head if it weren’t screwed on!”

 

The whole class laughs, and Lauri turns bright red. She already feels bad enough about not having a lunch with her, and now everyone else knows she messed up. Again.  And what does that even mean? People’s heads have bones and tissue in them, not screws.

 

More Than Just Reading Comprehension

 

When Lauri returns from her field trip, she’s asked to read a passage about black holes and write an essay about how it relates to what she saw at the planetarium. Despite trying her best and wanting to work hard, Lauri still struggles. She can read all the hard words, but she can’t quite understand what they mean. She loved looking at the stars projected on the ceiling, yet her enthusiasm isn’t enough to help her get the words out onto paper. Her teachers say she “doesn’t have a reading problem” because her fluency is fine.

 

Problems with reading comprehension may be due to weak concept imagery. This weakness causes individuals to get only “parts” of information they read or hear, but not the whole. This weakness not only explains why Lauri has trouble on Language Arts quizzes, but it also explains why she couldn’t follow the directions to highlight her answers on the test, why she forgot to pack a lunch and why she couldn’t find her permission slip.

 

Students with weak concept imagery often have trouble with both written and oral language comprehension, following directions, written expression and following humor. Not only did Lauri not like being laughed at by her classmates, Mrs. Gregory’s joke just didn’t make sense to her at all. They may also struggling with organizing and planning or “mental mapping.”

 

The Right Instruction

 

The Visualizing and Verbalizing® (V/V®) program develops concept imagery—the ability to create an imagined or imaged gestalt from language—as a basis for comprehension and higher order thinking. The development of concept imagery improves reading and listening comprehension, memory, oral vocabulary, critical thinking, and writing.

 

Strengthening Lauri’s concept imagery will help make actual tests of comprehension in school easier in addition to allowing her  to respond to the communicating world more easily.

 

The first step in helping Lauri and other students who are struggling to stay afloat in the classroom is a Learning Ability Evaluation. This comprehensive evaluation uses a number of standardized academic and literacy tests to identify a student’s individualized strengths and weaknesses along with a consultation to review the results.

 

Normally $875, our Learning Ability Evaluation is available for $295 now through 12/31/17! Contact us to schedule your child, 800-300-1818. Find a learning center location near you: Locations.

Change Summer Learning Loss into Learning Gain!

Australia, Learning Centers

 

For many students, three months away from academics can lead to measurable learning loss in skills like reading and maths—which, of course, is not what any family wants to be faced with at the start of the upcoming school year. We’ve gathered a few ideas to help your family balance rest and learning all summer.

 

Keep up the momentum

Keep reading skills fresh by scheduling dedicated reading time every day. Putting library visits and/or bookstore shopping on your family’s summer calendar can help. At home, it may be helpful to create some cozy spaces that are conducive to reading. If your family has hit the road for a summer trip, scheduled reading time in the evening can be a great wind-down activity for everyone.

Check in about the books they’re reading to monitor for understanding. Ask, “What did you picture for what happened in that story?”, “What do you think might happen next?”, or “How would you change the ending of the story?”

 

Explore interests

Summer is a great time for children and teens to explore their personal interests. For example, an animal enthusiast can visit the zoo or volunteer at the local animal shelter. Use their special interest to choose summer reading titles.

 

Get active together (and get talking!)

We all know it’s important to make sure kids stay active all summer long. Join in on the fun of a hike or bike ride and use the opportunity to engage in conversation about the news of the day, funny family stories, and the books you’ve been reading.

During discussions with your child, ask questions that make her visualise—the key to good comprehension skills.  For example, instead of asking, “What do you think about…?” you can ask, “What did you picture for that story in the news today?” or “What are you picturing for what might happen next?” You can expand upon these questions to dive into their images even more.

 

Maintain limits

Screen time, including TV, can prevent kids from being mentally and physically active.  For this reason, it’s a good idea to set time limits on screen time just as you would during the school year, allowing for ample time outside, interacting face-to-face, with family and friends.

While TV and gaming can have some value, these activities offer little opportunity for students to visualise language—a key component for comprehension. Reading books, and listening to audiobooks, are much better alternatives to keep your child’s mind active.

 

Turn Summer Learning Loss into Learning Gain!

Students can spend part of their summer at one of our learning centres to turn what could have been a learning loss, into a learning gain. Some students come to us with a previous diagnosis of a learning challenge. Some need learning to be easier, while some use summer learning to get ahead for next year. We start by identifying strengths and weaknesses that may be affecting performance in reading, comprehension, and math.  And, we make recommendations for individualised instruction plans that create learning gains. Students go back to school with more confidence.

 

Make an impact this summer!  It’s a great time to get ahead for next school year.  Get started today by contacting us to discuss how we can help make this summer everything your family has been waiting for!

Double Bay (02) 9328 7119 | Chatswood (02) 9410 1006 | Melbourne (03) 9815 2949

Second Semester Success with Lindamood-Bell Academy

Academy

 

While all students look forward to vacations from school, for those that are struggling, Winter Break can’t get here fast enough. Maybe they’ve had difficulty keeping up with curriculum or perhaps they’re having trouble socially — whatever is happening, school has become a breeding ground for frustration, anxiety and low self-esteem.

 

The love of learning may have  disappeared and been replaced with feelings of grit and determination:

 

“We just have to make it until June.”

 

“You can survive these next few months.”

 

“Next year will be better.”

 

The hope is to “get through” this year, but it’s possible to make a change — right now!

 

Make School Dreams Come True: Starting Now!

 

The Lindamood-Bell Academy is an accredited private  K-12 school that is able to meet the needs of students by providing curriculum and content at the level they need.

Our unique in-person or online accredited private school develops the imagery-language foundation so that your child can experience success in language processing and success in all curriculum.

 

See how the Lindamood-Bell Academy is the right fit for your child:

 

 

Now enrolling for Spring 2018.

 

CALL NOW to get started: 800-300-1818

Experience the Magic of Learning this Summer

Australia

 

The Right Time

Many families are new to using summertime for learning—dreaming only of endless summer days with family and friends. We agree that students, especially those who struggle, do need a break from school. But for many students, three months away from academics can lead to measurable learning loss in skills like reading and maths—especially troublesome for students who have a weakness that makes school difficult.

While we all look forward to rest and relaxation, parents of struggling students have an opportunity to use summer to give their child a great next year. The chunks of time available in the summer months make it an optimal season to pursue intensive instruction. Four hours a day often results in extraordinary gains.  In just weeks, students develop skills that can make next year easier. So you will have plenty of time to balance family, fun, and learning.

 

The Right Program

Traditional reading and tutoring programs focus on content-area instruction, or practising decoding and spelling rules. Lindamood-Bell programs are unique. Our programs develop the imagery-language foundation necessary for reading, spelling, and maths. While “reading camps,” library book clubs, and other educational activities may have some benefit, they often do not address the cause of a learning weakness. Students may be practising what is hard for them without a chance to change and benefit from their efforts.  

 

The Right Instruction

Summer instruction at Lindamood-Bell is individualised to meet the needs of each student.  Each student only works on exactly what he/she personally needs to be a better learner. An accurate learning ability evaluation is the first step toward helping your child learn to their potential. We uncover the strengths and weaknesses that are affecting school, and in a thorough results consultation, we will discuss a learning plan to change learning in the shortest time possible. Recommendations are differentiated based on the unique learning needs of each student.

Some students come to us with a previous diagnosis such as dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, or a general learning challenge—and we make a difference for each of them. Some students seek our help to enhance their skills or to just make learning easier—and we do.

Students who are currently struggling with reading, comprehension or maths can use a few weeks this summer to jump-start a new or ongoing intensive instruction plan. Young students can learn how to read for the first time. Some students use summer weeks to get ahead with an enrichment program in an area like writing, study skills, and test taking.  Alumni students might attend for help applying their skills to a new task like story problems or reading fluency.

 

The Right Environment

Parents can be surprised at how much their child (who does not love school) enjoys their Lindamood-Bell experience. How do we do it? Walk through our doors and you’ll begin to notice the difference between our centre and virtually every other learning environment your child has been to. Our welcoming, comfortable space sets the climate for student learning. We are committed to teaching all individuals to read and comprehend to their potential; our research-validated instruction is our foundation. Other unique features of the Lindamood-Bell Learning Centre experience also contribute to student success:

  • One-to-one instruction
  • Instructors who are skilled, compassionate, and fun
  • Program oversight by our Instructional Quality Team
  • By-design celebration of individual student success

Above all, our learning centre reflects our belief that every student can be taught to learn to their potential.

 

Discover the Magic of Summer Learning

Get a feel for what you can expect at our learning centre this summer!

 

Make an impact this summer!  It’s a great time to get ahead for next school year.  Get started today by contacting our learning centre to discuss how we can help make this summer everything your family has been waiting for!

Double Bay (02) 9328 7119 | Chatswood (02) 9410 1006 | Melbourne (03) 9815 2949

Holiday Fun: Language Comprehension Activities Using your Favorite Movies!

Helpful Tips

 

Besides being fun and relaxing, movies can also be a great jumping off point for valuable conversations. We’ve rounded up four favorite holiday movies and given you some suggestions for ways to talk about bullying, what to do in an emergency and how to prepare your child for changes in routine this holiday season.

 

Elf (2003) PG | How to Handle Bullies

Buddy’s half-brother Michael is pelted with snowballs by some bullies from school, and Buddy is able to use some elf magic to defend himself. Real life situations aren’t always solved as quickly and neatly. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, kids with differences and special needs have a greater than 60% chance of being bullied. Students who have a weakness in concept imagery — the ability to create an imaged gestalt or whole —  may have trouble keeping up in conversations with their peers, understanding jokes/ social cues or recognizing bullying when it occurs.

 

Use imagery to help your child prepare to navigate challenging peer situations. Ask, “What do you picture a bully might say or do?” or “What do you see yourself doing if a classmate says unkind things to you?” Click here for more information on how to identify and handle bullying.

 

For middle school and high school students, it’s helpful to remind them that to be careful about what they say or post online. It’s often easier to be harsh to a classmate from behind a keyboard, but the effects can be just as damaging for the person on the receiving end.

 

Home Alone (1990) PG | What to do if You’re Separated in a Crowd

Luckily, cell phones and electronic boarding passes make it much more difficult to head to the airport without your son, but it’s still important for your child to know what to do if he gets separated from you in a crowded mall. Having a conversation while everyone is safe and calm can be a great way to stimulate your child’s imagery and critical thinking — just in case. “If you couldn’t find me in a store, what do you picture you would do?” Offer suggestions of people to ask for help: a store employee, a police officer, a mother with children.

 

If your child is old enough, have them memorize your cell phone number (having them draw the letters in the air with their fingers can help cement it in their visual memory). Keep a recent photo of your child on your cell phone and dress them in bright colors when you will be in a crowded place. It’s helpful to dress yourself in the same color as stressful, scary situations can make it hard to remember details.

 

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) PG-13 | Prepare for Visitors

Clark’s stress was compounded by having relatives visiting, and that can be difficult for children or teenagers, especially if changes to a routine are unsettling or frustrating. Prepare your son or daughter for any changes that may happen — whether they’ll be giving up their bed for Grandma, having to wear uncomfortable, fancy clothes or trying unfamiliar foods at a holiday party — by discussing what will happen beforehand. Come up with a plan geared toward whatever is most challenging for your child and help them picture what to do and say if they’re uncomfortable. Click here for more tips on how to help your child during family visits or social gatherings.

 

The Santa Clause (1994) PG | Stimulate Your Child’s Mental Imagery

While Tim Allen’s transformation into Kris Kringle is the focus of the movie, Laura and Neal Miller reminisce about the gift they wanted but didn’t get when they were younger. Ask your children to think about the best gift they’ve ever gotten, but instead of having them tell you what it was, have them describe it to you and see if you can guess based on the imagery they provide! Tell them to picture it, and then ask questions about the color, size, shape, texture etc. “Your words are making me picture something brown and furry with two floppy ears. How big should I picture it?”

 

You can also turn this activity into a game on its own. Choose a category and take turns describing and guessing. For example: “I’m picturing a person with a red triangle hat and a long, white beard. I see him standing in the snow next to eight brown reindeer…”

 

 

For more ideas on how to build language comprehension during the holiday season, check out our blog about family read-aloud time.

Why Intensive Instruction Now?

Instruction, Learning Centers

 

A bright and articulate third grader, Jacob shifts uncomfortably in his seat when his teacher announces that they’d be taking turns reading aloud. “Maybe if I ask to go to the bathroom, I’ll miss my turn,” he thinks.

 

Jacob has a high vocabulary and his teachers frequently tell him how smart he is, but he’s beginning to doubt them. “How smart can I be if I can’t even read?” he asks himself. In the mornings he gets a stomach ache thinking about facing the school day. When he opens a book, “was” turns into “saw” and “through” and “though” and “thought” never sound like they’re supposed to. How is a person supposed to remember all of that?

 

Mrs. Jones calls on Emma, who always seems to be a step behind in class, and tells her to read from Chapter 2. “What?” Emma asks. She twists the ends of her blonde ringlets as she waits for Mrs. Jones to repeat her request. It’s not that she doesn’t care or isn’t listening in the classroom — but  directions still seem to go in one ear and out the other. Emma reads the page quickly and accurately but falls silent when Mrs. Jones asks her what she thinks will happen next in the story.

 

For Jacob, reading is the hardest thing in the world, and no one seems to know why. His teachers and parents thought eventually it would just “click” on its own. But students with a weakness in symbol imagery, or the ability to visualize letters and sounds within words, may require remediation or additional explicit reading instruction. Weak symbol imagery will cause difficulty in establishing sight words, contextual fluency, and spelling.

 

A few seats over, Emma is able to spell perfectly and decode new words with ease, but she doesn’t seem to comprehend what she’s read. When someone tells a joke, she quickly scans the room and notices other people are laughing, so she laughs too. For Emma, weak concept imagery—the ability to image a gestalt (whole)—may be the cause of her struggles. Weakness in concept imagery will interfere with reading and listening comprehension, memory, oral vocabulary, critical thinking, and writing.

 

As the critical third grade year continues, Jacob and Emma are likely to fall further and further behind. They may be present in class every day, but they’re both missing out on content and their self-esteem continues to quietly plummet.

 

At Lindamood-Bell, we believe that all students can be taught to read and comprehend to their potential. We identify strengths and weaknesses that may be affecting school performance, and our instruction is based on an individual’s learning needs. The school year is a great time to address those learning needs — helping your child develop the underlying foundational skills for reading and comprehension will ensure that they don’t start to miss curriculum-based content because they’re unable to decode or comprehend it. For a student who has fallen behind, the way to close the gap is often intensive instruction. Click here to learn more about how we’re able to make years of gains in weeks of instruction.

 

We want to be your partner in education and help make your child’s school year a success. To learn more, contact your local Learning Center.

[In the News]Cañon City School District: One year into the project and students are showing gains in every area

* News, For Schools, Professional Development

Cañon City School District students participate in literacy instruction in August.

(Photo: Sara Knuth / Daily Record)

Cañon City School District is using a Colorado Department of Education grant to change outcomes for their struggling readers. The Cañon City Daily Record has been following the progress of teachers and students alike and has exciting news to report after the first year of the project. Go to story.

Lindamood-Bell can be a key factor in making RtI work for schools. Explore our workshops and contact us with any questions or to discuss how your school can get started: 800-233-1819.