(903) 597-7500

Academic Success

What is Academic Success?

What are some the characteristics of a successful student? While the definition of “successful student” has changed over the years, today’s students need to know a great deal more than reading, writing, and arithmetic in order to succeed. Today’s students must be able to achieve the following:

  • able to analyze and evaluate information
  • able to effectively communicate with others
  • able to see projects through to completion
  • proficiency in science, mathematics, computer & technical skills, foreign languages, as well as history, geography, and global awareness
  • capable of collaboratively working in culturally diverse settings
  • responsible decision makers
  • self-motivated and active political participants
  • effectively learn to balance the social and academic aspects of school

Why is Academic Success Important?

Research shows that adults with high levels of education are more likely to be employed, and to earn higher salaries. The number of jobs requiring a college education is expected to grow more than twice as fast as those not requiring a college education over the next ten to twenty years.

Academically successful students have more employment opportunities than those with less education. Thus, academic success may mean the difference between working at a job merely “because it pays the rent” and working at a job that brings about financial prosperity.

Research also shows that people who are academically successful

*are more stable in their employment

*are more likely to have health insurance

*are less likely to engage in criminal activity

*are less dependent on public assistance

*are more active as citizens and charitable volunteers

Finally, studies have confirmed that academically successful adolescents delay participation in sexual activity , have higher self-esteem, have lower levels of depression and anxiety, are less likely to abuse alcohol and to exhibit socially deviant behavior, and are less likely to engage in substance abuse.

Why Self-Esteem Affects Your Child’s Education

Why Self-Esteem Affects Your Child’s Education

Every child struggles with self-esteem at some point in their life. Imagine how much more challenging self-esteem can be for a child who struggles in school or who has a learning disability. This can really hinder their confidence and how much effort they are willing to put into their education. When a child has high self-esteem, they don’t waste much time impressing others because they already know their value. Your child’s judgment of  himself,  influences his or her friends, if they get along with others, the kind of person they marry, and how productive they will be in the future.

If a child is experiencing self-esteem issues, it will affect many aspects of their life. It will hinder creativity, integrity, stability, and can and even affect whether he or she will be a leader or follower. You child’s feelings of self-worth determine their aptitude and ability, which eventually leads to every child’s success or failure as a human being.

It is important as parents to help our children understand mistakes are not only part of growing up, but making mistakes is important. When Thomas Edison was questioned about trying 1,014 times before inventing the light bulb, he said, “I did not fail 1,014 times. I successfully found out what did not work 1,014 times.”

Instead of looking at how many mistakes your child makes on their math test, first praise them for how many they got right and then help them to correct their mistakes. Emphasize to them that we all learn by making mistakes.

There are many ways we can contribute to our child having a healthy self esteem and  self-confidence  not only at home, but at school and among their peers. Here are a few tools that can help:

  1. Focus on strengths.The first step to building self-esteem with your child, especially if they have a learning disability is to target his or her strengths. Try finding something outside of school your child can feel successful at whether it is a sport, art class, craft, or music lesson. As your child gains more self-confidence, continue to remind them that he or she can be just as successful in school. Talk with your child’s teacher to let them know what you are working on outside of school so the teacher can also focus on similar academic strengths that will help them succeed in the classroom.
  2. Partner with Your Child’s Teacher.As a parent, it’s important to invest as much time in your child’s education as the teacher does.. You can prepare a learning plan with your child’s teacher to ensure his or her learning materials are at their level and are tailored to their needs. Your child may need more individual attention or require additional resources like a professional tutoring center.
  3. Keep instructions positive.Kids hear a lot of negative words, especially if they struggle with behavior or attention issues. Instead of using words like “no,” “don’t,” “stop,” and “quit,” try telling your child what you want them to do, not just what you want them not to do. Many kids need to know what the appropriate or expected behavior is and parents and teachers must  be involved in  redirecting inappropriate behaviors and instructing the child on what he or she should be doing instead.
  4. Clarify expectations.Taking on complex projects even if the instructions seem simple to others can be tough for children. Sometimes helping children understand tasks and projects from a different angle is more effective. For example, instead of saying, “it’s time to pick up your toys,” try saying, “please pick up your toys.” By using this different approach, children can organize what they need to do to complete the task. Many children, especially those with ADHD, have difficulty creating long-term goals. By giving children “bite-size” pieces, they can build the skills that benefit them in the long-term.
  5. Use rewards.We have found at  Learning Enhancement Center that  rewards are a great tool to motivate our students and rewards give them something to work toward. Rewards are a helpful tool to encourage positive behavior and helps children to complete hard tasks. After the child sees that good behavior and greater accomplishments can be reached, they won’t always need the reward.

 

In conclusion, let us not overlook the fact that every child needs to feel both loved and worthwhile; however, lovability must not be tied to worthwhile performance. The more loveable any child feels, however, the more likely he or she is to perform well in school and gains more confidence in their abilities.

 

 

What is Dyslexia?

What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that has neurological roots. It primarily affects one’s ability to read. People with dyslexia have difficulty with accurate and fluent word recognition. They also tend to have poor spelling and decoding abilities. It is not uncommon for two or more children in a family to have dyslexia. One person might have mild dyslexia while the next person can have a profound case of it.

It is estimated that Dyslexia affects 20-30 percent of our population.  Even though people with dyslexia have average to above average intelligence, their dyslexia creates problems with reading, speaking, thinking, and listening. This, in turn, can create emotional problems and self-esteem issues throughout their life. Self-esteem can be a contributing factor for low grades and overall under achievement.

The main difficulty for dyslexic students is poor phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is when the listener is able to hear, identify and manipulate phonemes, the smallest units of sound that can differentiate meaning. Separating the spoken word “bat” into three distinct phonemes, /b/, /a/, and /t/, requires phonemic awareness. A dyslexic student’s brain may only hear one or two of those three sounds. Developing phonemic awareness is the first step in learning to read.

The problem in reading doesn’t lie in how the student “sees” the word. For example: A student that sees the word “SAW” doesn’t see it as “WAS”, they have trouble manipulating the word and sounding it out in the correct order. They must look at words in parts, meaning they must break the word into syllables. The student spends so much time decoding that their reading speed tends to be a lot slower than other students in class.

 

An understanding how the brain functions is helpful in understanding the brain of someone with Dyslexia. The brain is divided into 2 hemispheres. The left hemisphere is in charge of language and ultimately reading. The right side of the brain generally handles spatial activities. Research has found that those with dyslexia rely more on the right side of the brain and frontal lobe than those without it. When a person with dyslexia reads a word, it takes it a longer time to get to the left side of the brain where it is being processed. It can get delayed in the frontal lobe of the brain. Because of this neurobiological glitch, they read with more difficulty.

The good news is those with Dyslexia can physically change the way their brain functions with multi-sensory intervention and cognitive therapy. They can be trained how to effectively use the left side of their brain and thus improve reading.

Learning Enhancement Center offers such training. We have a proven 13 year track record in helping children and adults with Dyslexia.

Call today for an assessment and consultation (903) 597-7500

left brain right brain

What is Brain Training?

 

3/19/14

What is Brain Training?

 

girl 1

What is Brain Training? What Happens When We Learn?

Brain training is a simple but powerful way to enhance a student’s core ability to learn faster, easier, and better. The brain processes information through a complex network of nerve cells called neurons. As we learn, groupings of neurons physically work together to accomplish learning or thinking tasks. Research shows that additional, nearby neurons are drawn into this process when the task is new or unfamiliar, or when the intensity of the learning demand is increased. Once the task is mastered, the borrowed neurons are released to go back to other duties; however, the gains in efficiency and processing speed required for that task are retained and make learning-related tasks easier.
What is Brain Training? The Key to Enhanced Learning
Neuroplasticity defines the brain’s ability to change and modify neuron activity and connections in reaction to increased learning demand. Gray matter can actually shrink or thicken, plus neural connections can be forged and refined or (conversely) weakened based on certain environmental activities. Brain training takes advantage of neuroplasticity by engaging a student in specially designed exercises to promote rapid strengthening and growth of these neuronal connections.

Cognitive Abilities such as attention, sensory processing, memory,and reasoning—can be increased with proper training. This increases immediate and future brain function, quicker processing, and easier learning across a wide range of learning challenges.

 

 

10 Reading Readiness Skills for Kindergarten Kids

 

For the parents of a soon-to-be kindergartener, you might be a bit astounded by the reading goals your school has set for your child. Today’s parents are often shocked when they come to school for orientation and see what’s on the docket when it comes to reading. What happened to a full day of crayons? What happened to unlimited time in the sand box?

 

Without a doubt, the skills taught in kindergarten today look more like the skills taught in first grade a decade or two ago, especially when it comes to reading.  But fret not, because these high reading expectations for young students are accompanied by very strategic teaching methods, and a meticulous progression of skills that build upon one another. Your child can meet the reading goals set by his teacher, especially if he’s on track when he first enters kindergarten. So, is he?

 

While every teacher and school has their own set of “prerequisites,” there’s a set of general reading expectations that most teachers share, when it comes to kids entering kindergarten. Before entering kindergarten, a student well prepared for reading should be able to:

 

  1. Read her nameGearl learning
  2. Recite the alphabet
  3. Recognize some or all of the letters in the alphabet
  4. Correspond some or all letters with their correct sound
  5. Make rhymes
  6. Hold a book right side up with the spine on the left, front cover showing
  7. Recognize that the progression of text is left to right, top to bottom
  8. Echo simple text that is read to them
  9. Recognize that text holds meaning
  10. Re-tell a favorite story

 

If your child is not quite steady in all of these areas, don’t panic! We offer “JumpStart” programs at Learning Enhancement Center. We teach reading skills in a systematic way that allows skills to build upon one another: The kindergarten year will start out strong with an intense teaching of letter recognition and sounds. This lends itself to beginning phonemic awareness skills, like sounding out words. Once a child can sound out simple words, we move on to showing them how to recognize patterns in words, such as rhyming, vowel/consonant patterns, and word families. If a kindergartener can recognize letters and sounds, use phonetic skills to sound out words, and use word patterns to figure out unknown words, she’s ready to read sentences and simple books.