Reading to children can be beneficial to parents too. It gives you a regular time to bond with your children, allows you to build better communication between you and your children which can strengthen your relationship. Also, if you read to your child before bed, it may help set a bedtime routine, making it easier to get children in bed and asleep at a regular time.

Here are some other useful ideas for getting your kids into reading. Let your kids see your reading books, since they are likely to mimic your behavior. Make sure when you sit down to read with your children that you have plenty of time for it so you and the children are relaxed and not feeling rushed or anxious. Also, choose books that are age appropriate and match your children’s interests and if a child wants to read the same book over and over, let them! In fact once your child has memorized a book (as children often do with their favorites), have him or her read it to you. Even if they’re not actually reading the words, the “play reading” will make books more fun. Try to surround your children with books and store them in a place where they are easily reached by the kids. Take books with you on long trips or places like the doctor’s office where you may have to wait for a long time.

For newborn babies, read short books that have bright and colorful images and point out objects in the pictures and allow the child to play with the books if they want to. Also keep in mind, some infants enjoy listening to rhymes or songs. If your children are toddler age, do things to make the story more exciting, for example, using different voices for each character, change character names to the names of family members or the child’s friends. You can even cut out photo faces of people the child knows and glue them on the characters in the book. If the story is to complex, try telling it in your own words and ask your child questions about what is happening in the story or if they recognize any people or objects in the images. Ask them what they think will happen next or why they think the character did that, etc. Give your child time to fully explore each page, to look at pictures point out objects, and repeat words. After reading, ask your child if there was anything they did or didn’t like about it. For preschoolers, let your children indulge their interests when reading books, allow them to pick out books they like and read aloud together while pointing at the words in the book.

So, it’s not just hype, reading to your child is always a good thing!

Learning begins at the moment a baby takes his or her first breath.  The moment a human being enters this world, they begin to learn. They embark on a journey of exploration, need-fulfillment and the integration of multi-sensory information. Each and every sound they hear, thing they see, touch they receive, scent they smell, and taste they experience is sorted into various parts of the brain and “stored” for future use.  As a child progresses through various stages of life, new information continues to be received, sorted, and stored – each new skill building upon the last. 

Patterned movement is an important aspect of higher-level learning skills – such as reading, writing and spelling. The amazing truth is that the development of movement and physical orientation in relationship to the world are actually the building blocks to academic learning patterns. Everything a baby and toddler does helps support the foundations of learning language, reading, spelling, and writing.  For example, when a baby crawls, the movement of the legs and arms transitioning in opposite sequential patterns is actually sending signals back and forth across the mid-brain: The simple act of crawling is literally making the two sides of the brain “talk” to each other. It is movement and play, discovery and associative relationships, and the gathering of information via the senses that networks the brain for future tasks. 

The effect of alternating body movements does not stop after the toddler stage of development. Continuing to integrate alternating body movements during normal play – or any activity – keeps the brain “talking” amongst its parts. Climbing, jumping, skipping, riding a bike, and swimming are all powerful brain networking exercises.    The act of doing activities that alternate the right and the left sides of the body continues to promote the exchange of neural information from right to left hemispheres and vice versa, that was initiated during infancy.  This process of brain communication is essential to successful learning.

That is why it may be wise to “get back to basics” in life: participating in activities that come naturally to children which have been incorporated into daily life for generations. Some of these activities can include riding a bike, shooting basketballs, playing hopscotch, swimming, playing “tag”, jumping, skipping, and so on.  As simple as these activities sound, they involve movement from both sides of the body and are powerful brain boosters for learning. 

As a Speech Pathologist of many years, I always encourage families to promote more physical activity into their children’s lives. This can be achieved in several ways. First, be an example; participate in activities with your children such as bike rides, shooting “hoops”, bowling, throwing horseshoes, etc. There are so many activities that families can participate in together; this not only helps you have fun and promote bonding, but it actually fosters brain function development. Here are some general suggestions for promoting whole body activity into the lives of your child:

• Reduce the time they spend with their Game Boys and X- Boxes and promote more time for movement activities.    

•  Help your child find a sport that interests them and that allows for whole body movement. Many children like group sports like basketball or baseball, while others enjoy more personalized sports such as tennis. Sporting activities can be competitive or just be played for fun.  Encourage your kids to be kids. 

•   Allow your child time to unwind after school before requiring homework completion.  After all, they have been sitting in a desk for close to eight hours each day, and their brains and bodies need time to re-integrate.  

•  Encourage writing exercises to promote visual, tactile, and kinesthetic input into the learning process.

Be attentive to how your child learns and attends to his/her work the best. Create learning environments around these observations. For example, you may find that allowing your child to stand at the kitchen counter, while she gently rocks from side to side will help her complete her math assignment faster and with more accuracy.   

In summary parents, encourage your child to be more active.  Physical exercise that promotes moving the two sides of the body in alternating movements not only promotes better health in general, but it also integrates the brain for systematic learning.   Have fun with your children and demonstrate the joys of ole’ fashion fun and games.  Parents, it is time to move and groove the brain into success!

For young children, handwriting can help them be more organized and improve their ability to communicate. Writing words and letters by hand allows them to practice and perfect the shapes of the letters, which can later assist in recognition and recall and may also improve the development fine motor skills. A study using MRI brain scans have also shown that children who have been writing letters by hand compared to children who have only been looking at letters showed neural activity that was more adult-like. Also, writing by hand involves a repetitive movement that can help a child to develop internal rhythm and become more well-balanced. Writing by hand can also build a child’s confidence and sense of individuality.

It takes longer to write by hand. The time spent writing longhand can help you to slow down and process thoughts. Your vision is focused on only one thing, the point of the pen. The inability to “cut and paste” forces you to purposefully organize your thoughts. Since you have to pay more attention to what you are writing, you’re more likely to remember it later. Writing by hand also requires the use of fine motor skills, visual observation and perception all in coordination.

While we may see some schools may be deemphasizing the use of cursive and handwriting in general, there are many ways for parents to help their children to develop these skills. Drawing can be good practice for handwriting. Keep scrap paper or a chalkboard around for the child to draw or scribble on. For children learning to write, using smaller pencils or small, broken pieces of crayon or chalk can help them get used to the proper grip and strengthen fine motor skills. Also, playing with modeling clay will help strengthen the same muscles used when writing.
For further information on the importance of handwriting and cursive skills see:

Cursive helps students write faster and more legibly

Handwriting, the next lost art

Handwriting is beneficial to a child’s cognitive development

How handwriting builds character

Why writing is right for kids

       Summer is a great time to introduce sensory activities to build tolerances and strengthen the brain’s processing of information. Outdoor play is a great opportunity to get messy. For kids with tactile or touch aversions try old fashion mud pies, you can even use warm water to make your mud if the cold mud is too much. If you’re playing in the pool add a pail of small, round pebbles and have the child spell out words with pebbles on the bottom of the pool (in shallow water).  “Slip-N-Slides” are great not only for running and sliding but also for rolling over and over.

       Get your child involved in meal preparation. Ask them to help develop the menu, read you recipes, taste for additional seasoning etc. Encourage a mixture of textures in each meal. Crisp vegetables pared with soft bread, cold fruit served with warm soup. Ask your child what new food they might like to try. For older children, have them research how many ways they can find to prepare that food and try them all!

       Play a game of “smell & seek.”  While your child hides his/her eyes and counts, hide a bowl of sliced lemons, a dish with a few drops of bleach or pine cleaner or some other “smelly” object and when they’re done counting they must seek out the item by smelling for it.

     For you ipod folks, create a playlist using various sound effects recorded around the house or downloaded from itunes. Make up “bingo” cards with the sound effects; give each player a card and a marker. Connect your ipod to speakers, hit “play random” from your sound effects playlist and see who marks off their sound effects to get the first Bingo!

     The important thing is to make sensory activities fun. Often when you and your child are having fun new sensory experiences can be introduced and easily tolerated.

“Neurobics” or brain exercises are simple changes to your routine and are a great way to build strong neuro connections. If your child is right handed, try having him/her brush their teeth or working the computer mouse with their left hand. Ask them to write a short (3-4 word) sentence each day with their non-dominate hand, when walking or climbing stairs have them start off each step with their non-dominate foot. Walk backwards! They are essentially doing things they normally do but doing them differently. While their brain is adjusting to performing these tasks, underused neuro-pathways and connections get activated. This also stimulates the growth of new brain cells and brain connections. Try multi-sensory, cross-brain activities that require neuro signals to pass from one side of the brain to the other. 

 Swimming- Using both arms and legs requires the brain to synchronize movements across both hemispheres.

 Throwing/catching a ball- Throw the ball from your right hand to the left hand of your child, then have them throw it back with their left hand and catch it in your right hand then switch hands. Each time you throw or catch the ball use a different hand and have your child do the same.

Balance- Try ball activities like dribbling a basketball or a game of catch while your child stands on a balance board.

Riding a bike- Here’s an activity that covers numerous areas of the brain. Coordinating the right and left feet to pedal, balance and perception for steering and visual stimulation of the child’s surroundings. For added fun, set up an obstacle course for the child to navigate.

Basketball- Bouncing the ball is great for building coordination. Mix it up by having your child say a word that rhymes with _________ every time the ball bounces.

Dancing- Remember all those silly songs with associated dance moves like “The Hully Gully” or square dances? They’ve been replaced by the “Electric Slide” and the “Macarena.” Have a family dance off, see who’s silliest, have fun! all the while building brain power by improving the integration of neural processing between the left and right sides of the brain.

We have found that in most situations we can change the way a child learns by changing the way the brain processes, thus equipping him or her with the fundamental principles for reaching their full learning potential.

Get to "The Root of the Problem" to solve learning difficulties

No one program of intervention is ever quite all the child needs; it is a combination of programs or parts of programs that works, and these combinations must be designed for each child specifically. 

Teaching systems must be appropriately intertwined to achieve the best possible outcomes for each individual child. 

We want to help you help your child with state-of-the-art technology and programming to bring your child to levels of achievement at a faction of the cost of direct professional intervention or other remedial services. 

Your child’s future is in your hands – Give your child the attention that he or she deserves!

If we understand that the effects of dyslexia are caused by processing errors in the brain or faulty wiring, it follows that we can eliminate or vastly improve those effects by addressing the problems neurologically.

The past 5-10 years have seen an explosion in research focusing on the relationship of cognitive functioning, processing of information and the neuro-plasticity of the brain. Scientists and neurologists have determined that the brain possesses the ability to “re-wire” around damaged or non-functioning areas and to build new neuro-pathways to improve performance.

  Rather than simply offering strategies and compensations for learning with dyslexia, The Therapy Group provides a web-based consulting service with programs designed to specifically address the neurological deficits associated with dyslexia.

Don’t waste another day. Let us show you how you can help your child.

The effects of dyslexia, in fact, vary from person to person. The only shared trait among people with dyslexia is that they read at levels significantly lower than typical for people of their age.

A child with dyslexia will struggle with age appropriate reading, cognitively processing information heard or read and recalling/retrieving information learned.

If we understand that the effects of dyslexia are caused by processing errors in the brain or faulty wiring, it follows that we can eliminate or vastly improve those effects by addressing the problems neurologically.

The past 5-10 years have seen an explosion in research focusing on the relationship of cognitive functioning, processing of information and the neuro-plasticity of the brain. Scientists and neurologists have determined that the brain possesses the ability to “re-wire” around damaged or non-functioning areas and to build new neuro-pathways to improve performance.

A neurologically based program designed to strengthen the brain’s ability to process, store and correctly retrieve information would be the first intervention recommended by The Therapy Group.

If you think of your brain as a huge file room with rows and rows of filing cabinets, when information (language) is received whether it be something you saw or heard or read or felt that information is stored in your file room. For some people and for a variety of reasons the filing system used by their brain is not the correct order.

Imagine if your employer told you to go to the file room and retrieve an important file, you open the first filing cabinet to find none of the files are in alphabetical order. In fact the filing system makes no sense to you at all. How long do you think it will take you to find that all important file?

For people with processing deficits the filing system chaos in their brain can make even the easiest task difficult or at the very least laborious.

The programs used by The Therapy Group help to re-order that file system and strengthen the neuro-pathways (routes) from information intake to the correct file cabinet.

Is it a learning disability? Could it be?

Wikipedia says: “In the United States and Canada, the terms learning disability, learning disabilities, and learning disorders (LD) refer to a group of disorders that affect a broad range of academic and functional skills including the ability to speak, listen, read, write, spell, reason and organize information.

A learning disability is not indicative of low intelligence. Indeed, research indicates that some people with learning disabilities may have average or above-average intelligence. Causes of learning disabilities include a deficit in the brain that affects the processing of information.”

According to The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) approximately 5% of children enrolled in public school in the United States have some form of learning disability.