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NACD - The National Association for Child Development Newsletter
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| Volume 1, Issue 10 |
November 2008 |
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Stuck on Academics?
Is it your child or is it you?
By Ellen Doman
As evaluators, we often hear from parents that their children are stuck. They may be stuck in terms of learning their sight words or stuck in terms of learning in math. As you know, we expect your child to make measurable academic gains each time we see them if we have put academic work on the program. We also feel that we give you the tools you need to make that academic progress with your child. So what's the problem here?
Let's look at reading first. We generally start the children reading High interest and Dolch words on flashcards. If you are doing this activity with your child, you will notice that it is easy for him or her to learn words such as "pizza" or "ball" but not so easy to learn a word such as "here" or "where." This comes as no surprise to us. Pizza is not only a thing that the child has seen but also is something that the child may really enjoy. Ball is something the child has seen and also enjoyed. Your child has never seen a "here." It's not the least bit interesting. It has no particular relevance. As a result, it is a very low intensity word which makes it harder to learn.
What do we do about these hard-to-learn words? They will land in the review pile and be reviewed with the other words, of course. They will also be reviewed when you read to your child. They will be reviewed again in shared reading with your child. They may be reviewed again if you are doing experience books or directional word cards or easy readers. The point is that it does no good to keep re-inputting these low intensity words on flashcards as new words. Your child will be running into these words constantly as you read with them. They will learn them along the way. My daughter could not seem to remember the word "could" despite lots of input. We read "Danny the Dinosaur" and she knew the word "could" after finishing that book.
The lesson here is that you don't just keep repeating the same input of the same low intensity words on flashcards because the child did not appear to retain them. It produces a child who dreads doing flashcards making it counter productive. Move on. Your child will pick up these low intensity words through their reading. Move on.
The other issue is your child getting stuck in math. Let's look at how we divide up teaching math as it will help you understand what to do. We divide math up into parts such as inputting computation strategies, teaching math facts, mental math and functional math. A child may get stuck in one area but does not necessarily stop progressing in other areas.
A common situation involves parents bringing their child back for a re-visit and having the math score remain the same as the previous quarter. When asked, the parents will report that the child could not progress beyond addition, for example, because they had not mastered their addition facts. Math facts are important, of course. We work on math facts using a variety of strategies. We do expect your child to master them. There is no need, however, to stop teaching math computation because the child did not master the facts. Continue to teach computation. You cannot reteach simple addition for three months and expect your child to attend. Move on. Learning is fun if you can keep presenting new information. Your child's brain is designed to love new information. It is designed to absorb vast amounts of information. Be sure that you are providing new information daily.
If you are stuck or you feel that your child is stuck, review how you are doing what you are doing. Contact your support person with questions. We will be happy to provide answers. Our work, your work is about progress. Let's work together to make progress happen with your child. |
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NACD KIDS: Our Journey
by Stacey W.
 Go back with me four to five years ago. My son had many fears and anxieties. Most revolved around loud noises or social expectations. He could not enter a room full of people. He would not flush a toilet or use a sink that he didn't know because these might make unexpected loud noises. He could not enter a movie theater that had already started the previews. If he was there early, he could watch a movie, but only with his fingers in his ears the whole time. He was extremely uncomfortable in his own skin. At home, he avoided the neighborhood children. If his sister brought them home, he ran screaming to a back room yelling, "Make them go away!" Transitions had to be handled with a lot of talk ahead of time about what to expect. If things did not go as he expected, melt downs would enfold. We endured many meltdowns.
Now imagine this child enduring a full day at public school. I was teaching in the public school back then. He would come to my classroom after school, and he would scream for about an hour. I could not calm him. I just had to wait. I would get concerned and sometimes condescending colleagues approaching me about my screaming child. Getting through homework was painful. Everything was too loud for him, the lights, the refrigerator, the air conditioner, etc. Accomplishing chores was just as painful. He started with good intentions, but he'd get lost in his head, and never finish the task. He was always completely distracted. We tried Occupational Therapy, visiting with a counselor, and many medications to no avail.
My husband and I knew something wasn't right. We desperately wanted to help this child. Under the completely overwhelmed outer shell, we had seen a sweet child that had great potential. It just felt as if we were the only ones that could get glimpses of this sweet little boy. We prayed so hard to God, who loves him even more than we do.
Our prayers were answered in gradual steps. Connor had been begging to home school, and I was preparing to come home to have our third child. I was not sure how I was going to home school this child when we barely made it through homework, but I felt an overwhelming need to try to get a grip on this little life that felt so out of control. We prayed about whether or not to home school. When Brian and I agreed that we should, I prayed that God would show me how, and I reminded myself that God loves him even more than I do.
Right around this time, God brought an old friend back into our lives. We had not seen Amy in 12 years. Connor was going through all sorts of psychological evaluations at the time. We thought we might try home schooling, but the "authorities" advised against it. Amy moved to Austin with her family at this time. Amy has a little boy, her second of four children, that has an autism diagnosis. Amy had been working with an organization called NACD (National Association for Child Development) to help her as she home schooled her child. She and her family came to dinner one night, and she just went on and on about NACD and the differences it had made for Luke. Brian and I felt that this could be the answer to our prayers, so we researched it. It wasn't long after this that Connor received a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning form of autism.
We chose to use the guidance of NACD, but I was slow about getting rolling with it. After Connor's first evaluation, they identified his strengths and many ways in which his brain was not working efficiently. They designed a program for him that included academics, as well as many therapies that could make him more comfortable in his own body. I went through a period of stubbornness. The methods of NACD were very different than those I had been taught in teacher education classes. I chose to do it my way, and Connor did not move forward. One day, after becoming so frustrated that I was in tears, I went to God with a humble heart, admitting that I was trying to be in control and it wasn't working. I felt as if God was telling me that He led me to NACD, so I should trust what they were guiding me to do with my child. At this point, I dove in full force.
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From NACD's Director of Health
Dr. Julian Neil: GREENLIFE
What exactly is a Nutraceautical?
 In the last ten years the nutraceutical industry has become a multi-billion dollar industry with projected sales exponentially growing even larger in the next few years. If you're wondering exactly what is a nutraceutical, they are, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, foodstuffs which provide health benefits in addition to their basic nutritional value. These may include fortified foods as well as dietary supplements that can be sold in capsules, tablets or powders.
The idea behind the use of nutraceuticals is that certain organic extracts can have positive benefits on both the mind and body. From cancer to vertigo, claims of nutraceuticals' effectiveness in combating or altogether curing a long list of ailments are abundant. The term "nutraceuticals" is a combination of the words nutrition and pharmaceutical, coined by Stephen DeFelice, a doctor and the founder of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine (FIM) in 1989. Since then, the popularity of nutraceuticals has soared; due in part to increasing suspicions and concerns about chemically over-processed foods and their impact on society at large.
The benefits of nutraceuticals
The idea of using nature's best to cure the body's problems sounds promising. After all, why should one involve synthetic chemicals-ones with long-term effects that are uncertain-in fixing that which is not synthetic? Unfortunately, natural is not synonymous with safe. Plenty of naturally derived items have a negative impact on the mind and body, and experimenting with the unknown, or little-known, can be risky. Even more to the point, the term nutraceutical as commonly used in marketing has no regulatory definition and very few of these products have sufficient scientific evidence proving health benefits to consumers. Consequently, few have FDA approval for making health claims on product labels. Yet millions and millions of people are consuming nutraceuticals daily in the form of supplements in the hope they can balance out everything from eating processed foods to downright poor eating habits based on the effective marketing plans of products that are mostly ineffective to inconsequential at best and possibly harmful in the worst case scenario.
As a successful Holistic practitioner and Naturopath in the last thirty years I've been the recipient and target for nearly every new dietary supplement and nutraceutical product to come along. At the end of the Nutrition Seminar conducted by phone in 2004 (available on CD), Bob asked me about supplementation and I replied that I don't rely on supplementation in my practice, but on good functional food sources and that only life can produce life, and only life can sustain life, so we want food that is alive because it is still our best source of nutrition. Having said that, I then briefly discussed glandular cell therapy from Standard Process in the form of protomorphogens --Latin meaning "life to life", and a product from the V.E. Irons company called Greenlife. Protomorphogens are actual cell therapy designed to strengthen the body's specific organ and glandular function.
I mentioned these products because often we do need to balance out body chemistry by helping our bodies function better to enable us to utilize good food sources - these are the protomorphogens; and as anyone with children knows it is often very difficult to get proper nutrition let alone specific healing nutrition into our children - this is Greenlife.
As I stated earlier, it is certainly understandable to seek out supplementation to aid us in either healing or maintaining optimal health. One of the main issues I have with the nutraceutical industry aside from the unsubstantiated claims purported by their marketing campaigns, is even when they follow scientific truths and have even conducted sound scientific experimentation, those trials have not been tested by any significant amount of time to be of unquestionable value.
During my twenty-five year tenure with FACT (Foundation for Advancement in Cancer Therapy) I often saw trials that when conducted for a year or a year and a half produced tumor reduction showing great promise, but the same trials extended to two years or more resulted in the death of the host. In my experience in order for nutraceutical claims to have merit they must stand the test of time. Both of the products I mentioned have been proven to be outstandingly effective for more than 50 years.
Why Greenlife?
The most powerful healing tool in the world, aside from our minds, is food. There is nothing on the planet that will rebalance the body and grow healthy cell tissue like food. As stated earlier, the nutraceutical industry has grown in part at best to meet the overwhelming demand of nutritional deficiencies developed from eating devitalized and processed foods as well as poor dietary habits which is precisely why I have unequivocally recommended Greenlife for the past thirty years. And while there are a plethora of green products on the market and more entering the field daily, none can remotely compare to Greenlife.
Click here to learn more about Greenlife
You may order Greenlife products along with the entire amazing Vit-Ra-Tox line through your local Vit-Ra-Tox distributor or E-mail me at drneil@nacd.org.
TO YOUR CHILDREN'S HEALTH!! |
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NACD Telephone Seminar CDs
 If you missed any of the phone seminars or just want a copy to review or share with friends and family, they are now available. The CDs contain Robert Doman's opening commentary followed by a question and answer session. These unique CDs are full of wonderful and valuable information on each particular topic discussed. Due to the number of people participating in the phone seminars there can be considerable background noise on these CDs during the question and answer segment. The opening segment where Robert Doman speaks is free of interference. We have done our best to minimize the noise so that they will be enjoyable and easy to listen to.
Topics include:
Adults and Parents: Improve Your Neurodevelopmental Organization
Behavior Management
Cerebral Palsy and Brain Injury
Creating a Positive Learning Environment
Down Syndrome
Homeschooling - Should I do it?
Learning Disabilities
NACD Parents Speak Out - Experience with the Program
Nutrition with guest Dr. Julian Neil
The Autism Spectrum
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Upcoming Events
Tuesday, December 8 - Parents Meeting
7:00 p.m.
Chicago area
Wendy Pavlick
3186 Bennett Place
Aurora, IL 60502
630-375-0751
Please RSVP by Dec 6th Upcoming Evaluation Dates
December 2008
Chicago
Dallas
Ogden
Orlando
Seattle
West Chester
January 2009
Cincinnati
Dallas
Flint
India
Milwaukee
Ogden
Phoenix
West Chester
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How to Contact Us
NACD - The National Association for Child Development National Headquarters 549 25th Street Ogden, UT 84401 801.621.8606 info@nacd.orgwww.nacd.org
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