NACD Newsletter: Volume 3, Issue 5

NACD - The National Association for Child Development Newsletter

Volume 3, Issue 5

November 2010

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Simply Smarter

The Project: 9 +/- 2

GABE
by Allia DeAngelis

We could always tell there was "something" different with Gabe. He was friendly, inclusive, and very clever. He was softhearted by nature and adventurous with a LOT to say, although you couldn't understand him. For some reason his speech was not clear. And he was oddly clingy anywhere but at home. The private school Mistress and classroom teacher where he attended Kindergarten sat me down at the end of the school year and gave me the heads-up that Gabe would be in Special Ed. if he attended public school. They couldn't understand what it was. He often finished his work before anyone else. He was a great kid but got upset easily when it was noisy in class and on the playground. With all his strengths, he didn't even know the alphabet and could not master the basic letter sounds. His speech was also still unintelligible. We took him to the doctor and speech folks again. He was diagnosed with General Anxiety (we were offered a lot of medications) probably as a result of "The Divorce." That aside everyone said he was normal, just a late bloomer, and he would grow out of it.

The first indicator the "something" was serious was during our first grade parent conference. The public school first grade teacher insisted something was wrong. Gabe was always out of his seat during lecture, following her around. Got too close to kids when talking and talked too loud. He would cry out when someone bumped him in the lunch line and yell in pain when touched for tag. He couldn't read, couldn't learn the alphabet, make letter sounds, or do "on tape" lessons, although he was almost a year ahead in math. To her credit the teacher told us that, although everyone would try to insist we wait, the sooner we pushed for testing the better. Only after testing could Gabe get "services." We said we would consider it. Then one day Gabe came to me clearly not well. He told me that while in the lunch room, things go fine then all of a sudden he would feel like there were frogs jumping in his tummy, a wash of cold, then feeling like a toilet was flushing, swirling, through his body. It happened on the playground too, but his legs would freeze and he would fall to the ground.

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NACD WRITING CONTEST
WINNERS!

We are pleased to announce the winners of our NACD Writing Contest.

A BIG thanks to EVERYONE who contributed their writing to our contest! We enjoyed reading ALL your entries!

Writing

Category: Kids, Fiction
Sitara Hariharen, age 6
Joshua Bloom, 10
Tim Riggs, 11
Wesley Riggs, 8

Category: Kids, Non-fiction
Siddharth Hariharan, 9
Seth Perera, 11
Lydia Sundberg, 10
Lavanya Guhan, 11

Category: Kids, Poetry
Diya Sharan, 9
Dylan Kelly, 11

Category: Adults, Prose
Taylor Aldridge
Elodia Resendez

Category: Adults, Poetry
Doris Lininger
Ed Goad
Gloria Lindsay

Category: Original Lyrics
Wendy Eckwielen

Category: Parent/Child Writing Team
Kimberly, JT, and Jax Kircher

Congratulations to all of our winners!

Watch for their bios to be posted on our website soon.

TSI: FOCUSED ATTENTION AND ITS EFFECTS
by Prachi Sinha
NACD Developmentalist, India

Dev

I have the opportunity to be an NACD evaluator and plus oversee the implementation of the program at the NACD centre in India, and I am very excited about what I have been seeing with the Targeted Sound Intervention (TSI) - Focused Attention CDs. I felt that I should share my observations with other NACD families. I was very excited to use this program with 5 year-old Dev Ramprasad since I first heard of the concept, and now my enthusiasm has been justified. I had decided to write this article a few weeks back, but today I have even more to share. Each week has given us something more to get excited about.

When the CDs first arrived I went through all of them myself, and what I observed was that the tracks were all very interesting, melodious, and child-friendly. (Great work, John McCallum!) My next obvious observation was that I too can benefit from these CDs. The last two CDs were quite a challenge for me, and for the six minutes per day required to follow the program, I was more than happy to do it.

But what got me most excited was then implementing the program with Dev. Our priority with him has been his auditory processing and active listening skills. The first mammoth task before of us was headphone conditioning, and our past experience told us it wasn't going to be easy. But when we tried it with him, between the interactive listening technique and the high-interest nature of the content, Dev did not even realize there were headphones over his head. We had bypassed the whole process of headphone conditioning that we had been dreading! The first day we put on the headphone with these tracks playing, he took to it like a duck to water. So with no headphone conditioning required and just 3-minute long tracks, starting this new program became a breeze. Dev now attempts to put the headphones on himself.

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KIDS CORNER
David the Photographer
by Tanyshia Doman

Meet David. He's nine years old and lives in New York City. David's been with NACD for about four years. He's in fourth grade and is getting good grades in school. One of his new-found talents is taking pictures. We have some of his great photographs here, but there are many more.

David likes spending time on the computer and play dates with his friends. At school his favorite things are going to gym, spending time in the library, and recess, of course. At home he likes to read, play with his toys, and draw.

David

David really likes living in New York City because there are all sorts of places there that he likes. There are great parks. He loves watching movies and going to the movies. He also enjoys taking pictures.

Where would David love to go? He'd love to go to the International Spy Museum!

We hope that David will keep taking wonderful photographs. The ones we are showing were part of a large number of photos taken for a school project. We know that he'll continue to be a good student as well as a great big brother. He has a little brother who is on program too, and we are sure that David is a big help with that program.

David Photo Montage

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT

Books to Build On

Need a reference for great books?

Books to Build On, by E.D. Hirsch, is an excellent resource for parents. In it Hirsch reviews various books in the categories of Language Arts, History & Geography, Visual Arts, Music, Science, and Mathematics. The sections are broken down into grade levels, with short summaries for each book recommended. The book provides assistance in directing parents and educators towards wonderful resources that enhance learning and fit nicely with NACD's philosophy regarding fun unit studies.

So if you need ideas of great books and classic literature for your child, take Books to Build On along on your next trip to the library or bookstore.

Also check out E.D. Hirsch's Core Knowledge series. You can find this plus Books to Build On in our NACD Bookstore!

UPCOMING EVENTS

PUT THE 2011 NACD RENDEZVOUS ON YOUR CALENDARS!

The 2011 Rendezvous will be held in Utah. It will start the evening of Thursday, June 23 and continue through the morning of Monday, June 27. We're looking forward to another great weekend of fun, education, fellowship, and support.

Call Denise for details or to register: 801-621-8606.

UPCOMING EVALUATION DATES