Learning Essentials 4 Kids
by Jan Bedell and Associates

 

Little Giant Steps Calendar of Events:

EVALUATIONS:    Brief description of services         
            
KATY  - February 1 - 4, 21 - 25, 28, March 1
SAN ANTONIO  - February 2, 3 and 7 - 10
AUSTIN  - February 21, 23, 25                                                             
MCKINNEY - February 16, 18                                         
PLANO - February 15 -17
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ND SCREENINGS
We're inviting Home School Groups interested in setting up a screening  session for your group's children to contact us:
                              email:  [email protected]

 
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PROFESSIONAL ND TRAINING:      CALL TO INQUIRE: 972-758-1260
  
                                    Check LGS Calendar Here                                                   

Success Story of the Month:  
 
  mom-daughterND SCREENING OPENED THE DOOR

A mom called and thanked us for giving her family a chance to better understand why her child was struggling with her school work.

"My daughter, while she's smart, we just couldn't understand why she was doing so poorly in her school subjects.  We discovered in the screening what the problem was and thank goodness it has been remedied! 

"The screening revealed my daughter was 8 years old, but her auditory processing ability was at the 5 year old level.  That really upset me until I learned we could work with her doing auditory-building activities (really quite easy) just twice a day for just two minutes. They also had a computer program that she could interact with.  It's really been amazing seeing all these very puzzling short-comings I was witnessing in my child just disappear!  She's much happier and we can't believe how many other things that have improved, like she's following directions much better and it seems like now she just "gets" things that before just wasn't sticking in her brain.  Thanks LGS!  I'd encourage anyone who wants to see their child doing better in school to take advantage of the screening service.  I learned so much and it was really the best bargain I'd ever gotten with regard to education!"  M.T.  
ND Tip of the Month:       

   

 Auditory Processing, the Best Kept Secret in Education

By Jan Bedell, M.Ed., M.ND

 

   Auditory processing is the ability to sequentially hold multiple pieces of auditory information together.  This ability is a person's auditory short term memory and refers to information coming into the brain and then coming immediately out.  Each person's auditory processing ability has a global affect on their lives and functional capabilities.  Auditory processing is vital for picking up on social cues, following a conversation, reading comprehension skills, following directions, attending, ability to read with a phonetic approach, and many other skills needed to be successful in school and life.  Behavior is also greatly influenced by one's auditory function.  For example, if you have a 12 year old child that processes information at 4-5 level, he is developmentally more like a 4-5 year old.  He will be socially immature, interacting better with younger children and interrupting conversations so that he won't forget what he wants to say.  He will be unable to follow multi-step directions such as, "Go upstairs, change your clothes, and bring your jacket down with you when you come". You, the parent, are soon angrily stomping up the stairs to confront an otherwise compliant child who did go upstairs, did change his clothes and then promptly forgot what else he was supposed to do.  He simply couldn't hold all the auditory instructions together long enough to accomplish the task.  Another prominent symptom of a child with auditory dysfunction is the inability to accomplish age appropriate responsibilities (i.e. having to be reminded everyday for years to take out the trash, brush his teeth or feed the dog).   Having to be redirected in order to stay on task is also a common symptom of low auditory processing.

  

What can be done?

   Since the brain is dynamic and ever changing, much can be done to remediate the processing ability of any person, at any age.  By providing specific stimulation to the brain to increase ability in auditory processing, global benefits will result for the child.  

 

  You can request a free auditory test kit by emailing: [email protected] put Free Test Kit in the subject line. This kit will allow you to test any individual ages four to adult.  This information will give you a baseline to work from and a better understanding of your child's struggles or inefficiencies.  To increase auditory processing, digit span exercises can be done with a four minute time investment and the reward of increased global abilities.  Instructions for digit spans are also included in the free kit.

  

   In addition to digit spans daily, I encourage you to read to your children at least an hour a day as another way of developing processing skills.  When they are not listening to you read, they should be listening to books or stories on tape (without the book).  This is a great way to add value to the time spent playing with legos, coloring or other fine motor activities.  Audio stories are also a great way to productively occupy pre-school children while you are schooling older siblings.

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Memory-Motion

    

  The Memory & Motion Tool Kit will help adults and seniors get back their "grove" so they remember, retain information and have improved motor skills.

                                                 

                             Click Here For More Information

Inspiration From Our Family to Yours: 

                                                   DETERMINATION

  

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before. Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge. The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

 
"We told them so." "Crazy men and their crazy dreams."  "It's foolish to chase wild visions."

  

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

 

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.

He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

 

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands, too, as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do. Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

                     

NEVER GIVE UP!