All posts tagged: FREE BOOK

Apraxia Monday: Improving Reading Skills

By Leslie Lindsay If you have a child with CAS (childhood apraxia of speech), then you are probably aware that verbal communication is a bit of a…well, challenge. It may also come as no surprise that reading and writing may also be a challenge for your little one with CAS. You will likely start to see this struggle as your kiddo hits the later preschool years (Pre-K) moving into kindergarten. Since it’s summertime, it may be a great time to practice these skills without the pressure to perform. You and your child can progress at a rate that is comfortable to you….and come fall, your child with apraxia is ready to put those hard-learned skills into action. But let’s start with the basics: why is it so hard for kids with CAS to read and write? Aside from pulling out some heavy-duty texts to explain all of this, I will just provide a couple of basics: 1. Kids who aren’t making sounds accurately–or at all–may have a decreased visual of what letters look–and sound like. …

The Teacher is Talking:

Published by Always with a Book

By Leslie Lindsay I have been off-track today. I am blaming it on this cold I have been sporting since–oh, I don’t know.–the trees bloomed back in March! I think it started as allergies then morphed to a cold and then cleared up and is now back. Lucky me. I should have been working on some articles today for various publications, but I am not. I stopped at Trader Joe’s and then to Two Bostons Pet Boutique (nothing fancy for this hound, unless you count the Greenies to freshen her breath and the rice/pototo-free food to tame her toots). And then home where I really thought I was going to get some good “work” done. Alas, I started a load of laundry, folded another and futzed around too much on Facebook. You know how it goes. So do the authors of “The Winner’s Brain,” Drs. Brown and Feske. In fact, they aim to say that focus is actually “Win Factor #3.” That is having it [focus!] is what really factors into the equation to get …

The Teacher is Talking: The Winner’s Brain–Motivation

Published by Always with a Book

By Leslie Lindsay Am I a “winner” because I spent the majority of my “free time” (i.e. kid-free) whacking bushes? Well, perhaps I am. At least according to “The Winner’s Brain: 8 Strategies Great Minds Use to Achieve Succeess” by Drs. Fenske and Brown (Harvard Press, 2010) who suggests that motivation is one of those 8 strategies. Here’s how it works: I am motivated to trim my bushes with an electric trimmer that my neighbor loaned me. You see, I was out over the weekend painstakingly trimming them with this large pair of scissors–you know the kind? It was taking forever, but in a weird way, it was kind of satisfying. I knew all about the electric version, it’s just that we don’t have one (ask my hubby, it’s his “rule.”) But then, after Mr. Chin showed me how….it started raining. Hard. We packed up and headed back in. Today–finally warm and sunny–I headed out to get the job done. I wanted to return the Bushwacker promptly as any good neighbor would do. You see, …

The Teacher is Talking: Self-Awareness, a Quiz (from “The Winner’s Brain”)

Published by Always with a Book

By Leslie Lindsay Here’s a new milestone: This is my 501 st blog post! Wow. That’s a lot of blogging since 2009. If you are new to the blog, welcome and thanks for reading! I blog daily, Monday thru Friday on various topics related to kids, parenting, education, childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), crafting, and more. Tuesdays are “The Teacher is Talking” and today marks #2 in a series of tips and ideas you can use for your noggin, from “The Winner’s Brain.” (that is, making it just a wee bit better than it was, say yesterday). Last week, I blogged on this topic,and a representative from Harvard University Press “found” the post and contacted me. She generously offered to send me a couple of copies of “The Winner’s Brain” (2010) for a lucky blog reader (or two) to win! You just never know what will come of your blogging. Details to follow on how to get one of those copies. For today, we will talk about “Win Factor #1: Self-Awareness.” What is “Self-awareness,” other than being …