5. What is a learning disability? If your child seems bright and curious about the world but has a noticeable problem with speech, reading, or arithmetic, he may have a learning disability. Learning disabilities include a spectrum of disorders that affect the way the brain processes information and make it difficult to grasp certain concepts. They can be mild or severe.
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7. Children with learning disabilities usually have normal or above normal intelligence but struggle with some kinds of learning. Recognizing individual letters might be easy but putting them together to read may be confusing. Tying shoes or fitting together the pieces of a puzzle may be perplexing, or simple math insurmountable
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9. What is Learning Disability: -a neurological disorder… resulting from a difference in the way a person’s brain is “wired.” -children with learning disabilities are as smart of smarter than their peers. -they have difficulty reading, writing, spelling, reasoning, recalling &/or organizing information if left to figure things out by themselves or if taught in conventional ways.
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15. 5. Nonverbal Learning Disabilities – a neurological disorder; originates in the right hemisphere of the brain, causing problems with visual-spatial, intuitive, organizational, evaluative and holistic processing functions. Good News: scientists are learning more every day: their research provides hope and direction. If.. Parents, teachers & other professionals discover a child’s learning disability early and provide the right kind of help, it can give the child a chance to develop skills needed: lead a successful/productive life.
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17. Parents: often the first to notice that “something doesn’t seem right.” Awareness of common signs: enable one to identify potential problems early. Most people see one or more warning signs in their children. If several of the known characteristics are seen over a long period of time, consider the possibility of a learning disability.
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19. Preschool: -speaks later than most children -pronunciation problems -slow vocabulary growth, often unable to find the right word -difficulty rhyming words -troubling learning numbers, alphabet, days of the week, colors, shapes -extremely restless and easily distracted -trouble interacting with peers -difficulty following directions or routines -fine motor skills slow to develop
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21. Grades K-4 -slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds; impulsive, difficulty planning - confuses basic words ( run, eat, want ); accident prone -makes consistent reading & spelling errors including letter reversals ( bid ), inversions ( miw ), transpositions, ( felt/left ), and substitutions ( house/home ) -transposes number sequences & confuses arithmetic signs ( +, -, x, l, = ); slow to remember facts - slow to learn new skills, relies heavily on memorization, - unstable pencil grip; trouble learning about time - poor coordination, unaware of physical surrounding
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23. Grades 5-8 -reverses letter sequences ( soiled / solid, left/felt ) -slow to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words & other spelling strategies; difficulty with handwriting -avoids reading aloud; trouble with word problems -awkward, fist-like, or tight pencil grip -avoids writing assignments & compositions -difficulty making and keeping friends -slow or poor recall of acts -trouble understanding body language and facial expressions
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25. -lacks verbal participation in class; inconsistent -struggles with word problems -fails to demonstrate strong automatic memory -shows poor self-monitoring skills -can’t discern relevant detail -demonstrates poor learning strategies -disorganized with time or space -experiences peer rejection
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27. High School and Adulthood: -continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing -avoids reading and writing tasks; works slowly -has trouble summarizing; weak memory skills -struggles with open-ended questions on tests -demonstrates a weak grasp of information -experiences foreign language problems -has poor written expression; mental fatigue -either pays too little attention to details or focuses on them too much; misreads information
31. Parent Strategies: - attention: use timer, play coordination, improve auditory memory, story, seating arrangement - organization: reduce confusion, box of supplies, more copies of books, post assignment, forget mess be on time, keep calendar, child learn by imitation - memory: memory deficits & problems, trip game, naming exercise, extra drills, mnemonic devices - handwriting: poor eye-hand coordination, physical clumsiness, perceptual deficits, give thick pencils, wide-ruled paper, child practice what is enjoyable use sand box, modify school assignments & tests
33. Spelling: typewriter & computer programs with built-in spell-checkers, spelling deficits should not damage the child’s performance in other areas. -don’t let the child look for words he can’t spell -for many, spelling problems result in handwriting difficulties; use scrabbles & other word games Mathematics: children have no number sense or grasp of abstract concepts. Calculator may be used -give practical experience with numbers; focus on survival skills: telling time, counting money, play store, take him /simulate shopping.
35. Socialization: rejection is often a problem for learning disabled children; trouble interpreting people’s body language & facial expressions: anger, joke, playing or serious as a result, they give inappropriate response that irritate their peers -encourage child to spend time with peers in controlled situations: scouting & camps – stress cooperation not competition. - arrange social situations for youngsters; observe, use role playing to teach correct behaviors.
39. 8. Outline reading material for use of words & phrases 9. Arrange for peer tutoring in reading 10. Have student take notes while reading 11. Teach student to draw personal learning to enhance comprehension. 12. Maintain mobility; be near to provide assistance 13. Have him verbally paraphrase material just read. 14. Teach student to identify main points. 15. Underline/highlight salient points in material. 16. Have student outline important points in material. 17. Let student read progressively longer segments to build comprehension skills.
41. 18. Reduce emphasis on competition. 19. Use a sight vocabulary approach to teach key words & phrases when reading directions and instructions. 20. List new or difficult words in type. 21. Maintain vocabulary notebook w/ definition of words with unknown meaning 22. Practice making up sentences of new word 23. Learn dictionary skills to find meaning on his own 24. Learn new words & meaning before reading 25. Learn meanings of all commonly used prefixes and suffixes.
43. 26. Write notes / letters to student as reading matter 27. Read selection more than once: accuracy and speed 28. Determine: student can make inferences or not predictions, determine cause & effect in daily experiences: to use concepts when reading 29. Prepare test questions based in information read to enhance ability to focus on key elements 30. Include frequent written assignments on topics of interest to reinforce correlation between writing and reading ability.
45. 31. Avoid subjecting students to uncomfortable reading situations: reading aloud, w/ time limits 32. Stop study at various points to check comprehension 33. Reduce amount of information on a page if it is causing visual distractions; less print to read of fewer pictures. 34. Highlight / underline important information to pay close attention when reading. 35. Make it pleasant & positive to ask questions about things not understood. 36. Use highlighter on facts requested by the teacher
49. 5. Orally analyze steps required to solve word problems. 6. Represent numerical amounts in concrete forms. 7. Write a number sentence after reading math word problem. 8. Create word problems for number sentences. 9. Restate math word problems in his own words. 10. Identify primary question that must be answered to solve a given word problem….continue activity using more difficult word problems containing two or more questions…he should understand that questions are often implied than direct.
51. 11. Make up word problems, others can solve … 12. Supplement textbook problems with teacher- made problems; deal with classroom experiences include students’ names: realistic & meaningful 13. Use interesting and relevant problems 14. Read through entire problem before solving 15. Break down each problem into specific steps. 16. Solve math word problems by using objects. 17. Help student recognize common patterns 18. Discuss & provide a list of words / phrases that indicate an addition operation: together, sum, saved altogether, in all, both, gained, received, total, won
53. 19. Discuss words/phrases that show a subtraction operation: difference, between, from, left, spend how many (more, less), how much (taller, farther heavier), withdrawal, lost, remain… 20. Discuss words/phrases that specify multiplication operation: area, each, times, product, triple, twice 21. Discuss words/phrases that denote a division operation: into, share, each, average, monthly, daily, weekly, yearly, half as many, quotient 22. Convert words into their numerical equivalents to solve word problems: 2 weeks = 14 days, 1 year = 12 months, one quarter = 25 cents
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57. 29. Demonstrate step by step how to solve math word problems by reading the problem and by solving on paper while student observes. 30. Correlate word problems with computation procedures just learned in the classroom. 31. Teach the meaning of mathematical terms: sum dividend, quotient, product. 32. Highlight / underling keywords in math problems 33. Make sure student has a number line ready to use as a reference. 34. Develop a math reference sheet for student to keep at desk outlining the steps in processes.
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92. http://www.montessori.ph/admission_child_dsblts.html Children with Learning Disabilities Montessori schools recognize the wide range and levels of learning difficulties that a child can have. Within the context to the Montessori teaching and learning principles and within the resources available to MMCSFI, the school shall consider the presence of children with learning difficulties in planning its programs under the following conditions:
93. “ my parents were worried because I started to talk comparatively late, and they consulted a doctor because of it.” Albert Einstein 1924
94. The parents and / or guardian will fully disclose at the time of application the nature and history of the learning disability; the school should be provided with complete documentation of any treatment or intervention that has been or is still being done.
95. The school reserves the right to deny acceptance to student applicants whose learning disabilities are of such nature that they would require specialized care or treatment beyond what the school can regularly handle or provide.
96. As conditions for initial acceptance and continued enrollment, the school reserves the option to require additional appropriate professional help for the student and regular conferences with the parent and therapist and / or psychologist of the student. Further, the school reserves the right to levy additional fees on students who may need special programs to help them cope with their learning disabilities.
97. Conditional acceptance is for a period of six (6) months from the date of entry of the student. During this period, the school will exert its best efforts to aid the child's development. However, should the school determine that continued stay in school not be in the child's best interest, the parents agree to abide by the school's decision that the child be transferred to a more appropriate learning environment.