School is just around the corner and as a parent I know you want to help their kids improve their skills. That is a given as far as I’m concerned. I’ve never met a parent that didn’t want their child to learn with ease. All parents want the best for their children and when learning reading, writing, or spelling is hard they often don’t know where to turn. Parents often spend a small fortune seeking the help they need for their child.

I know what it is like, being a parent as well as a teacher. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve purchased materials that haven’t worked. That is what I keep in mind when I design materials to use with my struggling (LD, dyslexic, ADHD, or gifted) students – whether they are in 1st grade, 5th grade, 8th grade, high school, or even adult students). I want to create materials that will work – really help improve reading skills, writing skills, and spelling skills and be affordable at the same time. It truly is one of my passions.

Each time I find a student that isn’t ‘getting it,’ that they are struggling with reading, writing, or spelling, I try my best to find the ‘work-around’ and then when there are enough ‘work-arounds’ I bring them all together into a product. Each product is developed directly out of the needs of my students – whether they have LD, dyslexia, ADHD, visual, auditory, or tactile/kinesthetic processing problems holding them back from learning with ease. Each book or game or guide is tested with them to be sure they work. We look at ease of usage and the results the materials produce. But, I don’t want you to take my word for it. After all, I created the materials, although I am truly inspired when I create them, so I can’t take total credit at all!

What I would like to do is to share what Donna Morello and Janet Landerholm have to say about our program here – our Awaken the Scholar Within Program where I coach you on how to help your children yourself and provide you with the materials to do so. Because I walk you through the materials – the program, holding your hand so to speak, they work. You are no longer alone just buying something and hoping it will work. With our Awaken the Scholar Within Program you have the opportunity to ask me your questions twice a week. You have every avenue of support available to you.

As a parent, you do have the power to truly make a difference with your child even if they have dyslixia, LD, are ADHD, or are falling through the cracks. the key is to understand what is going on, what the underlying causes of the learning problems are, and then what to do about it. That is what our Awaken the Scholar Within Program does. Learning reading, writing, spelling, and math doesn’t have to be so-o-o hard. You don’t have to take my word for it. Do yourself a favor and listen in to hear what Donna and Janet have to say.

Donna Morello

Janet Landerholm

Awaken Your Scholar Within Today! Give our international office a call to find out more: 530-888-0351

I have had such an overwhelming response from last night’s call; I am truly humbled.

“We’ve already done some of the exercises you told us about. My kids thought they were fun! I just wish we had found you before we had spent thousands of dollars.” Kathy G

“I like that I can use this for all of my kids, not just my struggling one. I like that. That’s a big plus.” Linda E.

“I was able to join the call via the web conference and from what I heard, it was very exciting! Then I had tech problems. Any chance of being able to listen again?” Elise C.

“I sooo appreciate your making it doable via computer.” Tricia L

“Thank you so much for the information!” Rachel B

“I didn’t know there were so many easy ways I could help my son.” Susan B

For those of you that were unable to attend, I have twisted Susan’s arm and we are doing it again this Saturday. This is another chance for you to join in to the FREE private training call.

How to Help Your Child Improve Their Reading, Writing, & Math Skills in 20 Minutes a Day

 Sat. March 13th 11am PST, noon MST, 1pm CST, and 2pm EST.

Register here:

http://www.homeworkwars.com/privatetrainingcall/

Upon registration, you will receive the call in information and a Handbook on How to Help Your Child Improve Their Skills.                                                                                                                                                                                       You can either call in or attend via the web.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Do your kids have sloppy handwriting? It might be due to them simply not knowing how to hold their pen or pencil correctly. When you hold your pencil correctly, writing does become easier.

I never imagined all the different ways kids could and do hold their pencils until I started seeing how they actually held them. I know when I was learning to write we actually had handwriting as a subject and my teacher put great emphasis on correctly holding the pencil.

Some kids have more trouble than others with handwriting. Doing any kind of fine motor work will actually help, since handwriting is a finemotor skill. But one of the critical things to promote good handwriting is to actually teach your kids how to hold their pen or pencil correctly. This will help them to write with greater ease.

I shot a quick video that shows you how to hold your pencil correctly as well as show you an aid that will help you to do just that.

Trust this is helpful,

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

“FACT – Many Parents Are Giving Their Children A 2 To 4 Year Learning Advantage In Reading, Writing, And Math In Just 20 Minutes A Day!”

Do NOT even think of usttering another word about homework struggles with your child until you know how to help them speed up their learning in just minutes a day. There really is much that you can do to give your child reading help, writing, help, and math help. Join us on our upcoming call to find out more.

The upcoming private training call is Tuesday, March 2nd at 5 PM PST; 8 PM EST. To register for the call, just go to http://homeworkwars.com/privatetrainingcall

Do your kids get assignments where they have to write a poem? Do they struggle with those assignments? Poetry is not always about rhyming words. Even though there are many different types of poems, poetry writing is not always the easiest thing to do, especially when you have LD, dyslexia, or ADHD. Even gifted kids can struggle with poetry writing. It doesn’t matter if you are homeschooling or in a public school, poetry writing can be difficult for anyone.

Did you know that writing poetry doesn’t have to be so-o-o hard? Again, there are many different types of poems, some types rhyme, some don’t. I’ve found one of the easiest types of poetry to teach my kids is the Haiku, specifically the Cinquain type of Haiku Poem. Learn how to use the Sentence Zone for writing poems.  The Sentence Zone game  makes poetry writing easy because you can write the poem with colors.

See how easy writing poetry can be… even for kids with LD, dyslexia, ADHD, or even gifted.

Hope this is helpful! Don’t forget to sign up for the FREE teaching and homework tips!

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

I can’t believe spring is around the corner, which means that SAT Test time is coming up fast. Many students really struggle with the grammar portion of the exam because they don’t catch the tricks the SAT test tries to play on them.

Many of you already know that I created The Sentence Zone sentence writing and grammar game a number of years ago to help my students with sentence writing as well as grammar. I play it with my younger students to help them write interesting sentences instead of the 3 to 4 word sentences they usually write.

I play it with my middle school students to help them out with their English grammar lessons. It has made such a difference to them in their English classes. Their English homework is done in minutes instead of hours because they really understand sentence structure and the parts of speech.

So you can see, my focus has always been on sentence writing, language building, and grammar.

I have always told everyone that it was used at multiple ages, because it is, but I didn’t think of using the game for SAT prep until Patricia Lara stopped by my office a few weeks ago. She was telling me how useful the game was in her work with SAT prep with her juniors and seniors in high school.

In addition to helping them with the grammar portion of the exam, she told me how it really ‘broke up’ the prep sessions. She would give her students a break from the intensity of preparing for the exam but still learn at the same time. So, I asked her to show me how she was using the game. I think you’ll enjoy this additional use. Watch and see for yourself how easy it is to learn with The Sentence Zone.

Hope you found this helpful. Be sure to pass the post on to your friends, and, don’t forget to sign up for more teaching and homework tips.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Yes, it is a good morning, in fact a glorious morning, the birds are chirping, the sun is shining – somewhere – and we are here, alive and kicking!

Many of us spend a lot of time chasing after the big things, the vacations, the I’ll be happy when I have this or that – the tomorrows and I’m here to say that we have it wrong when we spend our days in that chase after that one illusive thing, because it really is all in the little things.

For instance – Take the marvel of a toothbrush – yes, you can think of it just as an ordinary toothbrush, but you can also think of the sensations your mouth has when using the toothbrush and how refreshed your teeth feel when you run your tongue over them after brushing them.

Think about it –

Or a piece of fruit – a mandarin – you can just eat it, or you can be conscious of the juices bursting forth as you bite into each and every section. You have the opportunity to really savor each morsel, and smile for doing so.

Yes, it is in the little things that life truly happens and I intend on relishing the water coming out of the faucet, and the pen, toilet paper, light bulbs, flowers, blades of grass. The ease and pleasure these little things give us! I hope you all start relishing them too because it truly is all in the little things!

One of the little things I know I sometimes forget is to truly appreciate my children. I know when they were school age, we would often get so wrapped up in getting assignments or projects done, we sometimes lost sight of the little things, the fact that we were able to spend time together learning something.

That time spent on homework is usually a chore, but if we look at it another way, it is also an opportunity to just be together, experiencing learning together.

When you make that conscience choice or decision to look at homework as an opportunity to grow and learn together, an opportunity to foster independence, creativity, and love of learning, it isn’t quite so awful anymore is it?

Just a thought…

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

For years I’ve been suggesting the 10-minute per grade rule that the Parent Teachers Association and the National Education Association recommends. Some teachers are aware of this rule; some aren’t.

When your child is spending an inordinate amount of time on homework on a daily basis – over the 10-minute per grade level, it is time to look at what is actually going on.

Here are several questions you need to ask yourself:

1. Does your child understand the assignment?
2. Is the teacher giving too much homework? Sometimes teachers don’t realize how much time the assignment is actually taking. [I recall this homework problem as a big issue when one of my boys was in the 5th grade. I spoke with his teacher about it. She had no idea it was taking him so long to get the homework done. She said to write her a note after he had spent 50 to 60 minutes of work time on homework and let her know that he had put in the time. I was fortunate because she worked with us on the amount. She also lessened the amount of homework when she realized she was giving too much.]
3. Is there an underlying area of visual or auditory processing that is not working as efficiently as it should that is interfering with your child’s completing the assignment in a timely fashion?

Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills has weekly and monthly project planning calendars to help your child plan their after school homework time out.

Here is a link to an article written by Cathy Vatterott. She addresses many of the same issues I’ve addressed in the past. Cathy’s article goes on to discuss other factors that need to be considered when students aren’t getting their homework done. It is worth the read!

Homework in the Responsive Classroom

Author and educator Cathy Vatterott shares her insights on the meaning of unfinished homework.

Hope this is helpful.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

I can’t tell you how often parents have asked me if their child is dyslexic or they come to me and tell me that their child has dyslexia. I get that question from parents that homeschool as well as those that don’t. Sometimes I even get that question from parents of gifted children. Yes, even gifted children can and often do have areas of perception that aren’t working as efficiently as they should and could and as a result even gifted children often work harder than they need to.

The term dyslexia means reading difficulty. Many children have reading, writing, or math difficulties. The term itself doesn’t explain why your child is having the difficulty. The term does not mean letter reversals although a child that is dyslexic may have letter reversals. The key is to understand what the underlying causes of the reading, writing, or math difficulties are.

Some children have difficulties with one or two of the areas of auditory processing that affect learning. Some children have problems with one or two of the areas of visual processing that affect learning. Some children have a combination of auditory and visual processing areas that aren’t working as efficiently as they should be.

Again, your child can even be gifted and have a hidden learning problem that is making learning harder than it needs to be.

There are several things you need to know as a parent to help your child in addition to the type of program that is best suited to help your child.

1. You can help your child when you know what the underlying causes are
2. You can help your child have greater access to learning
3. You can give your child a 2 – 4 year advantage in reading, writing, and math in just minutes a day

Find out what you need to know to help your child at http://dyslexiahelpnow.com.

Hope this is helpful.

Bonnie Terry, M.Ed., BCET