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First, Understand...
If you are concerned with your child's learning progress and would like
to understand your child's learning strengths and weaknesses, first observe
your child in various learning settings and with different subject matter.
Discuss your concerns with your child's teachers and the school administration;
this will give you further insight into your child's progress. If you
are still concerned, a complete battery of diagnostic tests and assessment
of your child will provide you with solid knowledge to guide your child's
education.
ACT NOW — Please don't wait. Many parents wait a year or more to
seek help for their children. This is a critical development period and
your child may miss an opportunity to make significant gains toward success.
A quality assessment for the child who seems to be lagging behind his
or her peers in learning development is an excellent tool to help ensure
your child's success at school. Assessments are administered at most schools,
some community hospitals and through independent educational therapist.
The HAAN FOUNDATION
FOR CHILDREN
believes it is (1) critical to administer early diagnostic tests
to all children, (2) identify their learning profiles and (3) provide
an optimal instructional program designed to ensure rapid skill development.
We will accomplish this goal if we unite—
community by community,
organization by organization,
teacher by teacher,
school by school,
program by program,
and parent by parent
— to help our children achieve success.
Second, Support your child at home...
What goes on at home and how you accept your child's differences makes
a huge impact on your child's success! Make home a safe place:
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Develop your child's self-esteem by praising talents, efforts
and growth.
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Highlight progress and never compare skills to that of a peer
or sibling.
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Make home a safe place to make mistakes, try new strategies
and relax.
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Talk with your child — listen to his or her pain and disappointment.
Share with them that we all are different, that it's okay to
be different; in fact, it can be better (it just doesn't feel
like it right now).
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Let your child explore interest outside of school where their
learning differences aren't constantly highlighted: sports,
music, art, community service, play groups, etc.
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Help them find and sustain friends (in addition to their classmates)
who are not a part of their everyday learning struggles at school.
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Empower your child to be his or her own advocate, to be proud
of their different learning style and to self-manage their LD.
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Read beautiful books to your child. Books with great characters
to encourage a rich vocabulary and stimulate their imagination.
Their weak reading skills should not deny them this experience.
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Encourage your child to try new things, constantly, and explore
their talents.
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LD kids need their sleep to function at top performance. Don't
cheat them out of this. Set limits and be strict with bedtime
— at all ages.
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Help your child create a chart of daily study hours (which
may change with the season or sports schedules) and help them
stick to it every day. Make a checklist of the things that need
to be done before bed such as putting homework in their backpack!
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Help them set realistic goals.
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Read your child Dr. Mel Levine's book, All Kinds of Minds.
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Let them know that they are the most precious gift God could
give. And, they can do and be anything they want to be!
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Haan4Kids
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"Reading is a highly complex cognitive linguistic
process, and for many children this symbolic process is a paralyzing
and punishing one."
-- Dr. Edward J. Kame'enui |
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