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My child is struggling with

• Attention
• Hyperactivity
• Listening
• Math
• Reading
• Writing

What is Dysgraphia?

An Introduction to Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia: (Greek) dys = impaired   +   graphia = writing by hand

Dysgraphia is a processing disorder which results in problems with writing. There are five types of dysgraphia: Dyslexic, Motor, Spatial, Phonological, and Lexical. "In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), dysgraphia is characterized as a learning disability in the category of written expression when one’s writing skills are below those expected given a person’s age measured through intelligence and age appropriate education." -Wikipedia 

Symptoms of Dysgraphia

• A mixture of upper case/lower case letters
• Irregular letter sizes and shapes
• Unfinished letters
• Struggle to use writing as a communications tool
• Odd writing grip
• Many spelling mistakes (Sometimes)
• Decreased or increased speed of writing and copying
• Talks to self while writing
• General illegibility
• Reluctance or refusal to complete writing tasks
• Crying and stress (which can be created by the frustration with the task of writing and/or spelling. This can also be brought on in dysgraphic students by common environmental sources such as high levels of environmental noise and/or over-illumination).
• Experiencing physical pain in the hand and/or arm when writing
• Poor use of lines and spaces   -Handwriting Solutions

If you suspect your child might have dysgraphia here is more information about the subject and some ideas to help various age groups with this learning disability. An official diagnosis can only be given by a neuropsychologist or a neurologist. Mind the Children does not diagnose learning disabilities.

Attention Skills: ADD and ADHD

Our six year old foster son nearly drove his kindergarten teacher to insanity. She had over 20 children to deal with and our little tornado arrived in her classroom about three months before the school year ended. She came to me literally shaking one day saying, "I guess I'm just going to have to hold his hand the entire day! He needs medication!!!"

No matter how calmly and how often we discussed his behavior with him he still threw several tantrums per day and was a ball of energy. After much pleading from the school we finally went to the pediatrician about his behavior. Before the doctor even handed me the assessment he said, "Yes, he probably will be diagnosed with ADHD and we can put him on medication to help."

I wasn't completely against medication but if another option was available I would have chosen it first. So, I asked the pediatrician if putting him in a smaller school setting would help. He said, "Absolutely!" Unfortunately, foster children aren't allowed to be homeschooled or that would have been ideal for us, but there was also an option of putting him in a very small private school. So, we planned to pay his tuition to attend the next year, especially if we had the chance to adopt him and his sisters. They ended up leaving that summer, though.

ADD or ADHD

The difference between Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the key word "hyperactivity". Children with ADD tend to be quieter and daydream a lot or have trouble concentrating. Children with ADHD get noticed easily like our little tornado in the story above! They are constantly moving and interrupting the classroom. Sitting still for any length of time is nearly impossible. The commonality of disorders is the consistency of this type behavior at home and school and it lasting for a period of six months or more.

Do you suspect ADD or ADHD in your child? Contact a mental health professional and learn as much as you can about these disorders before making major changes, such as medication. Here is a free ADHD test to give you an idea of the probability of this disorder in your child.

Mind the Children does not diagnose disorders of any kind.

How Playing an Instrument Affects Your Brain

Attention Skills: What are they and can they be learned?

Foster Children Listening to "Grandma" Read a Story

When our first three foster children (3, 4, and 6 years old) arrived at our house they possessed no attention skills. So, when we sat down with them at night to read them a bedtime story it was quite a task! They obviously had no previous experience of the joy of listening to a story being read by a parent.

However, one month after our little ones came to our home they looked forward to listening  to a story with anticipation. They also sat relatively still and paid close attention. The CPS worker couldn't believe the change in them! Attention skills can be learned and improved.

Primary Types of Attention

• Sustained Attention is the ability to concentrate on a task, object, or thought and the amount of time we are capable of focusing. 
• Selective Attention is the ability to concentrate on a task while being distracted.
• Divided Attention is the ability to attend to two or more things at once (multi-tasking).

Attention and Learning

Attention and learning are related brain processes, separate but dependent on each other  for successful functioning. 

“Learning” is the way the brain uses and remembers information like a factory taking in raw materials, storing parts and then manufacturing and shipping a finished product. 

“Attention” involves brain controls which regulate what information gets selected as important and gets acted on. 

The attention/behavior control system acts like the executives at the factory distributing the “brain energy” budget, setting priorities, deciding what to produce and monitoring quality control. Late shipments or poor quality products could be the result of any number of “glitches” in either system. Minor problems in one system can be compensated for but when both systems are affected failure looms. Sorting out the breakdown points is critical but can be complicated. -NCLD

FREE Online Geography Games!

I'm convinced that you can probably turn any subject to be learned into a game. Geography can be so much fun! Just having a map on your wall will lead to questions from your kids. In one of my classes in Indonesia I had an inflatable globe and we would spin it around while a child pointed to a random country. We would then pray for the people of that country, but you could go a step further and find library books, videos, and plenty of free information online to dive into learning about that country.

Shepherd Software has free online geography games! Check out the maps and learn the locations of countries, oceans, continents and more! They also have different levels of the games and summaries of various places.If you've got a child who is bored or struggling with geography she might really enjoy the visual and auditory stimulation these games provide!

Multi-sensory Approach for Struggling Spellers!

Sequential Spelling uses the Orton-Gillingham approach which was originally developed for dyslexic students, but has been found to benefit all struggling readers and spellers.

"Rather than teaching lists of thematic words, Sequential Spelling teaches spelling word families (e.g. consonant + eg family....Leg, Peg, Beg).  This enables the child to learn spelling inductively, the exact same way they learned to speak and to walk.  This form of instruction is especially effective for children who struggle with rules, have attention challenges or are dyslexic because the letters are learned in sound context rather than through rote memorization." -Sequential Spelling

It's best to start with Level 1, but if your child already has some spelling experience there is also a free placement test.

Does your teenager need some extra spelling help? Check out their lessons especially for teens or adults.

Read Cathy Duffy's thorough review of Sequential Spelling.