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!

Auditory Processing: Do You Hear What I Hear? (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this series I explained what auditory processing is and how you can help your child improve this necessary skill for learning.

Today, I want to go a step further and get into what an actual Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) looks like. 

What is an APD?

An APD, also called Central Auditory Processing Disorder, can manifest itself in a variety of ways. These can include difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments, trouble with reading, spelling, and sound discrimination. A disorder is a recurrent problem that interferes with daily functioning. 

"The five main problem areas that can affect both home and school activities in kids with APD are:

1. Auditory Figure-Ground Problems: when a child can't pay attention if there's noise in the background. Noisy, low-structured classrooms could be very frustrating.
2. Auditory Memory Problems: when a child has difficulty remembering information such as directions, lists, or study materials. It can be immediate ("I can't remember it now") and/or delayed ("I can't remember it when I need it for later").
3. Auditory Discrimination Problems: when a child has difficulty hearing the difference between words or sounds that are similar (COAT/BOAT or CH/SH). This can affect following directions, and reading, spelling, and writing skills, among others.
4. Auditory Attention Problems: when a child can't stay focused on listening long enough to complete a task or requirement (such as listening to a lecture in school). Kids with CAPD often have trouble maintaining attention, although health, motivation, and attitude also can play a role.
5. Auditory Cohesion Problems: when higher-level listening tasks are difficult. Auditory cohesion skills — drawing inferences from conversations, understanding riddles, or comprehending verbal math problems — require heightened auditory processing and language levels. They develop best when all the other skills (levels 1 through 4 above) are intact." -Excerpt from KidsHealth.org

An actual APD can only be diagnosed by an audiologist no matter how many symptoms a child has. Find a professional in your area.

"To diagnose APD, the audiologist will administer a series of tests in a sound-treated room. These tests require listeners to attend to a variety of signals and to respond to them via repetition, pushing a button, or in some other way. Other tests that measure the auditory system's physiologic responses to sound may also be administered. Most of the tests of APD require that a child be at least 7 or 8 years of age because the variability in brain function is so marked in younger children that test interpretation may not be possible." -ASHA

Treatment

It is important to remember that treatment is very individualized and no one treatment can work for every child. Here are some examples of the types of treatment available:

Auditory Integration Training 

Electronic Auditory Stimulation Effect 

LiPS Program 

Forbrain Headphones (to retrain the way you process information)

Auditory Processing: Do You Hear What I Hear? (Part 1)

What is it?

Auditory processing is recognizing, interpreting, remembering, and manipulating sounds. These are important skills needed for reading and often referred to as phonological processing, phonemic awareness, and phonics. Perhaps you've heard a child say:

“I can’t tell what word rhymes with toy.” 

“I don’t know the first sound in the word dog." 

“I can’t tell you what sound the letter /m/ makes.”

These are indications of difficulty with auditory processing. There are ways to help your child improve these skills, even with simple games at home. These are great things to do with your preschooler, too!

How can I help my child?

An important thing to remember when trying to improve your child's auditory processing skills is to keep the sessions fun and brief. Take a break even if you feel like you just started, especially if your child is feeling frustrated.

Simple games such as this song that teaches sound isolation to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" make a great starting place.

"What's the sound that starts these words: turtle, time, and teeth?
(Wait for a response from the child - /t/.) /t/ is the sound that starts these words: turtle, time, and teeth.
With a /t/, /t/, here and a /t/, /t/, there, Here a /t/, there a /t/, everywhere a /t/, /t/. /t/ is the sound that starts these words: turtle, time, and teeth..."

Here are some free colored rhyming cards to download. More activities to do at home can be found on this Pinterest board, dedicated to Phonemic Awareness.

Here's a free app for the iphone with 566 images used for phoneme awareness. More apps (to purchase), such as Auditory Memory Ride, can be found at the Virtual Speech Center.

If you've got $445 to spend check out this LiPS Kit to get some serious practice for auditory processing skills!

Also, be sure to check with your child’s teacher to make sure the school’s reading program or your homeschool curriculum teaches phonological, phonemic awareness and phonics skills.

Does your child seem to have a major difficulty in this area? Learn how to get a diagnosis and help for an auditory processing disorder in Part 2 of this series.

Thanks to Reading Rockets, The Access Center, and LD Online for information on auditory processing used in this post.