 |
Listen here to this month's feature article with
Dr. MaryJo Wagner, The Learning Doctor.
The article's called
"Reading's Fun: How to Motivate Your Kids to Read"
|
|
A Newsletter that
Helps You Help Your Children
Brain-based Learning Resources
for Teachers, Parents and Anyone who Works
with Kids
Vol.
1. No. 3 October 2006
published and edited by Dr. MaryJo Wagner
|
|
Here's what you'll find in your October Brain Boosters for
Your Kids
Workshop and TeleChat
Schedule:
All about Reading, Taking the Stress out,
Brain Gym® Basics, Brain Gym 101, and a one-day Intro to
Brain Gym for Parents and Teachers
Feature Article:
Reading's fun: How to Motivate Your Kids to Read
Just for Grownups: An Improve-Your-brain
program that's easy and actually works
Brain Quiz: Which TV show is best for your
kids? Be the first to get it right and
win this month's prize. Find out who won last month's quiz
Readers tips and Questions: "Homework is
driving all of us crazy!"
Resources You Can use: Books to help kids with
reading
Web Site Not to Miss: Thousands of Free
Coloring and Cutting pages
And Don't Forget:
FREE "All about Reading" TeleChat, Wednesday, Oct. 4th
Please add
mjw@mjwagner.com to your white list or address book in your
e-mail program so you won't have trouble getting future issues
of Brain Boosters for Your Kids.
|
|
Note from The Learning Doctor |
Hi:
Guess
winter's on its way. There's snow on the top
of Chair mountain in my back yard
 and
the leaves are blowing off the aspen trees
with such speed that the yard is golden.
The first
Brain Gym Basics TeleChat finishes up this
week. We'll be repeating it again beginning
October 24 in case you missed it. Four
evenings, 90 minutes, and you'll be doing
brain Gym with your kids.
Making
learning easier, lowering stress, and
increasing concentration. Oh, and one more
thing, Brain Gym will lower your golf score!
Parents:
Click here to register. Teachers:
Register here
Seems
everybody's talking about reading, why our
kids can't read, whose fault it is, which
reading program's better, what the test
scores show, etc.
So I've
jumped into the fray too and devoted this
issue of Brain Boosters to reading. Plus a
FREE "All about Reading" TeleChat. The
TeleChat's happening Wednesday evening,
October 4 at 6 pm. Enrollment is limited so
register today. Find out more about
All
about Reading here.
Now take a
look at this
month's feature article:
"Reading's
Fun: How to Motivate Your Kids to Read."
MaryJo
P.S. Teachers
can get professional development credit for
recertification and salary upgrade for Brain
Gym Basics.
|
|
Workshop and
TeleChat Schedule |
|
Brain Boosters for Your Kids TeleChats in
October
We'll be doing
at least one free TeleChat every month, plus
a single TeleChat, and a 4-session,
90-minute series. The 4-session series
are available for professional development
credit for teacher recertification and
salary upgrade from the University of
Colorado.
"All about Reading" Wed. Oct.
4, 6-7pm Mountain time,
FREE
Register at
www.brain-based-learning.com/registerreadingtelechat.htm
Take "All about
Reading" for free and receive a discount on
the next TeleChat
"Taking the
Stress out of Teaching and Parenting"
Wed. Oct. 11, 6-7 pm Mtn. time
Register at
www.brain-based-learning.com/registerstresstelechat.htm
"Introduction
to Brain Gym," Wed. Oct. 18, 6-7 pm
Mountain time, FREE
"Brain Gym
Basics," 4 evenings beginning Tuesday, Oct. 24 from 6 -7:30 Mtn. time
(Teachers, you can receive professional
development credit for recertification and
salary upgrade from the University of
Colorado for "Brain Gym Basics.")
Information about the Brain Gym Basics TeleChats for teachers
is at
www.brain-based-learning.com/BrainGymTeleChatforTeachers.htm
Information for
parents at
www.brain-based-learning.com/BrainGymTeleChatforParents.htm
All classes,
even FREE classes, include handouts and templates you can duplicate to
use in your classroom and at home.
Brain Gym Classes for October and
November
Brain Gym
101, Kremmling, Colorado, October 20-22
Introduction to Brain Gym for Teachers
and Parents, Manitou Springs, CO, Nov. 4
(One-day only, sponsored by the Manitou
Springs School District) Only $25 for
parents, and high school and college
students. $50 for teachers.
To register for these and other Brain Gym class and
to get
more information, go to
www.BrainGymClasses.com.
Or take a Brain Gym class
FREE. For more
information, go to
http://www.braingymclasses.com/FreeBrainGym.htm
Set up a class in North Dakota, Mississippi
or any one of the lower 48 and we'll come to
you. You don't have to come to Colorado.
|
Reading's
Fun: How to Motivate Your Kids to Read
Dr.
MaryJo Wagner
Summary: Since kids often imitate what we do,
reading yourself goes a long way to encouraging
children to read. Seven tips to help kids want to
read
My father read books, newspapers, and
magazines. He even read while he watched TV--and
multi-tasking hadn't even been invented yet. I
adored my father and wanted to be like him. So I
taught myself how to read before I ever marched off
to kindergarten so that I could read everything too.
We had books and magazines in nearly every room in
the house. My parents talked about reading saying
things like “I read in the paper this morning that
the President’s going to be in a motorcade down 8th
Avenue by our house.” Or “what'd you think of that
new book you just finished?”
In short, we lived in a reading environment.
Everyone read at least one newspaper and a magazine
or two, including my grandparents who’d never been
to college. Every house had a bookcase filled with
books. Everyone used the word “read” in everyday
conversation.
And then TV came along, computers came along,
digital and electronic everything came along.
Newspaper subscriptions are down. Pictures are in.
I bought a new computer the other day. Got out the
installation instructions and found pictures instead
of words. Pictures showing you how to install a
computer aren’t a bad thing, but it does mean you
can get a computer up and running without having to
read.
Yet even though many of us don’t read much, we still
believe reading is an essential skill that children
must master. Given that success in school is
dependent on reading, what can we do to foster a
reading environment?
After
all, it’s hard to convince kids how important
reading is if we don’t show them it’s important.
Here are seven simple solutions:
1. Read
yourself. Talk about reading. Buy a magazine at the
grocery store. Get a book
about a favorite hobby. Say things like: “Oh, I just read the
most interesting thing
in that magazine.” Leave the magazine and book out so your
kids see them. At
school, have a book or magazine on your desk.
2.
Insist on reading directions and recipes. “O.K.
before we start baking cookies, we
need to read the recipe.”
3. Read stories to your
kids. Make it a habit. Read something to them every
night
before bed. Read stories at school.
4. Get books for
your kids that are tied to their interest. Make sure
you’ve got books
in your classroom tied to a variety of interests and at a
lower grade level for those
kids who aren’t up to grade level. Our grandson Caleb hates
to read. He loves
football. We found a football book at his grade level. He
loved it.
5. Take the kids to the library or
the bookstore for fun. Be sure to check out a book
for
yourself so kids see that you think the library is fun too.
Make sure kids have library
time at school.
6. Assume your kids can read and ask
them to do it. Let them know that reading is an
everyday activity. Ask them to read the directions on a cake
mix box for you. Tell
you what’s listed in the TV Guide for 7:00 pm. Better yet.
Turn off the TV.
7.
If kids can't
read or their comprehension is poor, learn everything you
can about
brain-based learning strategies and start using them with
your children. (Check out
"Resources You Can Use" below for some suggestions and
register for Wednesday
night's FREE "All about Reading" TeleChat.)
Just
Read! It’s way more incentive for your kids to see
you reading than nagging them to read.
© MaryJo Wagner, 2006
MaryJo
Wagner, Ph.D.
The Learning Doctor
"Helping You Help Kids Learn"
mjw@mjwagner.com
www.BrainGymClasses.com
www.brain-based-learning.com
Sign up today for the Brain Boosters newsletter to
help your kids learn
faster and easier and at
www.BrainBoostersForYourKids.com
* * *
Duplicate the article. Distribute the article to
parents. Pass it around to teachers.
Got a school or PTA newsletter or e-zine? Your own
parent, teacher, or learning Web site? A community
publication? You're welcome to reprint this article.
Just print the whole article with my name under the
title and my contact information at the bottom. When
the report is published, please send me a copy or
the url to find it on the Web.
|
I have to admit it. I've
tried just about every self-help technique out there. I'm a real push
over for this stuff. Some of it works if you've got the stick-to-it for
30 minutes every day, do all the exercises, fill out endless forms, and so forth. I'm
good for a couple days, that's it.
And lots of it just doesn't work.
I've read books and listened to CDs and waited for miracles. They don't
happen.
Despite my lack of success
with most of these programs, I fell for another one. It's called
OptiMINDzation. It's a brain-entrainment CD. Now that title's a bit
contrived for me and the sales page was heavy duty but hey . . . what do
I have to lose!
Well, the thing works! I've
been completely blown away. In fact it works so well that I have to be
careful not to use it too late in the day or I'm still working at
midnight instead of sleeping.
It really does what it
promises: "sharpens mental acuity, boosts concentration, strengthens
thought power." Their words, not mine. But bottom line I can focus for
longer periods of time, stay on track, get work done more quickly, and
just remain sharper. I love it! Check out
OptiMINDzation.
You can sign up for a free series that will explain it more fully
without the sales pitch.
Oh, by the way, they tell
me that a CD will be out soon that's specifically designed for kids
who've been labeled ADD/ADHD. I'll keep you posted.
P.S. No, it doesn't replace
Brain Gym! Nor will the ADD/ADHD CD replace Brain Gym.
|
 Congratulations
to Rebecca Kirk at
www.headtoheartlearning.com who
correctly answered last month's Brain Quiz.
She's right that water surpasses milk,
juice, and certainly soda pop for optimal
brain functioning. Water is the best
conductor of electricity and the brain is a
mass of electrical circuitry.
September Quiz:
Which TV series has been best for the
developing brains of young children and why?
"Sesame Street," "Mr. Rogers," "Dora the
Explorer" or they're all about the same and
just depends on what your child enjoys the
most.
The first reader, unless you've already won
a Brain Quiz, who e-mails me the correct
answer, including why their answer is
correct, can take the six-hour Brain Gym
Basics TeleChat FREE. Starts Oct. 24. The e-mail
address for your answer to the Brain Quiz is
mjw@mjwagner.com
|
|
Readers Tips
and Questions |
"It's only the end of September and already
getting our 5th grader to do her homework is
a nightly struggle. What can we do?" from
Jake and Susan Jamison, Houston, Texas
First of
all, stop nagging, arguing, cajoling, or
bribing. Set a time and a place for
homework. Soon after school and certainly
before TV is best. Set boundaries and
rules--no TV, telephone, video games, etc.
until the homework is done.
Be available to answer questions and help.
But don't do the homework. If helping turns
into argument, stop helping. Take an
interest in the homework. Ask what it's
about? If it gets done, a simple "good job
for getting your homework done" is
sufficient.
Now here's
the hard part, if the homework still doesn't
get done, let your daughter suffer the
consequences! It's important that children
learn early on that what we do or don't do
has consequences. Talk to her about
what might happen if she doesn't do her
homework.
One mom told me that her son didn't do his
homework until he discovered that he might
have to repeat 4th grade because he'd flunk.
All of a sudden he started doing his
homework without pressure from mom or dad.
Got a tip or a
brain-based learning success story? A Question? E-mail them to me at
mjw@mjwagner.com Maybe your
question or tip will be in the next issue. I love to hear
from you.
|
Here're a couple of books to help you help your kids
read--no boring theory or complicated technical
language. Just successful techniques you can use in
the classroom and at home. You can get them at
Amazon or most local book stores.
Starting out Right: A
Guide to promoting Children's Reading Success by the National
Research Council (7th printing, 2004) has 55 activities you can use plus
a list of 100 recommended children's books. The guide to computer software
for reading, and list of internet resources hasn't been updated,
however. (Pre-school through 3rd
grade)
Teaching Reading
Strategies in the Primary Grades by Bette S. Bergeron and Melody
Bradbury-Wolff (Scholastic Teaching Strategies, 2002) includes such
strategies as analyzing, chunking, questioning, thinking aloud,
cross-checking, and building fluency. Although directed to teachers,
parents will find lots of easy-to-understand techniques for increasing
reading skills.
The next following resources use Brain Gym to improve reading skills.
Brain Gym and Me -
Reclaiming the Pleasure of Learning by Paul E. Dennison
(Edu-kinesthetics,
2006) is Dr. Dennison's story of his own struggle with reading and his
discovery of Brain Gym. Includes instructions for specific Brain Gyms
that help with reading. Available at
www.braingym.com
A New Paradigm in
Reading Instruction:
A video from the founders of
Educational Kinesiology and Brain Gym
by Paul E. Dennison and Gail E. Dennison includes a presentation by
Dr. Dennison on the state of reading today and what we can do about it.
Also has a demonstration of the Dennison Laterality Repatterning that
often significantly helps children with reading. Available at
www.braingym.com
 |
Parents:
Looking for something new to do on a rainy
Saturday that doesn't involve spending
money?
Teachers:
Need an activity right now that fits in with
the unit you're teaching?
Get
thousands of free
coloring pages. You can search by topic
and then choose by age--dark simple lines
for little ones or more complex pictures for
older kids.
And get
cutting pages in full color--again you
can search by topic or by age
appropriateness--cut big shapes for younger
kids or cut following more intricate lines
for more advanced scissors users. |
|
