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Creating
happy, successful Primary and Secondary students
Julia Gilmore (M.Ed.,B.Ed.,Dip.Tch)
As a Consultant Teacher, one of
the most rewarding aspects of my job is to witness the transformation
of a sad, underachieving student into a confident, happy achiever;
socially, emotionally and academically. Unfortunately, many teachers
and parents are struggling with and disillusioned by the lack of
adequate teaching and testing tools and the current bland, wordy
curricula.
When Shannonís parents brought
her in for assessment she had just started Year Three and was very
unhappy at school. She was a bright, happy child until she entered
Year One and soon noticed that she was not coping as well as her
friends, especially with reading and story writing. Now, one term
later, Shannon has jumped five levels in reading and is writing
fantastic stories.
Yesterday, Kim came bursting in
excitedly to his usual after-school session at the centre, waving a
maths test. He was one of six students to score 100 per cent. He is a
bright Year Six boy who has changed schools several times and fell
behind in his literacy and numeracy skills. Four weeks later, after
weekly teaching sessions, he can now do decimals, fractions and
percentage problems, and is currently learning long multiplication and
division with regrouping. His essay-writing skills and handwriting
have also really improved.
Jamie, in Year Nine, was
struggling with algebra, fractions and essay writing. He was poorly
organised and rarely completed assignments, homework and class tasks.
Now, ten weeks later, he says that he wants to be a plumber or a
sports physiotherapist, and is determined to raise his academic levels
so that the choices for his career pathway remain open.
Now, itís report time again.
Since 2006, each child has become a dot in a grey area no matter how
far ahead or behind the childís academic performance may be and the
accompanying computer-driven comments are often bland, with little
real information.
High school reports are slightly
more revealing but they are significantly flawed because they are also
generated by the failed OBE system.
In December parents of students
in Year Three, Five, Seven, and Nine are given the results of the
WALNA testing. Although it is also seriously flawed, it is the only
way for parents to ever see how their children are performing in
comparison to others of a similar chronological age.
What do parents want? They want
verification as to whether their child is ahead, average or struggling
academically, and for each child to be performing at their ability
levels. They have often had their suspicions for some time, but would
like more facts about their child.
In the past few weeks, I have
assessed many students ranging from six months to six years behind the
required levels for their age groups in mathematics and English. They
were not identified by their schools as ëat riskí students.
Another group of students who
attend A1 Learning are those ëcruisingí along at an average level
or below, who should be given stimulating, accelerated learning
programs because they are capable of working one or more years ahead
in English, Mathematics and Science.
At A1 Learning, individual
assessments are highly recommended because they show where the child
is performing for his/her chronological age in literacy and numeracy
skills.
Specialised, standardised and
diagnostic testing procedures are used and full written reports
provided. It is important to find out whether the child is cruising,
has teaching or learning gaps, is developmentally behind or ahead or
has specific learning difficulties, sometimes known as Dyslexia
(literacy difficulties) or Dyscalculia (numeracy difficulties).
Assessments, July Holiday and
Term programs are available. Even one hour per week can make a huge
difference. Term Three programs start straight after the holiday
sessions. Home tuition is
also available in all areas.
To make a booking or just to
have a friendly chat about your child, please call Julia Gilmore on
9402 5080 or email juliagilmore@iinet.net.au
Website: www.a1learning.q-net.net.au
Parent
information evening:
Unlock
your childís learning potential
Brad Hutchison ñ Audiologist & Speech Pathologist
Claire Corbitt ñ Occupational Therapist
Why
do some students ìget itî in the classroom while others
under-perform? And why is it that some seemingly bright kids daydream,
need instructions repeated and find it difficult to carry out a series
of simple tasks?
The
answer is that even intelligent students may not have well developed
basic learning skills, including memory, attention, listening,
comprehension, sequencing and/or reading.
Until
recently it was thought that our brainís learning potential was
somewhat fixed, however this belief has been disproved. Current
research shows that the brain acts like a muscle and grows with
practice and experience.
We
know that in order to build muscles in our body, we need to exercise
them frequently and intensively. The same is true for our brain ñ in
order to strengthen neural connections and increase the rate at which
we process or understand information, we need to provide the brain
with a rigorous daily workout. Understanding this, four
neuroscientists created the ultimate ëbrain gymí program called Fast
ForWord.
The
Fast ForWord program was
developed in 1997 as a result of 30 years of research into how the
brain learns. It is essentially a series of computer-delivered
exercises for any student needing help to reinforce and upgrade the
cognitive skills critical for fluent reading and successful learning.
One
of the greatest benefits of the Fast
ForWord program is that the games are fun and participants donít
feel like theyíre working hard. Little do they know their brains are
receiving a huge amount of information in a very short time. After
just 10 weeks of training, participants will have received between
70,000 and 90,000 trials or exercises. Just imagine how strong your
arms would be after that many push-ups! This level of training
intensity cannot be matched by any other form of educational
instruction and correlates, on average, with one-and-a-half to
three-year lasting learning gains in just 10 weeks.
After
implementing the program at Samson Primary School, principal Barry
Hancock said Fast ForWord
should be made part of the WA school curriculum because it is the only
program that works on the pathways of the brain to allow children to
become better learners.
ìItís
the greatest thing Iíve found in 40 years of teaching,î Mr Hancock
said. ìIt teaches kids how to concentrate and to learn. It doesnít
matter how good teachers are, some kids are going to slip through the
net because what youíre telling them goes in one ear and out the
other.î
If you
are interested in knowing more about the Fast ForWord program which can be used either individually from home
or with many students at school, please call Sonic Hearing on 9271
7711 to speak with a specialist or register your attendance at a
Parentsí Information Evening on Tuesday, 14 August. An Information
Seminar for Educators will also be held on Monday, 13 August. Book
early to avoid disappointment as places are limited.
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