The Science of Learning

Reading fluency is understanding what you read, reading at a natural pace, and reading with expression. How will your students, or your child, become more fluent this year?  It’s tempting to think that reading more is the key. It turns out that silent reading does not build reading fluency in struggling readers. According to the National Reading Panel, “there is insufficient support from empirical research to suggest that independent, silent reading can be used to help students improve their fluency”. Knowing this, if the student isn’t proficient in reading, should they continue “reading” a not-right selection in the hope of becoming a better reader? I liken this to me learning how to paint. I have recently started to go to local painting outings. With some coaching/instruction, I am starting to understand the basic techniques. The instructor goes around to everyone to make sure they are doing what is asked of them. The instructor breaks each step down, section by section, and then checks back in with everyone as we progress. Shouldn’t we do the same with our students — making sure they are reading proficiently, every step of the way, similar to how my painting instructor goes to each student to make sure our technique will get us the end result that we want? If I stayed quiet and fumbled through my painting, would I get better in terms of technique and form? This is similar to having a student stay quiet when they are struggling with reading the text at hand. This being said, silent reading does have an important place in students’ lives. Once a student is a fluent reader, they should continue reading anything and everything that is available to them at their just-right level.  Here are the best practices for building reading fluency for those who struggle with reading: […]

We compiled our list of the top 5 webinars! Are you looking for opportunities to get professional development credit over the summer? Our webinars might be the perfect way for you to get the credit you need while learning from leading education experts on how to better support your hardest to reach students. You can even watch our webinars on your smartphone—making it easy for you to get PD credit hours even when you’re away from home this summer! Our top 5 webinars are... #5 Underperforming Student Success Strategies In this fast-moving, idea-packed webinar, you will learn from best-selling author, Dr. Eric Jensen, about the best brain-based learning strategies. Discover the emotional, social and cognitive tools that can eliminate 95% of underperformance issues. You have to know where (and how) to invest your time and energy. Learn the single best tool to solve academic and cognitive issues and you’ll start seeing daily academic successes. View Webinar #4 Dyslexia Research and Remediation View this webinar to learn about the latest research on the processing weaknesses and early indicators in dyslexia. Most importantly, find out how to use this information to help your students. See a demonstration of the evidence-based Fast ForWord software. View Webinar #3 Effects of Poverty on School Success Several new studies have shown that students from families below the poverty line are at the greatest risk for academic failure. Research reveals that low family income has a bigger impact on academics than ethnicity or English language proficiency. Join Dr. Martha Burns as she reviews the newest research and provides research on how the Fast ForWord intervention has been found to have a significant impact on academic achievement in children of poverty. View Webinar #2 How to Rewire the Brains of Struggling Readers While home environment, access to books, and social and economic […]

 I sat down with Liza to hear her perspective on why Fast ForWord works so well for children on the autism spectrum, even if the child is not yet verbal.  Liza started by sharing a story about a young adult named Cory, whom she's known for many years, and who happened to also be at the center the day of the interviews!  What types of children do you work with here at your clinic? Most of the kids who are on the program here are on the spectrum. Some are completely non-verbal and others are on the higher end of the spectrum. They can express to us that their brains feel like scrambled eggs. We help give them a good, solid foundation with Fast ForWord. Tell me about your student, Cory.  Cory came to us right when we opened our original [speech and language] site. His mom is a fabulous special education teacher. I've known Cory since his mom was pregnant with him. After he was born, he was later diagnosed on the autism spectrum. He very quickly gained information from his mom because of her expertise, but there was that one piece missing. He has explained it to me that sometimes his brain felt like a scrambled egg. We had him start using Fast ForWord and the rest is history. How long have you been working with Cory? What does he want to do next? This young man has gone on to high school and graduated. He has done a very good job and is now coming back to volunteer at our center because he wants to give back. That is full circle for us. It’s been a 10-year journey with him.  We have so many success stories like him! You and I could sit here literally for a week if we went through all […]

Every year, parents and educators work hard to help their children and students learn as much as possible, squeezing in all the high-value knowledge they can. But come the end of the school year, a solid percentage of that learning — anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks — is lost during summer vacation. This is especially true for children with learning challenges. Here are 5 tips for helping struggling readers get ahead this summer. 1. Read, Read, Read…But Don't Do It Alone It makes sense that if you read more, you'll be better at reading, right? Not so fast. If your child is struggling with decoding, fluency, and/or comprehension, it turns out that silent reading may not be helping at all. Research shows that independent, silent reading does not increase proficiency for struggling readers, but "guided oral reading" — reading with an expert reader by your side — does.  This summer, make sure your child gets help when a word or passage is too difficult (which is exactly what Reading Assistant technology does), so that time spent practicing moves reading skills ahead. Also, take turns reading a story to each other. Talk about the story, model what you're thinking, and ask open-ended questions, e.g., "I think Betty is feeling hurt that her friends are leaving her out. If I were her, I would find new friends. What would you do?" 2. Get Back to Music Decades ago, families gathered in the evening to play music together. How things have changed! Still, summer is a great time to break out the instruments. Music is good for the brain, so if piano practice has gone by the wayside during the year, or if you like to play the guitar and sing, summer is a great time to bring your child in on that activity, or to […]

Manuel and Carol have twin sons who were born eight weeks early and weighing only two pounds. After spending seven weeks in NICU, they came home together but were late to begin talking. 18 years later, the boys are about to graduate from high school. Manuel and Carol were kind enough to share their sons’ journey using Fast ForWord with us. See more of Manuel and Carol's story on YouTube > Tell us about your twin sons' history. Manuel: We noticed there seemed to be some sort of a language delay around the age of two and a half to three. They developed a twin language. That was the way they communicated with themselves. Obviously, it wasn't consistent with normal child development, because we do have an older child, so we've had a little bit of experience on how it should go. We started having them examined, took them into a neurologist and various doctors, and they were diagnosed with central auditory processing disorder, which is, for those who don't understand, it's how we process sounds, or what things are said to us. Most learning comes that way. How did you find out about Fast ForWord? Manuel: We found different tutoring programs that would help them. Wings Speech & Language Center has done a great job. We've known Liza (Herrera) since before she opened this center. She knows the boys' history very well. When she identified Fast ForWord as a potential program for them, we were very excited. We did our research and discovered that potentially it could help them. They've done it pretty much every year since the age of six or seven. How did you make sure your twins didn't lose progress over the summer? Manuel: Three months [in the summer] is a long time not to have any […]

Paying attention  Sounds easy to some of us. But is it really? Consider the various objects and applications vying for your attention right now. Email updates, texts, app notifications, voicemails -- each of these distractions in one pocket-sized device. Factor in your numerous daily tasks, social commitments, and family matters, and it's no wonder the average attention span continues to decline. And many of these distractions begin long before adulthood. I recently read that humans have a shorter attention span than goldfish. Intriguing, right? Goldfish apparently have an attention span of 9 seconds; humans 8 seconds. In 2000, before the advent of the internet, humans had an attention span of 12 seconds.  What is behind this change of attention in our lives? Of course, the advent of the internet and our smartphones. Who knew 20 years ago that we would all be carrying around our phones the way we do? They have become necessities.  Children and Smartphones   Smartphones are becoming part of childhood.  Consider these statistics: Children are now catching onto the smartphone revolution. Over half of children under the age of 12 have one.  21% of children under the age of 8 use smartphones — more than 1 in 5. The average age for a child to get a smartphone is now 12.  Smartphone/internet addiction could be surpassing drug addiction for young adults. More research is being done on this topic and I am certain we will see more in the years to come. How do you think this impacts your students every day as they come to school, in a world that was very different from the one their parents grew up in 20, 30, or 40 years ago?  Imagine how they feel when they come to school and now have to turn off the phones and other electronic devices and pay attention for 40, 50, 60 […]

While education policy was one of the less contentious issues of 2016, a new administration is always bound to have some impact. Let’s take a look at the biggest 2017 education trends, and how they may take shape in the coming year. 1. School choice and education reform The recent election has brought us one of the most ambitious initiatives in the history of school choice – a proposal to redirect $20 billion of federal funding towards vouchers for low-income students. This is consistent with the new president's choices of appointees, showing a clear preference for market-based education approaches. Incoming Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been a proponent of school vouchers and an architect of Detroit’s charter school system, Vice President Mike Pence greatly expanded the voucher program in Indiana, and researchers from the American Enterprise Institute and Hoover Institution have been tapped as advisors. But this may not mean a major shift in education policy. School choice has already become bipartisan over the last decade, though there is fear the coalition is now unraveling in precisely the urban areas where school choice has been most effective. While the $20 billion proposal may prove difficult to implement even with Republican control of Congress, it’s reasonable to expect an acceleration of school reform, with expansion of vouchers and relaxed restrictions on charter schools. 2. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) The recent replacement of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) increased local and state control in ensuring that students from low-income, minority, and other disadvantaged groups are making educational progress. The new administration is expected to leave ESSA intact, although some supplemental regulations passed by the outgoing administration – particularly regarding teacher training and spending of Title I funds – are likely be rescinded. While […]

Cursive is becoming obsolete. How can that be?  I remember 1st grade at Glebe Street Elementary School in Johnstown, New York, where we practiced penmanship every day.  I tried to be so perfect writing out my letters.  The next step was learning cursive in 2nd grade!  Once I learned how to make those curly letters, I was considered a big kid, like a rite of passage.  As handwriting has disappeared with the advent of computers and smartphones, this rite of passage (and some people argue an important developmental milestone) may seem old-fashioned, outdated and irrelevant in today’s modern world. Current research: Is handwriting still important? The current research on handwriting is somewhat mixed - some say yes, some say no.  Some educators and the Common Core say handwriting might be not be as relevant because it doesn’t directly tie-in to curriculum.  And many states are no longer required to teach it.  Only a handful of states are still teaching handwriting.  If I were a young student today in upstate New York, I wouldn’t necessarily be learning handwriting/penmanship.  Many skills aren’t deemed relevant if they aren't directly related to skills that state tests are targeting, which includes handwriting. Why should we teach handwriting?  Popular author/psychologist, Stanislas Dehaene, at the College de France in Paris states that, “When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated. There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a sort of recognition by mental simulation in your brain. And it seems that this circuit is contributing in unique ways we didn’t realize. Learning is made easier.” So when we write something down, this research has shown that our brains get activated in ways that aren’t activated when we type something.  And this brain activation helps with recall when we are learning. […]