3D Learner

We Teach The Way You Think

If Your Child Learns Differently, Definition of Dyslexia May Lead one Astray

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Too often the focus is on a term like dyslexia. That often misses how a child learns best, and that there are often attention and visual processing issues that are just as critical in helping a child to understand what he or she reads.

Consider what happened to Matthew.  His mom had read a similar definition to the one adopted by the International Dyslexia Association — you can read it below:

The International Dyslexia Association has a very different definition of dyslexia than we might have.  Their definition of dyslexia is:

Q:  What Is Dyslexia?
A:  Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin.

It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and / or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

The challenge was that Matthew did not do well with any of the typical dyslexia programs. He learned differently and had visual processing and attention challenges,  factors which were missed with the Dyslexia Test that Matthew had been through.  Note: dyslexia symptoms tend to focus on the definition of dyslexia, and not what your child may need to succeed.

At 3D Learner, we avoid labels, unless it helps students to get services or accommodations.  We look at the following questions:

  • Does your child learn best when your child sees and experiences information?
  • Does your child skip words and lines when reading?
  • Does your child have difficulty paying attention to that which is boring or frustrating?

and related questions about other challenges.

We focus on identifying gifts and challenges

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We also assess for your child’s present level of reading comprehension,which we think is the key issue for most smart kids who struggle in school.

Matthew was a 5th grader whose reading was close to grade level, but his comprehension was 3 years below grade level.

Matthew was considered a success by the people who provided the dyslexia program he had recently taken, but to us, the key issue persisted — Matthew did not understand what he was reading.

What makes 3D Learner so different for other dyslexia programs is that we focus on improving reading comprehension and the love of reading, versus a focus on decoding and phonemic awareness, both of which are important but not the first foundational skills your child may need to succeed.

Rather than focus on the symptoms of dyslexia, we think you should consider whether your child learns differently, what would engage your child, and what issues are holding your child back.  Attention, visual processing and working memory may all be critical to address before phonics will work.

New Florida Standards Make Reading Comprehension the Issue

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Math has always been math, and the same for history and science.With both the new Florida Standards and the associated Florida Standards Assessment (i.e. Florida basically rebranded the Common Core Standards and the Common Core Assessments with their own name), reading comprehension becomes far more challenging and important for the following reasons:

1-   The passages by grade level are about a grade to a grade and a half harder than previous standards.

2-   The decision was made to imbed harder passages into math, science and social studies.  If you are doing your child’s math homework and are not sure what the problem is asking for, join the crowd.

3-   For the child who learns differently, we call them right-brain learners, and who often has visual tracking and attention issues, these new standards and the new assessments will be a nightmare.

4-   If your child was below grade level in his or her reading comprehension, your child may now be a year or more further behind.

5-   Schools are very concerned with how students will do on the new Florida Standards Assessments, but they may not surface the reading comprehension issue soon enough.

If you want to determine if your child is a right-brain learner, or whether your child has an attention and/or visual tracking challenge, visit www.3dlearner.com . We also assess for your child’s present level of reading comprehesion.

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Shift From Dyslexia to Going From Stress to Success

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Miranda’s mom read a list of dyslexia symptoms and a battle followed.

This test for dyslexia is interesting, but it rarely gets to the root causes of the problem

Dad thought dyslexia meant his daughter was dumb.

Not realizing that geniuses like Einstein, Edison, Disney, Schwab and Branson had or have this “problem”.

Miranda’s school was even stranger.  Like most schools, they do not test for dyslexia — they test for a learning disability — and dyslexia is a learning disability, but until recently, dyslexia has been a dirty word for too many parents and professionals.

. Rather than focusing on the Symptoms of Dyslexia or Dyslexia programs, we took a far different path. First, we realized our daughter learned differently.  She learned best when she saw and experienced information. We helped our daughter to improve her reading comprehension 4.2 grade levels in 7 months.  Not with a dyslexia program, but with a program that taught the way she learns best. Then we discovered three things:

–  62% of the students today learn best when the student sees and experiences information

–  Most of these smart kids who learn differently have an attention, visual tracking and/or related issues

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–  Parents make the difference for these students who learns differently

The good news is that with a program that taught to her strengths and identified her attention and visual tracking issues, Miranda was able to improve her reading comprehension by 4 grade levels in 6 months, double her reading speed and be on grade level.

Sure beats worrying about the word dyslexia.

We operate in a no label zone and focus on helping our students to go from Stress to Success

3D Learner, The Boca Raton Learning Center for Gifted Students who Learn Differently

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What makes 3D Learner , a Boca Raton Learning Center,  different from a Sylvan Learning Center (R), a Huntington Learning Center (R), Kumon (R), Learning RX  (R) or other programs?

The simple answer is we often see the same students, but our approach is fundamentally different.

Mira Halpert, the 3D Learner Program (R) Developer, has her Masters in Education with a major in teaching the gifted and talented.

We have had a significant number of Boca Raton gifted students, and these students have often done quite well.  In our Boca Raton Learning Center, we help students from  Boca Raton, the local area, and from all over the country.

The 3D Learner Difference

First, we focus on the gifted students who learn differently — we call them GOLD Students (TM) — gifted operating with a learning difference.

These GOLD Students may have either an attention and/or a visual tracking challenge.  They are often frustrated and anxious.

What differentiates our efforts:

–   Our students often make dramatic gains including:

–  2nd graders where the parents were told to exit the students from the gifted program and the students did very well

–  3rd and 4th graders who were really struggling with standardized tests and proceeded to do very well

–  Students who were told they would not succeed at one of the best private schools in the Boca Raton area, who are now in the top 1 and 2% of their high school class

–  Even a senior in high school who had given up on himself — left our training with his dream to be an architect revived — and today he is one

What differentiates our learning center for gifted student:

–  We help change their perception of him or herself — as one mom said, “You changed my sons’ attitude and that was 90% of the battle”, Kim Fields. Parkland

–   Our assessment often shows the student he or she is much smarter than he or she initially thought

–   Our training allows the student to learn the way they learn best and it engages the student

–   We identify and address the attention and visual tracking issues — with tools like the Interactive Metronome (R) and Brain Gym (R)

–   We collaborate with parents, teachers and other students

For more information, visit our GOLD Students page

 

For Students with Dyslexia or a Learning Disabilities — Are Low Expectations the Biggest Issues?

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James Wendorf, who does an excellent job as Executive Director for NCLD (National Center for Learning Disabilities), was interviewed recently. and the question asked was:

What are the biggest challenges facing someone with a learning disability today?

His answer

Low expectations, pure and simple. Unfortunately, too many educators, policy makers and even parents themselves believe that young people with learning and attention issues can’t and won’t make it–to a regular high school diploma, on to college or a vocational program, and into a job that will provide meaning and adequate financial support.

We have talked with and helped thousands of students with dyslexia and/or a learning disability; I must say, for the students we see, low expectations are not the major problem.

The parents we see have often:

–   Had their child assessed by a school and often privately

–   Used tutors, possibly a learning center, and often a dyslexia program and even dyslexia programs

–   A strong commitment to help their child succeed, but have not yet found the answer

These parents consistently have high expectations, but the results are not consistent with the time, money and effort they have invested.

If low expectations are not the number one challenge, then what is?

In our own family and with our clients, the number one challenge is that most parents and schools do not realize that students with learning disabilities or dyslexia both learn differently and have a combination of attention and/visual tracking issues.

Many students with a learning disability or dyslexia have the following three challenges:

1-  The child learns differently and does not often:

  •  Understand frequently used words — because the student does not have a picture of what the words like but, what, if and except mean
  • Recognize words the student has seen and not mastered
  • Visualize what he or she has read – the students are great at visualizing, but the student has not learned to visualize what he or she has read

2-  The attention and visual tracking issues are often not identified and even when the problems are identified, they are not always addressed.  The challenges include

  • Too often attention challenges are not addressed because natural and effective tools like the Interactive Metronome (R) and Brain Gym (R) exercises are not offered
  • Visual tracking issues are often missed and sometimes the required training is not done — it can be expensive

3-  For a child who learns differently and has attention and/or visual tracking issues, it is up to the parents to both identify and pursue the appropriate training

 

 

 

Parent Success University Event Sunday September 14th in Boca Raton

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Do You Have a Smart Struggling Child?

We are Focused on Helping

You to Make The Difference

 

Three common themes to this new school year are demonstrated from these calls:

  • What is going on?  My 3rd grader in a regular class is reading the same passage my 5th grade gifted child read last year
  • These math questions are crazy!   They want my child to add 34 to 61, and rather than adding a 1 and a 4, and a 3 and a 6 to get 95, they want him to use a number line and then write an explanation for what he did.  Is this the new Florida State Standards, or is the teacher doing something unusual?
  • The first few weeks used to be a review, but this year the work is hard already – what is going on?

The teachers are under great stress too.

Many parents who have a smart struggling child are calling, and there is a good reason to act.  This year will be the biggest change in standards for all Florida public and charter school students.  These changes will impact most private school students, too.

To help you to navigate these turbulent times, 3D Learner has created Parent Success University – where you can learn why the work is so much harder, how you can help your child today, and how you can make the difference for your child this school year.

 

Our 1st event will be Sunday September 14th from 10 am to 1 pm at Sugar Sand Park

For more details go to www.3dlearner.com/events or call us at 561-361-7495

 

There will be a similar event in Pembroke Pines on Saturday, September 13th from ` 10 to 1.  The same events page has details on both events.

If you are feeling like the world got real hard overnight, you are no alone.  Our calls over the first two weeks of school are up 240% from last year, and there are three distinct differences:

  1. We have had several calls from parents of gifted children.  These students often coasted for the first couple of months.  Not this year.
  2. We have had a number of calls from parents whose child is neither gifted nor does their child have dyslexia or a learning disability.  The reading material is really hard, the math is very different, and homework is taking far longer with much more stress than the parents would have expected.
  3.  The parents of students with dyslexia or a learning disability are finding life incredibly tough.  The reading material is much harder, their child is lost in math, and the parents are really frustrated.

While one expected these calls from public school parents, a surprising number of these calls are from private school parents, who are seeing a similar change as the work has gotten much harder.

The reality is that the new Florida State Standards are much harder than the previous FCAT 2.0 standards.  What is even worse is that the work will get much harder and when the new Florida State Assessments are given next March and April there is likely to be a significant drop in scores.

Featured speakers at our event will include:

  • Dr. Lisa Sirota, a pediatrician, who will be speaking on Holistic Approaches to ADHD
  • Dr. Jeff Krantlzer, a licensed clinical social worker, speaking on Mental Health Strategies
  • Maggie MaCauley, a parent expert, on how to manage homework challenges
  • Mira Halpert, 3D Learner Program ® Developer, on Embracing your child’s gifts and teaching to strengths
  • Mark Halpert, 3D Learner, Recognize the risks, goal set and commit to success

We encourage you to join us, and if you have recommendations for speakers or topics, please e-mail us at parents @3dlearner.com or call us at 561-361-7495.

Events

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Boca Raton Area Workshop

Strategies to Help Your Child Succeed

in a Year with New and Much Tougher Standards

No cost event featuring experts sharing specific strategies.

Sunday, September 14th

10:00 am to 1:00 pm

Sugar Sand Park

300 S Military  Trail, Boca Raton, 33486

Speakers include:

Mira and Mark Halpert, Parent Success University focused on your success; Mira Halpert 3D Learner, Embracing your child’s gifts and teaching to strengths; Mark Halpert 3D Learner, Recognize the risks, goal set and commit to success; Maggie Macaulay Whole Hearted Parenting, Taking the hassles out of homework; Jason Alexander Mentoring Valuable Protege, Impact of athletics, arts & mentors; Dr. Lisa Sirota Children’s Medical Associacion, Holistic approach to attention issues; Marcel Angers-Hoepgen, Yoga excellation, The impact of Yoga; Ellen Horowitz Learning Smart, Brain based solutions for learning; Jeffrery Kranzler PhD, LCSW, Proliance Center, Proactive mental health stragegies

 REGISTER HERE or Call 561-361-7495


 

Even Smart Students are Struggling with new Florida State Standards

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Usually early school year calls are from parents of children with Dyslexia, a Learning Disability or ADHD.

This year is different.

10 of the 12 calls we got this week are from parents of smart kids, who are struggling. Some of the comments included:

1-   “My 3rd grade child is being asked to read the exact same passage my gifted 5th grader read last year.  This is nuts!””.

2-    “These math questions are tough.  My second grader is being asked questions that are worded poorly and the reading level is far above her level — and she finished 1st grade above grade level in her reading.”

3-   “I thought the 3rd Grade Reading FCAT was disappearing.  Now I learn this will be replaced by the new 3rd Grade Reading Florida State Assessment that will be much tougher.  Is this true?

While others may argue that parents do not have a clue, we are finding parents to be more proactive than ever in identifying the issues.  We expect schools will be sounding out the alarm in October, when their students are assessed.  You may want to act sooner.

The four questions you want to consider are:

–   What is your child’s present level of reading comprehension based on the new Florida Standards or the Common Core Standards?  You want to have your child tested using an assessment that is consistent with what your child will be tested on.  The new Florida State Assessments will have 800 plus word passages and some assessments use 3 line passages.

–  Why is your smart child struggling?  Is it a learning difference, an attention issue, a visual tracking challenge, anxiety or a related issue?

–  What can you do about it?

–  How soon should we act?

Welcome to the new Florida State Standards — or as we call them — the renamed Common Core Standards

The text is at least a year more difficult and the questions being asked are difficult to say the least.

The 2014-15 school year is the year when Reading Comprehension issues will become The ISSUE for many students.

This may be Dyslexia or a Learning Disability, but in most cases it will be that your smart struggling child is caught in a bind as standards have been raised, the difficulty of the questions is far more challenging and neither the teachers nor the parents or the students are prepared for this dramatic shift.

If you are seeing early warning signs, then now is the time to act.  The standardized tests will be almost a month earlier than in previous years. If you act in the Fall, there is plenty of time to get it right.

We are interested in hearing your comments:

–          What is happening that disturbs or frustrated you?

–          What is happening that is really good?  Teachers and parents will be finding new and innovative ways to help students succeed

–          What questions do you have?

We are using our Facebook Page for discussions.  Please like us and join the conversation at the 3D Learner Facebook Page.

 

 

 

 

2nd Grade Retention, 3rd Grade Retention or Effective Interventions

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Parents frequently call us with questions about 2nd Grade Retention or 3rd Grade Retention.

This article on 2nd Grade Retention vs. 3rd Grade Retention makes a great point — neither one works.

Quoting from the article:

“What’s One to Do?

For most students struggling to keep up, retention is not a satisfactory solution, nor is promotion.

Treating the two as if these are the only options casts the debate in the wrong terms. The challenge is figuring out what it takes to struggling failing students catch up. Understanding why a particular student has fallen behind points to the best course of action.

For many students, especially those who are far behind their peers, intensive intervention, may be the best path to success.

Why 2nd Grade Retention or 3rd Grade Retention May Not Be the Answer

Retention usually duplicates an entire year of schooling. Other options—such as summer school, before-school and after-school programs, or extra help during the school day—could provide equivalent extra time in more effective ways. The other two challenges are:

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  • Students often see grade retention as one of the worst things that can happen to them – ranking behind losing a parent and going blind
  • Students who are retained often do a little better when promoted the following year, but the gains often disappear
  • There is a huge emotional cost to retention, and those who are retained are at greater risk for dropping out later on
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5 Challenges Preventing Success by 3rd Grade

  1. 3rd Grade Retention policies in states like Florida are not as flexible as they might be. While there are alternative pathways to promotion, teachers and principals have little leeway.
  2. Too often children from good families do their homework, participate in class and get reasonably good grades in 1st, 2nd and even in 3rd grade. Therefore teachers do not always raise the flag to warn parents early enough that their child might be retained.
  3. Schools often use reading fluency as an indication of a child’s reading skills. Reading fluency, how well your child reads out loud, is very different from reading comprehension, how well your child understands what he or she reads silently.
  4. Most smart struggling students learn differently and have a combination of attention, visual tracking and related issues. Their gifts and challenges are often not recognized by schools.
  5. Parents tend to have faith in schools and use tutors when needed. Parents do not realize that for a child who learns differently and has attention and/or visual tracking issues, a tutor may not be the right answer

To help you to better understand the system, your child and your role, we have written a short and informative book called Success by 3rd Grade. We have also developed a Success Assessment to help you to understand if your child learns differently and has an attention and/or vision issues

» Click here to download Success by 3rd Grade!

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