The Cognitive Style of….your dog
May 28, 2013
By Sarah Vander Schaaff To hear Dr. Brian Hare speak about the genius of dogs is quite something. In fact, just last week, when I was listening to my local NPR station, I heard a rebroadcast of an interview with him and was still fascinated. And it was this second-time around that I was able to visit Dr. Hare’s website: Dognition. If you think I’ve got too much free time, I should add that Dr. Hare is a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke’s Institute for Brain Sciences, got his Ph.D. from Harvard, and yes, I do have a puppy. My interest was both personal and Mindprint related. Consider this explanation of Dr. Hare’s cognitive approach to… Read More
Vintage Ed Mom: More on Math…
May 21, 2013
By Sarah Vander Schaaff This week, I’m sharing a blog I wrote a few years ago with a math teacher who has “seen it all.” And by that I mean, she’s seen what happens when the students she taught all year show up the following fall. Some have kept their skills sharp or even advanced them, and others, not so much. Many of her students, most of whom have learning differences, benefit from summer school. Others find integrating math into day-to-day activities is enough to maintain math skills. We hope you find her advice useful, and as with all things, frame it in the context of your own child’s needs. Questions for our Teacher on Summer Math: 1. Any thoughts you wish parents and students… Read More
Summer Reading Advice to Avoid the Summer Slide
May 14, 2013
Summer Reading: Why It Matters Thanks to a few tips from the National Summer Learning Association summer reading can be a bit less stressful and a lot more effective. If there is one tip I inferred from looking at their 2009 Research Brief, “How to Make Summer Reading Effective” it is this. If you want to increase your child’s reading comprehension, spend less time on quantity and more time on quality. The quality of the book (is it a right fit) and your discussions afterwards count most. While it’s true that low-income students lose two months in reading achievement over the summer, all students regress if they don’t read. According to the NSLA, students “typically score lower on standardized tests at the… Read More