Mid-Year School Motivation For Your Child

Have you ever noticed that right after the new year begins, your child's interest in school starts to, shall we say, slow down?

Teachers give lots of reasons like the low pre-vacation test scores that just came back, or students get discouraged and feel like they can't do any better, or maybe just plain ole' boredom.

But years of teaching have proven to me that it doesn't have to be that way.

I always found new ways of motivating my students to cross the finish line at the end of the school year using quick and easy learning strategies that boosted their belief in themselves and their grades.

A lot of schools these days are struggling with poor test scores, low grades and kids who are really down on themselves.

But, showing the kids how to play the school game and win turns everything around.

Reading and Remembering What's In A Textbook Can Actually Be Fun!

For example, does your child know that simply drawing a circle, putting the heading of the chapter, and spokes with the subheadings, then creating humorous pictures of what the ideas remind them of, boost memory many times over?

Or if they are reading and the words don't look like they should, doctors say colored overlays can improve reading levels by more than a year in less than a week?

If your child has the mid-year motivation blues, there are over 20 easy and proven learning strategies in e-books like Instant Learning For Amazing Grades.

It's jam packed with 200 pages of easy, fun and long proven strategies to increase motivation, master spelling and math facts in half the time, learn new vocabulary as fast as you'd like, and what to do if your child learns differently than he's tested or has learning challenges like ADHD or reading.

Check it out and transform your child quickly into one who's motivated and knows how to learn anything fast.

Copyright 2008 Pat Wyman

What Is Your Number 1 Question About Helping Your Child Get Higher Grades?

Want expert answers to help your child get higher grades?

Ask your number 1 question here and I'll answer your most pressing questions on our back to
school, HowToLearn.com, telephone seminar on Sept. 26, 2007 at 6:30 PM, PST.

Visit:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=7JYsozdqHRl_2buJo7vGdYZw_3d_3d

Forward this on to your friends and family who have children struggling in school, and get the
learning answers you need from a veteran learning expert and best selling author - FREE!

Looking forward to "meeting"you on the call.

Watch your e-mail next week, and you'll get the call in number, VIP pin number and a preview
of the most pressing questions we receive.

Live, learn and "make a difference",
Pat Wyman
http://www.howtolearn.com

Vision Problems Can Be Misdiagnosed As ADHD

Today, I was researching information to help me testify on some pending vision screening legislation that could truly make a difference in your child's learning success.

In addition, I received an e-mail from a mom of a 10 year old, who asked for help, because despite a regular eye exam, her son was still struggling in school. A portion of my reply to the mom is below, as well as a link to the NBC news segment on how vision problems can often be misdiagnosed as ADD/ADHD.

For more than 30 years, American schoolchildren have suffered from declining reading scores, and today, the National Center for Education Statistics says that nearly 70% of America's 4th, 8th and 12th graders are not reading at grade level.

As I've said so many times, you want your child to beat these odds. My daughter did, and is now a pediatrician helping heal children. Hundreds and even thousands of others have been helped in the same way my daughter was. Had I not discovered the source of her vision problems early however, it could have negatively affected her entire school career and she might not be a doctor today.

As a parent, howtolearn has worked very closely with multiple optometric associations and developed an inventory that can help you give your eye doctor more information about what may really getting in the way of your child's learning progress.

If you're concerned that your child may have ADD/ADHD, which one of our medical doctor experts recently told me may be the latest "fad" diagnosis, you may be very interested in the NBC5 Chicago newstory on why vision problems may be mis-diagnosed as ADD/ADHD.

I welcome and encourage your comments and we have several free Instant Learning tips newsletters that you may want to receive or show to your friends.

3 Biggest Back To School Mistakes That Will Lower Your Child's Grades

My niece was visiting last week, and as we played a board game, I noticed she was making the kinds of errors proving she had a vision problem.

Knowing she was going back to school, I asked her lots of questions and quickly discovered she could barely see the calendar on the wall 10 feet away, and held her book right up to her nose when she read.

The warning flag was up - so I told my sister what to do to help my niece see perfectly.

Your child is going back to school so after you've purchased all those supplies, if you ignore these 3 things, you can unintentionally create lower grades and lower self-esteem,

Read over the 3 listed here then act right away to help your child have the best year ever.

1. You Don't Know How The World Looks Through Your Child's Eyes

The ability to read is key to learning. Your child's vision changes when reading increases, so if you don't know how the world looks through your child's eyes, your child may be at risk for low grades and test scores, simply because he may think everybody else sees things the same distorted way.

The solution: Eye doctors say to make sure your child has a thorough eye exam before school starts every year. That distance school vision screening eye chart has nothing to do with reading a book.

To give your child a comprehensive eye and vision exam, visit these sites to find a doctor in your area, then use the free Eye-Q Inventory to show you exactly how your child sees the printed page.

Two former U.S. Presidents had kids or grandkids and their vision problems went unnoticed until serious problems showed up. Follow their lead and go to COVD.org, OEP.org to find a doctor who can give your child the type of learning related vision exam that sets him up for success.

Great news. You can start early and identify and fix vision problems before your child is 12 months old for free. Former President Jimmy Carter will tell you how at Infantsee.org.

If your child is already reading, check out the free Eye-Q reading inventory to find out for sure how your child sees the world and their books at at HowToLearn.com

2. You Don't Know Whether There Is A Mis-Match Between Your Child's Learning Style And The School's Written Testing Style

Kids learn in many ways, but schools test in only one.

If your child happens to be a visual learner, who thinks in pictures, they are likely to get the highest grades, because it fits how they are tested.

Kids who learn more by hearing or kinesthetically, through movement (often labeled with ADD or ADHD), need to know how to add some visual learning strategies so they can learn faster and be at or even above grade level.

The Solution: Your whole family can take the free Personal Learning Styles Inventory and I suggest you read it aloud to your kids. It will self-score for you and you'll know how your child learns best.

If you discover your child prefers the kinesthetic style, act now to show your child those visual strategies he'll need to get higher grades.


3. You Can't Tell Whether Your Child Knows The Memory Strategies Needed To Get High Grades and Test Scores.

Teachers are overworked and don't have time to give your child the one-on-one attention she needs to teach "how to learn" and the memory strategies that A+ students already know.

Check out the 155 free test taking tips and memory made easy program at this site.

America's Reading Crisis: Nearly 70 % Don't Read At Grade Level

Former President Jimmy Carter said, "Vision is the single biggest handicapping problem in children."

If you're stumped as to why your child struggles to read, school eye chart exams won't give you the answer. They are for distance eyesight only, and no child reads a book at 20 feet away while covering one eye.

Before heading back to school, give your child a comprehensive vision exam, listen to your child read aloud and ask the following questions to get to the bottom of the problem and how to solve it.

Can Visual Thinking Show Your Child How To Learn, Raise Grades and Actually Change Your Family's Life?

And so, the Back to School jitters begin...

As parents, we know schools test our kids endlessly these days. Just like the energizer bunny, this written testing 'keeps on going' through college, grad school and even beyond.

So who gets this and aces the tests? Well, it turns out, kids who think in pictures, the "visual" learners, have long unlocked the secret.

They naturally have all the traits that match the school's written testing system just the way it is - (Hint - ask any teacher what the class grade roster looks like -- all the kids are not getting A's every time - and it's a real shame -- because, as I've heard someplace before, we do have the technology) :):)

So, as much as I'd love to see the world change, and schools adapt to your child's learning style, sad to say, it's unlikely that either school or employers are going to shift quickly enough to help kids who struggle today The tests go on...

Question: So, what next?

If you notice that institutions often change very slowly, how can you help your child pass all those darn tests now? Remember, you need a RIGHT NOW PLAN, not a five or 10 year plan.

Answer: Applaud, revere, respect your child's learning style, and then show your child how to learn faster and easier by thinking visually.

Why? Because, a whole lot of neuroscience and good old fashioned experience shows that come crunch time, the child who has just a few of these simple, how to learn visual memory strategies, now has precisely what they need for the zippy fast study and recall methods they need to succeed on the tests.

O.K., sounds simple enough, but have you ever tried to tell your kid to "picture" something he just read and then remember it? A lot of kids have real problems with this.

It's not that they aren't smart, it's just that they either don't know and don't know HOW to use the visual learning strategies they need to read, remember and retrieve the information during a test.

So, after 30 years or so in the education world, (parent, teacher, reading specialist, school administrator, etc.), I've refined this "here's HOW TO LEARN ANYTHING FAST to help your child succeed RIGHT NOW" -- into a system that is literally the fastest ways to A's and B's (assuming of course that your child actually uses the strategies).

Yes, and I agree. There's only a gazillion programs out there telling your kids how to do better in school.

But they all omit this one biggie - kids who get A's are mostly visual learners. They are neater, more organized, can really "see" things long term, and when they remember what they read for the test, they see it all in pictures - which is far faster that trying to recall how they feel about it or what it sounded like. Brain basics 101.

So, now it's up to you. Knowing "HOW TO LEARN" and think visually in school, can literally change your child's life and your family's life. Imagine the peace and quiet - no more homework hassles, no more horrific report cards and really low test scores...

I'm quite serious about this one. Imagine how you'd feel if you and your child learned a few of these visual strategies and then got A's and B's in oh, say a week or two.

I coach people how to do this all the time. It's not rocket science, it's a visual piece of cake. And... when it's used, I've watched kids beam... "Hey Mom, I failed my spelling tests for the past three years, but am getting "A" 's all the time now, cuz I use those visual picture thingy strategies we learned before school started this year..."

So, whether you want this "top secret" RIGT NOW information live, with me, in real time, or the CD version, here's more on How To Win The School Game, by thinking visually...

What are your thoughts on this testing business since you know it isn't going away any time soon?