Choosing a pet may be as easy as going to an animal shelter and letting your heart decide, or it may be a long, thought-out process of analysing the pros and the cons of every non-shedding dog breed versus a goldfish.
And here's something else to throw into the mixture: your child's learning style.
Are your child's responsibility and persistence levels high enough to cope with looking after a pet? If you're thinking of choosing a dog, particularly one that needs exercise, is your child mobile and kinesthetic enough to enjoy the daily walks without complaining? Does their learning style need a quiet environment that makes budgies and yappy dogs less than ideal companions? Do they enjoy tactile input and will they stroke and brush the pet often? If not, perhaps that goldfish is indeed a better choice.
Online Social Networking is a name for Internet sites such as Facebook or MySpace, where you create a profile about yourself and chat with people. Children use social networking to feel part of the group as much as to exchange information. A visible web presence is a status symbol: display a cool photo, say cool things, link to cool friends.
Some teens take to Facebook like the proverbial ducks to water, others play with it for a few weeks before growing bored. Whether your child gets sucked into computer UNreality or chooses to interact face to face with real friends will depend their unique Learning Style.
Check out your child's learning style today! Find out whether their learning style preferences predispose them to becoming a computer wizard who's in danger of spending too much time in front of the screen.
Done? Super! Please remember that whether or not your youngster is in danger of becoming a computer addict, there are some online safety rules to be observed whenever Teach your child to be Internet-smart the way you teach them to drive: when and if appropriate. Ultimately, a social networking account is like a driver’s license: despite the risks, many people get one.
That link to check the learning style again: click here. Question: How do you turn your classroom into a Learning Styles classroom?
Answer: It's not easy, but it's fun.
Start by analysing your students' learning styles to identify their learning style preferences and needs.
- Create a Group Profile of your students to get the at-a-glance-summary of how they like their environment to look.
- Look at any results that are 80% or higher and select one or two of them that look like the easiest to change (the cheapest, the most exciting).
- Allow the children to help.
Some students are likely to grumble: they are probably the ones who value routine and are upset by change. Assure them that once they've tried to new way, they will be allowed to create an area in the new classroom that looks just like the old classroom.
2012 is here. What goals are you trying to achieve this year? What dreams are you hoping will come true? Remember it's never too late to start dreaming, to start scheming, or to buy yourself a little gift. Please browse our Products Page for ideas....
Rudyard Kipling:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
Thank you for all your support during 2011. May 2012 bring you peace, joy and happiness.
(Please remember that our offices will reopen on 9 January 2012, but you can always reach us on email.)
Warmest Christmas and New Year's wishes from Creative Learning. Please be advised that our office will be closed until 9 January 2012 and we will attend to all your enquiries upon our return. Have a safe and pleasant holiday.
This Christmas, give the gift that will last more than the lifespan of a battery. Give something that costs as much as a takeaway dinner. Give self-knowledge and peace of mind. Give the future.
Khan Academy is an educational website. Its tagline promises to help you “learn almost anything—for free.” You can choose from over 2,400 videos explaining the principles of maths, science, and economics. Between 7 and 14 minutes long, the videos consist of a voice-over by the website's creator, Salman Khan. All you see is hand-scribbled formulas and diagrams as they appear on your screen. There are no fancy graphics and the videos are not interactive.
And yet, many teachers and homeschooling parents turn to the Khan Academy videos to aid with homework and exam preparation. The advantages, they say, are that the students can move at their own pace and rewind the bits they get stuck on.
The disadvantages lie in the students' learning styles.
Not everybody is suited to learning optimally through an online course. Kinesthetic learners who enjoy working in a group are better off in a face-to-face interactive workshop.
However, if you have a preference in 4 or more of the following, e-learning is for you:
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visual (reading)
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visual (watching)
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tactile
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learning alone
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stationary
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internal motivation.
Are you a good candidate for E-Learning? Find out.
Difficulties pronouncing sounds and stuttering are examples of speech disorders. Mild cases can be sorted by a Speech Clinic, elocution lessons, drama classes or Young Toastmasters Club.
Trouble understanding others and trouble sharing ideas are examples of language disorders. Contact your local speech and language therapist for assessment and treatment.
Difficulty sustaining attention when somebody else is talking may be a sign of ADHD, or a mild hearing loss, or a non-preference in the auditory sensory modality of your Learning Style. Please contact us if we can help you make sense out of your learning strengths.
Sometimes your child's learning problems will not be caused by their learning style, although they may be made be co-related. For example, if your child's learning style is auditory and they have a hearing issue, the learning problem will be magnified.
Vision Problems
Your child’s learning issues may be due to poor vision, easily corrected by a behavioural optometrist with eyeglasses or special eye muscle exercises.
Eye teaming: the brain can't combine input from both eyes, resulting in double vision. Largely undiagnosed or misdiagnosed as dyslexia. Children with tracking problems can't control their eye movements to follow the line of print when reading.
Focus: eyes get tired during reading and cannot stay on the print.
Longsighted children cannot see detail at close range (the book).
Shortsighted child cannot see detail at a distance (the whiteboard). This usually manifests at age 7 up and goes undetected. Warning signs: a good student loses interest in schoolwork, doesn’t progress or becomes disruptive.
Vision perception problems: the child experiences difficulties in analysing and giving meaning to what they see.
Fine motor eye-hand coordination problems cause poor handwriting and, as time progresses, lack of learning progress.
If reading difficulties persist after optometric problems have been corrected or excluded, the child should be referred for Irlen Syndrome testing to see if they can benefit from reading through a coloured filter.
Hearing issues
Both learning and behavioural issues may be caused by hearing problems. Schools don’t test hearing routinely and may even misdiagnose mild hearing loss as ADHD. If your child’s hearing is fine and they’re not ADHD, their inability to listen may stem from auditory processing difficulty (normal hearing but inability to process what they hear), so consult your local audiologist.