Learning disabilities can affect children from time to time and as young as 4-5 years old. While some learning disabilities can be attributed to variations in development,  parents and educators should look-out for consistent patterns of learning difficulties in children.  

Children with persistent learning disabilities have been labelled as slow learners, minimally brain-injured, and whatnot. They are expected to score well in their academics but no matter how hard they try, they struggle with their grades. As a result, these children can be treated crudely and often punished for not achieving the expectations placed upon them in many schools and among parents. As a result, they can develop behavioural or emotional problems. Hence, children with learning difficulties are in a disadvantaged position when compared with children who can cope with the general education system.

When teaching young learners, teachers need to adopt a balanced teaching style which includes a variety of activities often called either stirrers or settlers. Stirrers are activities which encourage students to be active and dynamic which may include standing, hopping, strolling and running. Settlers are activities opposite to stirrers. It involves learners to sit down and be calm.

It is important for teachers to use these different activities to establish a routine in the classroom. And also to use the activities to make the unfamiliar surroundings familiar to young learners. Some of the stirrers and settlers activities are as follows:

1. Create a positive learning environment for the young learners where the young learners have the freedom to select his/her activities and the teacher either add/remove materials as needed).
2. Create a controlled atmosphere right from the beginning by allowing the kids to enter the classroom and settle down quickly in small groups (for instance if a...

Specific Learning Disability (SLD) is a permanent disorder caused by neurological impairments that interfere with acquiring, integrating and demonstrating verbal and non-verbal abilities. As a result, students with SLD are poor communicators and have difficulties interacting with others.

For a child to be diagnosed with SLD, the child has to function two grades below his/her age-appropriate grade in reading, writing, arithmetic, or mixed abilities. The child may also exhibit psychological signs due to the disability such as quitting, avoiding, clowning, controlling and denying all.

Priya is a typical example of a student with SLD. She had difficulty understanding the order, sounds, and recognition of letters and hence affected her learning. And because of her learning difficulty, she felt very frustrated at school. 

In order to help students with SLD such as Priya, inclusive teaching techniques can be used. Inclusive teaching can start with the school and teachers providing a...

I have taught students with special needs for more than 35 years. I have taught students with visual disabilities, auditory disabilities, mental retardation as well as specific learning disabilities.

I am more perplexed when I deal with a kid with a learning disability. Though all special educators rightly give importance to early intervention, my heart goes to the struggle teenagers face, after basic remediation.

Many of my students who joined me while in their primary school have now grown to be independent and doing well in life. I have seen them struggling not only in school but at home, in their social circle and handling their emotions as adults.

All L.D. Students have reading/writing/spelling/math difficulties. Fortunate ones receive early intervention and good remedial support. But what percentage of them remain in the mainstream and complete their high school diploma, in a regular school set up? 

Many schools provide resource facilities up to the end of primary school....

Hi all,
I am going to relate two scenarios to you.
Scenario 1- Child A is unable to use a given shopping list to go and buy items needed from a nearby supermarket.
Scenario 2- Child B is unable to perform the task instructed by his parent to make separately packed picnic lunches of sandwiches for himself and his four friends.

In both scenarios, the children were having difficulties with performing certain life skills.

Why do you think this was so?

Sometimes, children who seem to be not very different from other children of the same age, display difficulties such as those mentioned in the above two scenarios. More often than not, this can be traced to weak academic skills and their difficulty in applying these skills in everyday life situations. This underlines the importance of acquiring two key skills especially in elementary/primary education that have a lasting impact in academic achievements and gaining important life skills. These core skills are literacy and numeracy skills.

Core...

Reading stories is a great way to explore and learn new things. It can be very enjoyable and entertaining. Children with reading difficulties, however, may not be able to comprehend stories well, and in turn, experience lesser enjoyment while reading.

Incorporating multi-sensorial elements into the process of reading has shown to allow learning to be more concrete and enjoyable (Korkmaz & Karatepe, 2018). This article will suggest ways you can engage the senses in the process of reading.

• Sense of touch: Crafting the story 

Being able to visualise the scenes in a story as it progresses can help readers to comprehend the story better. Try working with the child to identify the components of the story such as the setting, characters, and events of the story, and create these components using craft materials (e.g. creating sock puppets of the characters).

Through the reenactment of the story with the props created, it allows for the words in the books to come...

 Reading is a skill and we are all aware reading fluency is critical. Learning to read can be a daunting task for learners with autism spectrum. However, by applying the correct coaching techniques and understanding the learner’s interest and learning capability, coaching a learner with autism spectrum to read can be much easier.

Conducive Environment 

Learners with autism spectrum disorder are vulnerable to distractions. They have the tendency to get distracted by sounds and brightness and may not be capable to filter out irrelevant details such as noises and visual information. They may get distracted from the sounds or noises coming from fans or even the air conditioners.

It is recommended to provide a quiet room for the learner. Ensure outside noise are kept to a minimum. And do not sit the learner facing bright sunlight or near to a flickering fluorescent lighting. Instead, try opting for natural light or reading lamp for the reading session, as this can...

Teaching is a huge commitment and to be an effective teacher, a lot of us are strongly focused on knowledge sharing but the core aim of teaching is also providing a comfortable and interactive environment. While teaching, knowingly, or unknowingly we make delicate mistakes that may affect the kids.  

Make sure you avoid doing these mistakes while teaching:-  

1. Yelling: No one likes being yelled at. Yelling at students will result in them developing a dislike for the teacher slowly and may result in distrust. If you want effective communication, you need to talk in a normal but stern voice and this would make teaching less complicated and a fun task.  

2.Teasing: It is a top-notch talent in case you are able to use humor in the study room and make students laugh, however, targeted comic stories or remarks that may seem like teasing can harm the students’ self-confidence. Avoid teasing or making fun of the child on the basis of voice, movement,...

When it comes to improving a child’s grades, parents would go all out to find the right tutor for their child. However, finding the right tutor can be quite a nightmare for some. Parents either ended up with an inexperienced tutor or the child isn’t able to connect with the tutor.

While some parents rely on referrals from trusted sources such as school teachers, friends, or family members, some parents would go through great measures by scouring the web to look out for the right tutor.

There are many factors parents should consider prior to hiring the best tutor. Here are 4 recommendations for parents to consider when hiring a tutor for their child.

Check Academic Credentials:

It is essential to check the tutors credentials in order to be able to know if the tutor has the ability to teach the subject matter. Parents may request for the academic credentials from the potential tutors and at the same time ask the type of academic training the potential tutor has in the...