11 Ways to Make Spelling Practice More Fun
By Kathy Kuhl When spelling doesn’t come easily, practicing can be repetitive and boring. Here are some things you can do to keep your child happily working to build their spelling skills: Finger Paint Put finger paint or any colored, gel-like shampoo (such as Prell), in a Ziploc bag. Seal it […]
Tech Tools to Help Students Overcome Learning Challenges
Who can keep track of all the new tricks your computer, tablet, or phone can do? Who can keep up with all the apps in Google Play or the App Store? When you add tracking new accessibility features on top of teaching children or teens with learning challenges or other special needs, it’s hard. But […]
Suggestions for Your Child’s Teacher
by Kathy Kuhl Suppose your child with learning challenges is in a homeschool group or co-op, a scout troop, or other class. The leader or teacher has asked for suggestions how to help your child. What do you say? (This is the third of a three-part series. My series on finding the right group or activity […]
Trouble with pencil grip? Two great tools
By Kathy Kuhl One of my favorite tools for those who struggle with pencil grip–how to hold it correctly, and how to hold it without getting tired–is the Twist-n-Write pencil by Baumgartens. (Links are below.) Shaped like a wishbone, this pencil: makes it easier to hold a pencil correctly lets the sensory-seeking child […]
Developing Basic Skills in Reading & Writing
by Kathy Kuhl Review of Diana Hanbury King’s A Guide to Helping Your Child at Home: Developing Foundational Skills in Reading & Writing Suppose you could get one of the best writing teachers, a specialist in helping struggling learners, to come over to help you understand how to teach your child? What if she […]
Unusual tool for teens with handwriting difficulties
by Kathy Kuhl When I speak at conventions on helping teens overcome struggles with writing, one piece of technology for folks with handwriting problems gets more oohs and ahhs than any other. Since it generates so much interest, I’ve decided to write about it. Livescribe Smart Pen looks like a pen, but it is more. It has a microphone […]
More accommodations for struggling writers
by Kathy Kuhl [Part 4 on helping struggling writers. The series began here, with “Why Writing Matters.”] Spelling dictionaries A spelling dictionary is easier to use than a conventional dictionary because it only lists words and has no definitions.They are available from many publishers, including Educators Publishing Service, which carries My Word Book and several levels of Words I […]
Strengthen your child’s writing ability
By Kathy Kuhl [Part 2 on helping struggling writers. Part 1 is here.] If your children struggle to write, you need a two-pronged approach. You need to strengthen their areas of weakness, that is, to remediate. You also need to work around their specific areas of weakness so they can get their words out and improve […]
Why writing matters
By Kathy Kuhl Why teach writing to kids who struggle with it? Is written expression still important in a digital age? Written letters have largely given way to phone calls, Skype, and emails. (At the beach last month, I discovered no one sold postcards anymore.) Teens and young adults I know have largely abandoned email […]
Cool trick for correct pencil grip
by Kathy Kuhl One reason I love speaking at homeschool conventions is what I learn from you. My friend Mary, who works with special needs students, was helping at my booth. Mary showed me how to use two rubber bands to fashion a simple pencil grip, which she models here. […]