Mountains and Valleys, educating the special needs child — learning resources

Hello fellow educators and parents!  Following my previous post on looking for budget friendly educational materials, I have decided to GIVE AWAY a free math activity that I created. It is an activity that promotes counting and the spelling of the numbers one to ten- EN FRANÇAIS! This is great not only for kids in the French system but also for immersion students.  Here is a look at the activity: * Reading the word and matching it to the amount of "Minion Batmans".  Now, I will show you how you can take ONE activity and expand it into FIVE!! #2. This...

As soon as you stamp the word "educational" on the packaging, the price doubles. Marketing is clever. They know parents want what is best for their children and of course we will choose the product that says it will not only entertain my child but also teach some amazing skill at the same time. And for parents of kids with learning difficulties, this is heightened. We grasp at any tool that may possibly make learning more fun, more natural, more effective for our child.  So we spend a FORTUNE! And unfortunately many of these novelty educational toys are barely even...

The title of this post may seem impossible to some. I am one of those people. Me + Math = disaster......  But there is hope. Educators are getting better and better at identifying weaknesses/differences and serving those needs.  For children with learning difficulties, Math can be so frustrating because of it's complexities. Math is both concrete and abstract. And for my fellow Ontarians with children in the school system, Math is mind-boggling! The Ontario curriculum has changed so drastically the way they teach Math that parents are clueless to help even at the primary grades. Children are expected to draw...

Being able to read is a gift that opens us up to new worlds, new thoughts, new adventures. I take for granted on a day-to-day basis that reading comes so naturally. In fact, I love it. For as long as I can remember, I have sought time to delve deep into a novel and escape for a few hours. The outside word slips away and I lose track of time and of my surroundings.  But for those who struggle with reading, for various reasons, it can be a chore. Instead of a sweet escape or a gateway to learning new...

Pressure. We experience it every day.  Pressure to meet a deadline.  Pressure to do better.  Pressure to conform, to make more money, to meet expectations. Pressure to ........... you can pretty much insert here anything on your to-do list to complete that thought.  But not all pressure is bad. Pressure does push us to step outside of our comfort zone and in the process we discover new things and challenge ourselves to experience things we would not have experienced otherwise.  And then there is physical pressure. The actual physical sensation of weight pressing down on us. The pressure of the...