2021 Recent Favorite Books

This is a list of the books I have in my fiction bookcase. These books are so good that I want to read them again. Many are humorous fantasy because that is what I enjoy.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place Series - 6 books

by Maryrose Wood

Ages 8-12++

I loved this series and think the 12 age is too limiting. Combines excitement, fantasy, mystery, creative plot twists, and lots of humor into an enthralling tale.  A family is healed by love. Children raised by wolves, their governess, and family secrets make this six book series hard to put down.

The Chrestomanci Series - 7 books

by Diana Wynne Jones

Ages 8-12++

Hard to put down! An exciting mixture of spellbinding fantasy, humor, magic, and mystery. I loved it and other people over 12 would also enjoy it. Enter the world of wizards, witches, and other worlds. 

Howl's Moving Castle

by Diana Wynne Jones

Ages 8-12 ++

Fun combination of fantasy, romance, and mystery.

Sequel

House of Many Ways

Companion volume (interesting but not as good)

Castle in the Air - 0k

Helping your Visual Spatial child

A few things to remember

1. Use Technology - I told my husband shortly after we were married that I would not be held accountable for anything that wasn't written down. If I didn't have the chance to write anything down, then he shouldn't expect me to remember it, because I won't. Help your child use technology to help them cope with the things that are difficult for them. When I was in school, there was little help available, so my dad gave me a small black book. He had me write me name, address, phone number, classes, assignments, etc.  in it to help me remember. What I could have done with a Smartphone! Much of my writing was dismissed, because my handwriting was so poor and my spelling even worse. Now I use my laptop spellchecker, and no one even knows that I have difficulty with spelling because a machine supplies me the ability I lack, allowing my insightful ideas to shine. 

Books for 4th Graders

The age divisions are just a general idea. Some children may read a book which is very complex with an advanced vocabulary at a very young age. Some children enjoy more simple books at older ages. Since I am 70 and enjoy these books, I must be one of them.  I feel that a positive theme, and uplifting language are essential in children's, and my own, reading. 

Third Grade
Robert Lawson
Lawson, Robert. Rabbit Hill. New York: Viking, 1944
Lawson, Robert. The Tough Winter. New York: Viking, 1954
Lawson, Robert. Mr. Revere and I. Boston Little, Brown and Co., 1953
Lawson, Robert. Ben and Me
They Were Strong and Good by Robert Lawson

Helping Children Love to Read

Making reading into a step by step chore takes the fun out of reading.  Sure we all need to learn some reading skills so we can read, but learning to love reading can't be taught. As adult,s we can not give it to a child, or force them into it. All we can do is put out our hands to gently shield the small spark until it becomes a fame -- a true love of reading. Brad Wilcox, a BYU education professor, wrote the best article I have ever read on how to encourage children to love to read.

12 Things Not to Say to Young Readers
https://magazine.byu.edu/article/12-things-not-to-say-to-young-readers/

Writing Guide

Here is a Writing Guide I wrote for a summer writing class I taught.

This is considered the best writing guide for writers. The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White

Learn from good writers. Examine the writing in novels, picture books, nonfiction, newspapers, and magazines. What do you like about it? What makes it good?

Here are some ideas for good writing.

Reading Together

I have found that one of the most effective and least stressful ways to improve a child's reading ability is to read together. Reading with the child helps the child learn words in context, increases sight words and vocabulary, helps them learn the patterns of language and stories, and is fun!

Once I tutored a girl who was not up to her third grade reading level. After reading together for several months, she was reading at a sixth grade level! Reading with a child is one of the most effective ways I know to not only help children learn to read, but to love reading.

Choosing the Right Book - Lists and Guides

Here are some great resources to help you find just the right book for your child. Remember that one of your greatest resources is your librarian. They can be a great help in directing you books your child will love.

• Know your child's interests and how they read*
• Bring your child with you and allow them to help choose the books
• Allow plenty of time to choose books
• Choose several books so that if he doesn't like one, he can try another. 
• Remember pictures books read quickly; get several
• Even older children can enjoy good picture books
• Try a mix - stories and non-fiction books on that topic
• Allow time to read their new books to them soon.
• If you can't stand a story, try a substitute. Your child will sense when you don't like something, so be honest and work it out. I never could get into "Captain Underpants", but "Commander Toad" books were fun. Find something you can enjoy together.
• Have Fun!

Choosing Books for Your Child

After raising four children and being a professional tutor for 40 years, I've learned that if a child is forced to read books he doesn't like, then he will hate reading and do as little of it as possible. So how do you help your child find the right book for him and become a lover of reading?

In school, most children are placed in reading groups with other children at their reading instructional level.

Instructional reading level is the highest level at which a reader is not independent, but has adequate background knowledge for a topic, and can access text quickly and with no or few errors. Think of independent level as the highest level you would ask a child to read with only a small amount of assistance. http://www.uurc.utah.edu/General/ReadLevels.php

Helping Children Learn to Read the Right Way

Lets face it, we live in a culture where left brain skills are valued in our schools, even though the right brained skills of creativity and problem solving are most needed by adults. Most of elementary school is spent in memorizing details and practicing processes. Since most young children learn in a more right brain way through action, pictures, music, and the whole picture, teaching in a left brained manner requires hours of ineffective, boring drill work such as filling in workbook pages. Some children naturally prefer to use their left brain (memorization, numbers, sequencing, listening to lectures). These children are the ones who do well in elementary school. The more gifted a child is physically (athletic), or visually (visual-spacial, creative), the further they will be from the prevalent teaching style of most elementary school teachers. These are the children who will have trouble learning to read. It is not that they are "defective" or "slow", but simply that they are not being taught in the way that they learn. Just as an orange is not a defective apple, these right brained children are not defective left-brained children. The solution is to teach right brained children to read in their natural right brain way.*

This isn't hard, in fact it is fun. It doesn't require special training, just a love for the child and an understanding of the types of learning styles that fit a right brained person.

Update - Terms for Learning Disabilities

I just thought I would update my Learning Disabilities information. January 2017

This is the current legal definition. 

Legal Definition

Definition: A 'learning disability' is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding and using language spoken or written which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, spell, or do mathematical calculations.

Update Resources - Autism and Asperger's Now Called ASD

Every few years the terminology changes for putting people into categories. Now Autism and it's milder form, Asperger's Syndrome (later called Asperger's Disorder) are labeled as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). I am not changing the labels in the articles I wrote, but it is still the same topic. Here are some current 2016 articles on the subject.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml

https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/autism-spectrum-disorders

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/tc/aspergers-syndrome-home-treatment#1

Autistic Babies and Children

Here are some comments by different parents of mildly Autistic children. These children are said to have Asenberger Syndrome.  By "syndrome", they mean a characteristic group of behavior. An example is that most Asenberger children have difficulty dealing with change. It does not mean that they have an illness or anything is "wrong" with them. They are who they are. We each have different strengths and weaknesses. These people often are exceptional on left brain skills such as structure, linear logic, memory for details, math, and spelling. Recognizing behavioral patterns and predicting behavior often is very difficult for these logical, literal people. Their particular personality results in some common behaviors.

I am grouping the comments. Since there are five times more boys than girls that are autistic, most quotes will refer to "he".

Dealing With School Discouragement

When my oldest was young, we dreaded school beginning.  Soon it would start again.  She would come home sobbing, “They called me dumb!”.  By the end of second grade, she knew she was “dumb”.

My heart ached to see someone so young already without hope.  I prayed and studied all I could about those who have difficulty learning.  I found myself remembering my own struggles in elementary school, and wondering why the Lord had not blessed me as others.  I was startled out of my self-pitying mood, as these words filled my mind, “You have not understood.  These are not your weaknesses, but the strengths I have given you.”

People Learn Differently

Being a person who struggled in elementary school myself, I really believe that people learn differently. Based on my own experiences and what I have learned in over thirty-six years of tutoring children, I  agree that most children are not disabled learners, but simply people who learn in a different way.

Some of us can not learn merely by hearing something. We need to see and experience to learn. Visual aids such as pictures, time lines, graphs, demonstrations, and DVD’s really help me follow a lesson, but they don’t always have to be things you can touch. Stories, parables, examples, and analogies also enable me to “see” the ideas. I have found  Teaching No Greater Call to be a invaluable resource of teaching ideas.

Resources for Asperger Syndrome

I just read a great book for teens with Asperger Syndrome. It is called:

The Asperkid's Secret Book of Social Rules by Jennifer Cook O'Toole

She calls her book, "The handbook of Not-So-Obvious Social Guidelines for Tweens and Teens with Asperger Syndrome".

Jennifer really knows about Asperger Syndrome. Not only is she a person with Asperger Syndrome, she is married to a man with Asperger Syndrome and has three Asperger children.

She gives straight forward social rules presented with humor and a positive attitude. I think her book would be a great help for extremely logical people in helping them feel more confident around people and function more easily in society.

Learning Disabilities

Learning Disabilities is defined as

1. a condition giving rise to difficulties in acquiring knowledge and skills to the level expected of those of the same age, especially when not associated with a physical handicap.

ADHD, ADD, and Autism, though not strictly included, could also be considered  learning disabilities since they affect learning.

I have written many articles about what is called "Learning Disabilities". (See categories "Learning Disabilities) These are posts about coping with weaknesses, and appreciating and developing our strengths. We are all human. We are all "disabled" in some way and gifted in some way.

Helping Autistic People

I've seen parents come in to talk to the teacher about their autistic son. The mother forcefully wants her son "fixed",  made "normal", while the father just sits there in quiet blankness. Why? Because he recognizes that his son is very like him.

So how do you help an autistic child? What can you do to make it easier for someone who lives in a world of pure logic? I think of the old Star Trek 1 movie, V'ger, where a machine created a world in it's own image; completely logical and predictable. Of course the "biological infestations" of the machines had to be eliminated.

Symptoms of Autism

What is autism?  No one knows really.  It does seem to run in families and there are four times more male than female. (I will therefore use "He" when referring to these people) These are my personal thoughts about what is called autism. I have known six highly functioning autistic people and their families. They look like everyone else and have needs and talents like every one does. They just have trouble relating to people; seeing behavioral patterns. They also find any abstract thought very difficult.  I wonder if we might be talking with extremely "left brained" people (Sensing, Thinking). I also wonder if this this why there are more males than females; girls have more nerve fibers connecting the two halves of their brain (Corpus Callosum).

Auditory Learning

Perceptual Mode-  AUDITORY Learning
The different ways that Left Hemispheric Dominate, Mixed Dominate, and Right Hemispheric Dominate people learn from listening and speaking.

Left Hemispheric Dominate - Primary Learning Channel 
likes to read aloud even when should be reading silently
makes up rhymes
monopolizes conversations
verbalizes all activities

Determining Brain Dominance

How Children Learn - Determining Brain Hemispheric Dominance

Dominate Side of Body - uses opposite side of brain

Left H. Dominate Mixed Dominate Right H. Dominate
right handed ambidextrous                      left handed
uses right foot uses mixed uses left eye, foot, hand
looks through right eye combinations (note some left handers
reverse hemispheres)