Welcome Back!After a summer that went by all too quickly, this edition of LDA-LC news should find everyone back to busy-time. Our summer included two very successful weeks of Kids Positive Program held at Northern High School. Thanks go out to Mike Guilfoyle and Lambton Kent District School Board for giving us that great space for the summer social skills program. We have been hard at work this summer with our newest program: the JUMP Program (“Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies”). JUMP is based on the belief that all children in the regular school system can excel at math. Mathematics, rather than being the most difficult subject, is the subject in which children can most easily succeed. John Mighton, author of the Canadian book “The Myth of Ability” and creator of the JUMP program, has gathered a great deal of evidence to support this belief. After researching the program and reviewing the course material, we agree! In an effort to support our members, we are committed to searching out methods that will help our population succeed. The JUMP Program begins with extremely mechanical steps at first, but as participants acquire the confidence and focus that comes from constant success, they are led to discover mathematical principles for themselves through games, magic tricks, puzzles, manipulatives and "toy" models of problems. We are offering the JUMP Program for 30 sessions (once per week) beginning Tuesday, October 19, 2004 and ending June 7, 2005. Although the program is not age or grade-specific, the program is best suited for children in Grades 3-8. For more information please contact the Resource Centre at 344-7745. Maximum of 20 children accepted so space is very limited.
Parenting Children with Learning Disabilities. Unfortunately we will not be holding a fall session of Parenting Children with Learning Disabilities. Because of scheduling difficulties experienced by Children’s Services Department, County of Lambton, all parents on the fall session list will be moved to the January program. The program is set to begin Thursday, January 6, 2005 through March 10, 2005. The sessions are from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. There is no fee for this valuable program. If you haven’t taken it and have a child with special needs please set aside 10 weeks and sign up. The single best thing we can do for our children is become knowledgeable: about their disability, their rights and how to advocate effectively for them. Learning to Learn Differently. The Learning to Learn Differently Project is one year old. We are happy to report that during the past year thirty committed volunteers tutored thirty Senior Kindergarten and Grade One students throughout Lambton County. We would like to increase our children helped to 40 this school year. Therefore, we need ten more tutors. If you or anyone you know has an hour or two a week to spare and enjoys working with children, please consider volunteering for this valuable program. All tutoring materials and training provided by us. Contact Carolyn Elzinga, Program Coordinator, Learning to Learn Differently for details on next training session for tutors. EDUCATIONAL EVENTSSaturday, November 6, 2004 – Nurturing
Physical, Emotional and Mental Health in Children.
Join us for this half-day workshop to be held at the Sarnia-Lambton Ontario Early Years Centre, Lambton College, 1457 London Road, Sarnia. from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.. No cost to attend. Free childcare but must register – childcare space is limited. Please call 344-7745 for details/registration. The all-morning event will feature three different speakers addressing the physical, emotional and mental health of children. Refreshments will be provided. Please join us on November 6 for what is sure to be a celebration of the uniqueness of our special children. Co-sponsorship of event between Learning Disabilities Association of Lambton County and Ontario Early Years Centre. Monday, March 7, 2005 – Dr. Umesh Jain Wednesday, April 21, 2005 – Dr. Maggie
Mamen An expert on Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities (“NLD”), Dr. Mamen will share with us her knowledge of Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities. The term Non-Verbal Learning Disability is actually quite misleading. Those with NLD are clearly quite verbal, with their areas of deficit being in the nonverbal domains. Virtually all of the NLD assets and deficits are found in individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome, William’s Syndrome, de Lange Syndrome, Turner’s Syndrome, Hydrocephalus and Velocardiofacial Syndrome. For this reason, many of the educational and social skill remediations that Dr. Mamen speaks of will be of interest to families or professionals in our community dealing with these individuals. Location and time of event to be announced. Tuesday, November 15, 2005 – Richard Lavoie |
Homework HelpSome of our prayers have been answered! TV Ontario Independent Learning Centre has developed “Ask a Teacher”. Our members who have used the site say it is excellent. Log on to this site and register. Students in Grades 9-12 can join a live chat between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. Sunday to Thursday evenings and get one-on-one teacher-student assistance with their homework. Although focusing largely on math and literacy at this time to prepare students for EQAO testing, all subjects included in the Ontario curriculum are covered. If a specific subject has a student stumped, check the schedule to see when a tutor specializing in that subject will be online. We understand that they are working on expanding the Ask a Teacher to include Grades 4-8 also. Hopefully they will have that component up and running soon. One other feature of the site is “Brain Bank”.
For the hours when the Ask a Teacher chat room is closed, students can
search the “Brain Bank” for the most asked, most useful, and
most needed questions. The Ask a Teacher tutors have carefully answered
these common questions so students can get the answers needed to help
with homework when the chat COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING OF INTEREST TO MEMBERSBrain Gym – Level 1. Sunday, October 17, 2004 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. One-day workshop includes an introduction to Brain Gym activities, theory and effective use of the work to achieve personal and academic goals. Workshop is ideal for parents of school age children, educators and those committed to their own personal development. Contact: Corrie Danielis, Certified Brain Gym instructor 862-5984. Sarnia Holistic Healing Centre. Children's Services - Nutritional Counseling, Food Sensitivity Testing, Hair Mineral & Toxic Metal Analysis, Brain Gym. Children's Yoga, Meditation & Reiki Classes. Call 336-7944 for further info. Please help us celebrate our Grand Opening on Saturday, September 25, 2004. OPEN HOUSE 11am - 4pm. Sarnia Holistic Healing Centre, 546 Christina St N, 6th Floor, Sarnia, ON N7T 5W6. 336-7944. Children's Services - Nutritional Counseling, Food Sensitivity Testing, Hair Mineral & Toxic Metal Analysis, Brain Gym. Children's Yoga, Meditation & Reiki Classes. Call 336-7944 for further info. Please help us celebrate our Grand Opening on Saturday, September 25, 2004. OPEN HOUSE 11am - 4pm. New Resource Centre MaterialThe following are some of the new books/videos have been added to our Resource Centre this summer. Please note we are always adding to our library. Here are some highlights added this summer:Books for Parents/Educators: “Little Lemon: Activities for Developing Motivation and Memory Skills” by Betsy B. Lee and Linda Lee “Teaching Study Skills and Strategies to Students with Special Needs” by Stephen S. Strichart and Charles T. Mangrum “Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight : What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World” by Sharon Heller “The Anxiety Cure for Kids – A Guide for Parents” by Elizabeth DuPont Spencer, Robert L. Dupont and Caroline M. DuPont. “The Defiant Child: A Parent's Guide to Oppositional Defiant Disorder” by Douglas Riley. Books for Children: “I Can’t Wait” by Elizabeth Crary – good book to help children deal with feelings. Amazingly … Alphie! Understanding and Accepting
Different Ways of Being “Dyslexia” by Dr. Alvin Silverstein, Virginia Silverstein and Laura Silverstein Nunn “Let’s Talk About Needing Extra Help at School” by Susan Kent. “Let’s Talk About Dyslexia” by Melanie A. Gordon. “Sometimes I Like to Fight, but I Don't Do It Much Anymore: A Self-Esteem Book for Children With Difficulty in Controlling Their Anger” by Lawrence E. Shapiro and Timothy Parrotte. “The School Survival Guide for Kids with LD –
Ways to Make Learning Easier and More Fun” by Rhoda Cummings and
Gary Fisher. |
LDA-LC 2004-2005 ProgrammingStudy Smart: Learning Strategies for Becoming a Successful Student. After a successful 10-week pilot to the Study Smart Program, we will be offering it three times per year with slight adjustments from the pilot. The fall Study Smart begins Thursday, September 23 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. The winter session will begin January 13, 2005 and the spring session will be April 14, 2005. Study Smart teaches students in Grades 6-8 and 9-12 organizational and time management skills necessary in order to become a good student. The cost for the 10-week program is $48.00 for members and $110.00 for non-members. As always, financial help is available if required. 10 spots available for Grades 6-8 and 10 spots for high school. Students will receive a binder full of excellent resource material to keep and hopefully refer back to as needed. Call 344-7745 for registration details. Kids Positive Social Skills Program. After two great weeks of Kids Positive held this summer at Northern High School (one week in July and one week in August), we have set our schedule for Kids Positive for 2004-2005 as follows: 10 week fall session begins Wednesday, September 22, 2004 from 4:30 to 6:00 pm.. Winter session to begin January 12, 2005 and spring session to begin April 13, 2005. The cost for the 10-week program is $48.00 for members and $110.00 for non-members. As always, financial help is available if required. Kids Positive is designed for children 6-13 who need help with social skills and self-esteem building. Call 344-7745 for registration details. NEW PROGRAM - JUMP (“Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies”). This new math program is based on the Canadian bestseller “The Myth of Ability”. The JUMP program works with a teaching method based on the simple but revolutionary contention that every child can master math. The reason so many children fail at math is because somewhere in the chain of learning they haven’t understood a step. The program will begin with teaching math operations such as adding and subtracting fractions and gradually introduce the concepts behind the operations, using word problems, games and puzzles. The great thing about JUMP is that we are running it for almost the whole school year in order to more accurately gauge its effectiveness. JUMP will run for 30 sessions from Thursday, October 19, 2004 to June 7, 2005. Educator Carolyn Elzinga will run the JUMP program, utilizing family volunteers to assist with checking children’s work and giving positive feedback and praise. The cost of the 30-week session is $150 if family/parent volunteers and $250 if parent does not volunteer. For members of LDA-LC the cost is $130 if family/parent volunteers and $215 if family/parent chooses not to volunteer. Parent or family volunteer needs to commit to volunteering at sessions at least once per month in order to take advantage of preferential pricing. JUMP will sell out well before October 19 so please register soon if you are interested. JUMP is suitable for children in Grades 3-8. Please contact Annie Sheehan or Carolyn Elzinga at 344-7745 for more details. EVENTS - FUNDRAISING50/50 Tickets Zehrs/A&P Slips Escape Winter Jazz Brunch |