Show # 99- Elaine Weitzman, Hanen Centre

In this episode, I talk with Elaine Weitzman from the Hanen Centre. The Hanen Centre is an international organization focused on helping parents and educators enhance the language and literacy skills of young children. The programs they have been developed are research-based and the information they offer parents is practical, easy, every day things we can do to truly enhance how our children learn.

The Hanen centre has come out with a yearly calendar that gives parents and teachers a month by month, week by week resource of how to specifically help build critical language skills for young children. This is a straight-forward, easy to use guide to doing simple things that can have a big, long term impact on your child’s education and literacy.

To give you some perspective on how important this is, a recent show entitled “Going Big” on This American Life by Ira Glass featured a segment regarding the Harlem Children’s Zone, an ambitious program focused on helping parents help their children in the same way the Hanen Centre does- and it’s working miracles in terms of improving children’s scholastic outcomes.

It’s simple things, like reading to your child, asking them questions, talking about emotions, answering those endles “Why?” questions that help spark your child’s curiosity about the world and encourage them to develop these critical skills necessary for later literacy and academic success.

Please contact the Hanen Centre through their website at www.hanen.org. The calendar for 2009 is now available, and sample months are available on their website.

Click here to listen to Elaine Weitzman, Hanen Center- Developing Early Language Skills with your kids

Show # 70 Nina Straightman – Language therapist- Fluency, Comprehension, and the Development of Language Skills

In this show, we continue our conversation with Nina Straightman, talking about the language development in newborns, fluency and text structure, using graphic organizers and how language- from oral language to reading to writing develop in kids.

Recently, a number of authors have been through our area, speaking about the books they’ve written and signing books for children. We’ve been to presentations from Brian Jacques, author of Redwall and other novels for children, and Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, authors of the Peter and the Star Catchers series. Over the next few episodes, I’m going to include short clips from these presentations, so you get a sense of what these book signings are like, and how really wonderful they can be for kids. Kids learn that authors are real people, and children’s authors are particularly good at engaging the audience and bringing their words to life to kids. I think there are few better ways to make books and writing exciting to kids as to hear authors speak about their favorite books.

Click here to listen to Part II – Nina Straightman- Language Therapist

Show #68 Conversation with Rick LaVoie

In the second part of my conversation with Rick LaVoie, we discuss ADHD, organization, seeing things from your child’s perspective, how we need to set a good example for our kids, helicopter parenting and how to motivate them.

Rick Lavoie has worked in special education for over 30 years. He has three degrees in Special Education, and has produced the single best selling educational video over the past 20 years- “How Difficult Can this Be? the F.A.T. City workshop” which shows teachers and adults what it’s like to be a child with learning disabilities in the classroom.

One of Rick’s greatest gifts is helping us see what the world looks lke through our children’s eyes. By doing that, and illustrating his ideas in such a way that they are memorable and better still, actionable, Rick’s thoughts are not just more words about what you SHOULD do, they’re about things you CAN do, easily, now, to make a huge difference in your life and that of your child.

Today, we talk about a wide variety of topics. the most important of which is also the topic of Rick’s new book, “The Motivation Break-through- 6 secrets to Turning on the Tuned Out Child”. By breaking down how motivation works, we can understand how to help our children become motivated to succeed in every aspect of their lives (and it’s pretty good for the rest of us as well…)

Most importantly, the book gives you specific pointers and action steps to take, to help your child today. He even has a great chapter in the book about explaining learning disabilities to your child,and how to explain things so it is not a “negative” just a difference, that can be dealt with, just like any other challenge in life.

If there’s one gift you can give yourself this year, it’s reading “The Motivation Breakthrough”.

I encourage everyone to go to Rick’s website and to check on his upcoming speaking dates. If he is in your area, don’t miss an opportunity to see him present in person.

Next week, we’ll have an interview with Nina Straightman, a reading and language specialist at the Centreville School, a school for children with language-based learning disabilities.

We are looking into doing a call-in show to answer your questions- please drop me an email if you are interested at ldpodcast@gmail.com. We also have a new voicemail numner (206) 203-4616- please call and leave your comments and questions and we’ll answer them on the show!

Click here to download and listen to Conversation with Rick LaVoie Part II

Show # 67: Conversation with Rick LaVoie

In this week’s show, I sat down with Rick LaVoie, to discuss why LD kids need different approaches in education that “regular” kids, self-esteem, and motivation. Rick has over 30 years experience teaching and mentoring kids with learning disabilities, has been a guest lecturer at many universities; and has made national television appearances on the CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, ABC Evening News and Disney Channel Presents.

Rick serves as a consultant on Learning Disabilities to several agencies and organizations including Public Broadcasting Service, New York Times, National Center for Learning Disabilities, Girl Scouts of America, Child Magazine and WETA in Washington DC. He is a member of the Professional Advisor Board of the Learning Disabilities Association.

Rick has delivered his message to over 500,000 parents and professionals throughout North America. He has the distinction of having delivered Keynote Addresses for all three of the major special needs advocacy organizations in the United States (Learning Disabilities Association, Council for Exceptional Children, Children with Attention Deficit Disorder).

I saw Rick speak at the Centreville School several years ago, and his talk changed the way I parent my children. Many of the regular listeners to the podcast will often hear me quote Rick, including my favorite phrases I got from him “When Elephants Fight, It’s the Grass that gets Trampled” and “You need not attend every battle to which you are invited.”

Rick has done us all a favor by putting some of his jewels of wisdom into two great books: It’s So Much Work Being Your Friend: helping the child with learning disabilities find social success, and most recently, The Motivation Breakthrough- 6 Secrets to Turn On The Tuned-out Child. These books should be on every parent’s bookshelf, since we all have times when we need help to inspire our children to do just a little more and not give up on themselves.

Rick delivers great advice in a direct, easy to understand manner, complete with examples that we all can relate to. Rick’s advice has made me a better and more compassionate parent, and I hope you enjoy hearing him as much as I enjoyed talking to him. I strongly recommend his new book to every parent and educator- it’s simply amazing.

Some brief news- I have recently joined the Mommycast & Friends Podcast Channel. My good friends, Paige & Gretchen from Mommycast have put together a group of the best family-friendly podcasts on the web, so parents can find the best content and the best information to make our daily lives easier and a while lot more fun, too!

Other great shows on the channel include Just One More Book! by Mark Blevis and Andrea Ross, discussing some of the greatest children books out there; Boutique Cafe; Runaway Design, TechnoGeekery- a tech show for the rest of us, delievered in plain english, and of course, Mommycast and the Mommycast Music Show. I’m really excited to join such a great group of shows, and encourage you to check them out as well!

As always, I’d love to hear what you think about the show- please email me with any feedback at LDpodcast@gmail.com.

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