Learning Problems in Children

by: Dev Sri

Children can experience learning problems because of several reasons. Some children excel at studies while others strive hard. In this article, we discuss the different behavioural and learning problems that students aged 5-15 face.

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is reading problem. The children find it difficult to read what they have written. Dyslexia is characterised by the difficulty of brain in separating and processing written and verbal language. These children find it difficult to learn spelling and to read fluently. They also confuse between similar looking letters like b, d, p, q, etc. They also tend to skip letters, words or sentences while reading.

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is the difficulty to write. Students with this problem may be smart at reading and memorizing. Such students also show signs of diminished motor coordination and find the tasks like tying a shoelace.

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is problems associated with numbers. They interchange the places of digits. This problem makes it difficult for the children to learn mathematics.

Dysnomia

Dysnomia is characterised by lack of ability in memorizing names or words. Pupils with this problem find it difficult to remember the word for objects, places or things.

Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is characterised by lack of or poorly developed skills in skilled tasks like typing, sewing, etc. Such children can also show signs of difficulty in controlling sound and speaking and can be slow at eating or drinking.

Children with these type of disorders may be smart at one or more special skills. For example, Ernest Hemingway is believed to have suffered from Dyspraxia.

Helping the children and instilling in them a sense of confidence is essential for the development of such children and to help them lead successful lives.

About The Author

Dev Sri provides insider information about Kerala Ayurvedic practices at http://keralaayurvedics.com/

Life Skills Summer Camp Teaches Students How To Align Their Actions With Their Values

by: Jim Hartley

SuperCamp, the life skills and academic summer camp, teaches campers to live what they value. If you value honesty, be truthful. If you value keeping your word, follow through. If you value being fair, do what you expect others to do.

Your identity is who you are. Your integrity is an expression of who you are.

• What do you value?

• How do these values show up in your life?

• Do your current actions support your values?

First define your values, then align your actions with your values

Integrity is first about knowing yourself—knowing your values, your desires, your talents, your dreams—and then being true to that self, in all your actions and interactions. Integrity is behavior congruent with your values.

When your actions are aligned with your values, you conduct yourself with authenticity, sincerity and wholeness. When you clarify your values, it helps you set goals that are consistent with those values. Together, your values and goals bring a sense of passion and purpose to your work and your life.

A lot of people simply act as they feel like acting, then find some justification—any justification—for why they did what they did. Their actions are largely unconsidered. Highly successful people, in contrast, use their values to steer their actions. They reflect, and then act. Their values motivate their actions, because they choose their actions to harmonize with their values.

Check your motivation—can you be honest enough with yourself to really admit why you’re doing something? Is it really a reflection of your values, or a reflection of what you want at the moment?

Choose your behavior to reflect your values, and you’ll move through life with authenticity, sincerity, and wholeness. When you live with integrity, it’ll show. People will trust you, almost instinctively. They’ll think of you as a person of your word. You’ll be known for your strong character.

When you live with integrity, you’ll enjoy a clear conscience. You’ll be filled with good feelings about yourself. Those good feelings will pour into everything you say and do. Integrity fosters trust and respect, the cornerstones of good relationships and good relationships are vital to success in all aspects of life.

Affirmations for INTEGRITY:

• I have stated beliefs and values.

• I know and understand them.

• My behavior reflects them.

“Integrity simply means not violating one’s own identity.” —Erich Fromm

SuperCamp summer programs fill up fast. Parents, go to http://www.SuperCamp.com now to learn about enrolling your son or daughter while space remains. Age-specific programs are available for students in grades 4-12 and incoming college freshmen. At the website, you also can get a free eBook that gives you an inside look at what works with teens from a world leader in youth achievement, SuperCamp co-founder Bobbi DePorter.

About The Author

Jim Hartley works for Quantum Learning Network, a company that focuses on children and teen education and life skills.

http://www.qln.com

Accountability And Responsibility Are Skills Taught At Summer Camp

by: Jim Hartley

At SuperCamp's summer camp programs, students are told to be someone who can be counted upon, someone who responds.

Ownership is the quality of accountability and responsibility. When you feel a sense of ownership, you give your best efforts and take pride in the results. When you take responsibility for your life, you begin to make things happen. You are in control because you stop blaming things outside yourself for your situation. You can create a huge shift in your life simply by taking ownership of your attitude.

Accountability

Taking ownership is all about accountability, taking ownership of what you do and think—including your mistakes, your excuses, your failures to act, and actions that you're not very proud of.

Dismantle the word "accountability" and you'll see that it literally means the ability to be counted on. It means you're willing to take responsibility for the choices you make. It means accepting responsibility for making change happen, whether good or bad. The bottom line is that whether things go wrong or right, you point to yourself as the cause. You're accountable.

Why hold yourself accountable? What does accountability do for you? Accountability puts you in control. It allows you to make things happen. It makes you a potent force in your own life.

Accountability is a whole-life concept: You can take ownership of your career, relationships, finances, education, fitness—everything that's important to you. You can create a massive shift in your life simply by taking ownership of your attitude. Accountability puts you in control—and being in control makes you feel powerful and effective.

The buck stops with you

When you pass the buck, you volunteer for powerlessness. You make yourself a passive ingredient in the recipe of your own life. You remove yourself from the equation.

You've heard, and probably used, denials of ownership that offer excuses, lay blame elsewhere, or otherwise justify actions that did not produce a favorable outcome: the kids made me late ... she didn't send the report ... I would have called, but ... etc. Denying responsibility doesn't make the problem go away, and it may even make you look unreliable and even dishonest. Although denial might take some of the immediate heat off you, it does little to relieve the feelings of guilt and incompetence that come when you know you've let someone down.

And that's the worst part of passing the buck: It erodes your relationships. It marks you as someone who can't be counted on. To maintain the respect of others and keep your relationships solid, the buck stops with you!

Above the line? Or below the line?

To illustrate the key of Ownership in our summer camp and school programs, we talk about playing above the line or below the line. Here's what it looks like:

Above the Line: Choices~Accountability~Freedom~Responsibility~Solutions~Willingess

Below the line: Laying Blame~Justification~Giving Up~Denial~Reasons

When you're playing above the line, you're taking responsibility, being accountable for your actions, and looking for solutions. You're taking ownership. Playing above the line wins you freedom, trust, and success. Above the line, you're not a victim of circumstances because you determine how you'll respond to them.

When you're playing below the line, you're blaming others for your mistakes, justifying your actions, or simply denying them. Below the line, you act as if circumstances are beyond your control—it's not your fault, there's nothing you can do about it. You live in complacency and inaction.

To understand the significance of the line in your life, think about some recent actions and decide whether your response was above the line or below the line. Did you miss a deadline? Were you late for a meeting? Did you take responsibility—or make excuses?

When you own your actions and attitude you can fix mistakes and overcome failures, you have the power to repair damaged relationships, and you experience a surge of potency and a sense of pride.

Affirmations for OWNERSHIP:

* I am accountable for my actions.

* I take responsibility.

* I see what needs to be done, and do it.

"People think responsibility is hard to bear. It's not. I think that sometimes it is the absence of responsibility that is harder to bear. You have a great feeling of impotence." —Henry Kissinger

About The Author

Jim Hartley

SuperCamp summer programs fill up fast. Parents, go to http://www.SuperCamp.com now to learn about enrolling your son or daughter while space remains. Age-specific programs are available for students in grades 4-12 and incoming college freshmen. At the website, you also can get a free eBook that gives you an inside look at what works with teens from a world leader in youth achievement, SuperCamp co-founder Bobbi DePorter.

Academic Summer Camp Provides Parent Support

by: Jim Hartley

For many years at SuperCamp, parents would ask us if we could start a program for them, to help them learn what their sons and daughters are learning at SuperCamp. In response, we started Parent Weekend an intensive three-day parent program that coincides with the final three days of a 10-day Junior Forum or Senior Forum student programs at the same location. The parents who attend love it, including graduating with their children on the final day.

In addition to exposing parents to many of the learning and life skills their sons and daughters discover at SuperCamp, we also talk with parents about how they can support their children at home. Here are nine great tips we share with parents of Senior Forum students, also known as "teens":

* Listen, really listen. Don't try to listen while doing something else. Put your chores aside so your teen knows you are paying attention.

* Take the long view. Remember, minor mishaps aren't major catastrophes. All incidents provide opportunities to practice good communication. Often, categorizing incidents according to their importance will help keep responses and consequences appropriate. Choose only the most important issues to evoke the strongest consequences.

* Make time for being together. Find activities you enjoy doing together and pursue them. If your invitation gets turned down, keep trying!

* Tolerate differences. View your teenager as an individual distinct from you. However, this doesn't mean you can't state your opinion if you disagree.

* Respect your teen's privacy. Just because he/she wants to keep their door locked, doesn't mean he/she is doing anything you wouldn't approve of. But, if a behavior is worrying you, speak up!

* State facts instead of opinions when you praise or discuss problems. Ask your teen to demonstrate "Open the Front Door" - a communication tool we use at SuperCamp. O - is an objective observation about the situation. T - is a thought or opinion about what you observed. F - is a feeling you had about what you observed. D - is what you want, your desire or outcome of the situation. Practicing this together is great for keeping the doors open!

* Ask your teen about his/her learning style. Knowing there are differences goes a long way toward explaining why we have problems understanding and communicating with some people and not with others. When you know what cues he/she picks up on most easily (visual, auditory or kinesthetic), you can take steps to help him/her learn faster and more easily.

* Support a positive attitude about learning. Create a positive study environment that includes appropriate reference materials, music and reminders that he/she is intelligent (like old report cards, awards, notes from teachers...). It is also helpful to demonstrate your own positive feelings about learning.

* Celebrate success! Positive feedback goes a long way to encourage repeat behavior. Each accomplishment by a family member deserves acknowledgement, whether verbal or by means of a special treat, like a trip to the movies, a special dessert, or posting on the bulletin board.

By practicing these nine techniques, parents will help build a better bond with their sons and daughters, improve communication, and ultimately be a part of their teens' success.

About The Author

Jim Hartley

Go to http://www.SuperCamp.com for more information and access to a free eBook that gives you an inside look at what works with teens from a world leader in youth achievement, SuperCamp co-founder Bobbi DePorter.

Tips to Help Balance Career and Family

by: Megan Hazel

Whether you are male or female, a mom or a dad, balancing career and family can be really difficult. When you're a woman, though, the choices you have to make seem especially difficult and the responsibilities all the more great. For some reason, women are guilt-ridden with their career decisions and the choices they make about working while trying to raise their children, providing nutritious meals for their family, keeping a respectable house and keeping their husbands happy. Last on the list, of course, is finding some time for themselves. So how does a woman find time to actually feel happy with her daily activities while keeping up with all of the responsibility?

First, take time to smell the roses! Literally, you can take time to smell the roses but you can actually do this with no flowers in sight. Every day, try to look around and appreciate what you have, taking in the sounds of your child's laughter, the wag of your dog's tail, the special glance of your husband as you tell a funny joke. Sometimes, the knowledge of what you have on your plate for the day will feel overwhelming, but a little perspective goes a long way. It may be a cliché and a very tired phrase, but it truly does work. People tend to get lost in the mundane, day-to-day "functioning" instead of really living their lives. For example, next time you are worried about fitting in your exercise with your child's play date at Little Gym, forego the Little Gym and head out with your son or daughter for a run. Strap the little one in the jog stroller or if he or she is old enough, ask them to put on the running shoes with Mommy and head outside! Once outside, you can literally stop to smell the roses. Just a few minutes of gratitude a day will work wonders for your soul and automatically make your life feel more balanced.

Along these same lines, try and give yourself some "me" time once a week. Once a week may not seem like much, but if you really allow yourself to soak it in and enjoy the time spent, it will make the stress of all of the rest of the hectic days melt away. Take a good block of time on a Saturday or Sunday - 2 hours, maybe - and mark this time in your calendar in pen, not pencil. Keep a standing appointment with yourself, and honor it as you would any other. Think you are too busy on a weekend to do this? You will feel much more productive the rest of the weekend allowing yourself this little ‘refresher', rather than trying to cram some time in on a random Tuesday or other weeknight. For this special time, you can book a massage or a facial at your favorite spa. Take a couple of hours to go window shopping at your favorites stores, by yourself or with a friend. Take in a matinee with a couple of girlfriends. If your husband is willing to fly solo on a Saturday night, you can even book a girls' night out once in a while and truly let loose! Even if your budget doesn't allow for these activities once a week, you can lock yourself in the bathroom with a good book, a bubble bath and a nice glass of wine and feel good about your time alone - you deserve some!

Probably the most obvious way to balance career and family is to incorporate your family into what would otherwise be "work time". If you have a short commute to work, for example, perhaps you can drive your kids to school each morning instead of having them take the bus. In the alternative, you could have your morning cup of coffee at the bus stop with them and spend a few minutes chatting about their day and what they plan to learn in school as you sip your cup of Joe and breathe in the morning air to mentally prepare for your own day ahead. If you normally exercise in the morning and leave the house very early, switch your workout time to lunch and leave the office to go to the gym, eating at your desk when you get back. You will have more time with your family each day and get a healthy break from your pile of papers to boot.

You may need to get a little creative with your schedule, but there are definitely ways to help balance career and family. Sometimes an extra few minutes each day or a once-weekly good block of time can go a long way in helping restore your peace of mind and help you feel less harried.

About The Author

Megan Hazel is a freelance writer who writes about women's health and career topics, similar to what consumers read in http://www.magazines.com/ncom/mag?mid=7765 Women's Health

How to Move Green – The Greenest Cities in the US

by: Josh Allen

While you have been considering all sorts of characteristics of a city to move to, have you considered how the city sits on the green list? It is time to consider things like better air quality, renewable energy, certified green buildings, public parks, and superior recycling programs. If this sounds like a better life to you, take a look at a few of the characteristics found in the top five greenest cities.

Portland, Oregon

Portland happens to be one of the greenest cites in America, and the community has a dedicated focus on making its city a great place to live. It is no wonder that the community is strong, as about half its energy comes from renewable sources. Many commuters in Portland bike to work, carpool or utilize public transportation, and the city has dozens of buildings that are certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Portland has also set an urban growth boundary that protects 25 million acres of forest and farmland.

San Francisco, California

If you have ever considered moving to sunny California, you certainly would not be alone on that thought. And if you are coming from a place like New York City, San Francisco has everything from the city life to being a leader in protecting our environment. SF is also a leader in green building with many projects that are certified green.

Boston, Massachusetts

Although not many people would have expect to see Boston on the top greenest cities list, they would probably be even more surprised to hear about its plans to open a power plant that would turn grass and leaves into methane gas.

Oakland, California

There should be no surprise that Oakland would make this list, as it is a close neighbor to San Francisco. Oakland, however, is on the cutting edge by offering its commuters zero emission hydrogen powered busses.

Burlington, Vermont

The lake community in Burlington prides itself in not only being a green state, but also a leader in green technology. Over a third of its energy comes from renewable resources. You probably won’t find any other city in the United States that is so dedicated to sustainability, as most of its public schools have switched to organically grown foods and sustainability plays a part in the curricula at most public schools

About The Author

Josh Allen is an editorial staff member of California New York Express. To learn more about Long Distance Movers and Long Distance Moving visit http://moveeast.com or call 1-888-680-7200.

How to Move Green – Local Services

by: Josh Allen

The movers are on their way, and you are getting excited to have your items unpacked and all settled in, but there are a few things left to figure out, such as what types of utilities to use in your new house.

If your utilities haven’t already been activated, you should do some investigating to see what types of energy is offered in your state. If you have made a move California, you are in luck as three of the top ten greenest cities in the United States are located in sunny California. If you made the trek to another state, don’t worry, as there has been a large effort to move to green energy in many states over the last several years. To find out if there are any green utility products available in your state, visit the U.S. Department of Energy website at www.Energy.gov and select your state.

Green Energy

The term green energy generally refers to a type of electricity that is produced from a renewable energy source, such as wind, solar power, geothermal etc. In the United States, over 50% of energy customers are able to purchase a green utility product directly from their electricity supplier.

The shift to green power is not off in the distant future anymore, it is becoming a reality. It is important for all of us to utilize green energy sources when possible, as we need to support the increase of renewable energy sources. This can reduce the burning of fossil fuels, such as natural gas, coal, and oil.

Regional Services

Once you have chosen and activated your green utility services, you can look for other regional green services such as a recycling center or transfer station. You will most likely have boxes and other materials leftover after your move that can be recycled if not stored for reuse. Get to know your local service facilities and find out the specifics on their procedures for proper recycling and disposal of your household items. While doing this research, you can visit Earth911.com to find out what services are offered to you locally.

Getting a fresh start and taking a new approach to living green can be a good way to refocus and get motivated again after your move.

About The Author

Josh Allen is an editorial staff member of California New York Express. To learn more about Long Distance Movers and Long Distance Moving visit http://moveeast.com or call 1-888-680-7200.