New Book Series for Young Music Students

A new series of books, Having Fun with Music - The Young Child's Piano Book is a wonderful and creative way to introduce young children to the joys of music. The first and second volumes of this series are now available and the third book is due out this summer. The books were written by Lori J. Lerman, who has taught voice and piano to children and adults for over 30 years, along with other accomplishments too numerous to mention. Your blogger has been friends with the author since seventh grade and can attest to her deep love of and experience with teaching music. Each book incorporates teacher's notes, explaining the concept behind the lesson, how to use the lesson, and additional activities to extend what is being taught. The books are designed for children from kindergarten through third grade, but can be used for younger children who show an interest in piano or older children with little or no musical background. 

In a few years, this baby will be ready to learn piano with this excellent series.

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When I asked Lori why she wrote this series, she explained, "My Master’s degree is in Reading and Language Education, so I’ve always been particularly interested in the connection between learning language and learning music. Young children learn language in well-known stages. First they learn to understand speech, then they learn to speak themselves. Eventually, once they're fluent in spoken language, they learn to understand it in written form. Music is a language, and it should be taught to young beginners in the same series of steps. It would be ridiculous to teach children to read and write before they know how to talk, and it’s just as silly to teach them to read music before they actually understand what it means.

"I’m writing the Having Fun with Music series to try to incorporate what we know about language into the process of learning music, using the same series of steps. The early activities use listening, singing, movement, and keyboard improvisation to create “fluency” in the language of music. Once this process has gotten started, the child then begins to learn written notation as a way to take the sounds they already recognize and understand, and recreate them on paper.

"The most important part of the series, I think, is that its main goal is to make piano lessons enjoyable for young children. Every lesson has instructions for parents and teachers on the facing page, including suggestions for optional activities and ideas for using a floor keyboard or incorporating movement. Songs are introduced through singing and games before the child is asked to play them. The parent or teacher is urged to use whatever ideas and suggestions seem appropriate for their own child and to spend as much or as little time on each activity as their individual child seems to prefer. Since young children love repetition and need to repeat skills they have mastered, reviewing activities already completed is greatly encouraged. Rather than progress quickly through the book and then move on to the next, children can spend as much time as they like repeating and enjoying their favorite songs and games."

Thanksgiving Books -- New and Old

This seems to be a year when seasons and holidays sneak up on us. Just yesterday, we were hit with the first blast of snow here in New York, snarling roads and surprising even the weather forecasters with its intensity. Next week is Thanksgiving, occurring on the earliest possible date, given the federal law that requires it to be on the fourth Thursday of November.

Among the many special things about Thanksgiving are that it has always been notable for its message of  friendship and inclusion and that it is celebrated by all of the cultures that make up the American melting pot. If your family tradition includes sharing books with the children at your Thanksgiving dinner (and if it doesn't, it might be a good year to start), there are a few books you might want to consider.

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga is a new picture book that was written by a member of the Cherokee Nation. It looks at how the Cherokee people express gratitude -  otsaliheliga (oh-jah-LEE-hay-lee-gah) - throughout the year in their celebrations and ceremonies.

If your family likes the Macy's parade, they might especially enjoy reading about how it got started, in  Melissa Sweet's , Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade, which tells the story of the parade and the man who began the tradition in the 1920s (ages 4 and up).

Other good choices for the children at your celebration include:

The Pilgrims' First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern
(ages 4 and up)
This classic chronicles the struggles of the pilgrims during their first year at Plymouth Colony, their friendship with Native Americans like Squanto, and the first, three-day long Thanksgiving celebration.

Fancy Nancy: Our Thanksgiving Banquet by Jane O’Connor

(ages 4 and up, and older kids can read this on their own)
Fancy Nancy helps her family prepare for a fantastic Thanksgiving meal, with all her usual flair. Comes with stickers!

Turkey Trouble  by Wendi Silvano
(preschool - 3rd grade)
A terrified turkey attempts to disguise himself to avoid becoming Thanksgiving dinner in this silly story, complete with a happy ending.

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey
(ages 4 and up)
 In this zany rewritten version of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, children on a school field trip to a farm are troubled to learn about the impending fate of the turkeys they meet there. This funny story, full of Pilkey’s trademark humor, is sure to please both kids and parents. 

Thanksgiving on Thursday (Magic Tree House #27) by Mary Pope Osborne
(ages 6 and up to read on their own)
Jack and Annie travel back to the first Thanskgiving Day in 1621, where they learn about life in Plymouth. 

Little Critter: Just So Thankful by Mercer Mayer
(ages 3 and up)
Although Little Critter is initially jealous of the kid down the street who seems to have everything, he learns that there is much to be thankful for in this charming book 

Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl, Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy, and Tapenum's Day: A Wampanoag Indian Boy In Pilgrim Times, by Kate Waters
(ages 4 and up; students in grades 4 and up can read it on their own)  
Through a series of photographs taken in a recreated colony, Waters teaches about the lives of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans.

We hope you enjoy sharing these books -- and being together with family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Books for Young Children

A number of years ago, we looked at a program called, A Book on Every Bed, which was designed to encourage families celebrating Christmas to leave a book on every child's bed, so that he or she would wake up Christmas morning with the special gift of a book.

Even though Christmas has come and gone this year, we were reminded of this initiative just yesterday, when your blogger "played hooky" and took a one-day trip from New York to Washington D.C. to spend time with her new grandson.

This baby is surrounded by books. They are part of his life long before he can even speak, let alone read. His parents have been the beneficiaries of numerous gifts of books - classics they recall from their own childhoods and new books that are destined to be classics in years to come. They have started reading to him even though he is only a few weeks old.

But too many children aren't as fortunate. We know that reading to and with children builds crucial skills that stay with children as they grow and develop. That's why we have been big fans of the national nonprofit organization, Reach Out and Read (ROAR), which we have written about before. Building on the fact that over 90 percent of young children are seen in a pediatric practice at least once a year, ROAR provides training to doctors, nurses, and nurse practitioners in how to talk to parents about the importance of reading to their children; how to demonstrate to parents how to interact with their children while reading - including cuddling and setting reading routines; and then gives a new book to each child to take home and keep.

If your child lives a life rich in books and reading, you may want to learn more about  Reach Out and Read, and express your gratitude by helping a less fortunate child to know the same joy of books and the benefits that reading brings.

Photo by Picsea on Unsplash

Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World

Last year, we wrote about research supporting a way to manage emails while managing stress. Tending to our internal needs while interacting with the external world has become a particularly challenging and important task as technology has increasingly saturated our daily realities. With smartphones vibrating in our pockets, lighting up next to our beds, and dinging at us from our desks, it can be easy to feel as if we are owned by technology rather than vice versa.

With so many distractors competing for our attention, and with attention being so vital for completing the tasks consistent with our goals and desires, we find ourselves in a historically unique predicament. Of course, while there wasn’t Facebook to check or text messages to respond to in the past, distraction was always a part of life. For example, one of our oldest ancestors might have been foraging for food when suddenly there was a rustle in the trees signaling a nearby predator. This would trigger a shift in focus away from the original goal (finding food) to a more pressing need for survival (escaping the predator). Illustrated in this example is that distractibility can actually be adaptive, which is precisely the reason it evolved. It is therefore important to remember that the key to optimal attention is not to avoid or somehow rid of distractibility, but to modulate our focus in the best way.

Authors Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen emphasize this in their book The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World. They present a wealth of interesting research regarding the brain, its cognitive feats and limitations when it comes to attention, our behaviors as they relate to focus and distractibility, and the impact of constantly shifting our attention as technology beckons. Finally, they suggest ways to take control and maximize your productivity and general well-being in the face of so much technological buzzing.

We appreciate and recommend this book, not just as professionals who work with many students struggling with attention, but as imperfect, self-reflective people who are always looking to understand ourselves better and improve the allocation of our own attentional resources. Perhaps you can challenge yourself to put the smartphone down and give it a read!

Social Cognition and the Benefits of Being Nice

In a recent New York Times article, “Be Nice — You Won’t Finish Last,” author Sarah Maslin Nir reflects on having been a generally kind and amiable person, which served her well as a child and then seemed to link to a lower social status as a teenager. She then considers her experiences in the context of work by Dr. Mitch Prinstein, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor, who has studied the phenomenon of popularity. Dr. Prinstein draws a distinction between likability and status, and has researched their respective trajectories. The kind of friendly and altruistic behaviors that Nir displayed from early childhood link to positive outcomes in adulthood, including in romance and business. The status of Nir’s cooler teenage peers, however, which may have emerged from a combination of power and dishonorable behavior, is actually associated with negative long-term outcomes. In particular, high-status teens are at increased risk for going on to engage in dangerous behaviors.

Dr. Prinstein notes that being open and kind fosters likability, which in turn facilitates opportunities for enriching experiences and learning, which then contribute to advancement. “Be nice” is clearly good advice from a moral standpoint, and following the Golden Rule should be encouraged for its own sake.

 It is worth keeping in mind, though, that social skills are also important for academic and lifelong success. This is why here at The Yellin Center, we include social cognition among the various areas that we look at and discuss as part of our assessments. A student could have plenty of intellectual resources, but without being able to understand, relate to, and get along with others, one’s learning and achievements could only come so far. With collaboration having become an integral part of the classroom experience, students generally have ample opportunity to hone and utilize skills that will be vital in the rest of their lives, across settings.

 It should be noted that being socially skilled is not synonymous with being extroverted, despite what may be some common misconceptions. Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, has been a key figure in synthesizing and sharing research regarding introversion. Introverts, representing one-third to one-half of the population, are not necessarily shy, but prefer and thrive in environments where social stimulation is relatively low. They tend to listen more than they talk, to think before speaking, and to have careful, sensitive temperaments. These qualities, all aspects of social cognition, can foster achievement, creativity, and a valuable kind of leadership. Being an extrovert or an introvert is not better or worse; often what is most important is finding the right fit between personality and niche. Keeping this in mind, educators should be careful not to encourage class participation to an extent that is at the expense of identifying and nurturing students’ differing natures and assets; but certainly “Be nice” is a goal worth having, for many reasons, for everyone.

Book Review: How to Reach and Teach Children with Challenging Behavior

When I started my school psychology internship at a private K-8 school, I never expected to be standing in front of a classroom full of seventh grade boys. Little did I know, it was standard practice at this school to use all available staff to cover for absent teachers. This way, the “sub” would be a familiar face and, theoretically, able to continue with the planned curriculum in a way that an outsider could not. I thought this was a great idea, until it was my turn to lead a small language arts class for 60 minutes. Like many first-time teachers, I was given a harsh lesson in the realities of classroom management. It became immediately apparent that I needed help, so I took two steps.

First, I began observing my peers to see what strategies worked for them in their classrooms. This was a great way to learn about the culture of the school and what the students responded to. I also bought a book that looked promising, called How to Reach and Teach Children with Challenging Behavior, by Kaye L. Otten and Jodie L. Tuttle. It ended up living in my backpack for the rest of the year, because I could never be without it and its reproducible resources.

How to Reach and Teach is a series of books published by Jossey-Bass Education that aims to provide teachers and other school professionals with interventions and strategies to help children with challenging behavior, ADHD, or dyslexia. There are also two books in the series focused on teaching in an inclusive classroom (i.e., a class with students in both the mainstream and special education programs) and using a balanced literacy approach. I have only used the book geared towards working with students who present behavioral challenges in the school setting, and find myself recommending it to all new school professionals, from teachers to psychologists to learning specialists.

The book takes a positive approach to behavior change with a focus on specific behavioral strategies to help individual students. It also includes detailed strategies for preventing challenging behavior and setting up a classroom that is conducive to learning. The book is user friendly and appropriate for teachers with even the most minimal psychology or classroom management training. It starts with the basics of the authors’ philosophy, which is heavy on developing respect for students and an understanding of why they behave the way they do. It goes on to explain how to use behavioral reinforcement for individuals and groups of students. There is also a chapter on “logical undesirable consequences” which, the authors point out, is not the same as punishment, which in the long run does not teach students the best way to move through school and life. Finally, the book explains the full process of implementing a plan, from operationally defining problem and replacement behaviors to tracking progress.

The book also includes lengthy examples of cases that have worked in the real world and a chapter on how to handle crisis situations. Those who have purchased the book are allowed to photocopy all the resources, which are printed on standard 8x11 paper. This book is one of many great resources for working with students who are having difficulty in a traditional educational environment, and it’s definitely a permanent fixture on my bookshelf.

Once Again, Banning Books

There are some events that we wish would become obsolete, so we didn't have to revisit them year after year. But censorship seems alive and well, so we are writing again about Banned Books Week, which began on September 25th and runs through October 1st this year.

This event is spearheaded by the American Library Association  (ALA) and its Office of Intellectual Freedom. We've written about Banned Books Week before: in 2011, 2013, and 2014. [This is our 933rd post, so we beg your indulgence if we revisit certain subjects.] But the list of banned books keeps changing. The 2015 list, for example, includes Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, two books that became extraordinary Broadway productions and which won Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Musical, respectively, in 2015.

Many classic books also have been banned in different places at different points in time, including The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, To Kill a Mockingbird, and 1984.

It's instructive to see where challenges to books originate, and the ALA has created a graphic illustrating this information. One of the benefits to our digital age is that access to books no longer depends on the standards of a local library, school board, or bookstore. Books are available in numerous formats from a wide variety of sources, and there is an extraordinary trove of information that readers of all ages can access as they make their decisions about what to read.

Why are some books challenged? The reasons seem to change over time, since the subject matter of contemporary books tends to reflect our society's focus and concerns, but sexuality and religion seem to be the most frequent reasons. Of course, parents need to make sure that the books their young children read are suitable for their level of understanding and reflect values with which they are comfortable. But making certain titles unavailable for older teens and adults in a community violates the Library Bill of Rights established by the ALA, which includes such rights as:

• Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

• Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

• Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

                               

Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association

“Plan B” for Challenging Behavior

One book we really like here at The Yellin Center is The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross Greene, Ph.D. The book’s been around for almost 20 years and, despite its name, is a great resource for anyone who is a parent or teacher of children who experience challenging behaviors. Almost every child could use help with some behavioral expectation, whether it’s escalating sibling rivalry or difficulty stepping away from social media as bedtime approaches. Greene’s book outlines a method of collaborative problem-solving, in which children and adults work together to solve problems and curb challenging behavior while improving communication skills.

Dr. Greene starts by debunking those myths we’ve heard so many times – that kids are choosing to behave badly and they just want more attention. The mantra of the book is that kids do well if they can; when the demands of a situation exceed the skills a child has to adaptively respond to those demands, challenging behavior will occur. In other words, lots of children want to succeed and follow the rules, but they are delayed in the development of some of the necessary skills for doing so. Children with executive functioning difficulties are particularly at risk, as they often have trouble with controlling their behaviors and emotions when things start to get heated. The goal then is to figure out what skills the child is lacking and how this is resulting in a behavioral difficulty. The method, which he calls “Plan B,” walks caregivers through three steps:

• empathizing with the child by seeking out his or her perspective about the difficulties he or she is having

• sharing the adult’s concerns respectfully by noting how it is affecting the child and other people in the child’s life

• inviting the child to join in the process of brainstorming potential solutions that address the concerns of both problem-solving partners

“Plan B” helps parents, teachers, and students work on their executive functioning skills while they’re working through challenging behaviors. The book also addresses ways the process can be used with siblings, between two students, and as a collaboration among parents and teachers. Are you wondering why it’s called “Plan B”? The more traditional reward-and-punishment approach (“Plan A”) to sparking behavior change might work for a lot of students; but those who lack some of the executive functioning skills like inhibition, flexibility, and frustration tolerance need something that will help them build those skills up as part of the process. There’s a lot to learn from Dr. Greene’s collaborative approach to problem-solving, and many useful tools are available for free on the website.

Supporting Anxious Children

While collaborating with fellow teachers in different parts of the country, your blogger has noticed a common theme: anxiety in students is becoming a much more salient issue in today’s classrooms. Data supports the notation that anxious tendencies in children is on the rise; a study conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health found that 25.1 percent of kids 13-18 in the United States have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. 

Many colleagues have shared that they feel ill equipped and under prepared to mitigate these types of social-emotional and behavioral challenges. But behavior and self-regulation aren’t the only concerns teachers or caregivers are faced with when supporting children with mental health issues. Students who are dealing with psycho-social stressors often struggle to focus on their learning and their academic performance often wanes as a result. For example, a study published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology surveyed a group of 1,197 students without a diagnosed reading or math disability. The students who were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder were more likely to be in lower achieving reading and math groups.

We have written before about self-regulation strategies and teaching children mindfulness; some of these ideas and tools may be effective interventions for helping students cope with anxiety and behavioral difficulties. However, another excellent resource is an informative book written by Dr. Nancy Rappaport and Jessica Minahan titled The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students. The Behavior Code provides strategies to determine causes and patterns of behavior in order to effectively de-escalate challenging situations. The book is also a treasure trove of worksheets and practical resources.

In their book, the authors emphasize that misbehavior is a symptom of an underlying cause and is a form of communication that serves a function and has a pattern to it. They explain that a displayed maladaptive behavior is often the symptom of underdeveloped skills, such as weak executive functioning, poor self-regulation, or immature social skills. The behavior is often the child’s attempt at solving a problem the best way they know how. Children will continue to engage in the problematic behavior due to the function it serves in getting them a desired result. For example, whining may get the teacher’s attention. Often, when teachers systematically evaluate behavior they will discover a pattern to what triggers or causes the behavior and what function it is serving. Knowing the cause, function, and pattern to challenging behavior is the first step towards helping build effective, personalized, interventions in order to support the child

The authors also provide some tangible tips for working with anxious students:

• It is common for teachers or caregivers to publicly praise positive behavior. However, children with anxiety don’t always want any extra attention from peers, which can make this strategy ineffective. Private or non-verbal praise is often better for students with anxious tendencies.

• Students with anxiety often enter into negative thinking cycles. Vague or non-specific praise is easy for them to dismiss. The authors suggest using fact-based praise with specific examples of how the student has done. 

• There are new biofeedback tools that can turn calming down into a game for students. One such tool is EmWave, which gives students a black and white picture that will slowly fill with color as the device monitors the child’s heart rate and the student begins to calm.

Creativity and Education

A quick walk and one subway transfer away from The Yellin Center is The 92nd Street Y, a brimming New York City resource for arts, fitness, and intellectual engagement. Your blogger had the privilege of attending a recent talk there as part of their 7 Days of Genius Festival. Interviewed by David Epstein, the speakers were psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman and journalist Carolyn Gregoire, authors of Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind. They talked about what creativity is, how and when it tends to emerge, paradoxes surrounding its functioning, and an assortment of related fun facts. For example, did you know that Thomas Edison caused an explosion in his lab (Oops!) before becoming the creative genius he tends to be thought of today?

The Edison example speaks to the importance of creative people creating a lot of not-so-great, or potentially just awful, stuff in the process of getting to excellence. Creators thrive when their need for uniqueness exceeds their need to belong, and when they are adept at handling rejection. This makes us wonder about the typical school focus on needing to do X,Y, and Z to get an “A” (for “Approval”?), an encouragement to meet expectations rather than to defy them in hopes of putting forth something creative. Risk-taking, by virtue of its name, is difficult enough; and school systems, by virtue of their predominating models, may be discouraging it further. Also, despite how important play is for fostering creativity, as well as for other key developmental skills, play has seen a huge decline in schools over the past few decades. It may be wise to try to strike more of a balance in classrooms between teaching precise formulas and encouraging playful mindsets.

Kaufman shared that as a child, the prevailing message he got from his teachers was that he was stupid. He was not conforming to expectations. This translated into discouraging messages about his potential, not just as a student but as a contributing member of society. There is a beautiful irony in his talking about this as a successful psychologist and prolific writer, not just contributing in a significant way but— in the process— encouraging others to do the same. He notes that while sitting in the classrooms where he was treated as stupid, he was engaging in creative inner monologues. My hope is that particularly in the Digital Age, in which innovation is arguably more important than memorization, teachers will do what they can to encourage, not stifle, such creativity.

Choosing Nonfiction Texts

Classroom read-alouds are a tradition, but they’re changing with the times.

Educators, including the team that drew up the Common Core Standards, are realizing that a focus solely on fiction doesn’t serve children well. Stories are wonderful, of course, and serve an important purpose. But most upper-level reading material is expository, and students often struggle when they haven’t had much experience with informational text.

There is evidence that hearing non-fiction texts in the early grades helps prepare children for the time when they will switch from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Expository texts also build kids’ background knowledge, helping them to make more sense of both texts they read themselves and the world around them. In short, kids need more exposure to non-fiction texts, and many teachers are beginning to add them to the read-aloud repertoire.

Knowing what one should do and knowing how to do it are not the same thing, however. Where do teachers, whose expertise often lies in fictional storybooks, begin when looking for non-fiction texts to read to classes? And how can parents find engaging, factual texts to read at home? Here are some ideas for teachers; parents should look for *s that indicate which ideas will work at home, too:

*Ask the librarian where to begin. They’re experts on texts of all kinds and will be overflowing with ideas.

*Look for a hook. Non-fiction texts are often fascinating and enjoyable, but there are some dry ones out there. Look for texts that begin with an exciting proposition or describe a situation to which your students can relate (or one that is exciting to imagine).

*Go beyond books. Magazines and websites are great sources for articles about all sorts of topics and the only good sources for current events. We like Time for Kids (3rd grade+), National Geographic for Kids (2nd+), Muse (4th+), and Ranger Rick (2nd+). (Note: grade levels correspond to the age at which kids can comprehend orally presented text, not the age at which they can read from these sources independently.) Additionally, educators can choose a level of complexity for news articles from Newsela so that content is available at just the right reading level for nearly any age.

Read non-fiction during your usual literature block. Ask students to treat these texts the way they would novels or stories: They should make predictions, visualize what they are hearing, and pay attention to the way the author uses language.

Keep a log of what you read aloud. List the name of the book or article, the source, and your students’ response. This will be a great personal resource to turn to year after year, and may help other teachers come up with ideas for their own classrooms, too.

Make listening less passive by getting kids thinking before you begin reading. Quiz students about their prior knowledge first or list facts they “know” about the topic. After reading, ask the class whether the text confirmed those facts.

Non-fiction texts are wonderful models for writing because students are assigned more and more expository pieces as they move through the grades. Exposure to explanatory language, which students use to display their understanding of what they learn, will make it easier for them to generate similar sentences themselves. Teachers might try using promotional texts, like destination campaign pieces from a travel agency, as models for writing persuasive essays.

*Remember that it is fine to read only parts of nonfiction texts. Since there’s no need to see a story to its conclusion, teachers should feel free to pick and choose sections of longer texts that seem most appropriate. You may want to have a few extra copies of a text on hand, though; curious students may want to learn more on their own!


This post contains our own ideas, with inspiration from veteran teacher Tony Snead.

Teaching Children Mindfulness

At The Yellin Center we often work with students who struggle with attention and self-regulation. There is a large body of research to underpin the value of systematically teaching mindfulness to children. Not only can mindfulness training help children learn to self-soothe and monitor their behavior, but it also can develop intrinsic qualities like compassion, kindness, thoughtfulness, and caring.

There are several thoughtful, structured approaches to help develop a child’s awareness of the world around them and grow their emotional intelligence. Taking part in activities that promote mind-body awareness, such as martial arts, yoga, or dance, can be valuable for students who struggle to regulate their impulses. Mindfulness exercises are another great way for children to improve their ability to sustain focus, regulate their emotional responses, and make better decisions.

Some of our favorite resources are:

I am Yoga  by  Susan Verde and Peter H. Reynolds

We have written in previous blogs about children’s author and illustrator Peter H. Reynolds. This time he has teamed up with certified yoga instructor Susan Verde to create a book that encourages children to explore the relaxing world of yoga. The intention of the book is to foster creativity and self-expression in young people in a playful, engaging manner. The narration of the book encourages students to get moving as they are read to, and the back of the book houses a detailed explanation of all 16 poses they will be guided through.

A Handful of Quiet: Happiness in Four Pebbles by Thich Nhat Hanh and Wietske Vriezen

A Handful of Quiet describes Pebble Meditation as a “unique technique to introduce children to the calming practice of meditation.” Pebble Meditation was developed by author Thich Nhat Hanh, who is a Buddhist monk and poet. He was nominated  for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for his work in mindful living. The book guides students through a hands-on mindfulness practice that helps relieve stress, increase concentration, and develop gratitude.

Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children  by Thich Nhat Hanh, Chan Chau Nghiem and Wietske Vriezen

Mr. Thich Nhat Hanh and Ms. Wietske Vriezen bring forth another exceptional resource for developing mindfulness in children. Planting Seeds offers concrete activities and a detailed curriculum for parents and teachers to help children improve communication, grow confidence, and deal with difficult emotions. Techniques in the book and the accompanying CD include deep relaxation, conflict resolution, ethical guidelines for children, and mindful breathing.

I wonder…  by Annaka Harris and John Rowe

I Wonder... is a beautifully illustrated picture book written for children age one and above. The story follows a little girl as she confronts several questions about the world around her. Through the process she learns that it is okay to not know all the answers but rather that curiosity and awareness of the world is what matters. The story offers lessons in emotional intelligence and aims to build children’s confidence in themselves.

 

What Does It Mean to be Present? By Rana DiOrio and Eliza Wheeler

The award winning children’s book What Does it Mean to be Present? encourages students to be mindful by equipping them with practical ways to be present. It teaches students how to listen to themselves and others, as well has how to slow down and focus on what is going on in the world around them. This book is one of several in the What Does It Mean To Be …? series. So if you like this story, you may also enjoy author Rana DiOrio's books on developing kindness or a global mindset.

The Case for Reading Aloud to Kids – Of All Ages

Most of us know by now that reading aloud to young children is critical. Listening to stories helps children build familiarity with the way books work, increases receptive language and critical thinking skills, and establishes positive feelings about reading. But Rebecca Bellingham, an instructor in the Literacy Specialist Program at Columbia University’s Teachers College, believes that reading aloud shouldn’t stop once children are able to read for themselves.

In a recent TED Talk, Bellingham explains that adults are simply more proficient at reading than children. This means that grown-ups can demonstrate the kind of prosody that good readers use: emphasizing certain words, slowing down during important parts and speeding up during suspenseful parts, and pausing to wonder in appropriate places. A truly skilled reader will ask questions of the text, too, which is something easily demonstrated by an adult reader. Modeling all of these good practices gives the young people listening implicit instruction about what they should be doing in their own minds as they work through a text. 

Bellingham advocates reading aloud at home for other reasons, too. Both kids and adults may spend time within the same four walls, but she worries that, more and more, individuals are interacting with their own screens and not each other. Parents who read to children can use the book as conduit for connecting with their kids. Simply sharing the journey of a good story can be a bonding experience, and books can spark important and interesting family conversations.

Here are some recommendations for reading to young people, especially at home:

• Allow your audience to have a say in the books you choose. Remember that chapter books are excellent read-aloud candidates; even though reading aloud is appropriate for all ages, it will be difficult to get a twelve-year-old excited about listening to The Cat in the Hat. 

• If possible, preview the text ahead of time. A quick skim will help you plan how you might want to use your voice to make the story come alive.

• Ask what happened during last night’s reading before you begin a new section. Reviewing text that’s already been read is a great habit for any reader of any kind of text.

• Model the way the story affects you. Pause after the author says something profound to show that it was worth thinking about. Allow joy or sadness to creep into your voice in appropriate places. Make comments and ask unobtrusive questions aloud (e.g. “I wonder why she did that;” “Who is this guy?”) but then keep right on reading. We don’t’ recommend asking your kids to answer comprehension questions about reading at home; the primary goal of leisure reading is to be pleasurable, and you don’t want anyone to be put on the spot and start to shut down. They’ll get plenty of comprehension questions in school. 

• Many children won’t want to sit still while listening, and that’s OK. Drawing or coloring or building with Legos can be a great way to keep kids' hands occupied while their minds are focused on the story. We know one family in which the children used evening storytime to pair clean socks that had just come from the dryer while their mother read to them!

LitCharts Are Excellent Tools for Pre-Reading

At The Yellin Center, one of our favorite strategies is called “frontloading.” Useful for all students, frontloading is particularly good for those who struggle to identify the most important ideas in a lecture, lesson, or text. The principle is very simple: Students prepare themselves for learning with a preview of the lesson, concept, or reading. Examples include watching a Khan Academy video; a short introduction from an instructor; or a walk-through of a textbook chapter, focusing on the headings, captions, and images, before reading the whole thing. We find that students who frontload are more prepared to learn because they can more easily identify the most important information.

Literature can be difficult to frontload, however. Unlike textbooks, novels don’t have headings, diagrams, and images that can be previewed. Luckily, though, students who struggle with reading comprehension can prepare themselves to take on literature in a number of ways. One is to watch a movie version of the book* if one exists (keeping in mind that these versions often differ from the original book). Another is to use summaries like CliffsNotes or SparkNotes. For students who struggle with reading, though, these summaries can seem intimidating because they take the form of long blocks of text. So the original editors of SparkNotes have created a thoughtful, innovative, and free resource called LitCharts.

LitCharts provides resources for getting the most out of more than 250 plays, novels, and short stories, ranging from contemporary works like A Long Way Gone and The Fault in Our Stars to classics like Henry V and The Great Gatsby. The site (and its accompanying, free app) is interactive, so students can choose the format and content that will help them most. The “front page” for each book is called the Chart Board, which provides a visual representation of the whole book. Themes in each chapter are represented by color-coded rectangles, and by hovering over one of them the user can read a relevant, thematic summary snippet from that part of the book.

Its visual presentation is probably the best feature of LitCharts, but all of the other good stuff we’ve come to expect from literature companion sites is there, too: background information about the author and the story; a plot overview; and analysis of key characters, themes, symbols, and quotes. There is even information about how to cite LitCharts if a student references it in an essay. We also like the chart available for each book, which, once downloaded, presents key information about the author, context, and plot all in one document for easy reference.

LitCharts is not a substitute for the rich experience of reading a wonderful piece of literature, but it can help make that experience both more pleasant and more valuable to students who need support.



*Lots of parents and teachers may bristle at this idea, and we can understand why. A large part of the joy of reading is turning the pages in breathless anticipation of what will happen next. Many people feel that previewing a book in such a way “gives away” the story. For typically developing readers, we agree; we’d much rather read a book first, too! However, for students who struggle mightily with decoding, comprehension, or attention, advance knowledge of how the plot will unfold can actually help them build important reading skills.

Book on Autism wins the Samuel Johnson Prize

The Samuel Johnson Prize is the UK’s most prestigious literary award. This year, Steve Silberman’s popular science work Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently took home the prize for nonfiction. This is the first time in a decade and a half that a popular science work has taken home the esteemed award.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized, to varying degrees, by impaired social and communication skills, as well as the presence of repetitive, habitual behaviors. Currently, there is no definitive or singular cause for autism. However, researchers have begun unearthing several rare gene mutations that are being linked to ASD. Even with these advances in the research, the academic and medical community is still left with many unanswered questions.

Being the recipient of the Samuel Johnson Prize is not the first time Mr. Silberman has garnered acclaim for his writing on neurodiversity. He is an award-winning investigative journalist with bylines in The New Yorker, Time and Nature. His reach, however, extends beyond the realm of pencil and paper. His TED talk, “The Forgotten History of Autism,” has left a palpable impact and been translated into thirteen languages.

In his book Neurotribes, Mr. Silberman explores the history and shifting attitudes toward autism, as well as the complex science behind the childhood developmental condition. He digs into the social and political landscapes throughout history that have shaped our present understanding of autism. He traces the history of ASD all the way from its origins in the research of Hans Asperger to the modern day. He even goes as far as to try to tease out answers for why there has been an apparent explosion of ASD diagnosis in the past decade.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of his book is his discussion around the growing body of "neurodiversity" activists. Mr. Silberman details how professionals and persons with ASD are coming together to promote self-determination by seeking accommodations and technological advances in the workplace, as well as in education. The underlying message of Neurotribes is that as a society we should stop drawing sharp divisions between what we assume to be "normal" and "abnormal." Instead, he urges that we be cognizant that everyone, regardless of the presence of a learning difference, has a uniquely wired brain. This is a sentiment that we here at The Yellin Center wholeheartily believe in, and a philosophy we try to propagate in our daily work. Mr. Silberman paints an optimistic picture of how the world can become a better, more accepting, increasingly understanding place for those with learning differences.

The Benefits of Reading to Young Children

Pediatrician and journalist Perri Klass is a leading advocate of reading to young children, and has long been involved in Reach Out and Read, a national organization that works through health providers to distribute books to parents of young children, many of whom could not afford to purchase them on their own.

Dr. Klass notes, in a recent New York Times article, that although studies have looked at what happens when parents speak to their children, there had not been extensive research on the specific impact of reading to a child, as opposed to just talking to them. She shares that two new studies shed new light on just what happens when children are read to and the benefits this can have for learning and development.

In one study, researchers used a form of functional MRI to map the areas of the brain that were activated when preschool children listened to stories. They determined that those who had been read to more frequently at home showed greater activation of brain areas supporting mental imagery and narrative comprehension. The brain region that was activated is the same one that is used when older children are reading to themselves and the researchers believe that children who build their brain circuits by being read to when they are young may be better equipped to make the transition to reading on their own when they are older.

Another study looked at a group of picture books often used when reading to young children. The researchers found that these picture books contained more unique types of words than were found when parents spoke directly to their children. They concluded that the text of picture books may be an important source of vocabulary for young children.

A benefit that was not quantified by these studies is the joy for both parent and child of sitting together, cuddled up, and sharing a book. Parents of young children may get tired of reading the same favorite story over and over and over, but early childhood is fleeting. Besides, many years later, you will probably be able to remember all the words to those books you read aloud dozens of times!

Top Five Resources for Special Education Teachers

There is an abundance of exceptional, well researched literature out there for teachers who work with diverse students to draw from. However, I find that there are a select few texts that I refer back to regularly for clarification, insight or strategies. I have culled and whittled down my bookshelf to my top five picks, and described the merits of each text:

1. Exceptional Lives: Special Education in Today's Schools (7th Edition) by Ann Turnbull, Rud Turnbull, Michael L. Wehmeyer and Karrie A. Shogren

Exceptional Lives provides a detailed, robust description of the different disability categories and federal special education laws. This excellent text is a foundational "read and return to" resource for any teacher working with diverse learners. Throughout the text, the authors use the framework of three guiding themes: Inclusion, Partnerships, and Universal Design for Progress.

2. Assistive Technology in the Classroom: Enhancing the School Experiences of Students with Disabilities by Amy G. Dell, Deborah Newton and Jerry G. Petroff

This text discusses how assistive technology can be used to achieve the ideals of universal design for learning and differentiated instruction. The authors do not focus on disability categories; they reject one-sized fits all approaches by focusing on providing strategies and tools for specific needs. However, technology is changing rapidly and any book written about technology can become obsolete quickly. Thus, one of the merits of this resource is that the text comes with an accompanying website that the authors update with new tools and advancements in the latest research. 

3. Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom: Practical Applications (What Works for Special-Needs Learners) by Tracey E. Hall, PhD, Anne Meyer, EdD, and David H. Rose, EdD

This practical text describes the underlying principles of universal design for learning (UDL), and details tangible ways to use UDL to meet the needs of diverse students across age levels. This book has the power to equip teachers with the skills required to develop classroom goals, assessments and learning materials that use UDL. The book is cross curricular and provides examples and strategies for reading, writing, science, mathematics, history, and the arts. 

4. The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel, MD and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD

Although traditionally a parenting book, the principles of The Whole Brain Child are equally as valuable for teachers working with diverse learners. The book is a simple, practical resource that features twelve strategies for helping kids thrive in the face of common childhood challenges. The text hinges on the current medical and psychological understanding of child cognitive development and describes how a child’s brain is wired. The book explains how to use the understanding of a child’s brain to promote pro-social behavior in children. Drs. Siegel and Bryson also publish the The Whole-Brain Child Workbook: Practical Exercises, Worksheets and Activities to Nurture Developing Minds to help educators and parents deploy the twelve strategies.

5. Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary "Executive Skills" Approach to Helping Kids Reach Their Potential by Peg Dawson, EdD and Richard Guare, PhD

Often learners with special needs struggle with the important executive functioning skills required to sustain focus, follow directions, complete tasks and regulate their impulses. Smart but Scattered is a great resource for both parents and teachers to help children learn the important skills of organization, time management, problem solving and coping with their emotions. The book provides simple assessment tools to help evaluate your students' strengths and challenges accompanied by activities and strategies to help build their deficient skills.

Stressed Out? Lucky You.

We’ve written before about the positive impact some stress can have on test-taking. Now, recent research adds even more reasons to be at least a little grateful for looming deadlines or long to-do lists.

According to Dr. Salvatore Maddi of the University of California Irvine, people who understand that stress is inevitable tend to perform best under stress. Those who try to avoid it, on the other hand, are not only fighting a losing battle, they are setting themselves up to let stress get the best of them. Stress is not just a necessary unpleasantness, though. Stress is actually an opportunity: it can help us learn and grow.

According to Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D., a psychologist at Stanford and author of The Upside of Stress, our bodies release both nerve growth factor and a stress-recovery hormone called DHEA when we experience stress. Both of them increase neuroplasticity, priming our brains to learn from our experiences. Interestingly, undergoing stressful situations helps inoculate people for future, similar stresses; this explains why realistic training situations help prepare Navy SEALS or why seasoned emergency room doctors can keep their cool in the most chaotic of situations. 

Understanding stress can help make the difference between being paralyzed and empowered. Researcher Alia Crum tested this out with a group of students at Columbia Business School. Both groups underwent a stressful interview. First, though, half of the students watched a short video about how stress can improve performance. The other half watched a video that described the negative effects of stress. Sure enough, the group that watched the positive video actually released more DHEA during the interview, setting them up to be enriched (instead of crushed) by the experience.

To learn more, watch Dr. McGonigal’s TED Talk on this topic:

Appreciating the benefits stress can have on our ability to improve and learn may not make you feel thrilled when you’re totally swamped. But we hope it feels like a silver lining.

Picture Books That Celebrate Latino Culture

Some of childhood’s earliest lessons come from the pages of books. Trips to the bookshelf can expose kids to new information and ideas and teach them vivid lessons about life, all without having to leave home. It is too bad, then, that most of the picture books children see and hear feature characters that look the same. Kids of color love reading books about diverse characters, but young readers of any race or ethnicity can benefit from picture books that value the experiences of non-white characters.

To diversify the reading list of children in your life, here are some picture books we love that feature Mexican and Mexican-American characters. Race and culture are major themes in some, while others are simply stories in which the characters’ ethnic background is not underscored. Some of the books contain Spanish words, which children will enjoy learning; others are bilingual so that the whole text is presented in both English and Spanish side-by-side. For extra fun, we recommend helping kids look for cognates, or words that are the same or almost the same in both languages, such as “diaro” and “diary” in My Diary From Here to There.

Our list is roughly organized from less sophisticated themes to more complex themes. We recommend reading these books to children below third grade or so.

Abuela by Arthur Durros

Just a Minute by Yuyi Morales

What Can You Do with a Paleta? by Carmen Tafolla

My Abuelita by Tony Johnson

The Old Man and His Door by Gary Soto

I Love Saturdays y domingos by Alma Flor Ada

Dear Primo by Duncan Tonatiuh

Too Many Tamales by Gary Soto

The Perfect Season for Dreaming by Benjamin Aliera Saenz

Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora

Alejandro’s Gift by Richard Albert

The Gullywasher by Joyce Rossi

My Diary From Here to There by Amada Irma Perez

Recommended Reads for High-Level Students

Lots of people mistakenly think that success in difficult high school, college, or graduate-level courses is directly related to a student’s intelligence. Others believe it’s all about motivation. Smart, driven young people, the myth goes, are bound to do well, and if a student struggles it must be because she isn’t bright enough or lacks the will power to put in the time and effort.

These misconceptions can be very damaging to students. At The Yellin Center, we frequently work with students who blow us away with their intelligence, yet still struggle in school. More often than not, these sharp young people simply need to learn strategies to help them manage difficult coursework. Many times the strategies are not even especially complicated; they’re simply ways to conceptualize important relationships in curriculum, track their schedule, or organize ideas that a student hasn’t tried before.

Ambitious students who want ideas for new strategies that will help them learn more efficiently and produce high-quality work reliably will find two books tremendously useful: On Course by Skip Downing and Becoming a Master Student by Dave Ellis. Although neither book is inexpensive, both are filled with the kinds of tricks that the curve-wrecking students are already using, often without even realizing it.

On Course starts with a self-assessment tool that students can use to identify behaviors and beliefs that they wish to change. Part philosophy treatise, part bag of tricks, the book helps students understand what causes tendencies they don’t like and guides them through processes for adjusting their habits. On Course is also full of practical tips for taking good notes, improving reading comprehension, studying effectively, and more.

Students should try to get a new, hard copy of Becoming a Master Student, if possible, because many exercises in the book will require them to write on its pages. Like On Course, Becoming a Master Student helps young people to make discoveries about themselves and their habits, since understanding a problem is a critical first step to fixing it. In addition to lots of effective, specific strategies for helping students succeed academically, the newest edition provides information about cutting-edge technologies that make learning, organization, and time management feel easier.