Monday, December 29, 2008

5) Institutions serve their own agendas.


This post is part of series on 7 Principles every parent should know about dyslexic children.

All human institutions: government, corporations and schools serve their own selfish self interest. This is called politics or the survival instinct. Organizations that fail to look out for there own self interest fail to continue to exist. They may have wonderful ulterior motives, but when individuals with in these institutions threaten the legitimate ideology and psychological stability of the institution - there is a predictable response that the individual most conform to fit the situation. Dyslexic students are by definition unable to conform to fit the model that every other student in the school is able to fit. Thus a dyslexic student feels an incredible amount of stress to conform to the standards of normalcy by learning to read.

If the student is unable to conform they will be viewed by the teachers, staff and other students as a burden. This is not to say there are not exceptions to this rule, but as a parent it is very important that you understand this basic ground rule. You must learn everything you can about how your school works and what options are available, who are the best teachers, who has the best reputation as special ED support person and what legal rights you have.

Rights you have…
1) You have the right to have your child tested to be find out if your child has a learning disability. You do not have to pay for this right. This right is guaranteed by Federal Law.
2) Your child has the right to an equal playing field - The test can discover how to give your child the same access to learning and success that other students have by themselves.
3) Your child has the right to go to school in a safe environment. No child should be treated or identified as different in front of there peers. Dances caps are out!
4) Your child do not have to attend special ed classes with out your agreement. You can always appeal any decision the school makes.

In addition you may have the ability to influence the out come of your child's school year by influencing some basic choices the school makes before the year begins. Assuming your child has been tested and is dyslexic then…

1) Learn how the culture of your schools approach to children with learning disabilities. Ask around – find other children with dyslexic kids – believe me they will know weather you can go in like a lamb or a lion. They will also know who your potential allies would be.

2) Interview next years teachers and talk to parents who have attended there classrooms and choose the teacher your child will be in based on your teachers comprehension of learning disabilities.
3) Give your child an advantage by doing reading with them in evenings during the summer - you do the reading – they see you read and see how fun it is while knowing that your not going to ask them too.
4) Meet with your teacher at every single parent teacher conference. Ask to meet your teacher before school begins – Understand that your child’s teacher is probably very busy right before school starts and they may not want to meet or meet very long. Try to keep this first meeting short and too the point.
5) If the school wishes to place your child in a special ed classroom you have the right to refuse such a transfer and if all else fails you have t right o change schools. LDS children learn better when main streamed then in a focused special ed room.
6) Join the parent teacher association – be a part of your child’s school as much as possible.

When you through all the homework your child needs support with after school in the evening you might be able looking at a full or at least half time job. So why are you not home schooling again?

Good luck let me know how I can help.
http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Asking for help the Central lesson of Dyslexia

Perhaps the key gift of being dyslexic is that the bedrock reality of learning disabilities is an inability to practice that central story of human experience… denial… denial of my inability to organize without assistance – denial of my systematic mis-spellings and denial of my incomplete memory. I can’t afford any of these denials – I can’t afford to pretend that I can organize, spell or remember with out assitance, because I can’t.

Must people can pretend that they are able to do these things – experts in brain research talk about how the brain is an effective tool for creativity but that organization and memory are not reliable uses for the brain with out using a written system in place. Now I know that many of my readers will disagree with this premise. Think about what I am saying the brain is not an effective tool for memory and organization. Here is the question that got me – what tool are you using to judge your ability to remember and organize things? Don’t believe my word – Read David Allen books.

I would suggest that your brain is not an accurate tool for judging your memory or organizational ability. Try a simple test – write down right now everything you did to day – put it in a envelope and date it one month from today. A month from now right down everything you wrote in the letter and then open the envelope. Make sure you include in your letter every single food or drink that you consumed today – every place you have gone and every person you have spoken too.

I know the what the results of your study will be… and I hope you do as well.

Dyslexic people learn a little bit earlier the value in writing things down and in asking for assitance from others in completing our daily task list. We are just lucky like that… I guess.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Fighting for Oxygen - Fighting for Life through Definitions.

In politics and life - definitions define the debate - so the importance of being clear about the language we use in talking about dyslexia can not be over estimated. Recently a nice little professional website http://www.dyslexiaresources.com/ visited my little blog and out of politeness I visited there site. I was disturbed to notice that they used words like symptom and treatment when discussing dyslexia.

A disease has symptoms so that you can recognize when you have it. You can get better when you receive treatment and you can get cured. There is no cure to dyslexia - it is the the way you're built. Dyslexic people can not be cured or improved they are made perfect - the way God made them. The problem is not them the problem is everyone else who has decided that literacy written and read is a sign of intelligence. Dyslexic people are in the same category with people who are born blind or deaf.

If I asked you - How do you know some one is Deaf or Blind. what are the symptoms of there blindness what is the treatment? You would laugh at me. So Dyslexic individuals are in the same boat. Now having said that I do believe that their are things you can do to help the dyslexic in your life have better brain functioning - but those steps would work for everybody. You just see better results in a dyslexic.

A dyslexic who is exposed to the idea that dyslexia is a disease will have a false expectation that they are broken and will someday be cured. Dyslexia is who we are - it is our gift, it is our life and it is a reflection of God's manifestation of love on this planet.

We are born in a time when the role of science and belief that progresses is tied or bound to improvements in technology and engineering. Dyslexia is God's way of throwing a wrench in this plan - for we are all those kids who love art, who love the art of science and engineering - who don't test well - who do test well but can't write. We in short are the exceptions to the rule - well any rule. But in particular we are the exception to the rule that says that human behavior can be controlled, bought or sold.

Friday, November 28, 2008

New Take on an Old Argument

After years of watching and wishing for whole language reading philosophy to rise in triumphant success over the other methodologies of teaching reading - in particular the evil phonics. I found myself astonished by a nonpartisan report out of New York University on how different reading styles effect reading speeds.

Processes Add Up To Determine Reading Speed, Study Shows. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 28, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2007/08/070801091500.htm

I would be interested in seeing a comparison of the three system of reading with a dyslexic population. I would suspect that whole language would test higher, but the tests would kill the dyslexic test subjects. Far as I can tell both whole language and word recognition systems seem to suffer from a lack of profit motive in pushing there particular philosophies. Phonics seems to have no shortage of companies making money off of it’s success to such an extent that many of the studies proving it’s success seem a little too well funded. I suspect that reading is like many other skills; those who are exposed to it do it and those that are not exposed to it don’t.

In the mean time, I must admit that perhaps phonics has a greater role to play then I as a non-phonic dyslexic reader care to admit. Or perhaps the greater reliance in this New York University study on phonics in the participants is a reflection of focus on this method of reading in American Schools for the better part of half a century.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Why public libraries are so good for dyslexic children…

When I was seven years old my mother used to take me to the library. As an adult I can imagine that she went as a supplicant to the temple of the great gods of reading. Please hear my prayers let my child see… words on the page.

Perhaps she believed that by spending time around books that I would become enamered of them. All I know is that my first memories of books is invoked whenever I find myself in an old book store, or older library stacks. That sweet smell of well loved books… a gift of my mothers love. She would have me pick among the picture books those collections that I loved the most. I remember carrying books to the counter to be stacked ten deep there for the librarian to check out. These she would read to me every night.

I think that the advantage that libraries have over schools with dyslexic children is that nobody checks at the library to see if you can read. All they care about is that you bring the books back. My favorite books that I borrowed from the library had the coolest pictures. So if you have a dyslexic child take them to the library and have them check out any comics, picture books or other juvenile fiction that they would enjoy.

Peace

Eric Wolf
http://www.ericwolf.org

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Misspelling on the rise... Thank God.

This article on Making an Arguement for Misspelling is a great resource. The author touches on some of the reasons that I believe that dyslexia is caused by- or aggravated by the educational institutions we force are students to participate in.

I totally did not see the misspelling in the articles title - till the spell checker pointed it out to me. Did you see it? Laura Fitzpatrick makes a good argument for why in a living languge we should let creative spellers go there own way. Personally I think some discussion of the cost from nervouse or emotionally inscure dyslexics should be included in the calculations. Spelling nazi's beware your days are numbered! Some how I don';t thing the New York Times will stop proofing there paper anytime soon. sigh...

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Dyslexia is...

Going through all the jelly jars in the cupboard to find the one cherry jar.

Strawberry, raspberry, raspberry strawberry blueberry awww cherry.

Opening the jar smoothing a nice slice of jelly toast. Taking a big bite of jelly covered bread....
only to discover that the jar you opened was raspberry all along. In fact that jar of Cherry jelly never existed at all.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

PRESS RELEASE: Speaking out in Defense of Scary Stories on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show

The Art of Storytelling with Children hosed by brother wolf curently has 30,000 since it's creation in April 2007.

Saturday, October 25, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact: Eric James Wolf
Phone: (937) 767-869

Speaking out in Defense of Scary Stories on the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show

Eric James Wolf, professional storyteller and host of the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show, is available for print, radio and television interviews to defend the use of the scary Halloween stories in the oral tradition with children.

Scary Halloween stories and ghost stories for children have taken the place of ritual trials of adulthood for teenagers, according to Mr. Wolf. They also serve as a means for adults to warn children away from dangerous places or behavior. Ghost stories and scary Halloween stories in the oral tradition can be age appropriate and satisfying for families. Currently on his the Art of Storytelling shows website he has five interviews available for easy download about the art of telling scary Halloween stories.

Eric Wolf does not condone or support horror or the graphic use of violence. “It is possible, however, by carefully working within the confines of scary Halloween stories and ghost stories for children, to leave our audience psychologically stronger and more emotionally capable of dealing with their fears or the shock of real world disasters,” Mr. Wolf says.

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Storyteller Eric James Wolf has performed nationally at such venues as the American Museum of Natural History; Bank Street School for Children; Barnard College; Blue Theater - Toronto, Canada; Columbia University; The Fund for the City of New York; Kings Island Amusement Park; New York City Clearwater Festival; New Jersey Liberty Science Center; and The International Performing Artists for Youth.

He is the host and producer of the Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf, a one hour interview format show. Mr. Wolf has M.S. in Education from Lesley University.

Eric Wolf’s Website
http://www.ericwolf.org

The Art of Storytelling with Brother Wolf Show
http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/

A list of five episodes on the Art of Storytelling with Children with storytellers speaking on how to use scary storytelling with kids.
http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/category/scary-storytelling/


To schedule an interview, call…
(937) 767-8696

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

4) Humans are capable of learning on a J curve.


This post is part of series on 7 Principles every parent should know about dyslexic children.

The spark of desire is the one true gift a good teacher can give a student. Everything else is just a matter of access and time. Once exposed to the desire to learn something in the modern age where the internet has made any information that you may need immediately accessible. The only thing missing is your child’s desire to know.

Schools were built during an age when it was necessary to create a uniform cultural identity through compulsory schooling. While nationalist may still argue that for the good of the state individuals should be normalized across a wide spectrum of types and religions – I would argue that in a creative economy that normalization will kill the engine that fuels the governments economic success. Government schooling is killing the drive and the ability of the economy to supply the needs of the state.

One of the few good arguments that I have heard for running government schools that makes sense to me is that for many children Public School is the one time a day that they get a good meal. I think that's great - let's build a cafeteria in the pubic library and any hungry person can get a modest meal government paid. Or let's run high school and middle school the way many private colleges are run - you take the classes you want to take from the teacher you wish to learn from.

When your child feels competent and emotionally safe they will learn when they are ready. In human development there are windows of opportunity that open up as the child develops – now is a good time for music, now is a good time for stories, now is a good time for character development Each of these windows open and close with a the development of the human being. I'm not saying you can't teach a old dog new tricks, but... it sure is hard.

I have spoken with teachers who teach college level algebra to 5th graders - but the response they get form administration is - What are we going to teach them in 9th grade algebra?

I’m ranting I know - but I am ranting against an ideology of schooling that says that the smartest - and every student is smartest in one subject - whether or not it is apart of the schools official curriculum - example - boys, cars, or comic books. - the smartest students must wait for everyone else - or must conform to culture that says fit in.. oh the exasperation!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

7 reasons to Join the Art of Storytelling with Children NING!

In reverse order like a letterman top ten list... http://storytellingwithchildren.ning.com

Drum roll please....

7) You love Eric's podcast and want to make him feel accomplished for the hundreds of hours of work he has invested into the Art of Storytelling with Children Podcast.
6) You never heard of Eric or his podcast and feel sorry for him spending hundreds of hours on his podcast.
5) You love children (not in a weird way) and love to write and share about storytelling with children..
4) You want one more website with a decent google page rank to list your storyteller website and increase your visability on google.
3) You love to tell stories to children on the amateur level and want to belong to a storytelling networking community - and the professional storyteller NING is a little intimidating.
2) You recently had bad accident and are trapped in a full body cast unable to escape from your hospital bed except through the internet.
1) Your a social networking addict

Seriously though consider joining now because you love telling stories with children...
http://storytellingwithchildren.ning.com

Incase you missed it Eric Wolf's Website
and Eric wolf's Storytelling Podcast

Friday, October 10, 2008

3) All populations are not uniform.


This post is part of series on 7 Principles every parent should know about dyslexic children.

I have outside of my door – in the hall a cartoon that I treasure. It shows a field with a tall tree to the left. There is a man in a suit n’ tie and he is sitting on the right looking at a line of creatures. A monkey, an elephant, a bird, a penguin, a seal, a dog and a fish in a bowl are sitting in a line on the left of the picture in front of the man. The man is smiling as he says – “For a fair exam everybody has to take the same tests – The first test will be to climb that tree.”

In all animal and human populations individuals are not uniform. They react individually to environmental stress and individuals grow at different rates due to genetic and environmental factors. If your child is one of the 10% of humans who learn to read at the age of ten when all of their peers learn a the age of 8 they may feel some pressure to confirm to what is considered “normal”. As parents every where know – normal can be set or changed very quickly by the environment we are in and by the friends we keep.

By allowing for your child’s individual response to pressure you are giving them permission to learn at there own pace. To state the obvious who cares if they can’t read yet – if they want to learn to read they will to the best of their ability. When you look at the next principal you will see why this is not as dangerous or risky as it appears to many parents and educational experts.

Your child is an individual so why are you placing him within systems that require he or she be one a face in the crowd. The schooling system of education was based on four widely divergent models combining together to create the American School system as we know it today. First the monks in the monasteries with in the idea of diligent and repetition to learn a task defined the highest of educational standards - for the 14th centaury anyway. Secondly the American government under the pressure of hundred of thousands of immigrants needed a way to quickly create a cultural common experience in a country that was filled with people who wanted to make it on there own. Third the American Factory system of the 19th century industrial age required workers who could fit into the mold and follow instructions. In the beginning and of this century the progressive social movement and the conservative social movement sought to support the development of American moral values by controlling the content of what is taught in schools today and for the last hundred years.

If you are unsatisfied as I am with my philosophical examination of modern schooling. There are Encyclopedias written on the history of the American Educational system – if you are new to those tomes – let me suggest for you a very quick and insightful read by John Gatto - Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling.

Just so you know - I keynote on this topic the philosophical and historical realities of the school system with a M.S. in Education.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Fasting for the fourth day today….

A health fast – a kidney cleanse using the Dr. Shultz methodology and products. I feel great – but have much less sleep needs. Drink more fluids in the last four days than I normally drink in a week. I appreciate water on a whole new level. Locally we bought this really cool reverse osmosis water filter last month and I no longer have to purchase my distilled water.

Here’s the thing I have been fasting on and off for health, spiritually and general wellness for years. I have fasted on mountain tops, in temples and on NYC street corners. I am have gone with out water for 48 hours (very dangerous) – Food for seven days (not dangerous at all really) and a whole year without eating any wheat, meat or dairy.

A lot of people panic at the thought of not eating. As a trained survivalist I know that food is fairly low down the list. Things like breathing and staying hydrated come first - in fact you really don’t need to eat another bite unless or 3 or 98 for at least thirty to sixty days from right now. Of course fasting can be more nuanced then that – health fats should be carefully considered and then done anyway.

I know that when I fast for health with all the herbal teas and juice flushes that I feel great! My mind and my ability to focus goes up and my need for sleep goes down. I am still dyslexic the basic nerve patterns have not changed, but I am more able to function on a daily level. Best of all I feel really good about life – I have a smile on my face and I am thrilled about what is going on around me.

I did a 30 cleanse last year? Maybe two years ago and it ignited my soul fire to burn so bright and clear. IF you are parent of a child – remember that nobody should be forced to fast – so keep that in mind when planning any radical departure in your current approach to health in your family. We want to have a good time loving our bodies and taking care of ourselves. We don’t want our children to grow up thinking that food is the cause of their problems – though it is true that diet can be a key effect in your child's ability to adapt to their LDS.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

How about this for map of the USA on Election day?


















This is off topic but very interesting - there is a real possability that the Electoral colelge will tie on election day.

Now wouldn't that be interesting?

Saturday, September 20, 2008

A radical proposal.

What if we don't need to learn to read and write anymore?

What if modern video or audio technical ability has created a world where writing is obsolete.

I mean really in a video age does anyone who doesn't want to have to learn to read or write have too?
Of course those who think this will be excluded from this conversation by their practice.

Just wondering....

Hope you have been able to listen to all 7 of the Ira Glass interview clips....

Ira Glass on Storytelling

I feel like this is a real gift to storytellers everywhere.


He really has a good points that all storytellers and writers everywhere.


Just to bring us back to storytelling

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The mind is not a dumping ground (Part B)


If your child is exposed to pornography or other forms of digital violence the mind of your child will reflect that digital violence with physical and emotional chaos. Set your boundary of what is acceptable violence wisely and early in life. Yes the average child's mind is capable of incredible amounts of flexibility, but the dyslexic child is already has a lot on there plate why add more?

Remove access to violent video games, television programs or DVD’s. Place Internet accessible computers in common space for easy adult supervision. I am always shocked at how unaware adults and women in particular are of how close pornography is to there child’s easy exploration and curiosity. Internet controls are a must for any computer supervise. Computers with Internet access must be i public spaces and must be check regularly for inappropriate use.

Give yourself permission to not talk about adult emotional subjects with your child. This is incredible important not only in the avoidance of intellectual ideas that involve guilt or other depressing self sabotaging ideas, but also in the avoidance of using your child as dumping ground for your emotional storms. I am surprised by this because in my family it was not considered appropriate, but I horrified to discover as an adult that my family was the exception not the rule. Many children are placed it eh terribly uncomfortable position of being forced to comfort or play parent for there parents at a young age. If you find your self compaiing to your child about any aspect of your life - I woudl suggest this stop - just stop. Yea share your life iwth them - but leave out the emotional worries and troubles of being an adult. Especially if they are dyslexic or other wise Learning Disabled.

Say I love you to your child or teenager even if they look horrified. Say i love you a lot. because they should hear it every day of there life from somebody - why not you?

If your child is especially stressed out by there take them to your local city park and throw a ball, Frisbee or whatever other excuse you can come up with for them to be outside away from the literate world. Three weeks backpacking for teenagers is a great prescription for self-confidence. A weekend in the country with no TV, radio, video games or internet is a great way for the whole family to be de stress. Warning: A weekend in the country in an ideal place is not a replacement for a real relationship and can be an opportunity to realize how far from being in the moment your family has moved.

Monday, September 1, 2008

The mind is not a dumping ground (Part A)


Your mind reflects your environment and if you or your child is dyslexic you need to give the dyslexic mind every edge that it can get. Control or limit the amount of television, cable or movies that contain violent or horror content. Your trying to give the dyslexic mind a calm and tranquil world to be in. Dyslexic people live in an unstable world were left is right and time is unstable. If possible limit the expectation of adrenaline states.

I am addicted to sci-fi and spy movies. My parents were obsessed with murder mysteries. They taught me to love the adrenalin state that is created in the body when watching a video program. I am sure that many people reading this never considered the alternative, don’t have a television, DVD player or computer in the home until your youngest child is at least ten or eleven. This will set the pattern for the rest of there life.

But wait – I can hear the outcry – but my children will be excluded when all the other children talk about this movie or that youtube! Maybe – most likely they will just watch it at their friend’s house. At your house you will supply them with board games, paints, paper, pencils, crayons and a thousand other doorways into the imagination. Your house will be source of joy and imagination. Also of course boredom and complaints – but boredom is the sign of a free mind. Take it for what it is a compliment.

For more on the effect of TV on human culture check out
Four Arguments for the Elimination of television by Jerry Mander
As described in Wikipedia (Short)
As published in Mother Earth News (Long)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

A letter to my daughters (and all the daughters of the world.)

I have reached an age where I find myself concerned by the foolish optimism of youth in pursuit of true love. I have begun to dismantle the minefields of my youth and crawl through the wreckage in hopes of finding some gems to share with my children. Here are seven great gifts of building lasting and meaningful relationships with men. I hope they help you in pursuit of your dreams. I have learned them the hard way so you don't have too.

1) Truth has its just rewards. Don't be afraid to express love – because guys are dense and we just don’t notice that you care. Women are socially more aware then your average guy. Perhaps the biggest lesson of my short life is this. I have seen too many people settle for what they think they deserve and never express their true heart's desire. Life is too short to remain unspoken and what is the sense in being in the production anyway if you not going to have a main part?

2) The first five minutes of your relationship define the rest of your relationship. If he treats you like shit – he is never going to stop. He might pause, but the pattern will return. If the guy treats you disrespectfully on the first date – it’s not going to change. Move on... you are more important then any of that crap so just say no to assholes. To see how much a guy cares about you, watch what he does not what he says. Honestly a man will say anything and do anything when sex is involved. So why trust what he is saying. Watch how he acts. Does he express interest in you? Does he listen to you? Does he show you respect when around other people?

3) Nice guys are usually quiet. If you want to be with one - you are going to have to be more forward then you are comfortable with. An emotionally stable person is less aggressive, less pushy and in general nice to be around. When you fall for a nice guy and you have followed point one above, then you will need to do the parent test. What are their parents like? When you get married (or just settled living together comfortably) you will be surprised how quickly your boyfriend's personality reverts to the pattern of his early childhood parental example. Yes - they can escape the pattern - but are they really trying? You know - are they doing the work to unlock family emotional baggage or do they arrive in your long term relationship baggage intact?

4) If you’re serious about being in a good meaningful relationship, buildup your intention of what you want. Most people don’t do this, they don’t spend any time thinking about they want in a relationship and they end up with suffering the logical consequences. Buildup this intention when you are not dating so that you can have clarity for what you’re looking for in the next relationship.

5) Try to find guys who are a part of your social network or belong to a community. The average man is more aggressive and stronger then the average woman. (Obvious) However few people realize that it helps men to keep their aggression in check when they know that there is a social network or community keeping a silent eye on their relationship. Whether it is your high school graduating class, the village gossips, or your church choir. It really helps to build long-term relationships when the guy has to explain his actions to people outside the relationship. This means that you may want to look for guys inside certain social networks – church, school, village, nonprofits etc… Facebook does not count.

6) There are two disturbing tendencies with young women. They have tendency to attract assholes for dates and they have difficult time being alone. I wish you luck at overcoming these two realities of modern life. The truth is that given the modern internet world there is no reason for anyone – beautiful or not - to hang out with an asshole or be alone unless they want to. Given that the population of the USA is 304 million and that 150 million are guys, there are millions of guys in your age range. I think you might be better served by saying no to the assholes – as for how to identify them, I send you to point 2 above.

7) Do your homework - know yourself. Go to counseling – know God - grow up - find a faith - become deeper then everyone else you know. Move past the consumer blame-based culture we call America into the depths of adulthood. Practice using I statements whenever possible. For example - I feel, I want, I love, I care – instead of you statements – you – whatever. Join women’s circles and find strong positive women to hang out with. Quite smoking, at least cut back on the drinking. Take a self-defense class. Look in the mirror – straight in the eye and say “I love you” once a day till you believe it.

I have thought about this a long time and I hope you find these points helpful. Just know that you have the gift and the power to create the world you live in. I know that you may have spent the first 18 years of your life being told what you can not do - but just remember that you are of an age where limits are where you set them, not where others tell you they are.

One of your Fathers,

Eric Wolf

http:www.ericwolf.org
http:www.artofstorytellingshow.com
http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The body and the mind are attached.


Returning to my main topic of dyslexia let’s focus on one of the seven ideas I wish Americas would adopt in working with there dyslexic children.

I don’t really understand why the human race seems so attached to the idea that the brain is not attached to any fixed place and time. I think it may be our fear of mortality - that by recognizing that we are in fact in body with a digestive track that we are in fact mortal. Maybe it is our desire to think that as a race we are different then the animals that coexist on this planet. If a monkey ate what I considered a healthy diet as a child –donuts and Pepsi – the monkey would get very sick. Perhaps we are also searching for the magic elixir of life that will fix all problems, when in fact we just need to eat more greens and fruit – well all to more greens like say – 70% of our diet. Dyslexia is in the brain you can;t cure it - but you can improve the over all functioning of the brain.

If you are serious about supporting your child’s ability to think in a line then you need to look a their diet.

1) Remove all cane sugar and white flour from their diet. Sugar and white flour are two of the greatest evils that have every been created by mankind. I would love to tell you all about how I avoid them, but the truth is very different sugar is in everything and white flour is devilishly useful. Be strong when it comes to your children and your self. Change takes years of work so start today.

Sugar and white flour have been processed so that they are missing key micro nutrients that your child probably desperately needs. In addition the body strips it’s self of other vitamins to digest and process the sugar and white flour. Add to this that soil in many places is short on zinc, copper and magnesium and you get flour and sugar hat is short on digestible zinc, copper and magnesium. So you get people who are short on zinc, copper and magnesium.

This seems so obvious to me as to be ludicrous to even mention – but most people today don’t even take zinc supplements let alone test there body for heavy metal poisoning - Lead Mercury or the Tri Benzine's.

2) Replace these things with whole unprocessed foods in a balance format. What your child eats is what they become. Green and Fruit should be 70% of the diet. Even cooked greens are not good enough. It may seem impossible to get a child to eat fresh greens – however the secret seems to be Goddess Dressing available nation wide in most super markets. Any salad covered in goddess dressing is readily consumed by my youngest daughter for the last eight years. Yes you can still give your child omega 3 suplements - but really with out the basic building blocks what is the point of aiming high?

3) Have your child rotate foods so that the body has time to recover from allergic reactions to food.. (Food rotation is easier the at first it appears – rice on Monday couscous on Tuesday, Whole four bread on Wednesday and Thursday is Corn Bread with no wheat flour….) Most healthy children only need to rotate processed foods and not vegetables or fruits.

Considering that back ten thousand years ago our ancestors lived off a wide variety of foods. They almost never lived only on one substance – as for example wheat. Many children are allergic to wheat, sugar milk or even – food coloring. Just to get started. Try this blog post on Food rotation

4) If you are serious about supporting the stress levels the normal dyslexic child encounters in a school environment consider adding to their life a super food or green food supplement. I consume Super food a product by Dr. Shultz – a herbalist in California.
https://www.herbdoc.com/store/Scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=12&h=1
This is in unpaid endorsement – so if the good Dr would care to send me a few bottles I would be thrilled – ahh no? O'well I endorse anyway.

5) Last note – here are a few other things that have heard work well with dyslexic or ADD children.. a colon cleanse, regular visits to a chiropractor, Chinese herbalist and an acupuncturist.

I am interested in any positive experiences you have as a reader - leave me a comment and tell me what you think of my little tirade about the body and dyslexia…

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Why storytelling?

Recently Katharine Hansen, PhD asked me two questions about storytelling for here to include on her blog. Never being one to write much – I thought I would use the answers on my blog….

1. What inspired you to "cross over" and explore the applied side of storytelling, e.g., your interview with Denning?

All oral storytelling is by definition applied… stories and storytelling with out context and culture to hang it on - is television. Television can’t be confused with the oral tradition. Storytelling requires at least two participants a listener and a speaker to have a face to face interaction. In a storytelling the listener is participating in the co-creation of the story by the active use of their imagination and their response - physically, mentally and spiritually to the story.

Oral storytelling is the nuts and bolts of the sales process. Media and sales people who ignore this skill set do so at their own peril. Whether for world peace or pure entertainment, we are going to need to make the case that storytelling is useful in all forms of human relationship. To make that case we most demonstrate empirically that storytelling is entertaining, useful and applicable to the real world.

In the modern media culture many artists consider themselves storytellers – they are making an error in describing themselves in this way. Storytelling is the application of the story to the open canvas of the human mind while changing the colors to better suit the particular conditions and needs of that day.

Oral storytelling in it’s highest from is a breath from the divine and a service to all of creation. Any art form that leaves no room for the imagination in the minds of the audience is not storytelling – but something far more insidious. We leave an oral storytelling event with the feeling that the world is bigger then we can dare to imagine.

To listen to the Steven Denning interview…
http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/2008/01/12/steve-denning-the-knowledge-based-organization/

2. You blog about your struggle with dyslexia. Briefly, how has this struggle affected your development as a storyteller?

I have a mind that does not work. Poor me – I’m over it – I have learned – no I was forced to compensate by the very nature of the structure of my mind. I could not read, I could not write – all I had as a child was the words in my mouth and the space between my ears. But in the end I don’t believe that dyslexic people are better speakers then non-dyslexic people – Dyslexic people are forced to learn to great lessons early in life that are a great advantage as we grow older.

1) You can’t do it all. You’re going to need help.
2) Your mind is a great device for creativity – not a good place to store things.


This blog post is written by dyslexic person about his experience being dyslexic and has been intentionally left uncorrected except for a Microsoft word spell check.

Creative commons 3.0 non-derivative license please include the following links.
http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/
http://www.ericwolf.org
http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Seven Principles every Parent should know about dyslexia.

Just got off the phone with another caring parent whose son has been diagnosed with dyslexia.

1) The body and the mind are attached.

If you are serious about supporting your child’s ability to think in a line then you need to look a their diet. First remove all cane sugar and white flour from their diet. Second replace these things with whole unprocessed foods in a balance format. Third have your child rotate foods so that the body has time to recover from allergic reactions to food.. (Food rotation is easier the at first it appears – rice on Monday couscous on Tuesday, Whole four bread on Wednesday and Thursday is Corn Bread with no wheat flour….)

If you are serious about supporting the stress levels the normal dyslexic child encounters in a school environment consider adding to their life a super food or green food supplement, colon cleanse, regular visits to a chiropractor, Chinese herbalist and an acupuncturist.

There is a heck of a lot more on this topic here - http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2008/07/body-and-mind-are-attached.html

2) The mind is not a dumping ground.

If your child is exposed to pornography or other forms of digital violence the mind of your child will reflect that digital violence with physical and emotional chaos. Remove access to violent video games, television programs or DVD’s. Place internet accessible computers in common space for easy adult supervision. Give yourself permission to not talk about adult emotional subjects with your child. Say I love you to your teenager even if they look horrified.

If your child is especially stressed out by there take them to your local city park and throw a ball, Frisbee or whatever other excuse you can come up with for them to be out side away from literate world. Three weeks backpacking for teenagers is a great prescription for self confidence. A weekend in the country with no TV, radio, video games or internet is a great way for the whole family to be de stress.

There are two further posts on this subject at
http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2008/09/mind-is-not-dumping-ground-part.html
http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2008/07/mind-is-not-dumping-ground-part-b.html

3) Human populations exist on a bell curve..

In all animal and human populations individuals are not uniform. They react individually to environmental stress and individuals grow at different rates due to genetic and environmental factors. IF your child is one of the 10% of humans who learn to read at the age of ten when all of their peers learn a the age of 8 they may feel some pressure to confirm to what is considered “normal”.

By allowing for your child’s individual response to pressure you are giving them permission to learn at there own pace. To state the obvious who cares if they can’t read yet – if they want to learn to read they will to the best of their ability. When you look at the next principal you will see why this is not as dangerous or risky as it appears to many parents and educational experts.

Read more on these thoughts at http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2008/10/3-all-populations-are-not-uniform.html

4) Humans are capable of learning on a J curve.

The spark of desire is one gift a good teacher can give a student. Everything else is just a matter of access and time. Once exposed to the desire to learn something in the modern age where the internet has made any information that you may need immediately accessible. The only thing missing is your desire to know.

When your child feels competent and emotionally safe they will learn when they are ready. In human development there are windows of opportunity that open up as the child develops – now is a good time for music, now is a good time for stories, now is a good time for character development Each of these windows open and close with a the development of the human being. I'm not sayign you can't teach a old dog new tricks, but... it sure is hard.

Schooling is based on the idea that real learning is not available at home and that uniformity of culture is important for national identity.

A more thought out reasoning - http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2008/10/4-humans-are-capable-of-learning-on-j.html

5) Institutions serve their own agendas.

All human institutions: government, corporations and schools serve their own selfish self interest. They may have wonderful ulterior motives, but when individuals with in these institutions threaten the legitimate ideology and psychological stability of the institution - there is a predictable response that the individual most conform to fit the situation. Dyslexic students are by definition unable to conform to fit the model that every other student in the school is able to fit. Thus a dyslexic student feels an incredible amount of stress to conform to the standards of normalcy by learning to read.

If the student is unable to conform they will be viewed by the teachers, staff and other students as a burden. This is not to say there are not exceptions to this rule, but as a parent it is very important that you understand this basic ground rule. You must learn everything you can about how your school works and what options are available, who are the best teachers, who has the best reputation as special ed support person and what legal rights you have.

Read more on these thoughts at http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2008/12/5-institutions-serve-their-own-agendas.html

6) Emotional Learning is more important then intellectual learning.

In the modern creative economy the strongest most hirable asset is creativity and emotional objectivity. Students who are scared from a lifetime of fighting their way through a hierarchy of learning goals are no longer nimble and quick. In modern schools creativity is sacrificed on the alter of accountability, student management and scheduled educational goals.

In the modern economy intellectual ability has become cheap and plentiful. The emotion ability to take decisions and stick by them, the moral certitude and mature surety of grown adult has become rare.

Read more on these thoughts in this post...
http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2009/03/6-emotional-learning-is-more-important.html

7) Our weakness becomes our strongest asset.

Because of my dyslexia I have a very effective storyteller. Because of my dyslexia I am an expert at information management, learning to learn and productivity strategies. I may not use them all that time – but I can teach you how to use them effectively. Dyslexia will force your child to grow in other areas to compensate for their inability to compete effectively in the realm of literacy. Best of all, your child will learn one of the most important strategies to over all life success; how to ask for help.

Your child will learn to ask for help when they can’t effectively complete a task by themselves.. This is the number one reason that one half of all successful entrepreneur are certified dyslexic. They learned young that if you can’t do it your self get some one else to do it for you.

Read more on these thoughts n this post
http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/2009/04/7-our-weakness-becomes-our-strongest.html

---------------------------------------

I have only touched the surface of what is possible with each of these principals.
Here is a list of all 7 in greater detail in later posts...
http://dyslexicstoryteller.blogspot.com/search/label/Seven%20Principles

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Living with myself

Today was one of those days when just getting one or two things was a great and amazing day. Sometimes I feel like I am swimming up stream – just pushing against the current. Days like this used to be the norm not the exception as they are now. I think it’s just a matter of staying organized so that I can see the diffirance in my work from my effort.

Really though it is a matter of prospective - I did all mater of great things – including – completely rebooting my word press blog – a scary and difficult procedure that I completed entirely by myself thank-you. I wrote stuff – talked to people – but in the end I did not work off a list – witch as I have written before is a big mistake.

The simple reality is that my emotional lens for looking at how I work is distorted by years of behaviour medifcation teacing. If the behavior is not by choice, but due to physical ability – what do you think the impact of deniing recess to eight year old boy who is behined in his school work would be?

It’s time to have somebody come in again and organize my office. I just try to remember what David Allen said there are two kinds of people – people who admit they need to write things down and people who don’t and would be better of if they did.

On another note….

I question the value of all of these social networking sites – many of them mean well – but for a guy like me who can only write so many words a day – it’s overwhelming. I am member of a professionalstoryteller.ning – and Facebook – I tested out Myspace and friendster – I am thinking that my personal experience with Facebook has been so good that I will continue placing all my energy there. Myspace may have more members – but the quality of the links and the conversations has not been so good.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brother-Wolf-Storyteller/10656529609


Please take minute and join in my Facebook empire if your interested in such things – or have the passion for the storytelling bug…..

Monday, May 12, 2008

Standing on the Mountain Top

I have been to the Mountain I have seen the perfect school. You can read all about it in a book - From the Children of a Child Centered School by Don Wallis.

A school that believes in child centered education and practices that belief in the classroom. Yes -- School can be good. Imagine a classroom where the teachers are not monarch's but instead facilitators, not bureaucrats - but leaders of the child centered environment.

Here is a chapter form the book

On Trust

A group discussion of the teachers of the Antoich school.
Ann Guthrie, Nursery
Jeanie Felker, Kindergarden
Kit Crawford, Younger Group
Chris Powell. Older Group
Brian Bragan, Arts/Sceince
Facilitating the discussion is Don Wallis (Author.)


Kit:
Trust is essential to all that we do here.
Jeanie: Everything revolves around trust.
Don: Trust in the child.
Chris: And the children's trust in themselves.
Ann: And their trust in each other. The group.
Don Essentially what is it you trust?
Jeannie: In the child's ability to learn and to change and to grow. Their perpetual forward movement as human beings. I really have trust in that.
Chris: We all have trust is that. We see it and we respect it.
Don: You see it?
Jeannie: In my experience year after year, child after child, I see it. That's how I can trust it. I see it's real, over and over and over again. Differ int child after different child, different group after different group...
Ann: All those individuals within the group, all the different places where each child is. And where they all are, together.
Chris: And we trust that children are on their own time frame, their own developmental schedule. That each child had an individual clock for learning and growing.
Kit: They proceed when they are ready. That's so important!
Chris: And there might be a pause in a child's understanding of some things, or desire to understand some things; a pause in the progress of their development. But in the grade scheme of things; we know from seeing it, over and over; there will be that development. So when there's a pause, there's not a panic, like Oh this, child will never learn. We the teacher's trust that the child will and they do.
Jeannie: The pauses are important in their own right.
Chris: Some major progress, some growth may be going on there.
Ann: The children will pause. and internalize, and ruminate and digest; and come up with the next question they are going to ask. Then they go on with their learning. Each child has her own way of doing this. We know that here, and we trust in it. We allow it to happen.
Kit: The children expect each other to treat each other well. And they do. If a child does something out there that's risky, like really working hard on the unicycle, for example, the other children will manage to tell that child who is taking a risk, Good job!
Chris: I see this happen all the time.
Brian: It happened today, in the Arts/Science room. Henery was grousing about his art work, saying he was going to give up art, he didn't want to be in artist anymore. And Jade said, Henery, what are you saying? You are one of the best artists I have ever met. And Henery head that, you know. He said, Yeah I'm just having a bad day. I'm pretty sure Henery will be back painting tomorrow.
Kit: Henery thrives on that kind of support, he really does.
Brian: I think the children are inspired by each others successes, as opposed to being jealous of each other's successes. And that's a product of trust , I think. Trusting yourself , trusting that you are okay enough to appreciate some one else's triumph.
Don: So, trust is intentional here. It's part of the curriculum, so to speak. It's part of what you teach.

From the Children of a Child Centered School by Don Wallis and the children and teacher of The Antioch School From pages 19-20. 2005

Used by permission of the Author.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

In the shadow of the Valley.

Waldorf education has been around for a long time. But if you read the newspapers you won’t find a mention of it in the NY Times very often. If you do find a it mentioned, the comments are usually incredulous or at least lukewarm in there appraisal of the philosophies and educational practices.

Waldorf education was begun in Germany in the beginning of the 20th century at the waldorf factory. Mr. Waldorf was a successful German business man who wanted to provide a decent grade school for his employees children. He founded the first Waldorf school with the help of teachers inspired by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner.

Steiner was a spiritual theorist who believed that it was possible to apply scientific principals to an internal investigation of the spiritual world. A brilliant man his ideas caused a renascence in physical application of spiritual principals in multiple fields including politics, arts, education, agriculture (biodynamic) and retirement communities. Each of these separate fields have developed over the past hundred years until today where there common roots remain hidden for many people.

In education Steiner asked the question – how does the soul grow in the body over the first 21 years of life and what form of education would support the full growth of soul in to the body of a child? (My words not his.) He rejected and current Waldorf schools still reject the philosophy that the mind should be the primary target of a grade school education and he instead set about creating a community of students and staff that worked together to help children have a full experience of childhood.

Some adults are turned off by the repetitive nature of the Waldorf classes, but grade school children find the repetition soothing and a very safe environment. Most of all I have found that Waldorf children make the best listeners – I can perform almost any level of complexity material for a waldorf audience and they will take it in with relish while your average pubic school audience would have been talking in there seats with out my simple connection and constant management.

On visiting a Waldorf school as a dyslexic person the first thing I noticed is that Waldorf school does not punish the slow reader – most children learn to read by fourth grade with out any pressure in a Waldorf school environment. As some one who learned to read in fourth grade with LOTS of pressure – I would like to tell no pressure is a much better system emotionally speaking. (Said the nail to the hammer.)

Waldorf school are part of the public school system in Germany – but here in the U.S. there ideas are to radical for public acceptance and they remain privet with all the problems associated with private schools. Cost – elitist associations in potential families minds – poorly paid teachers etc…

If you live close to one such school –
Investigate as a possible place for your student to enroll full time.

If your home schooling your LDS or dyslexic child. Waldorf exercises can be very soothing and helpful to integrate the left – right brain stuff that just seems to break down in us – “gifted” individuals.

Good Luck

Eric Wolf

Here is one small piece of the study conducted on Waldorf Graduates...

Comparison of Waldorf and US Population
Declared Majors General US Population (GUSP) vs Waldorf Graduates from 1991–2002
Arts & Humanities GUSP - 14.6% Waldorf Graduates - 39.8%
Social & Behavioral Sciences GUSP - 10.9% Waldorf Graduates - 29.9%
Life Sciences GUSP - 6.2% Waldorf Graduates - 9.9%
Physical Sciences & Math GUSP - 2.0% Waldorf Graduates - 2.8%
Engineering GUSP - 6.4% Waldorf Graduates - 1.8%
Computer & Information Sciences 6.1% Waldorf Graduates - 2.5%
Education GUSP - 7.3% Waldorf Graduates - 2.1%
Business & Management GUSP - 19.3% Waldorf Graduates - 4.6%
Health GUSP - 11.6% Waldorf Graduates - 5.6%
Other Technical & Professional GUSP - 9.7% Waldorf Graduates - 0.4%
Vocational , Technical, & Other GUSP - 5.9% Waldorf Graduates - 0.6%

Thursday, April 24, 2008

The Path not Taken

One of my kind readers asked me – so what is the other choice? If school causes so many problems and is so ineffective then what is the other option? That is a very valid question.

I am going to cover in the upcoming weeks a series of other choices besides traditional follower orders sit in a chair and do what your told public schooling.

So let’s start with the unschooling movement here are a list of unschooling conferences and seminars that you might find very interesting. IF your really into the idea that children must be seen and not heard you probably will be turned off by these folks – of course you probably didn’t read this far anyway – so there you go.

The unschooling movement is based on some simple ideas –
1) Learning is natural.
2) Parents are the best suited to raise their children.
3) Being curious and learning is in the human blueprint.

If you live near one of theses places – take the weekend to explore what is possible.

Thanks for reading and thanks for asking.

Till next week

Eric Wolf


The first place that comes to mind is the Rethinking education conference. One day I will get there – who knows when – but I will.
http://www.rethinkingeducation.com/

In Madison Wisconsin…
http://www.unschoolingconference.com/

In North Carolina…
http://www.liveandlearnconference.org/

LIFE is Good
NW Unschooling Conference
Red Lion Hotel ~ Vancouver, WA
Memorial Day Weekend, May 22 - 25, 2008
http://lifeisgoodconference.com/

Peabody, Massachusetts for the NORTHEAST UNSCHOOLING CONFERENCE
Memorial Day Weekend May 23-25, 2008
http://www.northeastunschoolingconference.com/presenters.html\

Toronto Unschooling conference
http://www.livingjoyfully.ca/conference/

Interesting site on all this - I found myself really enjoying some of the articles...
http://www.lifelearning.org

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Remediation Report in 2005

My rewrite of that same remidation report in 2005.

Written by Eric James Wolf, M.S. Education

Remediation Repotr of: Eric James Wolf

Summary

Eric Wolf is a very bright young man who, at the age of fifteen, is struggling with his identity and finding little in school to support his emerging adult selfhood. Eric is a bright, thoughtful, and creative student who demonstrates great capacity for thinking and creatively understanding mathematical, scientific, and historical facts and concepts. (Amazing, really, when you examine the degrading and dehumanizing treatment he has received in the school system.) Eric shows great ability to retain stories, but little or no ability to retain individual lines of poems or plays. Eric is a geographic learner; he can give you volumes of information about the space his classes take place in, but very little about what was covered in lecture.

Eric suffers from an undue enthusiasm for school, given his bad experiences. Like a spouse who returns to an abusive partner, he displays an unhealthy willingness to return to traditional school settings: in particular, Spanish, a class he has now failed three years in a row. Given his age and his ability to feel, where is his teenage rebellion? I fear he may have unrevealed energies that lurk beneath the surface. The emergence of these trapped feelings may harm him or those around him.


Diagnosis

While he is highly intelligent, Eric has difficulty finishing tasks and completing assignments. I believe that Eric, at the age of fifteen, has an impacted colon and an unhealthy diet, both of which contribute to his inability to think straight. In addition, Eric has taken to reading books instead of sleeping, getting only three to four hours of sleep a night. Eric is allergic to cats, carpet lice, and mattress mites; he should be tested for all known allergies in an urban environment.

Eric is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. His freshman year in high school was so stressful that he came close to suicide on several occasions. Every effort must be made to relieve the stress that has built up in his life.

1) Eric needs a regular exercise program.

2) He needs to radically restructure his diet and get enough hydration and sleep.

3) Eric needs a secretary or an organizing coach to organize his paperwork for an hour a week.

4) When Eric writes by hand, he is unable to escape the stress that he remembers from learning to write. This means that while writing a lengthy paper by hand, he is experiencing the same level of anxiety that you might experience skydiving or rappelling off a cliff.

5) Eric has visual difficulties that lead to frequent classical dyslexic spelling mistakes.

6) Eric appears to have internalized his failure in school into a martyr complex.

7) Eric appears to have suffered grievous emotional and psychic damage from his recent experience in a public school setting.



Remediation
1) Eric has expressed interest in fencing, walking, sailing, and canoeing, all sports that are available within the city limits. If he practiced one of them twice a week, he would be in much better shape physically. A pass to the local YMCA gym might also be an option if cost is prohibitive.

2) Regular large amounts of roughage and bulk might be added to Eric's diet. Oatmeal every morning for breakfast might make Eric's bowels more regular, thus removing important toxins from his body. Colonoscopy should be considered, although he would hate it.

3) He could drink at least eight glasses of water a day and sleep for eight hours. Both of these things need to be regulated by his parents.

4) A highly organized peer could be hired to help with his papers.

5) Eric may benefit highly from Waldorf handwriting classes and stress reduction exercises. Another option would be for him to study calligraphy or drawing: any period of intense study with pencil and paper would help refocus his feelings of success around holding a pencil or pen.

6) Eric is classically dyslexic, and it appears that his educational success is running four years behind his peers. In reading and reading comprehension, however, he is far above the norm for his grade level. Just four short years ago, he was reading at a much slower rate then his peers. I have no doubt that given time, he will surpass his peers in knowledge and writing ability because of his own desire to participate in society at large. I would suggest, given the academic failures and stress he experienced in the last year, that he be placed in an environment where he can have some positive life experiences: an art-centered or drama-centered school, or a program that focuses on backpacking, canoeing, or sailing.

7) Eric's insistence that he is capable of succeeding in the traditional school environment borders on psychotic. Is his sacrifice necessary? Isn't some part of learning meant to be fun? Why would any student be forced to take a subject that he is failing for three years in a row? What is the purpose of all this work and this effort? Professional intervention will help him understand that his environment is an artificial one with arbitrary standards. In particular, he could be freed of his desire to attend a traditional school setting. If a language besides English must be studied, then perhaps sign language would be a good option. Sign is a physical and visual language, perfect for a dyslexic person.

8) Interventions are an overused clich, but they are necessary. The adults in Eric's world must intervene to protect him from his schooling. They must force him to seek a different expression of acceptance, and they must explore and research other schooling options that may exist. The adults must ask the uncomfortable questions. What is the value of a traditional education for a non-traditional learner? And how do Eric's previous negative emotional experiences with school create an emotional trap that prevents him from seeing other options?
December 28, 2005



Several very interesting questions arose from writing this report.
I find these questions disturbing, and I hope you will too.

How does our children's happiness get crushed beneath our industrial society's need to regulate and prevent sudden change?
Is it really necessary that children take classes in subjects they will never use outside of an academic setting?
Who decides what subjects define civilization?
If 90% of all communication is nonverbal, what do children who spend must of their lives in highly regimented, physically restrictive classrooms run by a fascist-style government learn about their world?
Why does each generation from the 20th century feel a deep distrust of their elders?
Why does no one describe these feelings before the advent of industrial schooling in the 19th century?
Why do we ask our children to do so much busywork?
Why do we force our children to take tests that label a large percentage of them as failures?
What purpose does school say it serves? What purpose does school really serve?
Does school succeed in its real purpose?
Do learning disabilities exist outside industrial schooling?
What is the relationship between dyslexia and allergies?
What percentage of dyslexic children have allergies?
In countries without vaccinations, does dyslexia exist?
Is dyslexia a product of genetic damage or genetic vulnerabilities to toxemia of the body?
(A genetic response to allergies?)

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Why does God give us Brains that don’t work?

Genetic variability aside. It just seems to me that the brain is one humdinger of an ineffective way to store information. I mean if God had intended us to remember things she would have given us computer plug-in or other physical ways to keep track like say a pad of paper and a pencil - instead of relying on such foolish things as memories.

So what is the brain designed to do – some would say nothing. Cause there is no design involved. But what is the brain capable of handling. Well our brains are excellent at detecting danger and problem solving dangerous situations we can see (bears lions and tigers). Not so good at situations that are out of sight(Global warming and nuclear holocaust). The brain seems to be a very clever way to create new things with out having created the ability to see the consequences of those new things (DDT, Plutonium)

In general our brains seem to be really handy out helping us to survive – but not so useful at storing information. Luckily for us the human race invented writing and then computers to help us with that particular function.

Maybe God felt sorry for us cause we were with out nasty teeth or claws, thick skin or even fur. So she gave us creativity instead cause it would help to balance the scales.

Monday, March 31, 2008

The Time Warp of Dyslexia

Through out my life I have been blessed by the ability to forget what I was just thinking. Some of you will no doubt think that this ability is a curse – a reality that has no silver lining. Well, I am here to tell what a gift it is to be so clever and creative that in every moment I can go wondering off into circles upon circles of new thoughts. I know that this is a gift because I have been to many workshops and seminars where people study how to be in the present moment.

This is not my problem.

My gift is to be always in this moment with out remembering what I was intending to do with it. I am “gifted” with fresh starts inserted randomly into my day. Fresh spellings, fresh ideas or fresh projects all I have to do is change locations and the major overhaul I was working on in the next room is forgotten while I blissfully fold laundry. Dyslexia to me is a statistically likelihood that I will have any ability to tie these moments together. The gift of dyslexia is that I can spend the morning with great focus and concentration on a project only to realize with surprise that I am in fact ten minutes late to another appointment.

I don’t need another workshop to be in the hear and now. My path is the path of all dyslexics – I am a student of the note to the future, the list to do or the five part plan. But here is the catch twenty-two I don’t like to make lists because they constantly interrupt my random flow of ideas. Stop laughing at me – if I can’t remember what I was gong to do, then clearly I am surprised when I look at my list. How dare I limit my startling creativity with a list of things to do!

But the mind is a fragile instrument and starting from scratch every ten minutes is not a good way to run business. So on my good days I give myself a little charity and forgiveness and do what’s on my list.

By the way – I think it’s time for me to start my list for the day.

Item 1) Finish Dyslexic Blog post ---- X
Item 2) Post Dyslexic Blog post ---- X
Item 3) Write the rest fo the list ---

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Teaching Storytelling

The best way I have found of getting children to tell stories is by creating a daily place of respect for storytelling and modeling good listening to the young storytellers. Build on the daily culture of your classroom, home, camp or daycare to include a sharing of the children’s and your stories. Young people learn best through modeling of the behavior you wish them to learn. If you wish to be surrounded by storytellers who are authentic, exciting and respectful of other tellers then all you have to do is to consistently model those storytelling standards.

Simple, but true...

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Cultural Inertia in Teaching

I read about the Video format wars at length last night. For you young people that's was back in the day when the superior Beta format was done in by the popular VHS format. Not because the market saw the much better qualities of VHS (Beta was better), but instead because a few middle level mangers didn’t do such a good job at marketing Beta and well just bad luck for the Beta manufactures. Many people were left with Beta machines and no tapes.

Witch reminds me of an ancient Chinese proverb I read years ago…

Student:  Why does a river flow that way?
Master: Because of the water that came first.

Well – really I made it up – but it sounds like an ancient Chinese proverb.

Culture can be like river and sometimes it is just a matter of getting there first with your flag, standard or point of view. Then improving upon what you are trying to do to make it work. The problem comes if your basic concept is flawed – because you can’t build on shoddy foundation no matter how much money, resources or time you have. The whole thing is just going to fail again and again.

Modern teaching is like that – in the middle ages monks created a standard mythical ideal of the busy copyist who is a learned scholar and this mythological ideal has stayed with us through years of reform and rethinking.

Imagine for a moment that you are sitting in a monasteries copy room, Stacks of books and scrolls fill the room. The atmosphere is hushed and quite. In one corner is monk who busy working on maps. In the main section are two or three monks working on books. There ink bottles are full and their feather pens are busy. Sun light filter into the room from distant windows and the sound of birds can be heard, but the monks do not raise there heads from the books.

The head monk is sitting on raised platform in the middle of the hall. He is keeping track of the other monks work overseeing their production and quality of there work. The chief monk is not cruel , but neither is he really interested in the personal development of each of his monks. He is more concerned that the books, maps and scrolls being copied are accurate.
This mythology lies dormant in the mind of every teacher in the world. A successful classroom is seen as hushed and quite with scholars quietly working on there separate projects. Even though being a successful copyist has little too do with any connection with the word learning.

The problem of course, is that copyists are busy copying down important facts and figures, they are not engaged in effort to study or learn something.   Also the role of the copyist has been replaced by the printing press about four hundred years ago…

Institutional teaching has had a couple hundred years to be improved, but the basic mythological ideal keeps getting in the way. It’s time we killed the copyists off – it’s time for us to cut loose the idea of that teaching is the transfer of knowledge too the ideal that teaching is the inspiration of culture.

The river flows on – why master does the rive flow that way and how do we change it’s course?
Perhaps you know the answer.


Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Strip Mining Our Children



Recently I watched Sir Ken Robinson’s TED speech from 2006. He was of course brilliant and I was very impressed with his ability to connect with his audience and speak with in time. He addresses one issue and he covered it in depth. For once I am proud to say that I have a MS in Education. Sometimes it seems like people the most educated people never learned how to express information eloquently.

I highly suggest that you take the 18 minutes to watch this video if your in education today or if your just a parent of a child, It really does put a nice spin on things.

One of the key ideas that Sir Robinson talks about is that we are running our schools with the idea that college professor is the perfect human being. That are educational instutions wreck the life path of anyone who is not on that particular path in the name of higher ed. I personally don’t think the wreckage is worth it having been a piece of the mess myself.

Who are we – that we live such sort sighted lives? The only time that anyone was cared if I had a high school degree was when the government was regulating my employment as director of an after school program. Never in the last fifteen years of storytelling has any teacher asked me if I have a high school diploma or a college diploma. They just wanted to know if I was a good storyteller(yes) and if I had committed any felonies. (no)

So why did I spend all those years in school anyway? Personally it was to defeat the demon of somebody told me I can’t finish this and I’m a failure if I quite now. But I should point out that some of the greatest artists flunked out (Susana Vega) of the greatest schools (Columbia University) – not that it matters.

Inertia is such a powerful force in human culture. Why is the ham cut short ma, because grandma cut it that way. Oh – Grandma why do you cut the ham short? Cause your great grandma cut it that way. Great Grandma why – o be quiet boy – back in my day the oven was smaller – could fit the ham in with out cutting it into pieces!

School as a representation of government is such powerful sources of inertia – how do we as individuals reform or even understand these powerful mythological figures?

Thursday, March 6, 2008

My remidation report - 1985

Hilary K. Waldinger, M.A.
Riverdale, NY. 10463

Remediation Report: Eric James Wolf

Summary

Eric James Wolf is an extremely bright, thoughtful and creative student who demonstrates great capacity in thinking creativity. Understanding mathematical, scientific and historic facts and concepts, and reading literature perceptively. Eric has learning problems which can and are being remediate and which can be compensated for through small adaptive techniques on the part of Eric and his teachers. Eric had made some strong points in writing skills and will continue to do so this year in his tutoring program. Continued practice, motivation, and hard working, and dedicated to improving.

Diagnosis

While highly intelligent, Eric has perceptual difficulties in the
areas of visual perception and visual memory. Eric also has problems in language processing, that is, in organizing and sequencing letters, syllables, words and sentences in written and oral presentations.

These perceptual and processing problems are manifest in Erics written work, his difficulties with a foreign language, and his occasional problems in organizing oral presentations. In terms of writing and organizing, these problems are manifest in several specific behaviors.

1st Eric Must and does need to spend much time and effect in organizing himself; his papers, notebooks, books.
2nd Eric has some trouble organizing his essays effectively under time pressure. He needs time to organize these concepts in the expected and clear sequence.
3rd This sequence problem exists in his sentence structure. Sentence fragments or run-ons that appear in class work produced under time limits are not an indication of mental laziness or indifference. Eric merely needs a bit more time to proofread and make corrections for those errors. While Erics sentences structure is steadily improving, Eric cannot yet discriminate between correct or incorrect sequences with 100 percent accuracy.
4th Sequence problems are very obvious in Erics spelling patterns. His reversals and misspellings, are all symptoms of visual perception and processing difficulties. Contributing to his problem is Erics handwriting, witch reveals his processing problems in the motor area. This is not intentional sloppiness or carelessness.

Remediation

Erics learning difficulties can be remediated effectively with appropriate instruction or they can be circumvented with appropriate adaptive techniques for classwork. Currently, an individualized tutorial program has focused on remediating Erics organization problems and his sentence structure. Tutoring has also developed some techniques for organizing essays, answering short answer questions, and writing paragraphs. Eric has made very good progress in using correct sentence structure. We have been working intensively on identifying and using subordinate clauses, identifying subordinate clauses used as sentence fragments, and combing sentences by using subordinate clauses. A successful instructional program for Eric should stress the practices listed below…

1) For teaching language arts or language, a multisensory approach is most successful. Eric needs to hear speak, see and write any new vocabulary word, spelling, grammar, preferably using all these senses in the same lesson. Using all the learning modalities in one lesson reinforces each area of perception.
2) Structured sequential instruction is most effective for learning a language skill. Eric learns best when he is presented with one new skill at a time, through a multisensory approach, and given copious practice in saying, writing, and reading that skill. For example, in learning subordinate clauses and subordinate conjunctions, he was taught one category of conjunction at a time. (e.g. time, then cause the result then condition ). He read, wrote, spoke and heard subordinate clauses suing that one category until he knew each of the subordinating conjunctions automatically. Only when he knew all the conjunctions in a category automatically did we move on to the next.
3) Continual reinforcement and review of previously learned items is crucial because these new language skills are not natural for Eric. For example. Even after moving onto a new category of subordinate clauses, Eric must be given a brief review of the categories previously learned. Each new skill must be built on an old one, which is reviewed and reinforced as that it is not forgotten.
4) In teaching essay writing, Eric must learn a Skelton of the pattern of organization required. Once he has the overall organization delineated for himself, he can express his ideas more fluidly and coherently. Thus, Eric must always prepare an outline for himself, organizing a thesis or topic sentence, his main ideas and his supporting information.
5) When writing a first draft, Eric should skip lines so that he can go back and correct errors in sentence structure or spelling. This would be god practice for in-class essay examines or writing exercises.

There are some adaptive strategies witch Eric can use that will allow him to better demonstrate his true abilities while not giving him any unfair advantage over his classmates. These are listed below

1) When writing an in-class essay or exam, Eric could use a skeleton outline, which does not have any content at all: rather, it is just a visual reminder for him of the overall form an essay should have. IT will just outline the ingredients of the essay – thesis statement, main ideas, and supporting details. Currently, Eric carries such a skeleton in his notebook, which can be used for any and all essays because it has no content. If he could use it, he would write more coherently and produce far better exams and papers.
2) If Eric could carry a spelling dictionary with him to school (such a dictionary shows only the correct spellings of words, no definitions), he could turn in some better work with more accurate spellings. Again, to use this in a testing situation is no extra advantage, because only information in such a dictionary is the correct spelling.
3) In learning gramner, Eric needs more structured practice than do other students. However, Eric will learn and use concept once it is taught to him. Therefore, one method of approaching the problem is to notify Eric’s tutor or parent of the areas covered in the term. The tutoring program can then focus intensively on these skills so that Eric will know them by the end of the term or in time for the unit presentation in class. Another approach might be to engage a student tutor for Eric who can give him extra practice on a skill.
4) For learning vocabulary words, particularly in a foreign language, Eric needs much practice with flashcards, with writing, and listening to tapes or dictation.
5) Eric should be given the opportunity to take essay essay exams on an untimed basis, so that he can have a little extra time to organize his thoughts and make some corrections in mechanics, if this is at all possible. This is not at all necessary for multiple choice or short answer exams where Erics learning difficulties do not hamper him. Perhaps he could just have could just have an extra five minutes a the end of class. If extra time is impossible, perhaps Erics work can be looked at attentively for its content rather then its form (spelling, etc).

April 15, 1985

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Today in 2008 this report seem obvious, but remember when it was written it was, by man by many who read it, considered cutting edge or out side the box thinking. Times change.

Eric Wolf