Jays'
Education
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Jays'
Education
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The two hemisphares.
The human brain resembles two
halves of a walnut. The two halves, connected at the
centre, are known as the
right and
left hemisphere.
The
left
hemisphere controls the right
side
of the
body (the
right hand)
and the right hemisphere
controls the left side of the
body
(the left
hand).
The two hemispheres are essentially symmetrically alike, but they are asymmetrical in function.
Each hemisphere collects the same sensory
information but in a different way to suit their
specialised functions. Often
one
hemisphere takes over and
inhibits (suppresses) the other
one, we talk about
the
dominance of
the two hemispheres. We
tend to process information using our
dominant
side.
The
learning and thinking process
is
enhanced when both
sides of the
brain work
together.
This
means that the
subdominant
hemisphere has to become stronger to balance
the function
of the dominant
one.
The left side of the brain processes information in a linear sequential manner, it solves a problem
piece by piece.
It lines up pieces of information and
arranges them in
a logical
order to draw logical
conclusions.
People with the left
brain
dominance live
in reality.
When reading they look
for parts to piece them
together to
get
to a logical solution. They express
themselves
well in
words.
The left brain processes
symbols, letters, words, numbers, pays
attention to
spelling and
punctuation.
It makes remembering and recalling
words
and spelling rules very
easy.
The right brain uses intuition to
solve a problem. People with a right hemisphere dominance
start working from a
whole problem
then progress to
process the parts.
They start from the
answer and
work
backwards.
The thinking of the
right dominant people is
random, not
organised. They will
have problems learning to read using phonics. They prefer
to see and understand
words in a context and get
their meaning as the
right brain is
not sequential and
planning is not a
strong point. Written
expression is
harder without step to
step
reasoning.
The right brain
tells us what feels
right
.
Using the right
hemisphere we dream, create
new
ideas, we imagine, we
communicate by
using facial expression and gestures. We
are able to draw
pictures to help
to express our ideas and
imaginations, we have
intuition and
creative
thoughts.
Sensations from the right side of the body cross over to
the left hemisphere.
The
left hemisphere controls the right side of the body. For complex
functions
both hemispheres need to be involved and work
together. Spatial
perception,
language and speech, and cognitive thinking are the most
complex functions
of
the brain. They require a very good cooperation between
both hemispheres,
however they cannot work together well without the work of
brain stem. Most
sensory and motor messages cross in the brain stem on
their way to the cerebral
hemispheres.
Before the different parts of the brain can specialize,
they must work together
and
communicate with each other. The child with sensory
integration dysfunction
will tend to use either hand and will not specialize. This
will prevent the two
sides
of
his body from working together.
To comment cklick
here.
Reading Readiness is a handy workbook to introduce your child to the phonic
system, needed for language development and
beginning
reading. Often a
child's language
improves with beginning
reading due
to the
letter/picture/sound
and
letter/sound/word/picture
relationships.
Often the
child's
auditory
perception
(listening
skill) is not
fully
developed. It
helps to connect
auditory perception
and visual
perception
(letters, pictures)
with the
kinaesthetic/tactual
perception
(feeling the lips, tongue and mouth while saying
the sound
or word, naming the
picture). This complex
perceptual
experience
will gradually develop the
speech
and kick off the reading.
For reading we need both, auditory and visual skills. This book develops both
skills simultaneously.
When working with your child,
name the picture (read
the word)and
say the word clearly,
encourage the
child to watch your
mouth
(auditory/visual)
and stress
the beginning sounds
(letters).
Example:
pot -
press your lips firmly
together
and say the p with a
strong
puff. P is a
plosive (it
explodes). Say the
word
in one breath pot, don't say p-ot, but pot. Then say,
pot
starts with p and repeat pot.
Make sure the child
copies
you!
As the
child connects the
picture and the
word with the
matching picture and the
initial
sound
(letter) the child
holds the
images
in his memory. The images make
a
connection in the brain. Later
when
the child sees the
picture, he
recalls the
words, the
sound and
vice versa,
the word recalls the
beginning sound
and the
picture. A
strong connection
between the sounds
and the letters, the words and
the
pictures will initiate the onset of reading and
improve
speech and
language.
There is another important
developmental step that is fundamental
to all
learning!
It is the
ability to look and see, listen and hear and
plan
(imagine) what to say or
do.
Everything we do
we do
in
steps.
• First we get to
know what we
have to do
• Then we
think
how we will
do it...
(we think in
steps)
• Next
we
decide what we
have
to do first,
second
etc
• Then we execute the action step by
step
Some children cannot think in steps. They have a go without thinking it
through, they do the activity in random steps.
There
are reasons for not
being able to
think and do things in
order.
Children, who experience
developmental delay in
language and find learning
difficult, have to learn
to
do
things
in
steps. Reading Readiness workbook which you asked
for
(as
well as all of our other books)
work with the child
step
by step,
involving all
perceptual
channels to
activate the
brain to learn to work in
steps.
I
suggest to
use
puzzles for
activating the
brain to learn
to
work in
order, step by step. This
is how it
works:
• Look
at the
puzzle. Analyse the
puzzle.
What is
in the picture? What
is the
focus point
(colour, main picture, part of a
picture, shape etc)?
• Decide where to
start: at
the corners, top or bottom
edges or build up a
picture...
• Look for the
pieces needed to follow
the
plan.
The
child has to think
"What do I
need?"and then look for
the particular piece.
The
strategies will teach the
child to
think, look and do
instead of grab a
piece and
try
to fit it
somewhere, put it
down again and try
another one
without
any
planning.
All
children with language delays
have
improved
dramatically following
these
strategies.
If you
have any
questions, or
are
interested in a
more specific
guidance for your
child, please,
ask for
more specific
directions. Send a
direct email
using jesp@ozemail.com.au.
P. S.
The above strategies are an extract from "101 Strategies to
Overcome Learning Difficulties"
by Hana
Jay
We have been asked repeatedly by visitors to our website why we do not
describe what we do as Alternative Education.
Good
question! Tutoring a
student with
learning difficulties or
treating a
child with apraxia an
alternative
treatment?
I suppose
it depends
on the answer to the following
question.
Is
the term alternative education only what
is meant by
non-traditional
education or educational
alternative (schools other than
"main
stream")
home
education
(home
school) or does it encompass teaching students
with
various learning problems?
Let's see, what does Hana do when she is asked to help a child (or adult)
with a learning difficulty problem.
First she makes
sure that she finds out
what the
specific problem is which
hinders
the child's learning
ability.
Then
Hana probes
a bit
further to see what may be the best approach to rectify
the
problem.
Now, that being so, I think it may be
correct
to name the process
Hana
uses
"alternative". Why?
Because, in a mainstream
school, there is no
testing
of a
child on entrance and
the curricula are the same for
everyone.
On
contrary
the
teachers are led to follow a prescribed teaching plan and
strategy which is the same for everyone.
Do I hear
you saying "What about
the extra
specialised help 'slow'
students
receive in main stream
schools?"
Yes, they do
(or it is
being said that they do).
However it is
"extra"
help, not what
everyone gets, therefore it may be said
that it is
alternative, is it not?
So far it looks like that we at Jays' Education deliver Alternative
Education, but let's not stop the examination as
yet.
What methods does Hana
employ beside the
normal teaching
strategies?
Look at the 2 articles above and
you see that Hana
stresses the use
of both hands when a student does a
task in
order to engage both
brain's hemispheres. That
is not
the way of most teachers
(even
though it should be),
therefore alternative.
Hana uses
puzzles, often with
older students as well,
again alternative.
One of
favoured strategies of
Hana
is the use of the LUK system
jet
another alternative teaching method.
Looking
further I would find more of alternative teaching
strategies.
My conclusion therefore is we definitely provide Alternative Education.
Jays' Education
Phone/Fax: (07) 3822 1813
Address: 704 Old Cleveland Rd East,
Wellington Point QLD 4160
Brisbane, Australia
Website: www.jayseducation.com Email: info@jayseducation.com