Newsletter April 2009
April 13, 2009
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We strive to bring you the most helpful and up to date information every month, and the April 2009 newsletter is no exception.
You can scroll down through the articles below, or you can click on a headline you like to go directly to that article.

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This Month's Headlines:

S-p-e-l-l It Out: Tips for Better Spelling

“I’ll Do it Tomorrow”—The Procrastination Habit

Map It Out—Understanding Geography
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S-p-e-l-l It Out: Tips for Better Spelling

It’s true that some people are more natural spellers than others. It may be that these students read often, so have more experience with certain words. It’s also possible that those students who are more visually based learners are able to remember patterns in word structure. Either way, the truth is that spelling can be tricky—even adults have trouble spelling certain difficult words.

There are ways for those who struggle to learn better spelling skills and to gain a basic understanding of how word structure works.

Auditory learners may benefit from saying the letters in sequence, and then pronouncing the word.

Those students who are kinesthetic learners—who learn best by doing—may benefit from writing the word out on paper several times, allowing it to “sink in” better. Letter blocks can also be helpful for these type of learners, as they can “build” words letter by letter and gain better grasp of the sequence of and combinations of letters that result in different sounds. You can also work with a combination of learning styles, where students first observe the word, say and then spell it out loud, then cover the word and try to spell it again on paper on their own.

Learning spelling doesn’t have to feel like drills; it can also be playful and take on a more natural course. For example, rhyming is sometimes helpful for children to recognize patterns in words and sounds. If the student has a difficult time remembering that “night” is spelt with the ending “ght”, it might be helpful for them to consider other words like “sight,” “fright,” and “right.” A lot of words in English share similar structure in this way, so learning this from an early age makes it easier to spell other, more difficult words in the future.

Some children would rather learn spelling with a more rigid structure so that they can use logic and reasoning to determine spelling. These students may benefit from learning the concept of word etymology. By understanding root words and how to build off these—for example, in the words symbolic and symbolism you can find an even simpler word: symbol. Of course, etymologies of words can become complicated the further you delve into them. This may be a little ambitious for some students, but even learning some of the basics of word etymologies can help students become better spellers.

Other students may prefer to work with certain sounds, and looking at the different forms these sounds can take. For instance, the sound “f” can be produced with different letter combinations: wife, lift, phone, tough. Looking at groups of words that are similar to the word a child is struggling with can also help him or her get a better idea of the big picture. For example, words with silent letters can be confusing to some children, so practicing a group of them at a time can help to better drive the lesson home—comb, bomb, numb, and thumb all share the same combination of an “m” sound with a silent “b” immediately following it.

Lastly, some students work best in linear methods, so making a list of some special rules and some examples can go a long way in building a better spelling foundation. “I before E, except after C, or when it says ‘ay’ as in neighbor or weigh” is one of those rules found in spelling that can be confusing at first.

Spelling, while not fun for everyone, is certainly one of those skills that students will continue to use throughout their schooling and life, regardless of what subject they prefer to study, or what profession or industry they eventually enter as an adult. It’s important to help your child develop steady spelling skills in whatever manner works best for him or her—whether it’s basic practice and repetition with a spelling book, more time spent reading and therefore more exposure to words in print, or reviewing spelling with the help of a trained tutor.

Source: McCurdy, Kathleen. “Lessons You Can Use: Spelling.” Courtesy of Family Learning Organization.

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“I’ll Do it Tomorrow”—The Procrastination Habit

According to Professor of Psychology Dr. Joseph Ferrari, everyone has the tendency to procrastinate; it’s part of human nature. Often, when people do procrastinate, it’s because the task at hand is not particularly enjoyable, or there are more interesting things to take part in. But procrastination is only a serious problem when it starts to affect multiple areas of a person’s life. According to Ferrari, this is about 20 percent of the population and is about more than just putting off certain tasks, but is instead about a person losing their job, becoming late on bill payments and other things because of their tendency to procrastinate.

When it comes to children, procrastination can be a common trait. Ferrari only suggests seeking professional help for a child when it begins to affect multiple areas of his or her life—not only in school, but also with friends and at home.

Recent research by Dr. Sean McCrea, Assistant Professor of Psychology at a German university, found a trend in procrastination and the way tasks are presented. When people are given a concrete assignment, they respond more quickly. When the task seems more abstract, they are more likely to procrastinate. According to McCrea, this points to the importance of how the task is described—when you put people in a more concrete mindset, they perform better.

This can be helpful for parents and teachers when assigning chores and work to children. For example, rather than the general, “Your room is a mess, clean it,” something like “Put all of the clothes and shoes in the closet “ might be more effective. Parenting style can also play a role in procrastination, according to Ferrari, especially since it is a learned behavior. Children with demanding and authoritative parents may use procrastination as a way of rebelling where they otherwise can’t rebel. Rather than punishing children for their behavior, parents should understand that it takes time and maturity for a child to learn to regulate their own life and time schedules.

Another Professor of Psychology, Dr. Timothy Pychyl, from Carleton University in Canada, found a link between identity development and procrastination. He believes that children who have difficultly discovering their identity have a harder time evaluating their own behavior and committing to things. He also says that skills like monitoring progress, breaking tasks into steps and setting goals are important skills that help children avoid procrastinating. These skills, in combination with will power, can help children learn to regulate their activities.

Here are tips to help your child avoid the urge to procrastinate:

• Reward instead of punishing.
• Don’t expect more than is reasonable from your child.
• Adapt parenting style to your child’s age.
• Help make concrete tasks for children.
• Remember that procrastination is learned behavior.
• Don’t always fix things for your child—learning from mistakes is crucial.
• Model self-regulatory behavior yourself.
• Allow your child to have some responsibility and to make decisions on his or her own.
• Don’t confuse procrastination with laziness; often procrastinators are very busy people—they are just busy doing other tasks.
• Teach time management and organization, whether one-on-one with your children, or with the help of a tutor.

Source: Weinstein, Anna. “Why Kids Procrastinate and How to Help.” education.com.

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Map It Out—Understanding Geography

In a world that is increasingly becoming globalized, where distances between countries and cultures grow smaller every day through the use of technology, it’s important—perhaps more than ever—that the younger generation have a firm grasp on geography. We’ve all heard statistics before of how few people can point out various locations on a world map. Here are a few courtesy of National Geographic.

• Only 37 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 could locate Iraq on a map. Half could locate New York.
• 22 percent had a passport, so many had never traveled abroad
• Some 70 percent thought English was the most widely spoken language in the world, when in fact Mandarin is the language most commonly spoken.

While these statistics can be somewhat sobering, there’s more to geography than just pointing to a country on a map. Instead, geography also should include factors that provide a larger picture of the world—things that children may also eventually be exposed to in anthropology courses—in the form of a global awareness of cultural differences, from language, politics and customs to environmental issues like overcrowding, pollution and natural disasters, to humane issues like war, sexism and racism.

According to Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Fernando Reimers, making sure a child’s education sets them up to be “globally competent” is imperative. This is geography for the new era—where having a basic cultural and historical context goes farther than knowing where Myanmar is on the map. Many professors and educators feel this is just as important for a student’s future as teaching computer literacy.

Through Reimer’s International Education Policy Program, professors found that children are able to memorize cities on a map, but it’s often more difficult for them to comprehend that these are real places with real people who face real struggles and successes. This lack of understanding on the personal, more human level is important as a citizen of a global society, where people are brought closer through technology, but also within our own country, as our population grows more and more diverse.

Geography can be taught within and outside of the classroom, as it really does play into daily life, even if we’re not completely aware of it. It springs up in movies, news, TV series and book plots, in magazine editorials and fashion spreads.

Here are a few ways you can integrate geography lessons into your child’s day.

• Reference books for scenes set in different locations. Locate them on the map, or if they aren’t specific enough to do so, use the clues that describe the landscape, size, and type of lifestyle to try to make educated guesses as to where the location could be.
• Watch TV shows that travel to tropical places, and take note of the culture, language and other interesting aspects of that place.
• Use music; scan the radio for different tempos and music styles that may suggest other cultures or countries. Listen to the language, lyrics, and accents.
• Look through magazines, matching stories and photos of different cities to their countries. Notice the background in these pictures and what they might tell you about the people and lifestyle in that region.

These tips help improve your child’s understanding of geography, but will also bring more meaning to some of the forms of media he or she is exposed to daily. It also helps aid their emotional intelligence, as they begin to discover that there are multiple ways of living.

Source: Lucas, Cheri. “Global Literacy: Geography for the 21st Century,” education.com.