This interesting piece came to our attention through the Learning Rx newsletter. Ken Gibson, the developer of the very successful PACE program, is also the founder of Learning Rx.

A university in Israel conducted studies of hand-clapping songs which revealed a link between those activities and cognitive skills development in children, young adults, and university students. Practicing motor skills while singing and staying on beat helps develop auditory processing, visual processing, and attention. Children—particularly those in first through third grade—who participated had neater handwriting, better writing skills, and made fewer spelling errors, too! One researcher stated, "There's no doubt such activities train the brain and influence development in other areas." Even adults benefit by becoming more focused and less stressed. Who knew the songs weren't just for fun? Read Research Confirms Hand-Clapping Songs Improve Cognitive Skills

October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. To raise awareness and dispel misconceptions about Dyslexia, we have compiled a list of facts and statistics about Dyslexia.

• It is estimated that 1 in 10 people have dyslexia
• Over 40 million American Adults are dyslexic - and only 2 million know it
• Dyslexia is not tied to IQ - Einstein was dyslexic and had an estimated IQ of 160
• Dyslexia in not just about getting letters or numbers mixed up or out of order
• 80% of people associate dyslexia with some form of retardation - this is not true
• Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability or disorder that includes poor word reading, word decoding, oral reading fluency and spelling
• Dyslexia occurs in people of all backgrounds and intellectual levels
• Dyslexia has nothing to do with not working hard enough
• 20% of school-aged children in the US are dyslexic
• With appropriate teaching methods, dyslexia can learn successfully
• Over 50% of NASA employees are dyslexic
• Dyslexia runs in families; parents with dyslexia are very likely to have children with dyslexia
• Dyslexics may struggle with organizational skills, planning and prioritizing, keeping time, concentrating with background noise.
• Dyslexis may excel at connecting ideas, thinking out of the box, 3D thinking, seeing the big picture
• People with dyslexia excel or even gifted in areas of art, computer science, design, drama, electronics, math, mechanics, music, physics, sales and sports
• Many famous people are dyslexic including: Orlando Bloom, Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Spielberg, Kiera Knightley. Albert Einstein and Patrick Dempsey

SOURCES: American Dyslexia Association, The International Dyslexia Association, The Dyslexia Center, The Dyslexia Foundation, The Child Mind Institute

Issues with toddler meltdowns or teenage drama? Teaching a child resiliance can help our kids to be happier, well-adjusted, thoughful, autonomous adults.

Years ago, I clipped and saved a valuable article from "Counselor's Corner", much of which I will reproduce here.

Characteristics of Resilient Children:

• Socially skillful
• Sense of control over their response to life
• Reflective approach to life (thinks and then acts)
• Goal-directed
• Curiosity and interest in education (often 'caught' reading!)
• Presence of inspirational individual / role model
• Ability to separate from destructive people and situations
• Take moderate risks
• Stress-inoculated (anticipated and prepared for crises)
• View crises as challenges, not catastrophes

Recommendations for Promoting Resilience:

• Encourage child to have friends by being one.
• Encourage autonomy and opportunities for responsible decision-making
• Encourage divergent thinking (have child plan more than one solution).
• Get child involved in long-term projects to promote goal-setting and delayed gratification
• Encourage interest in education and promote reading.
• Challenge, but never put-down child’s views.
• Provide a strong family support base, and encourage individual extra-curricular pursuits.
• Do not expect of encourage perfection.
• Teach the art of reframing problems as challenges.
• Be what you want the child to be: model resilience.

Sure hope this is helpful!