Pay Attention

By a Fortune Academy Parent

We all are familiar with trying to get someone’s attention.  We snap our fingers at each other,  repeat names, clear our throats, raise our voices, tap shoulders, wave hands, interrupt, everybody does it.  So why is ADD and ADHD such a big deal, why all the fuss, the medicine, the hype?

ADD and ADHD are very real and can affect everyday living and quality life.  Tapping shoulders is one thing, but what if you can’t hold more than one or two things in your mind at the same time and a teacher is rattling off assignments, what if later in life it’s your boss dishing out duties and you’re consistently two steps behind and a day late.  It catches up with you, limits your productivity, your effectiveness, your capacity to complete assignments and operate under pressure.  Would it eventually tire you out, take a toll on your confidence – your image.

Of course it would.  This is why understanding ADD and ADHD and understanding how to navigate its challenges is vital to a person’s success.

• Write down assignments as given to you.
• Breakdown larger tasks into smaller steps to make more manageable.
• Ask for deadlines.
• When estimating how long something will take, always add on extra hours – underestimating how long things take is common.
• Tell others around you what you need from them.  People with ADD/ADHD often assume others can react to them, but giving those around you clear directions or questions will improve understanding and relationships.

Guest Blogger

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Education, Technology and Game-Based Learning for all Ages

By Pam Krengel, President of GlobalMagic Corporation

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” – Benjamin Franklin

Back in the 80’s we wanted to engage our daughter in learning. We found one featuring hand puppets, cassettes, books and an interactive game we played reinforcing what she learned. Included was a “high-tech” electronic over-sized pencil buzzing every time she answered correctly. Primitive and not very “high-tech” by today’s standards, but with various in-game stimuli provided hours of learning fun for her and us.

So how does this game-based learning translate today for your student K-12? John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He said “if we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow”.

Today Educators and the Technology industry have taken notice. It was reported in 2012 by Apple’s SVP of Marketing, Phil Schiller there were 20,000 education and learning iPad applications. That doesn’t even take into account the new ones or the thousands of educational and game-based oriented smartphone apps, geared for children of all ages.

Where is the future of Technology and Learning headed? You have already started to see game-based  learning being widely adopted by mainstream classrooms. Research has clearly shown that games can promote higher-order thinking skills, such as collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork.

As a Parent what can you do at home to promote game-based learning?

[1] Get involved with your kids in finding the right game-based apps for your family. There are reviews
and blogs that can help you start that process to determine if it’s right for your student. You can also ask
your school and other parents’ who have some recommended ones that would be perfect. And keep in
mind sometimes educational game-based apps can be completely disguised as purely a game that is
truly fun, your children just don’t realize that the learning is happening as well.

[2] Then, set aside some time to use it. The reward is richest when you “play” together.

Let the family fun begin.

Blogger Pam Krengel is President of GlobalMagic Corporation

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I Heard it in the Halls

by Andrea Corey

One of the great pleasures of working here is being privy to the conversations all around me.  I’m with parents, staff, visitors, potential families, past families, and of course …students.  The words I hear throughout the days and years keep me going, they matter.

A high school honor roll student said she is sleeping again since transferring here.  A third grader said, “I don’t know why but these smaller words are harder than big words and I’m understanding them more – maybe this place DOES help.” A prospective parent’s eyes glazed over with tears when another current parent said in passing…”You’re not alone, we all get it here.”

We do “get it” here.  Your child shouldn’t fall through the cracks.  Here, THE child with the learning difference is everyone, and THE teacher that “gets” him/her is all of us.

Blogger Andrea Corey is the Director of Development for Fortune Academy

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