Straight Talk About Reading: How Parents Can Make a Difference During the Early Years

It’s September, which means it’s time for school to start! The alarm rings, but Sarah Jane Hartwell just burrows deeper into her covers, announcing that shes not going, wailing “I dont know anybody, and it will be hard, and … I just hate it, thats all.” Finally, Mr. Hartwell firmly orders her down to breakfast, puts her in the car and drops her off to join the children flooding through the school doors. But is Sarah who you expect her to be?

Here is a model of reading ideal for striving readers, focused on their personal interests, topic-specific reading, deep background knowledge, contextual reading strategies, and mentoring support. More important, the model moves away from a deficit approach to conceptualize striving readers in a new way. Chapters share success stories of readers who overcome their struggles and highlight instructional strategies and materials you can use to develop activities and lessons for children and adults. Use this research-based model in the classroom or at home to help your striving readers achieve high levels of literacy.

With this fully realized second edition of the classic guide, Dr. Larry Silver addresses the subjects all parents wonder about when they suspect their child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: What causes ADHD? What signs should I look for? How can I make sure my child is diagnosed correctly? Could my child have a learning disability, too? What’s the latest information on medications and other treatments? What controversial treatments should I watch out for? What should I tell my child’s school, and what should they be doing? Dr. Silver’s warm, thoroughly practical guide will give parents, teachers, and others the support they want and the answers they need.

The Individualized Education Program, or IEP, determines the nuts and bolts of your child’s special education. This includes the specific classroom set up, curricula, support services, and program and educational goals. Understanding every aspect of the IEP process will help you avoid surprises along the way. The Complete IEP Guide walks you step-by-step through the IEP process. The book provides all the instructions, suggestions, strategies, resources and forms you need to proceed from the beginning, when you first suspect a problem, to the end, when your child completes school.

In Ready to Learn, Stan Goldberg draws on thirty years of clinical experience (and personal experience as the father of two kids with learning differences) to provide an easy-to-use guide to helping children overcome any problems and improve their learning skills.

“Disabilities can be ‘nuisances,’ but … differences are good. They add to the richness of our world.” This illustrated book explores both physical and learning disabilities. You’ll also learn how many famous historical figures had disabilities and succeeded despite them.