16 Time bombs set to go off in your child unless you prevent them now

Catching Humpty Dumpty – A Good Foundation
Sixteen time-bombs that may be set to go off in your child unless you do something to prevent them now.

                In a solid rocket motor, the difference between a launch and a detonation can be one little crack. A rocket motor is not like a car motor. It doesn’t have a bunch of moving metal parts. In fact, it’s more like a big rubber eraser with a bunch of small particles in it. When cast and cured correctly, it burns from one end to the other (after ignition), which causes a controlled thrust powerful enough to lift huge shuttles and satellites into space. It’s also the same stuff that propels tactical missiles to their destinations.

                One little crack in the solid, rubbery fuel will cause an over-pressure so quickly that the burn becomes an instantaneous explosion- a detonation. Rocket scientists and engineers are very careful to make sure that a solid rocket motor (SRM) has no gaps, de-bonds, or cracks anywhere inside. They also protect an SRM during transport from manufacture in say, Utah, to NASA in Florida, to make sure that nothing impacts the SRM, and that it doesn’t get dropped or bumped at any time in the loading and unloading. One little crack in the solid fuel can mean the difference between celebrating an astronaut in space and attending his/her funeral.

                So what does that have to do with raising children? One little crack in the foundation of a child’s beginnings can change his/her future forever. Most of these are preventable or treatable if caught early, and children are resilient, thank goodness. It’s also similar to getting off-track like this ( < ). See how at the beginning of the crack the lines are close together near the point? But the further it grows, the wider the gap between the lines, or the more off-track we are. What might seem like a small thing in the beginning may have lasting effects later.

                What do dyslexia, speech problems, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, a weak immune system, malnutrition, children of rage, low self-esteem, insecurity, childhood depression, low self-confidence, lack of imagination, lower IQ, slower learning capacity, poor decision-making skills, lack of social skills, and the downward educational trend have in common? Most may be preventable or curable when caught early. You, mom and dad, are the key.

                Let’s discuss how each of the building blocks (substance-free pregnancy and home, breast-feeding and nutrition, affection and family environment, brain stimulation, early phonics, early math, service projects) can prevent or treat the cracks in your child’s life: What would you be willing to do to prevent your child from having dyslexia? What would you be willing to do to help her be gifted? Academically talented?

                Even though there may be a genetic (or biological) link to some learning disabilities, certain environmental factors can trigger problems or worsen them. Others can prevent or improve them. And even though there may be a genetic link to intelligence, certain environmental factors can stunt it, while others can enhance it. There are many things a parent can do to help give her child the best possible cognitive abilities.

                Ideally, preventing learning disabilities in your child begins before her conception. We all know the drill of being drug and alcohol free, not smoking, eating nutritionally, taking prenatal vitamins and iron, etc., but they work. They make sure that your baby gets enough oxygen and nutrition without any detrimental substances to stunt development. We also know that making sure the baby has enough oxygen during delivery is essential to mental health. We'll discuss them more in-depth next week.

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/catching-humpty-dumpty-good-foundation 

Early reading the right way - intro

It’s not Rocket Surgery!
How to put your children on the launch pad of life and watch them soar.
Or, Why should you teach your child to read before kindergarten

               

All the time I hear the catch phrase, “It’s not rocket science,” when something could be harder. But guess what us rocket scientists usually say – “It’s not brain surgery.” The irony is that once I heard neuro-brain surgeon, Dr. Nathan Avery, say, “It’s not rocket science,” but it was! He had come to ATK Thiokol in northern Utah to ask us for help with a serious accident case he was working on. Around May of 2001, Amber McCallister’s car was broad-sided by another vehicle on Interstate-15 near Midvale, Utah.

 

Even though her 2-year-old son, Zachary, was in his car seat, he was severely injured. While the car seat restraints had held his body in place, his head kept moving forward, detaching his skull from his spine. Usually this kind of injury also severs the spinal cord and arteries, causing instant death, but miraculously not in Zachary. This was a few months before the infamous September 11^th incident in New York, and the following Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City 2002. I was expecting my 14^th (and last) child, too.

 

Dr. Avery, at Primary Children’s Medical Center, kept little Zachary immobile in a drug-induced coma while he searched for the tools required to save him. He needed a horse-shoe shaped device made of titanium-vanadium metal alloy, but only had ones large enough to fit adults and older children. He needed first to find some titanium-vanadium alloy in a hurry, then to find someone who could machine it to precisely the right specifications to fit the toddler’s skull and spine. He telephoned several companies all over the Rocky Mountains and United States, and hit pay dirt when he reached the Metallurgy group at ATK Thiokol’s aerospace division just west of Brigham City, Utah.

 

The manager over the metallurgy group of the science and engineering labs there had a research and development (R&D) machine shop located in the back of the lab building, with state-of-the-art CNC computerized milling machines. Even better, the specific titanium-vanadium alloy needed for the human body, because it’s flexible and doesn’t get rejected by the immune system, was the same metal used for solid rocket motor nozzles (nose cones). And the Metallurgy group happened to have some on hand.

 

Lab technician Dave Lefgren told me of our unique visitor. Although not a direct player in this drama, I was privileged to walk down the hall from my lab and observe the wonderful blend of rocket science and brain surgery. We met Dr. Avery (and his assistant), who showed us a strip of titanium-vanadium alloy and explained its perfect surgical qualities. Titanium has what is called good ‘memory,’ where it is almost elastic and returns to its original shape after bending. The surgeon had a great sense of humor, and we laughed that we thought each other’s jobs were harder, as in the swap of clichés.

 

Russell Evan Howe (Howie to all) oversaw the hands-on milling of the alloy into the precise horse-shoe shape that Dr. Avery specified. It took some careful computer programming and almost 24 hours to slowly, accurately, cut the metal with liquid jet sprays. Dr. Douglas Brockmeyer helped Dr. Avery perform the actual surgery on Zachary McCallister. The surgery was successful; the special device was the right size for the toddler, and reconnected his head to his spine.

 

The next year, at a special awards ceremony held on May 20, 2002, at the Marriott in Provo, 48 people responsible for saving the little boy were honored with an Emergency Services Award. An ATK Thiokol spokesman also presented Zachary with a plaque containing memorabilia from an actual space flight. He said helping the little boy, "lifted us higher than any space flight."

 

I absolutely love the commercial for Eggo syrup which featured an exec at the Eggo waffle company asking why nobody's ever thought of making Eggo syrup to go along with their waffles?!

 

                "It's not rocket surgery!" he says. That’s exactly what we did for Zachary McCallister – rocket surgery.

 

On the other side of the spectrum, my projects often consisted of a little “rocket surgery” where we often did a little cutting, or surgery, on rocket motors. We biopsied segments of solid rocket motor fuel from missiles and boosters to test them for chemical and mechanical changes due to aging of the materials. So, “It’s not rocket surgery” has become my catch-phrase for the standard of things that don’t require skilled people and complicated feats.

 

As a working mom of 14 kids, I’m proof that with the right method and tools, it’s not hard to teach your child to read before kindergarten. But it is very important. My Dad taught me to read when I was only 3 years old, and look where it took me. Aerospace! Anyone can do it and I can show you how. It’s not rocket surgery!

 

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/its-not-rocket-surgery-early-reading-right-way-intro

12 Reasons why your child needs early reading the right way

12 Reasons why your child needs early reading the right way

Why use The Godfrey Method to overcome the Top Ten Myths of Reading?

• You learn how to redefine your definition of the word ‘reading’. You learn that reading is not the same for all children.
• You discover how to move through the roadblocks and challenges your child faces on his road to learning how to read.
• You become aware of a new way of bonding with your child which is fun, productive, and most of all, the most valuable gift that you can share with her.
• And most importantly, a simple shift in your current thinking about learning to read can change his or her entire world.

Your value, your reward for following The Godfrey Method’s easy-to-understand path to the foundation of your child’s future learning, is:

• You experience the eye-opening tips, the innovative strategies, and the techniques that have brought so many children to the doorway of success.
• You experience a combination of compelling and insightful stories of children and parents moving through the challenges and roadblocks that once held them back on their road to learning.
• You experience the practical step-up formula that will help you discover your child’s own innate ability to become a participant in the world of reading.
• You experience a true sense of the word bonding as you both move through The Godfrey Method of reading, targeting your ability to overcome the once impossible task of helping your child read.

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is you and your child get to walk away with the tools and knowledge to step up to a brighter and more fulfilling world of learning.

Take-aways:

• Learn the links which create understanding between the eyes & mind.
• Use sound to speed the learning process.
• “Reading is hearing with your eyes.”
• Quick and inexpensive way to do it at home.

 

Do you know the answers to these myths? Do you know the truth?

                         Find the truth in "A Funny Boy Was Prince River"

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/12-reasons-why-your-child-needs-early-reading-right-way

Top Ten Reading Myths 10

Myth 10. Let the child ‘discover’ reading.

Truth: Instead, follow The Godfrey Method exactly as found in the book, "A Funny Boy Was Prince River." The unique picture-letters are the first part of making phonics connect with a child (which squiggly line makes which sound). The second part is the way they are taught, which is just as important. Child-led discovery is not teaching the right way: early and by direction instruction.

            Some misguided educators say that children naturally pick up language, and therefore reading, on their own. This is not completely true. When children of different cultures play together, they sometimes create their own language by blending the different ones. But they were taught language first by their parents. However, this doesn’t happen with reading. Reading must be taught directly. And feral children, those left to survive on their own from a young age who hear no language, never learn to speak, even when rescued later. Without others to teach them language, they do not develop it on their own.

            My colleague Donna told me that her son’s elementary school in Michigan taught reading with a child-led system that did not teach the spelling rules of phonics. The teachers didn’t want to ‘hurt’ the kids’ self-esteems and let them write however they wanted. But that’s exactly what they did – hurt self-esteem. Being unable to read or write well shakes a child’s confidence to the core.

            Several years later, Donna had to go to the junior high for a conference. While there, she heard several mothers talking about having to take their teens to Sylvan Learning Center for tutoring because they were so far behind. One mother was especially angry, not only because she had to pay for Sylvan’s tutoring but while there, she heard the registrar say, “We see this all the time. We have a lot of junior high students coming to us because of how they were taught in elementary.” The mom was furious! She had to pay to remedy how the school messed up her son. Sadly, the elementary was still teaching the faulty theory even after years of proven failure. (What I want to know is, Why aren’t schools beating down the doors of Sylvan Learning Center to find out how to teach correctly? Obviously the knowledge is out there.)

            Will your kids be ready for the jobs of the future? With TGM more children will graduate high school and go to college. The jobs of the future require an education and that requires reading. Reading ability affects your kid’s future and the future of our nation. We all hear reports of China and India becoming the next centers for technology and innovation. We’re running behind as a nation in engineering, science, math, and technology. And they all start with reading.

            Meg Whitman said, “Being near the bottom in education is a tragedy for our kids and a threat to our future. To restore our prosperity and do right by our children, we need to better educate them in the basics… to prepare them to excel in the workforce.” The days of succeeding without reading are over.

            You can find colorful, enchanting picture-letters in my books, A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette, or A Funny Boy Was Prince River.

            You can find even more ideas and information about in my book series, It’s Not Rocket Surgery! (How to put your children on the launch pad of life and watch them soar.)

            Remember those times in your life when you’ve thought, “Where does learning really begin?” I have always believed that teaching starts in the home and that you can and should stimulate your child’s mind for learning long before school starts. My Dad taught me to read when I was only 3 years old. So I followed suit and, even though I was a busy, working mom of 14, I always spent time showing my children phonics cards, numbers, colors, etc., from the time they were about 18 months on. My older children learned phonics just fine by repetition and memorization.

            Then came along my son who at 4 years old could not, no matter how hard he tried, conceive of how squiggly lines (letters) on a page could mean anything, nor memorize which squiggly lines made which sounds. No matter how many times we repeated them, he just couldn’t grasp it. Of course as a mom I worried that he would have trouble in school, fall further and further behind, and not be ready for the technology jobs of the future. I had to help him!

            I knew I had to find a way to make such an abstract concept make sense to him, to become more logical. I needed something he could recognize and wrap his mind around, something for him to link the letters to their sounds. I felt inspired to make each letter look like something that started with its sound, creating my unique picture-letters. I also developed a special way of teaching them to ‘keep it simple for success’ (KISS).

            Suddenly my son had phenomenal victory with learning his phonics and quickly progressed to reading before kindergarten. Family and friends saw his success and became interested in trying my method with their children. So I wrote down the rationales and rules for teaching my method properly, to guarantee triumph for other users. My sisters, cousins, friends, neighbors, and preschools have used my method with hundreds of children, all with amazing results.

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/top-ten-myths-reading-myth-10

Top Ten Myths of Reading 9

Myth 9. Reading is only a mental activity.

Truth: Instead, include tactile or kinesthetic teaching and have the child touch and trace each letter. Learning to read by seeing and hearing is enhanced when adding other senses. Not using touch (and taste and smell, where possible) with reading may be incomplete learning. On the picture-letter phonics cards, the adult touches a finger under the letter on the left and says the sound, then touches under the picture on the right and says the word. Example: (as you move your finger left to right) say, "ă, apple." Later let the child touch them.

             Reading is hearing with your eyes. TGM picture-letters and stories tap into all different types of learning: left-brained logic with the letters and sounds, right-brained imagination with the colorful, enchanting picture-letters, kinesthetic learning by touching the letters while saying the sounds, and rhyming- which is one of the easiest ways to remember things.
 

 

Children also remember the way their mother smells while she reads to them on her lap (or by her side or lying on the bed). This actually helps them learn better. 

 

You can also help your child make letter cookies out of dough, use 3-D magnetic letters, color-code vowels versus consonants, and so many things to involve all the senses, even smells. But first and foremost importantly, the picture-letters.

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/top-ten-myths-reading-myth-9

Top Ten Myths of Reading 8

Myth 8. Use baby talk or simple words only.



Truth: Instead, raise your kid's vocabulary by using normal language. The picture-letter cards and story will increase a child's vocabulary. A two-year-old will not know what a flute, a quail, or a yacht is. S/he learns about them as the parent says them. Take every opportunity to reinforce or point them out on television, in a magazine, at the zoo, or in the countryside.

 

Vocabulary is the one place that you don’t want to just keep it simple. Studies show that, in general, dads tend to use bigger words with children than moms, and it helps to raise their vocabulary.

 

Young Isaac couldn’t hear well until his adenoids were removed. By then, he was far behind in his speech. So his mom used The Godfrey Method picture-letters to help him learn sounds, talk, and bring him up to speed. He has progressed very quickly, which surprised his doctors!

                                                           

Pictures from "A Funny Boy Was Prince River" and "A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette".

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/top-ten-myths-reading-myth-8

Top Ten Myths of Reading 7

Myth 7. Make the child perform.

Truth: Instead, have no control issues or power struggles. Use no anger or shame. Do not pressure the child to perform. Stay calm. Using force, punishment, or criticism is damaging. When the child wants to quit partway through the cards, then STOP. Pick it up later. Keep it fun.

Does this sound familiar? How many times as parents have we tried to help our kids with their homework or piano practice, only to have the whole thing end up in a fight? Your child screams, “That’s not the way my teacher did it!” You get frustrated when he won’t listen. Eventually one (or both) of you goes to your room and slams the door.

The Godfrey Method insists that you de-fuse this scenario before it starts. One of the cardinal rules is to have no control issues or power struggles. Never force the child to respond or perform. Learning at home should be fun and joyous. 

"But how?" you say. I make bonding-time fun and joyous while learning. At first, I present the phonics picture-letter cards from "A Funny Boy Was Prince River" to my child, saying the sound and then the accompanying word. I go through as many letters as my child wants. If s/he loses interest, we stop and pick it up again later.

After a few times of me saying the sounds and words, my child will start to say them after me or with me. A few times after that, my child will say them first before I do. It's really marvelous to see him/her light up with understanding!

Once a few letter-sounds are well known, I form small 3-letter words and show my child how to sound them out. I have whole lists of these words in the HELPS from previous blogs.

We sound out each letter separately, left to right. Next we say each letter-sound slowly while blending it into the next one (like a piano slur from one note to the next). Then we "say it fast!" The children love this, and after hearing me say the sounds slowly, in sequence, without a break or breath between, they can say it fast (recognize the word) all by themselves. They feel so smart!

Once my children can sound-out several small words, they are ready to move on to the phonics speling rules, which help them learn alternate sounds and be able to decode any new word properly. We do NOT guess by context. No, no, no.

Eighty percent of words follow these rules. The rest are Platypus words, and children find this concept easy to understand. Just have fun with it. Remember, Keep It Simple for Success (KISS your child).

http://thegodfreymethod.com