How Your Child Learns Best: Brain-Friendly Strategies You Can Use to Ignite Your Child's Learning and Increase School Success

338 Pages·2008·3.25 MB·English

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Brain-Based Strategies H
FOREWORD
BY GOLDIE
You Can Use Today to Enhance Your o
HAWN
How
w
Child’s Love of Learning
Y
How Your Child Learns Best is a groundbreaking guide for parents that o
Your Child
c ombines the latest brain research with the best classroom practices to reveal
u
scientifically savvy ways to improve your child’s success in school.
r
Written by Judy Willis, MD, MEd, a board-certified neurologist who is also a

f ull-time classroom teacher,How Your Child Learns Bestshows you not only how C
to help your child learn schoolwork, but also how to capitalize on the way your
h Learns
child’s brain learns best in order to enrich education wherever you are, from the Best
grocery store to the car—a n ecessity in today’s “teach to the test” world.
i
l
By using everyday household items and enjoyable activities,parents of children d
ages three to twelve can apply targeted strategies (based on age and learning

strength) in key academic areas, including: L
e Brain-Friendly
·Reading comprehension · Math word problems · Test preparation
a
·Fractions and decimals · Oral reading · Reports and projects
Strategies
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·Science and history · Reading motivation · Vocabulary
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You Can Use to
Discover how to help your child increase academic focus and success, lower s
test stress while increasing test scores, increase class participation, foster Ignite Your Child’s
creativity, and improve attention span, memory, and higher-level thinking. B
Learning and
How Your Child Learns Bestshows how to maximize your child’s brain potential e
and offers something for every parent who wants the best for his or her child.
s
Increase School
t
Parenting $14.95 U.S./$15.99 CAN/£7.99 UK Success
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-1346-5
ISBN-10: 1-4022-1346-8
www.sourcebooks.com Willis
N
A
E Judy Willis, MD, MEd
How
Your Child
Learns Best
Brain-Friendly Strategies
You Can Use to
Ignite Your Child’s Learning
and Increase School Success
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How
Your Child
Learns Best
Brain-Friendly Strategies
You Can Use to
Ignite Your Child’s Learning
and Increase School Success
J W , MD, ME
UDY ILLIS D
F G H
OREWORD BY OLDIE AWN
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Copyright © 2008 by Judy Willis, MD, MEd
Cover and internal design © 2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover photo © iStockphoto.com/John Woodcock
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from
its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
Th is publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the
subject matt er covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in
rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assis-
tance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.—From a
Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committ ee of the American Bar Association and a
Committ ee of Publishers and Associations
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks,
or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not associated with any product
or vendor in this book.
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567–4410
(630) 961–3900
Fax: [phone]
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Willis, Judy.
How your child learns best : brain-friendly strategies you can use to ignite your child’s learning
and increase school success / Judy Willis.
p. cm. ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-2068-5
1. Learning, Psychology of. 2. Brain. 3. Education—Parent participation. I. Title.
LB1060.W5444 2008
370.15’23—dc22
2008018046
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To you, the parents, who take your love for your children and enrich it
with opportunities for them to reach their highest potentials as joyful,
successful learners. Thank you for passionately nurturing the bodies
and minds of these future caretakers of our planet.
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CONTENTS
Foreword by Goldie Hawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xxi
PART I: Building Better Brains
Chapter 1: The Science behind Better Learning . . . . . . . .3
Chapter 2: Your Child’s Learning Strengths:
Discovering Intelligence and
Learning Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
PART II: Reading
Chapter 3: Laying the Foundation for Reading Success
(Ages 3–8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Chapter 4: Strategies for Oral Reading Success
(Ages 4–8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Chapter 5: Building and Enriching Vocabulary
(Ages 7–11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Chapter 6: Reading Comprehension
(Ages 7–11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
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viii HOW YOUR CHILD LEARNS BEST
Chapter 7: Reading Motivation Strategies
(Ages 7–11) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Chapter 8: Test Preparation Strategies:
Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension
(Ages 7–12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
PART III: Math
Chapter 9: Your Child Can Thrive
Despite a Failing Math System (All Ages) . . . 111
Chapter 10: Targeting Your Child’s
Math Readiness Level (All Ages) . . . . . . . . 127
Chapter 11: Brain-Based Solutions for
Math Challenges (All Ages) . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Chapter 12: Building Math Mastery: Key Topics
(All Ages) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Chapter 13: Math Motivation Strategies (All Ages) . . . . 175
Chapter 14: Test Preparation Strategies: Math (All Ages) 195
PART IV: Social Studies and Science
Chapter 15: Igniting Interest in Science and
Social Studies (All Ages) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Chapter 16: Social Studies beyond the Classroom
(All Ages) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Chapter 17: Science beyond the Classroom
(All Ages) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Chapter 18: Strengthen Study Skills in
Science and Social Studies (Ages 8–12) . . . . 237
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Chapter 19: Long-Term Report and Project Planning
in Science and History (Ages 8–12) . . . . . . 251
Chapter 20: Brain-Friendly Strategies for
Test Preparation (All Ages) . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
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