Good Sensory Learning Blog

A big part of a mindful education and teaching emotional intelligence begins with the learning environment. Setting up a space where students can find peace and unwind is key. My Zen Table In my private practice, I offer a “zen table” that is surrounded in cushions, bean bags and tactile toys. Here students can dip their fingers into one side that is filled with lentils and colorful rocks. They let the stress of the day dribble from the tips of their fingers.  They can also venture to the other side of the table that is filled with mung beans and magnets. I got this beautiful...

Some students struggle with math vocabulary and this is particularly common when students learn about real numbers.  Language processing and vocabulary comprehension is key to this mathematical concept and making this process fun can be difficult. I have just finished a series of game-like activities that make the process both enjoyable and challenging. Following Directions: Real Numbers Digital Download is a collection of 5 engaging activities that helps to develop language skills, math vocabulary, tricky wording, attention to detail and more. The Following Directions Series are one of my most popular products and now I have created one just for real...

I love to teach little kids the letters of the alphabet.  There are so many fun and creative ways to teach this fundamental skill!! 5 Letter Instruction Activities Your Children Will Surely Savor 1) Fill a tray with a light coating of sand, ground coffee, flour, or rice. Make sure that the tray is a contrasting color so that when the kids make the letters, they can see the surface of the tray underneath. 2) Form the individual letters out of food that starts with that letter. For example, make the letter B out of sliced bananas, carve the letter O...

Now you can take your favorite cookie recipe and cut the dough into the alphabet! You can use it for learning the letters, spelling names, and even making words and sentences. Learning Letters Can Be Fun and Delicious Now you can take your favorite cookie recipe and cut the dough into the alphabet! You can use it for learning the letters, spelling names, and even making words and sentences. If you don't want to use them for cookies, you could use it to cut up a pan of jello! Finally, if you want to make it into something that is...

Kids never strive to be careless, lazy or unmotivated and referring to a student in this way never helps a situation. In fact, many kids that hear these labels again and again develop a negative inner voice as well as a case of learned helplessness.  A Student Story I’ll never forget a student of mine coming into one of our sessions in a terrible frame of mind.  He exclaimed, “I’m careless and unmotivated!” He slid a graded assignment across the table in front of me. Red marks cut across his work and in bold, scarring letters the teacher had told Jake that...