Good Sensory Learning Blog

Phonemes are the smallest units of language based sounds that can be paired with graphemes or symbols that represent those sounds. These sound/symbol associations are the foundations to writing and reading text, and teaching them to young learners can help boost learning potential. Why are There 44 Phonemes When the Alphabet has only 26 Letters? There are 44 unique phoneme sounds in the English language for two reasons.  On the one hand,  some letters make more than one sound, while on the other hand, certain letter combinations, such as the vowel teams, make their own unique sounds.   So even though...

Visual processing is an important cognitive skill for students to master. It assists with the encoding of information into the brain, and it helps students make sense of the learning content. This skill often needs to be developed and exercised, and there are many engaging activities that can help. What is Visual Processing? Visual processing is a cognitive skill that allows us to process, interpret and find meaning from visual images. In other words, it is how we make sense of what we see. Why is Visual Processing Important? Visual processing is vital because it plays a key role in...

Visual processing is an important cognitive skill for children to develop, and there are many fun games that help to strengthen this skill. What is Visual Processing and Why is it Important? Visual processing is a visual cognitive skill that allows us to process and interpret meaning from the visual information that we see through our eyes, and it plays an important role in reading, math, and spelling.   What Are the Cognitive Skills that Make up Visual Processing Visual processing involves a number of cognitive components: Visual Processing Speed: the ability to process visual information at a rapid pace. Visual...

Slow and labored reading can make schooling a drag for many bright students, and in order to truly help these struggling learners, teachers and support personnel need to understand the root causes. The problem is that each student has their own unique contributing factors. As a result, the best way to serve each student is to begin with an investigation. What are the Three Main Causes of Slow and Labored Reading? Three main causes of slow reading. 1) Cognitive  Deficits or weaknesses in key cognitive processing areas can point to a root cause of slow and labored reading. Common areas...

Getting a school to recognize, test, and then accommodate your child with dyslexia can be an arduous and frustrating task.  Although public school systems can accommodate the individual needs of our struggling students, many administrators don’t like to tap into the general education coffers for a single student. As a result, parents often have to rally and wrestle to obtain reasonable accommodations for their children with dyslexia and other disabilities that impact learning. The key to navigating this slippery slope is to understand the laws, the lingo as well as the menus of mandated accommodations and modifications. What are my...