Good Sensory Learning Blog

Learning to follow directions is a critical skill for young children. Whether they are complying with a parent's directives, teachers' written instructions, or following oral commands from a coach or mentor, those that can implement this ability have a major advantage. What Does it Mean to Follow Directions? Following directions is the implementation of a series of requested tasks. Directions can be presented orally, or in written form, and involve the understanding and interpretation of language.  Many children struggle with this skill, because it requires them to: use their working memory to hold, remember and recall a sequence of directives make sense of subtle linguistic...

The landscape of academic success is vast and complex, yet recent studies shine a spotlight on a critical cornerstone: working memory. This revelation positions working memory not just as a function of the mind, but as a fundamental predictor of educational success. For students wrestling with memory deficits, honing this skill can be a game-changer. Let's embark on an enlightening journey to uncover how empowering the working memory can catalyze profound benefits and transform struggling students into successful learners.  What is Working Memory? Working memory is a short-term, cognitive function with limited capacity that gathers sensory input and memories to complete...

Higher order thinking or higher-order thinking skills (HOTS), is based on the theory that some more advanced forms of learning require advanced or complex cognitive processing. Bloom's taxonomy, for instance, suggests the HOTS levels include analysis (breaking apart and organizing information), evaluation (examining the outcome), and synthesis (pulling information together).  The teaching of these skills demands different and more advanced instructional methods than concrete levels of learning such as rote memorization and repetition. How Can We Teach Higher Order Thinking Skills? Instead of parroting facts back to a teacher, HOTS asks students to: understand concepts making sense of implied meanings from lessons or content cues...

Finding the best professional to help with a struggling student can be a challenging chore. There are a Number of Professionals that Can Help: Educational Therapist: An educational therapist offers remedial treatment for struggling students and those with any type of disability that impacts learning. In addition, many offer help to students with social and emotional challenges involving their learning difficulties. Support is often individualized for each learner.  Most educational therapists have degrees in both psychology and education.  Learning Specialist: A learning specialist is a private coach that offers compensatory learning strategies and metacognitive approaches to learning for all students from those with disabilities to those that are gifted. Some also offer a multisensory remedial...