Growing "Give-N-Take" Kids: Power Traits for Life™

Today's guest, Marianne Sunderland, is the mother of 7 children who have reading and learning difficulties when it comes to traditional schooling, and one child who is like her mom and thrives with traditional school work. Her website HomeschoolingwithDyslexia.com offers resources and encouragement to parents who homeschool "outside the box" learners. Do you lack confidence in your homeschool program? Do you have lots of materials and curriculum that sit on a shelf because they just don't work for your kids? Are you afraid that you are not doing the right things or that your child is missing out on important learning that might take place in the traditional school setting? In this 2-part series Marianne and Mariaemma discuss the benefits of creating a strengths-based learning program that allows your child to focus on his/her interests, talents, and passions, and meets learning needs specific to his/her Dispositions, Modalities, and Environment. With this approach confidence is instilled in both student and teacher (you), because it allows all students to thrive and develop to their fullest potentials, as they discover and apply their strengths in daily learning as well as goal-setting and career exploration. For more information about Marianne go to https://homeschoolingwithdyslexia.com To get the Self-Portrait™ Power Traits Assessment for your family use this link for $5.00 off each assessment: http://www.aselfportraitonline.net/store/default.asp?promo=LSAbunLife For more information about Mariaemma and LearningSuccess™ Institute go to powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com, learningsuccessinstitute.com copyright 2020 Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

Today's guest, Marianne Sunderland, is the mother of 7 children who have reading and learning difficulties when it comes to traditional schooling, and one child who is like her mom and thrives with traditional school work. Her website HomeschoolingwithDyslexia.com offers resources and encouragement to parents who homeschool "outside the box" learners. Do you lack confidence in your homeschool program? Do you have lots of materials and curriculum that sit on a shelf because they just don't work for your kids? Are you afraid that you are not doing the right things or that your child is missing out on important learning that might take place in the traditional school setting? In this 2-part series Marianne and Mariaemma discuss the benefits of creating a strengths-based learning program that allows your child to focus on his/her interests, talents, and passions, and meets learning needs specific to his/her Dispositions, Modalities, and Environment. With this approach confidence is instilled in both student and teacher (you), because it allows all students to thrive and develop to their fullest potentials, as they discover and apply their strengths in daily learning as well as goal-setting and career exploration.  For more information about Marianne go to https://homeschoolingwithdyslexia.com To get the Self-Portrait™ Power Traits Assessment for your family use this link for $5.00 off each assessment: http://www.aselfportraitonline.net/store/default.asp?promo=LSAbunLife For more information about Mariaemma and LearningSuccess™ Institute go to powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com, learningsuccessinstitute.com copyright 2020 Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

Mariaemma is joined by special guests Edie Lanphar and Dr. Phil Fitzsimmons to discuss Literacy and the Reading-Writing Connection. Literacy begins at birth and the foundations for learning to read and write begin in the home. What happens next in classrooms is also crucial! For more information or questions email us: info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit aselfportraitonline.com,  powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com copyright 2020 Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

Mariaemma is joined by special guests Dr. Phil Fitzsimmons and Edie Lanphar to discuss the Conditions for Learning.  For more information or questions email us: info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit aselfportraitonline.com, powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com copyright 2020 Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

In this episode Edie Lanphar and Mariaemma discuss the Neuroscience of Learning. When students are upset—frustrated, angry, sad, discouraged—a stress response occurs that tells the adrenals to release chemicals that affect the emotional regulation center of the brain. The brain then prepares to fight, flee, freeze, or fawn and the "thinking brain" basically goes off-line. Edie explains how this happens and how parents and teachers can model strategies for balancing the emotions, and get the thinking brain back online so that real learning can take place. For more information or questions email us:   info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit  aselfportraitonline.com,  powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com copyright 2019 Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

Edie Lanphar is back with Mariaemma to discuss the connection between learning strengths and social-emotional learning. Knowing how to identify feelings, interests, values, and strengths leads to self-confidence, one of the key ingredients for successful learning AND life experiences. Teaching students how to regulate their emotions is also an important ingredient in the equation that leads to effective learning practices . Edie shares how crucial it is for parents and teachers to understand the important role emotions have—to either facilitate or hinder learning. For more information or questions email us:   info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit  aselfportraitonline.com,  powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com copyright 2019 Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

Do you know someone who is always asking questions, wants to know how and why things work, likes to tinker, takes things apart and sometimes doesn't put them back together, loves to experiment and discover, loses track of time when focused on a project? In this episode Mariaemma describes the Curious Disposition characteristics,  including learning needs, career ideas, and what they contribute to the  family or group. For more information or questions email us:  info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit  aselfportraitonline.com, powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com copyright 2019 Reflective Educational Perspectives LLC

Do you know anyone who needs to move, move, move? Someone who isn't into planning so much, can do things on the spur of the moment, thrives with adventure, or maybe is a natural "entertainer?" In this episode Mariaemma describes the Spontaneous Disposition characteristics, including learning needs, career ideas, and what they contribute to the family or group. For more information or questions email us:  info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit  aselfportraitonline.com, powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com copyright 2019 Reflective Educational Perspectives, LLC

In this episode Mariaemma discusses how powerful it can be when teachers know what their students and their students' parents wish they knew! For more information or questions email us at  info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit  powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com, solimaracademy.com copyright 2019 Reflective Educational Perspectives, LLC

In this episode Mariaemma discusses ways to honor and celebrate your children, your students, and any special people in your life. For questions, email Mariaemma - m@learningsuccesscoach.com copyright 2019 Reflective Educational Perspectives, LLC

Today we have a guest sharing turnaround stories from traditional classrooms. Edie Lanphar brings years of education and experience as a classroom teacher and principal. In this episode she talks about the importance of providing emotional safety in any learning situation, and the value of teachers understanding the role of social-emotional learning and its effects on the brain's ability to learn. She gives examples of how students respond when these concepts are in place and the focus is on learning strengths! For more information or questions email us at  info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit  aselfportraitonline.com, powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com copyright 2019 Reflective Educational Perspectives, LLC

There are so many misconceptions about learning to read. The very first misconception is that all kids need to begin early - as early as 3 or 4 years old! This is the very thing that causes problems for so many students and often results in eventually labeling a child dyslexic. Some students are just not developmentally ready that young and need to wait until they are 8 or 9 years old to BEGIN to learn to read! These students are usually Picture or Hands-On type learners who need specific step-by-step instruction and practice with Orton-Gillingham type methods. In other words, the majority of students won't learn with the standard, uncorrelated  "reader/spelling workbook/phonics worksheet"  curriculum. In this episode Mariaemma discusses all this and more about how to make reading successful for all students. For more information or questions email us at   info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit  aselfportraitonline.com,    powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com copyright 2019 Reflective Educational Perspectives, LLC

 What comes to mind when you hear, "Learning doesn't have to hurt?" In this episode you will hear the story of a student who was encouraged to use her Verbal Modality strength when taking a test she didn't think she could pass. She got a B! For more information or questions email us at  info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit  aselfportraitonline.com,   powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com

Magic happens when students are looked at through the lens of different learning needs, instead of being given a learning disability label. The possibilities for students are endless when educators choose to focus on strengths: EVERYTHING changes and EVERY child thrives! For more information or questions email us at  info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit aselfportraitonline.com,  powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com

What is a learning disability? What is a learning strength? Are learning "disabilities" really hidden learning strengths? Why is it important to focus on strengths in the learning situation? Find out in this episode! For more information or questions email us at  info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit aselfportraitonline.com,  powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com

We have done several Turnaround Story episodes and they have all been about positive turnarounds. But there is another kind of turnaround that is not so positive - it is what we call the downshift turnaround. To illustrate, Victoria and Mariaemma share two poems - The Little Boy and Animal School. And then they share examples of uplifting turnarounds.

In this episode Victoria and Mariaemma share stories of families who decided to homeschool because their children were sinking in traditional school. As soon as their learning needs were met they began thriving. It's been several years now since these students graduated from high school - find out what amazing things they are doing now!

In this episode Victoria and Mariaemma tell several stories of students who struggled with reading, math, and writing - some to the point of tears. What's the secret to their magnificent turnarounds? Find out! For more information or questions email us at info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit aselfportraitonline.com, powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com

In this episode Victoria tells the story of a 4th grader who was having trouble memorizing the multiplication tables. She looked to his learning styles for clues to the best strategies to meet his learning needs. Find out how he went from being discouraged to tracking his own progress with enthusiasm! And then, something unexpected happened- tune in to find out what! For more information or questions email us at  info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit aselfportraitonline.com,  powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com

No matter what age the student is, the best, most authentic, long-term learning takes place when the student is allowed to experiment, make mistakes, and discover principles, concepts, and processes on his/her own. Find out what happens when a four-year-old is given a jar, a spoon, a funnel, and some millet! For more information or questions email us at info@learningsuccesscoach.com

Greg was having difficulties at school and also didn't seem to fit in with his family. All of them were athletic, energetic, and noisy! Except for Greg. No one could understand why he didn’t want to go to game after game, why he became upset and edgy and crabby. Once they understood that he needed quiet, reflective time, time to just be alone with his thoughts, time to invent and create, a few simple changes were made. And then the magic started to happen! For more information or questions email us at info@learningsuccesscoach.com or visit aselfportraitonline.com, powertraitsforlife.com, reflectiveed.com

Leading with negative judgments, anxiety, and worry is a missed opportunity to connect with the hearts of children, their liveliness and passion for life. Accepting, supportive, confidence-building actions stimulate the release of hormones in the body and brain that lead to connection with others and a desire to engage in life, while anxious, critical, unsupportive actions stimulate the release of hormones that lead to fight or flight reactions. The question then becomes, what kinds of hormones do our actions release in our kids? powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com

It's hard to stop happy, satisfied people from trying to learn more about themselves and the world, or from feeling good about themselves when they’ve accomplished something. It's not actually human nature to do as little as possible - that's a sign that something is wrong. So what motivates young people? Rewards? Punishments? This episode is about how to provide an environment that stimulates motivation from the inside out - one more step toward Growing Give-N-Take Kids and giving them the gift of Power Traits for Life™.  powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com

When things happen that are outside your comfort zone, and you’re feeling a lot of pressure, what do you do? This episode is about reactivity and responsiveness, the difference between the two, what brings them out in you, and how they affect your life and those around you. Learning to be responsive is a Give-N-Take attribute that results in a more peaceful, relaxed, and fun family and work life.  powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com

We believe that our job as teachers and parents is to be Great Coaches – coaching young people to believe in themselves, to be confident in their own abilities and what they CAN do. This episode is all about how to bring out the stars in our children and students, and show them where they shine – one of the components for Growing Give-N-Take Kids and empowering them for life. powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com

Children see themselves as we see them, and that is what they are going to believe. If we mostly see and point out their faults, they will see themselves as faulty, with nothing to share. If we see and CELEBRATE their strengths and abilities, they will see themselves as strong and gifted with lots to share. In this episode we will talk about ways to celebrate your children or students for who they are, with all of their uniqueness, and the gifts they bring to the family and community. Celebrating young people helps them grow from Give-N-Take Kids to Give-N-Take adults. powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com

What are Give-N-Take Kids? What does it mean to "grow" Give-N-Take Kids? And how do we do it? In this episode we will answer these questions. And we will explore environments that allow kids to thrive by developing Give-N-Take attributes that follow them into adulthood and become their Power Traits for Life™. powertraitsforlife.com, solimaracademy.com