The Biology of Auditory Processing and Short-Term Memory Issues

Informative, Special Needs

By Dianne Craft, MA, CNHP (Certified Natural Health Professional)

 

• “My son has an auditory processing problem. He had a lot of ear infections and bronchitis when he was younger. Is there a connection?”

• “My daughter has been diagnosed with a short-term memory problem. What can I do about this at home?”

The Most Common Processing Problem

As I cross the country, speaking at homeschool conventions, many moms come to my booth asking these questions. Of all the Four Learning Gates that can be blocked, making learning more difficult for a child or teenager, a blocked Auditory Gate presents the most challenges. It affects not only learning but also life in general.

The last Struggling Homeschooler column was titled “What Can I Do About Auditory Processing Problems?” In that article, we explored the symptoms of an auditory processing problem and the two methods that I have used in my teaching career and in my consultation practice to aid children and teenagers with this blocked learning gate: (1) bypassing the blocked learning gate, and (2) correcting the blocked learning gate. In this article we will discuss nutritional approaches that aid kids, teenagers, and adults who have auditory processing problems.

Common Physical Conditions in Auditory Processing Problems

When searching for “corrections” for an auditory processing and memory issue, I have found targeted nutritional interventions to be extremely helpful.   (more…)

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Spring Cleaning: Is This a Real Phenomenon?

Informative, Organization

By Heather W. Allen

 

My task in writing this column, if I understand it correctly, is to pick one of the themes in each month’s issue and provide statistics, or the facts if you will, underlying that theme. How cool is that? Here I get this great list of themes and I have the freedom to pick and choose and then dive in and start researching. My instructions were very clear and fairly easy to follow.

I have to admit up front that I am a little compulsive when it comes to cleaning. I desire a clean home, a decluttered home, a home that sparkles and has lots of “empty”: empty spots on shelves, empty spots in closets, empty spots in rooms. Am I there yet? Not by a long shot. Thus, while I kept looking at the various themes included in this issue, I kept going back to the theme of spring cleaning.

Spring cleaning is very important because a home reflects, in part, the state of the family. If a home is cluttered, disorganized, and dirty, life is often one of chaos rather than order. Everything is more difficult when order is not maintained. Items needed can’t be found, or when located they are often not in condition to be used. It’s hard to put items in their proper place when you’re finished using them because either they don’t have a proper place or there are so many other things competing for the space that it’s hard to easily put those items away. If my home is cluttered, disorganized, or dirty, I feel tired and hopeless. I guess I feel like that because my life is out of control and I’ve become a servant to stuff. Wow, that’s a sobering thought: a stuff-centered home.    (more…)

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How to Build a LEGO Robotics Team

Informative, Just For Fun, Projects

By Shelly Browne

 

Take several homeschooled boys, aged 10–14, add a pile of LEGO bricks, a robot, and a challenge to solve, and you get a LEGO robotics team! Our organization, ARCHERS for the Lord, Inc. (The Association of Relaxed Christian Home Educators), decided to participate this past year. During our first year of participation in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO robotics, we built the game set in the basement of one of our leaders and used her kitchen for filming a video about the research project.

The FIRST LEGO robotics program emphasizes teamwork, innovation, and courteous professionalism in their worldwide competitions. The program kicks off in August with the announcement of the theme for the year. Past themes have included bone cancer and alternative energy. This year’s team was “The Food Factor,” and all projects were to focus on food safety. Each team works together to build a robot that moves and lifts objects with handheld robot controllers. There is a series of competitions, although a team doesn’t have to be part of the actual competition process. In fact, there are even ways to participate with just your own family; however, we found that the learning process the boys experienced as part of a group was well worth the additional organizational work on the part of the parents.

One Wednesday afternoon, the boys met around a homemade plywood table, and each chose a piece of the setup to build: rat traps, cold storage trailers, cows, a giant sink to wash germs in, and towers holding bacteria and viruses for the LEGO robot to contain. Their challenge was to remove food-borne illness and contaminants from farm, trucking, and fishing industries and to get the food safely to the table within two and a half minutes, using the robot they would build.      (more…)

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