Raising Resilient Children: Fostering Strength, Hope, and Optimism in Your Child

On the first day of fourth grade, Hank’s teacher assigns a five-paragraph essay, “What I did on my summer vacation,” and he knows he’s in trouble. It has always been difficult for him to read, write, and spell so he decides to “build” his assignment instead — to “bring Niagara Falls into the classroom, water and all.”

This book was written to help children understand that being “different” is not only okay, it’s what makes people and our world more interesting! Through positively designed activities, children with disabilities become confident and learn to accomplish tasks in their own way, while children without disabilities learn to value diversity.

For teachers, counselors and parents, this comprehensive new resource is filled with up-to-date information and practical strategies to help kids with attention deficits learn to control and change their own behaviors and build the academic, social, and personal skills necessary for success in school and in life. The Kit first explains ADD/ADHD behavior, its biological bases and basic characteristics and describes procedures used for diagnosis and various treatment options. It then details a proven set of training exercises and programs in which teachers, counselors and parents work together to monitor and manage the child’s behavior to achieve the desired results.

The challenges faced by individuals with learning disabilities (LD) are not confined to an academic environment and are not “outgrown” in adulthood. So how do adults face the hurdles of LD in their professional and personal lives? In this book, you’ll hear from a diverse group of adults with LD, many of whom also have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), as they describe how they’ve met disability-related challenges at work and at home. Ten in-depth chapters discuss the challenges and benefits that learning disabilities can present in a wide range of areas, including overall mental health, day-to-day life, dating, long-term relationships, parenthood, higher education, and employment. Practical suggestions and proven strategies are offered to help adults identify and capitalize on their strengths and to promote a satisfying quality of life.

How and when does a child begin to make sense of the world? Why does a lively preschool child so often become a semiliterate and defeated school failure?

Developmental psychologist Margaret Donaldson shows that much of the intellectual framework on which we base our teaching is misleading. We both underestimate the astonishing rational powers of young children and ignore the major stumbling block that children face when starting school.

Given a setting and a language that makes sense to them in human terms, very young children can perform tasks often thought to be beyond them. The preschool child learns everything in a human situation. Only in school is he asked to acquire skills―reading, writing, arithmetic―isolated from a real-life context. This transition is difficult.

The author suggests a range of strategies that parents and schools can adopt to help children. She argues that reading is even more important than we have thought it to be, since learning to read can actually speed children through the crucial transition.

Emily’s littler brother has ADD and it’s creating issues for Emily. Her parents are giving all there attention Ben. She loves her little brother, but she’s somebody too!