Learning to Learn: Helping Parents Understand Cognitive Assets

This is one of my favorite subjects to talk about…helping learners become better learners. This is a true “big picture” strategy because if you become a better learner, you’ll improve in EVERYTHING, and that provides cognitive mental return on our learning investment.

LIMITLESS POTENTIAL
I’ve mentioned in other posts how intelligence is dynamic. This is something every parent needs to understand. There is nothing static about a learner’s potential. There never comes a point where you can say “well, that’s it…job well done…you’ve learned all you’re gonna learn!” The human brain is malleable. Simply stated, when you put your brain to work, it physically upgrades. It doesn’t fill up, rather it physically changes its structure. As the parent of two children with special needs, this is particularly uplifting. They may not learn as fast or as easily, but a world of discovery is still open to them.

This is a fact that I constantly repeat to them. You don’t keep this type of info to yourself. My kids are fully aware of their own struggles, but understanding how learning happens has given them a leg up on equipping themselves with the means to persevere. What do I equip them with you may be asking? Cognitive assets…the simple strategies and practices that make them more efficient THINKERS!

The Four Ingredients of Family Engagement: 4 simple steps to effective involvement

A while back I wrote about the four types of activities make up family involvement and engagement. These are often referred to as ingredients in the Hoover-Dempsey and Sadler Model of parental involvement. I just love the insight that this model has been able to provide me and I've done all I can to share this amazing information with other educators as well as apply it with parents. The way they refer to ingredients really got my mind wandering (don't wait up...who knows where my daydreams will take me). It kind of reminded me of Chopped...you know, from the Food Network. In this show they open up a basket of ingredients and you are forced to make due with what you've got. Actually just "making due" won't get you far at all. You need to produce something amazing! The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this show really is just like effective parent involvement.

Supporting Families Affected by #FAS: A NEW partnership between Emory University and NOFAS Georgia!

Department of Psychiatry,
Behavioral Science and Pediatrics

“What lies behind us & what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” 
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I find it so surreal. I almost cannot believe this is happening, but it is and it's only going to get better. Our meeting at Emory went great!! Tracy and I are so happy in our role of strengthening NOFAS Georgia (National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome). We are even more honored to take part in a new partnership between NOFAS Georgia and Emory University that will allow us to offer support for families affected by ‪#‎FASD‬! Our hope is to quickly begin work in the Metro Atlanta area and then expand this network of support throughout the state so we can impact as many lives as possible!





Before now, NOFAS Georgia has held on by a string, thanks to the herculean efforts of Melissa Cook (a parent volunteer facing the same challenges as us) and the folks at Emory University. Tracy and I have joined Melissa, and the three of us have pledged ourselves to lead a parent initiative, through NOFAS Georgia, that will offer families in our state the support they so desperately need. Great things start from humble beginnings. Our goals are very modest...we just want to change the world!!! I just love a good fight. That's just me...challenge accepted!!!


Our Family's Story:

The girl that stole our hearts

My wife and I actually talked about adoption on our first date. We knew from the beginning that we had found a similar spirit in each other. I sincerely believe that divine providence lead our lives in that very direction. Our hearts led us first to become foster parents. I was an educator, with a particular love for early childhood education and Tracy would be a stay at home mom. We had been prayerful and saw this as the role we were meant to fulfill. We still wanted to adopt someday, but we put that on hold to answer the call of serving children and families in need. We went through the training, orientation, and evaluation that goes into becoming foster parents and soon had our very first placement. God blessed us with Aniah!

I held her in my hands...now she holds my heart in hers.

Aniah's birth mother had tried to do the right thing. She attempted to curb her drug use during pregnancy, but tragically turned to consuming greater amounts of alcohol instead. Aniah weighed a little over two lbs when she was born prematurely. We could cradle her in a single hand. Thankfully due to the close relationship we formed with her birth mother, we were made aware of so many details regarding the pregnancy. Aniah will struggle with FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) her entire life. FASD is often referred to as the invisible disability. Thankfully, we knew what we were up against. This knowledge can be a unique blessing for any child suffering with FASD and we were determined to make the most of it. 

What is FASD?

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a group of conditions that can occur when a mother drinks alcohol during pregnancy. FASD is a disability that lasts a lifetime.

Sept. 9th is now Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day in Georgia!

Georgia NOFAS (National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) is set to start moving mountains! September 9th is now ‪#‎FASD‬ Awareness Day thanks to the efforts my friend Melissa Cook (the author of this proclamation signed by our Governor) and her efforts on behalf of families dealing with FASD! So glad to be part of this revitalized GA NOFAS team, that includes the smart and talented Tracy Rodriguez! 

The effects of FASD have had a huge impact on our family. I've been blessed with so much information that has helped us and now we just want to offer our support to others. Once upon a time, I would have thought that despite my good intentions, my efforts wouldn't really make that much of a difference. I'm so glad to have left that thinking far behind me where it belongs. Wayne Gretzky was quoted as saying "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." I'm not sure how much we will be able to accomplish, but I truly believe the three of us are going to be getting a lot done. I am POSITIVE that it will be more than we ever expected, especially if we had just convinced ourselves not to act! This is just the beginning!

Upcoming Workshop for Foster Parents at Georgia AGAPE

I'm really looking forward to the next presentation I'll be doing this summer for AGAPE of GA, a private foster and adoption agency that is full of love. My wife and I worked with this amazing organization for over 8 years as foster parents, and even though we've "retired" now, I'm so pleased to still have an opportunity to contribute in some way. Because of AGAPE, our lives will be changed forever. Aniah and Tristan...my treasures...my heart transformed forever....thank you to the special folks at AGAPE (past, present, and future). I hope this workshop ends up being a blessing for the foster parents in attendance. You will always have my very best effort.

Parenting Battle Royale!!! Tag-Team Champions (totally a dad blog title)

RIP Razor Headphones

Well, my kids just tore up my favorite set of headphones...sigh. Kids got up at the crack of dawn, while I was trying to get up at the crack of 10 (and nothing good comes of this combination). Although the "headphone incident" did result in the loss of property, some REALLY GREAT things came out of it! We've had a string of unfortunate events happen with things "breaking" because of carelessness, so this time I had to turn it up a notch.

5 Survival Habits for Parents of Kids with Special Needs

Parenting a child with special needs is hard, it is demanding, and it is often thankless. We often feel as if we are surviving from day to day. Yet, without you, where would your child be?  Your child needs you. More than that, your child needs you at your very best. Below are five habits that I sincerely believe we must always keep our eyes fixed on developing as we fight to do our best for our children. I know that sense of exhaustion first hand and I hope this can help you refocus, renew, and revitalize all of your efforts.

PASSING (out during) EXAMS!!!: Nutrition is How You Can Outwit & Outlast the TEST!

This pic seemed to really capture the spirit of the post

Today I got the opportunity to proctor in a 4th grade class during our state’s week long standardized testing rodeo. It was a torturous test…not for the kids mind you, but for me! I’m still dizzy from walking around in circles (I threw some figure 8s in there for good measure). I just wearily kept bouncing from student to student, while carefully monitoring every last bubble filling moment of the testing process. Over the years, there has been ONE observation that always stands out and most folks don’t seem to be aware of it.

How to Make Your Child FAILURE-PROOF!

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
Thomas A. Edison 



There are countless ways that learning can be derailed, but none is as insidious and long lasting as mis-interpreting failure. I'm a dad of four amazing kids. Each has climbed to amazing heights, yet each and every one has also stumbled and fallen. That's life. There is nothing wrong with messing up. There is nothing wrong with coming up short. This is nothing wrong with flat out FAILURE! The hard part is that as a parent, you don't want them to suffer through it, or do you? Actually, you want them to fall (although not ALL the time...and please no broken bones), because that is when your child will learn something invaluable...how to pick themselves back up and soldier on!