Blog - Page 2 of 5 - Integrated Learning Strategies

Visual Skills: The 3 R’s that Detect Visual Perception Deficiencies – Recognition, Reading Comprehension and Retention

Visual Skills: The 3 R’s that Detect Visual Perception Deficiencies – Recognition, Reading Comprehension and Retention This article provides information to help parents determine if their child is experiencing issues with their visual skills. As you may have already read in previous articles, vision is more than seeing clearly and having 20/20 eyesight. This…

Dysgraphia: Signs of Sloppy Handwriting Could Mean More than Poor Fine Motor Development

Dysgraphia: Signs of Sloppy Handwriting Could Mean More than Poor Fine Motor Development This article provides helpful information for children struggling with dysgraphia, handwriting and organizing thoughts on paper. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. It isn’t uncommon to hear some people joke about bad handwriting. My own signature is quite hard to…

Fear Paralysis Reflex: Why my Child Experiences “Deer in the Headlights,” Fear, Anxiety, Night Terrors and Phobias

Fear Paralysis Reflex: Why my Child Experiences “Deer in the Headlights,” Fear, Anxiety, Night Terrors and Phobias This article provides helpful information for parents who have children that may have retained the Fear Paralysis Reflex and other primitive reflexes. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. In a recent 2009 study it was discovered…

Hygiene: Fun Activities to Teach Kids Personal Hygiene

Hygiene: Fun Activities to Teach Kids Personal Hygiene Guest Post Christine Hill Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature kids hygiene with guest blogger Christine Hill While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and learning disabilities. As your child…

Body Awareness: Characteristics of Impaired or Poor Proprioception in Your Child

Body Awareness: Characteristics of Impaired or Poor Proprioception in Your Child This article provides helpful learning information regarding body awareness and proprioception development in your child. Imagine you are at a party. You walk up to someone and socialize, staying an appropriate distance from them as you speak. Someone comes around with drinks and…

8 Executive Functioning Skills: Why my Child Can’t Complete Tasks and Stay Organized in School

8 Executive Functioning Skills: Why my Child Can’t Complete Tasks and Stay Organized in School This article provides helpful information on executive functioning skills. Educators and professionals in the child development field frequently discuss the natural responses and skills that a child is born with. Some of these include primitive reflexes, which are responses…

Visual Memory: Studies Show Visual Memory Superior to Auditory Memory for Reading and Recalling Details

Visual Memory: Studies Show Visual Memory Superior to Auditory Memory for Reading and Recalling Details This article provides helpful information, games and activities for improving your child’s visual memory. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. When you make a video on your phone, visual and auditory information is stored for safekeeping and can…

Motor Planning: Poor Motor Planning Leads to Lack of Confidence in the Classroom

Motor Planning: Poor Motor Planning Leads to Lack of Confidence in the Classroom This article provides helpful information for improving your child’s motor planning. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. As adults, motor planning is something that we often take for granted because for the most part, we have been immersed in an…

Sensory Integration: 4 Levels of Sensory Integration that Prevent “Traffic Jams” in the Brain for Higher Learning

Sensory Integration: 4 Levels of Sensory Integration that Prevent “Traffic Jams” in the Brain for Higher Learning This article provides helpful information for sensory integration. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Picture yourself on a road trip. As your driving through some of the long stretches of your journey, you suddenly see a…

Vision Milestones: Warning Signs if Your Child isn’t Meeting their Visual Milestones for Reading

Vision Milestones: Warning Signs if Your Child isn’t Meeting their Visual Milestones for Reading This article provides helpful information for your child’s vision milestones. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. One of the greatest moments in a parent’s life is when their newborn baby opens their eyes and makes eye contact. This is…

Homework Tips: How To Make Your Kid’s Homework Go From Bad To Excellent

Homework Tips: How To Make Your Kid’s Homework Go From Bad To Excellent Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature homework tips in this guest post. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and learning disabilities. When…

Cleaning Tips: How to Make Your House Easier to Clean When You Have Kids

Cleaning Tips: How to Make Your House Easier to Clean When You Have Kids Guest Post Maurine Anderson Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature cleaning tips with guest blogger Maurine Anderson. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges…

Learning Triangle: Without the Vestibular, Visual and Auditory Working Together, Learning Fails

Learning Triangle: Without the Vestibular, Visual and Auditory Working Together, Learning Fails This article provides helpful information containing the learning triangle and how it promotes learning. Affiliates are included for your convenience. So much of your child’s development involves their vestibular system and how the position of their body is in relation to gravity…

Processing Speed: “Mommy My Hand Won’t Keep up with my Brain” – Slow Processing & Working Memory

Processing Speed: “Mommy My Hand Won’t Keep up with my Brain” – Slow Processing & Working Memory This article provides helpful information about processing speed and how it affects your child in the classroom. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Sometimes our kids amaze us by the amount of information they soak up,…

Visual Processing Disorders: 8 Visual Processing Disorders to Watch for in your Child

Visual Processing Disorders: 8 Visual Processing Disorders to Watch for in your Child This article provides helpful information regarding visual processing disorders and how to recognize the signs in your child. When people think of eyesight, the terms 20/20 vision, sunglasses and eye exams come to mind. Vision is so much more than that…

Balance and Coordination: Why Kids get “Lost in the System” Without Mastery of Balance and Coordination

Balance and Coordination: Why Kids get “Lost in the System” Without Mastery of Balance and Coordination This article provides helpful information and activities for improving balance and coordination in children. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. As we educate more parents and teachers about the benefits of balance and coordination activities, it becomes…

Corpus Callosum: Your Child’s Superhighway for Connecting the Emotional and Logical Sides of the Brain for Better Learning

Corpus Callosum: Your Child’s Superhighway for Connecting the Emotional and Logical Sides of the Brain for Better Learning This article provides helpful information for strengthening your child’s corpus callosum to encourage better learning development. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Most people know that music is a good thing in a child’s life,…

Oculomotor Dysfunction: Why my Child Skips Words, Can’t Cross the Midline, Experiences Double Vision

Oculomotor Dysfunction: Why my Child Skips Words, Can’t Cross the Midline, Experiences Double Vision This article provides helpful information about oculomotor development for reading, writing and spelling. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Eye movements are the fastest and most frequent motions made by the human body. The eye movement control system, known…

Core Muscle: Toys for Building Posture, Core Muscle, Motor Skills and Balance

Core Muscle: Toys for Building Posture, Core Muscle, Motor Skills and Balance Providing your child with toys to build and strengthen their core muscle can help your child’s learning in the classroom. Kids who lay on their desk, have poor posture and struggle to copy notes from the chalkboard sometimes have trouble with core muscle…

Visual System: Lack of Visual Development Creates Poor Visual Perception Skills

Visual System: Lack of Visual Development Creates Poor Visual Perception Skills This article provides a helpful introduction to your child’s visual system. Additional articles will be included in this series. Affiliate links are below for your convenience. Most of what we learn, especially in the classroom, is through our visual system. Educators from every…

Tactile Defensiveness: Why My Child Hates Hugs, Tags and is in Constant Fight or Flight Mode

Tactile Defensiveness: Why My Child Hates Hugs, Tags and is in Constant Fight or Flight Mode This article provides helpful information for children that struggle with tactile defensiveness. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. The word tactile refers to our sense of touch and to the information our body gets from our skin.…

Making Sure Your Kids Are Cared For Should the Worst Happen

Making Sure Your Kids Are Cared For Should the Worst Happen Guest Post Maurine Dashney Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature care for kids when emergencies happen with guest blogger Maurine Dashney. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with…

Disneyland Experience: What to Know about Special Services for Sensory Children and Special Needs at Theme Parks

Disneyland Experience: What to Know about Special Services for Sensory Children and Special Needs at Theme Parks This article provides helpful information about services provided at Disneyland and other theme parks for children with sensory issues and special needs. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. A trip to Disneyland, the beach, Universal Studios,…

Areas of Attention: Is My Child Developmentally Ready for Sustained Attention, Focus and Multitasking

5 Areas of Attention: Is My Child Developmentally Ready for Sustained Attention, Focus and Multitasking This article provides helpful information regarding the 5 areas of attention. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. A group of six-year-olds sit down during circle time to listen to their teacher read them a story. After 10 minutes,…

Essay Writing: Simple Ways To Help Your Child Improve Their Essay Writing

Essay Writing: Simple Ways To Help Your Child Improve Their Essay Writing Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature tips for essay writing. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and learning disabilities. Essay writing is a…

Learning Assessment: Who is Qualified to Diagnose my Child’s Learning Challenge and Where do I begin?

Learning Assessment: Who is Qualified to Diagnose my Child’s Learning Challenge and Where do I begin? This article provides helpful information regarding who can conduct a learning assessment or provide an official diagnosis for a child’s learning challenges. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. A happy, social five-year-old boy walks into his kindergarten…

Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children

Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children This article contains helpful information about Angela Hanscom’s new book Balanced and Barefoot for children struggling with sensory issues in the classroom. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. As many of you know, there is a high rise in…

Why Balance? How Does it Facilitate Attention, Focus, and Higher Learning?

Why Balance? How Does it Facilitate Attention, Focus, and Higher Learning? This article provides helpful information regarding the importance of balance and how it correlates with learning in the classroom. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. The first sensory system to fully develop in your child is the vestibular system when they are…

Homework: How to Make Homework Fun

Homework: How to Make Homework Fun Guest Post Darci Maxwell Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature homework tips with guest blogger Darci Maxwell. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and learning disabilities. Chances are your kids…

Exam Stress: How to Help Your Children Cope With Exam Stress

Exam Stress: How to Help Your Children Cope With Exam Stress Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature tips that help children cope with exam stress. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and learning disabilities. Exams are…

Tactile Learning: How Your Child Learns through Touch and their Tactile System

Tactile Learning: How Your Child Learns through Touch and their Tactile System This article is an introduction to your child’s tactile system and why tactile learning is important for your child. Future articles will discuss tactile dysfunction and what signs to watch for in your child. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Few people…

Gravitational Insecurity: Creates Fight or Flight Response and Sensory Defensiveness

Gravitational Insecurity: Creates Fight or Flight Response and Sensory Defensiveness This article provides helpful information about gravitational insecurity and how it affects your child’s learning in the classroom. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Abby waits in line with her classmates to get a drink of water. She is lightly touched on her…

Road Trips: How to Prevent Sensory Overload on Family Road Trips

Road Trips: How to Prevent Sensory Overload on Family Road Trips This article provides helpful information for preventing sensory overload on family road trips. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Road trips were always an adventure when I was little because in my family there were 10 of us with my mom and…

Sensory Garden: Why Gardening Helps Emotional Grounding and Sensory Integration

Sensory Garden: Why Gardening Helps Emotional Grounding and Sensory Integration This article provides helpful information on how a sensory garden can help a child’s sensory seeking behavior. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. When I was growing up, my mother planted and cultivated a vegetable garden. Some of my favorite memories include helping…

Visual Processing: How to Recognize a Visual Processing Disorder in Your Child

Visual Processing: How to Recognize a Visual Processing Disorder in Your Child Many parents and educators have a hard time recognizing the signs and symptoms of a Visual Processing Disorder (VPD) in their child or students. Oftentimes parents or teachers think their child needs glasses or they can’t see the chalkboard so they try…

Heavy Work Activities: Heavy Work Prevents Proprioceptive Dysfunction and Fosters Proprioceptive Success

Heavy Work Activities: Heavy Work Prevents Proprioceptive Dysfunction and Fosters Proprioceptive Success This article provides heavy work activities for proprioceptive input to enhance learning and attention in the classroom. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Proprioception is the strange sense that is overall an unconscious understanding of where our bodies are in relation…

Fox 13’s The Place: Find out why chewing on things could help kids focus in school

Fox 13’s The Place: Find out why chewing on things could help kids focus in school We’re having a great time with Fox 13’s The Place talking about oral sensory activities to help sensory sensitive children “awaken” their oral receptors for underdeveloped sensory systems, proprioception, and speech and language. Children with underdeveloped oral sensory motor tend to crave…

Bilateral Integration: Stages of Bilateral Integration for Reading, Tracking, Writing and Crossing the Midline

Bilateral Integration: Stages of Bilateral Integration for Reading, Tracking, Writing and Crossing the Midline This article provides helpful information for developing your child’s bilateral integration. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. As your child grows from a toddler to a small child, it’s fun to watch them reach developmental milestones that prepare them…

Postural Control: When Core Stability is Compromised, Your Child’s Learning is No Longer on Autopilot

Postural Control: When Core Stability is Compromised, Your Child’s Learning is No Longer on Autopilot This article provides helpful information regarding postural control. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Human autopilot is an idea I talk about all the time. I’m usually cursing it because I was on autopilot when I set my…

Sensory Diet: How to Integrate a Sensory Diet Plan into Your Child’s Routine

Sensory Diet: How to Integrate a Sensory Diet Plan into Your Child’s Routine We all know each child is different, especially when it comes to development stages and learning. No child is exactly alike. They come in all shapes and sizes, they learn at different paces, some share personality traits while others don’t, and…

Sensory Diet: How to Integrate a Sensory Diet Plan into Your Child’s Routine

Proprioceptive Dysfunction Causes Sensory Seeking and Sensory Avoiding Behavior

Proprioceptive Dysfunction Causes Sensory Seeking and Sensory Avoiding Behavior This article provides helpful information for proprioceptive dysfunction and how if affects your child’s learning. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Have you seen the recent commercial for the new Lincoln? The commercial displays a grid completely surrounding the car and it describes how…

Limbic System: Your Child’s On/Off Switch for Emotional Grounding, Fight or Flight and Meltdowns

Limbic System: Your Child’s On/Off Switch for Emotional Grounding, Fight or Flight and Meltdowns This article provides helpful information regarding how the limbic system can affect your child’s emotional grounding and learning ability. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Many systems in the child’s body deal with emotions and the sometimes complex psychological…

Oral Sensory: “Awakening” Oral Sensory Receptors for Chewers, Biters and Suckers

Oral Sensory: “Awakening” Oral Sensory Receptors for Chewers, Biters and Suckers This article discusses oral sensory items and toys that can help children that are hyposensitive to food, textures and toys. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. When your child is a baby, it is only natural for them suck on bracelets, necklaces, chew…

Hard Work: How to Teach Your Kids the Importance of Hard Work

Hard Work: How to Teach Your Kids the Importance of Hard Work Guest Post Alek Sabin Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature hard work with guest blogger Alek Sabin. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and…

Ocular Motor: Best Ocular Motor Development Toys for Reading and Handwriting

Ocular Motor: Best Ocular Motor Development Toys for Reading and Handwriting This article provides recommendations for activities and toys that help a child’s ocular motor skills and visual planning. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Developing your child’s ocular motor skills and visual tracking is critical for their reading and writing development. It…

No Rules Recess: School Encourages “Dangerous” Free Play for Better Attention and Emotional Grounding

No Rules Recess: School Encourages “Dangerous” Free Play for Better Attention and Emotional Grounding Today, many schools can only dream about student improvements in concentration and better attention, decreased bullying incidents, increased self-confidence and tons of movement to train the brain and burn off energy. However, one school in New Zealand and also in Finland…

College Education: Will Learning Challenges Stop my Child from getting a College Education?

College Education: Will Learning Challenges Stop my Child from getting a College Education? This article provides information regarding a child’s ability to gain a college education, especially if they struggle with learning challenges. Many parents struggle to see a long-term academic future for their children when they’re small. Nobody can really tell how well…

Auditory Processing: How to Recognize an Auditory Processing Disorder in my Child

Auditory Processing: How to Recognize an Auditory Processing Disorder in my Child This post contains information regarding Auditory Processing Disorders and what to watch for in your child. Many parents and educators have a hard time recognizing the signs and symptoms of an Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) in their child or students. Oftentimes parents or teachers…

Sleep Tips: How to (Actually) Get Your Child to Sleep

Sleep Tips: How to (Actually) Get Your Child to Sleep Guest Post Kyle Anderson Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature sleep tips with guest blogger Kyle Anderson. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and learning disabilities.…

Gender Equality: How to Foster Gender Equality with Your Child at Home

Gender Equality: How to Foster Gender Equality with Your Child at Home Guest Post Aimee King Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature gender equality with guest blogger Aimee King. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and learning…

Fine Motor: 15 Top Fine Motor Tools for Handwriting and Pencil Grip

Fine Motor: 15 Top Fine Motor Tools for Handwriting and Pencil Grip This article provides tools and resources to help your child develop their fine motor skills for handwriting and pencil grip. Affiliate links are provided for your convenience. There are many children with or without learning challenges who struggle with fine motor development,…

Vestibular System: Your Child’s Internal GPS System for Motor Planning and Attention

Vestibular System: Your Child’s Internal GPS System for Motor Planning and Attention This article provides information about your child’s internal GPS system or vestibular system. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Whenever I need to travel to a new place, I pull out my smart phone, open up my GPS app and type…

Reticular Activating System: Why Your Child’s Internal “Alarm Clock” is Causing Fidgeting and Sensory Seeking Behavior

Reticular Activating System: Why Your Child’s Internal “Alarm Clock” is Causing Fidgeting and Sensory Seeking Behavior This article provides information regarding the Reticular Activating System that impacts your child’s vestibular system and attention and focus. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Do you ever find yourself at a conference or seminar where you…

Cerebellum: Signs of Motor Planning Delays if Your Child has an Underdeveloped Cerebellum

Cerebellum: Signs of Motor Planning Delays if Your Child has an Underdeveloped Cerebellum This article contains information regarding developmental delays for children with underdeveloped cerebellum brain functions. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. One of the struggles with learning delays and difficulties is that brains are so complex. There are a multitude of…

Scooter Boards for Vestibular Input: What to Add to Your Sensory Room

Scooter Boards for Vestibular Input: What to Add to Your Sensory Room This article contains information on the importance of scooter boards for vestibular and sensory integration. Affiliate links are provided for your convenience. There is no doubt how much kids love scooters, especially those that come to our center. Scooters are great for…

Bilateral Coordination: Why Bilateral Coordination Delays can Lead to trouble in the Classroom

Bilateral Coordination: Why Bilateral Coordination Delays can Lead to trouble in the Classroom This article provides information on how to help your child with bilateral coordination. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. How long has it been since you thought about how both sides of your body work together? Do you remember the…

Types of Memory: Working Memory Tied to Your Child’s Intelligence

Types of Memory: Working Memory Tied to Your Child’s Intelligence This article provides information on the types of memory your child needs for higher learning. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. After waking up one morning, I glanced at my wedding ring. The symbol of my undying love was looking rather dull and probably…

Head Righting Reflex Delays Cause Poor Visual Skills for Reading and Vestibular Issues for Attention

Head Righting Reflex Delays Cause Poor Visual Skills for Reading and Vestibular Issues for Attention This article contains information regarding head righting reflexes. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Balance and posture control over the pull of gravity is critical for every person’s life. This process begins before birth and continues as the…

Resistance Bands: Brain-Building Stretchy Band Exercises for Sensory Integration, Motor Planning and Crossing the Midline

Resistance Bands: Brain-Building Stretchy Band Exercises for Sensory Integration, Motor Planning and Crossing the Midline This article provides home-based brain-building activities with resistance bands that can help your child with sensory integration, motor planning and other learning benefits. Affiliate links are provided for your convenience. When working with children who have learning disorders, attention…

Learning Memory: How Your Child’s Input / Output Systems Create a Learning Memory Process

Learning Memory: How Your Child’s Input / Output Systems Create a Learning Memory Process Everyone knows they hear with their ears and smell with their nose. But, did you know there are tiny little hairs in both the ears and the nose that help both senses gather sensory information in our environment? Everyone has…

Music Therapy: Study Says Music Key for Non-Verbal Children and Children with Speech and Language Delays

Music Therapy: Study Says Music Key for Non-Verbal Children and Children with Speech and Language Delays This article contains information regarding music therapy and how it helps improve learning disorders and academics. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. The concept for using music as a form of healing dates back to the times…

Postural Reflexes: Lack of Postural Development Creates Poor Balance, Coordination, Fine Motor Skills and Motor Planning

Postural Reflexes: Lack of Postural Development Creates Poor Balance, Coordination, Fine Motor Skills and Motor Planning This article contains information about Postural reflexes and how they affect your child’s development. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. The Central Nervous System (CNS) is the center of thinking and controls most functions of the body and…

Special needs children: 5 ways to help their physical literacy flourish

Special needs children: 5 ways to help their physical literacy flourish Guest Post Jennifer Pinarski Edmonton’s Amanda Ebert is an adapted physical activity consultant at University of Alberta’s Steadward Centre. Her best days at work are those in which she uncovers inaccuracies.“My favourite is when assumptions are challenged and proven wrong,” says Ebert. “These…

Magna Tiles for Hand-eye Coordination, Problem Solving, Sensory Issues and Motor Planning

Magna-Tiles for Hand-eye Coordination, Problem Solving, Sensory Issues and Motor Planning This article discusses how Magna Tiles help children with hand-eye coordination, sensory issues and other learning aspects. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. When children come to our center, parents often ask what types of educational toys they can provide their children at…

Primitive Reflexes: Reasons Behind Why My Child has Sensory Issues, Poor Balance, and Developmental Delays

Primitive Reflexes: Reasons Behind Why My Child has Sensory Issues, Poor Balance, and Developmental Delays This article contains information regarding retained primitive reflexes. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Here at Integrated Learning Strategies, we have spent a great deal of time and research on primitive reflexes. With each new article, we have…

Top to Bottom Brain-Building Exercises for Organization and Emotional Grounding

Top to Bottom Brain-Building Exercises for Organization and Emotional Grounding This article contains exercises for helping your child with emotional grounding and organization. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Many children who have learning challenges sometimes struggle with organization, emotional grounding, difficulties with behavior and high-anxiety. There are even those students who are…

Mixed Dominance: Dr. Attributes Not Choosing a Right or Left Hand to Learning Disorders

Mixed Dominance: Dr. Attributes Not Choosing a Right or Left Hand to Learning Disorders This article contains information regarding mixed dominance and how it can cause learning disorders in children. It’s not uncommon to hear stories from older people who are left-handed about schools trying to make them write with their right hands. We didn’t…

Vestibular and Hand-eye Coordination Toys for Easter

Vestibular and Hand-eye Coordination Toys for Easter Easter is one of the best holidays for providing your child with toys to help them learn. Many of these items can improve your child’s vestibular, gross motor skills, tactile, sensory, proprioception and hand-eye coordination. As we improve your child’s balance and coordination, focus and attention, visual…

Why Weighted Lap Pads are used for Tactile Defensiveness and Sensory Integration

Why Weighted Lap Pads are used for Tactile Defensiveness and Sensory Integration This article provides information regarding the benefits of weighted lap pads for sensory integration. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. If you have a child with sensory issues or other learning challenges, they may benefit from using weighted items like weighted…

Hidden Allergies: Cause for Disruptive Behavior, Sensory Issues and Poor Retention?

Hidden Allergies: Cause for Disruptive Behavior, Sensory Issues and Poor Retention? This article contains information regarding allergies and how they may affect learning and behavior. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. The number of children diagnosed with learning and behavioral disorders astounds me. According to Healthline 6.4 million American children have been diagnosed…

Plantar Reflex: Reasons why my Child may be a Toe Walker and has Poor Balance and Coordination

Plantar Reflex: Reasons why my Child may be a Toe Walker and has Poor Balance and Coordination This article contains information regarding a retained Plantar reflex and retained Babinski reflex. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Imagine for a moment what it would be like to find discomfort or even pain every time…

Perfectionism: Why Children with Learning Challenges Struggle with Perfectionism

Perfectionism: Why Children with Learning Challenges Struggle with Perfectionism In today’s society where high-stakes standardized testing, academic success, athletic prowess and excelling in the arts have become the bar for success, perfectionism is often seen as a desirable trait in a child. Sadly, perfectionism can be destructive to a child’s self-esteem, frustrating for family…

Math plus movement equals better learning for kids

Math plus movement equals better learning for kids Guest Post Jaime Neefs Instead of memorizing multiplication tables and languages the old fashioned way, CBC news reports that Dutch researchers have discovered that adding a little physical activity in the classroom can go a long way to improving math and spelling abilities. Activities as simple as running…

Calming Clipper: Why my Sensory Sensitive Child Hates Haircuts

Calming Clipper: Why my Sensory Sensitive Child Hates Haircuts This article contains information on how to use the Calming Clipper to help sensory sensitive children with haircuts. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. For those of you with sensory kids, you know what a nightmare it can be when the time comes to take them in…

Palmar Reflex: Where the Problem Begins with Poor Handwriting, Pencil Grip and Fine Motor Development

Palmar Reflex: Where the Problem Begins with Poor Handwriting, Pencil Grip and Fine Motor Development This article contains information regarding a retained Palmar reflex that can harm your child’s fine motor development. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Infants have the ability to grasp an object from the moment they are born. This…

Brain Hierarchy: When Your Child’s Lower Brain Levels Are Weak, they Can’t Learn

Brain Hierarchy: When Your Child’s Lower Brain Levels Are Weak, they Can’t Learn This article contains information regarding the brain hierarchy and how each part affects learning in the classroom. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Did you know that the brain of an infant contains essentially all the brain cells that they will…

Siblings: The Do’s and Don’ts of Why Not to Let Siblings Help your SPD Child

Siblings: The Do’s and Don’ts of Why Not to Let Siblings Help your SPD Child This post contains information regarding why it’s important to not always let siblings do things for your SPD child. Some version of the following scenario plays out at my house on a regular basis. One of my kids has…

Oral Defensiveness: 15 of the Best Oral Defensiveness Tools and Resources

Oral Defensiveness: 15 of the Best Oral Defensiveness Tools and Resources As we discussed previously in “Oral Sensitivities: Why My Child Chews on Pencils and Sucks on Clothing,” there are many children who struggle with oral defensiveness. This causes them to chew on objects like pencils, toys and clothing. When a child has oral…

Musical Skipper: Improving your Child’s Timing, Rhythm and Vestibular for Learning

Musical Skipper: Improving your Child’s Timing, Rhythm and Vestibular for Learning This article contains information about the Musical Skipper to help develop your child’s timing and rhythm. Affiliate links are provided for your convenience. As previously discussed in “Timing, Rhythm and the Brain: Why Timing Affects Learning,” we now have a better understanding of how…

Timing, Rhythm and the Brain: Why Timing Affects Learning

Timing, Rhythm and the Brain: Why Timing Affects Learning This article discusses the importance timing and rhythm has on learning and the brain. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. I love watching little kids dance. It’s wonderful whether they’re dancing to the beat of their own drum, taking the time to listen to the…

Movement Therapy: Not the only “Miracle Program” – What’s the Missing Puzzle Piece for Academic Success?

Movement Therapy: Not the only “Miracle Program” – What’s the Missing Puzzle Piece for Academic Success? This post contains information regarding the benefits of music and movement therapy for children with learning challenges. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Children do not come in perfect, orderly little packages. They come with diversity, spontaneity, energy…

Primitive Reflex: Poor Posture Shows Signs of Learning Delays from Retained STNR

Primitive Reflex: Poor Posture Shows Signs of Learning Delays from Retained STNR This article contains information regarding the STNR primitive reflex. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. The way we hold our bodies affects everything we do. Posture is a large part of daily life and influences everything from focus and concentration to mood and…

If getting kids physically active increases their academic scores, why is it not being done in every school?

If getting kids physically active increases their academic scores, why is it not being done in every school? Guest Post Richard Monette The science is clear: If you get kids moving throughout the school day, they will do better academically. That’s the case being made in the article “Building a better brain” recently published…

Hand-eye Coordination: How Hand-eye Coordination Helps Early Readers

Hand-eye Coordination: How Hand-eye Coordination Helps Early Readers This article contains information regarding hand-eye coordination and it’s importance for reading and writing. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Hand-eye coordination is one of the most important parts of the learning process. It helps your child track the movements of their hands with their eyes, which is…

Tummy Time: Learning Delays that could Result from Lack of Tummy Time

Tummy Time: Learning Delays that could Result from Lack of Tummy Time This article contains information regarding the importance of tummy time in your child’s development. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. I have four kids. Over the last seven years I have gone from the overly paranoid, blow everything out of proportion type…

Sensory Systems that Make up the Learning Hierarchy of a Strong Academic Foundation

Sensory Systems that Make up the Learning Hierarchy of a Strong Academic Foundation This article contains information regarding important sensory systems and the learning hierarchy that comes from developing each one. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Whether a child is using his or her hands to write, ears to listen, eyes to read, or…

Directionality: Why Directionality and Writing Letters Backward is a Part of a Greater Problem

Directionality: Why Directionality and Writing Letters Backward is Part of a Greater Problem This article discusses directionality, spatial awareness, motor planning and visual perception used to improve writing skills. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. As a child begins to develop their handwriting and writing skills, most parents don’t realize all of the different…

9 Essential Life Skills to Teach Your Kids

9 Essential Life Skills to Teach Your Kids Guest Post: Andy Andersen Integrated Learning Strategies is excited to feature life skills with guest blogger Andy Andersen. While many of the recommendations below are great for children and parents, some accommodations or exceptions may be made for children with learning challenges and learning disabilities. Every…

Oral Sensitivities: Why My Child Chews on Pencils and Sucks on Clothing

Oral Sensitivities: Why My Child Chews on Pencils and Sucks on Clothing This post contains information regarding oral sensitivities and oral defensiveness. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. When my son was younger, Sensory Processing and Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD) were almost unheard of so when he would come home with chewed up…

Learning Styles: Why “One Size Fits All” Doesn’t Work

Learning Styles: Why “One Size Fits All” Doesn’t Work I am sure many of you have read or heard about the “5 love languages.” I have done my own share of research on this topic and found it fascinating that each person has their own love language in both the way they show love and…

Antioxidants: How they Improve Information Processing, Attention and Retention

Antioxidants: Improves Attention, Information Processing and Retention Antioxidants. The word sounds healthy, right? It’s definitely one of those nutrients you’ve heard you’re supposed to include in your diet. However, the why might be a little less clear. They’re brought up when talking about reducing the risks of cancer and studies have begun to show…

Primitive Reflexes: Why a Retained Spinal Galant Reflex is Mistaken for ADHD

Primitive Reflexes: Why a Retained Spinal Galant Reflex is Mistaken for ADHD This article contains information regarding a retained Spinal Galant Reflex. When I first began tutoring children and helping kids with learning challenges 20 years ago, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) seemed to be the common diagnosis for almost every learning challenge. If your…

Children with poor physical literacy struggle as adults

Guest Blog Post AFL Team Children with poor physical literacy struggle as adults Children who never learn to read or write become adults who can’t read or write. Should we be surprised that children who never develop movement skills become inactive, uncoordinated adults? A recent CBC story and news video suggests that children’s movement…

Weighted Blankets: What is a Weighted Blanket and Why does Deep Pressure help my Child?

Weighted Blankets: What is a Weighted Blanket and Why does Deep Pressure help my Child? This post contains information regarding the benefits of weighted blankets and how it can help emotional regulation. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Whenever I think of weighted blankets for our students who have sensory issues, a little humor…

Primitive Reflexes: The Culprit Behind Your Child’s Balance and Coordination Issues

Primitive Reflexes: The Culprit Behind Your Child’s Balance and Coordination Issues This article contains information regarding retained primitive reflexes and provides affiliate links for your convenience. Running, kicking a ball, riding a bike and sitting straight in a chair are things most kids do easily, but if a child struggles doing simple physical tasks,…

Sensory Processing: Why is Disciplining my Sensory Child so Hard?

Sensory Processing: Why is Disciplining my Sensory Child so Hard? This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. We love our kids with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). They give us interesting perspectives on life. And they’re our kids; how could we do anything but love them? But, let’s be honest, sometimes it’s downright hard.…

Brain-Building Valentines Activities: Midline Crossing, Fine Motor, Vestibular, Visual Planning

Brain-Building Valentines Activities: Midline Crossing, Fine Motor, Vestibular, Visual Planning This post contains fun Valentines activities to help with your child’s learning development. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. Holidays create some of the best opportunities for learning development and learning activities. Of course, Valentines Day is no exception. As you know, we…

Cross the Midline: Crossing the Midline Exercises Using Arms and Legs for Brain Integration

Cross the Midline: Crossing the Midline Exercises Using Arms and Legs for Brain Integration This article contains activities to help your child cross the midline for better learning. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. As you may already know, crossing the midline is very important to your child’s learning development. It’s a key…

What is Your Dream Sensory Room?

What is Your Dream Sensory Room? If you had all the money in the world, which sensory room would you choose? Integrated Learning Strategies is a Utah-based center dedicated to helping mainstream children and children with learning disabilities achieve academic success. Our services provide kids with non-traditional tutoring programs within the Davis County, Kaysville,…