Welcome to "On the Horizon"

Issue 205: Learning to Think: Mindfulness Throughout the Day

On the Horizon is an award winning weekly ezine for parents of children with developmental disabilities who want simple, effective strategies to reduce stress, support their child’s development, and improve quality of life for the whole family.

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• A Note from Nicole: Shorts to Mittens in 24-Hours
• Feature Article: Learning to Think: Mindfulness Throughout the Day
• Upcoming Events
• Recommended Resources

Hi Everyone!

It’s been a wild weather week around here. We had warm 70-degree temps over the weekend and now we have snowflakes tonight. Strange to watch the kids go from shorts to mittens in a 24-hour period! I suppose the snowflakes fit a bit better with the holiday décor and music that is already popping up everywhere. I don’t know about you, but I would be just fine with time slowing down a bit.

The feature article this week from Courtney is about teaching students to think throughout the day. Children need to learn how to think about what is happening to them, and solve problems they encounter. This is often overlooked in education today, and this article provides some simple suggestions for ensuring that students have opportunities to work on these valuable skills. The book my colleagues and I wrote a few years ago provides many more strategies and ideas for teaching thinking skills at home and school. You can check it out here.

I’m headed to Virginia this week to present some professional development workshops. For those of you planning to attend I will see you there. If you’d like to see upcoming dates and locations for seminars you can see the calendar to the right. More dates in 2013 will be announced soon!

Looking to the horizon,

Learning to Think: Mindfulness Throughout the Day

By Courtney Kowalczyk, M.Ed.

School has been in session for a few months now, and students are busily working on their studies. Teachers have dug into the content of their curriculum for the year, and everyone has had time to adjust to the new routine. As a former teacher, curriculum was an integral part of my day; and working with students with special needs could be very challenging, especially when trying to pull from so many different pieces of curriculum. I did my best to look at each child’s unique needs, and best match their capabilities with the curriculum options I had available; however, I still found myself struggling with what I had. My students needed extra practice and a slower pace, which most curricula today do not allow. I also wanted to see my students learning to think and process information instead of learning static skills.

Click here to read the rest of this article…

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Upcoming Events

Hear Nicole Speak

Upcoming dates and locations where Nicole Beurkens, PhD will be speaking:

Autism and Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Practical Strategies to Improve Processing

November 14, 2012 in Winchester, Virginia

November 15, 2012 in Charlottesville Virginia

November 16, 2012 in Richmond, Virginia

February 6, 2013 in Bridgeport, CT

February 7, 2013 in Cromwell, CT

February 8, 2013 in Warwick, RI

Recommended
Resources

Learn as we grow

This long-awaited book is written for parents and professionals who want to be more effective in their work with students who have neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism.

More Information >>