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Book is in good, promised condition. My only complaint is that it got here later than I thought it would.
I've read the professional reviews and they are interesting, but as a parent they are glossy and shiny but don't ring with the truth I found in this book. And in all honesty, some teachers should not be teachers. I am my child's best advocate. Because finally someone understood just what my child FELT. Having a child with "special needs" has no easy cure and will always be a source of anxiety for me. I was also enraged because here was a learned professional espousing what I always knew in my heart to be true but the education system in our rural community was so hopelessly out of date, change of this scope is decades if not centuries away. The first time I read a Mel Levine book I cried. With luck and perseverence, I MAY be able to influence my child's teachers, but I can not change this system in his lifetime.What I can do, is change how I talk to my child, how I reinforce their learning in the home, and more importantly how I talk to him about his frustrations in his classroom.
But, what this book did give me was a new vocabulary. It opened my eyes to the fact that many teachers are rigid and many simply do not have the resources in the existing structure of the school system to meet the needs of, not only my child, but as many as half the children in their classroom. After reading this book, I was better armed with tools and ideas for addressing my child's educational needs, and my informed input was better received by his educators. But Mel Levine's books (I've read four of them) help arm me for the on-going fight for his rights as a student.
He has spent a great deal of time working with experts in many disciplines in order to understand how children learn and how to help them if they are struggling.He has broken learning into several areas of input, processing, storage, retrieval and output. Dr. Mel Levine has worked for a long time with children so that they could grow up feeling responsible, successful and with good self esteem. Parents and educators can use this information to understand where a child may be having problems and then use ideas from his book to help turn things around for the child/student.What the book does let us know is that learning is not easy but more like rocket science, in that it is a combination of innate abilities and deficits of the child, and the abilities of the adults to work with the abilities and help remediate the deficits through a combination of interventions and accommodations. There is also no quick turn around, since the educational demands change over time with new areas of difficulty recognized with the increased demands.
In this book you realize that there is really no such thing as dumb, that all brains work differently. It helps focus on the REAL issues of learning, instead of lumping your understanding into ADHD or some other category. You should read it.
He encourages parents and educators who know a child with a brain that is not meeting necessary demands not to give up on that child, and don't allow them to give up on themselves either. It is vital that this knowledge be openly shared with young developing minds so that they know from the start that they are not what they feared, but rather free to grow stronger given the knowledge and help they need to succeed.Dr. He also details different emotional mindsets that can interfere with a child's achieving his or her potential, and provides strategies to overcome those negative behaviors. Only when we are equipped with accurate information regarding a child's diverse kind of mind can we begin to explain why they are struggling and how they can best conquer or compensate for these challenges. Levine's text covers an overview of the ways of learning, and how lifestyle choices can help or hurt an individual's learning styles.
Levine, and I can say without any hesitation, if I was younger, I would jump at the chance to train under Dr. He begins by telling the reader why he is "a pediatrician with a mission". Levine's kind heart, which is evident throughout this book. Levine has covered his topic completely, with every avenue of possibility addressed appropriately and in the most humble, helpful manner. I especially appreciate Dr. He reminds us that our minds are not stagnant, but come into their own with time.
Dr. This observation by a trained eye allows for early detection of breakdowns in learning as well as necessary identification of a child's cognitive strengths, overall assets, and consuming passions. Levine has divided these areas of breakdown into particular profiles based upon recurring patterns that occur with particular types of brain wiring. He also devotes a chapter to the teacher's role and what types of policies are practiced in "a humane school". Although complex and detailed, this book is written in terms a layperson can understand with some thoughtful reading and perhaps a little rereading. He then goes on to detail the eight neurodevelopmental systems, chapter by chapter: the Attention Control System, the Memory System, the Language System, the Spatial Ordering System, the Sequential Ordering System, the Motor System, the Higher Thinking System, and the Social Thinking System. Dr. These systems develop at diverse paces, but must be utilized to grow strong and to stay strong.
He endeavors to accurately describe the struggles of unsuccessful children, to explain the brain's working and dysfunctions which we all experience and see in others, and to provide a "road map" for parents and teachers to knowledgeably observe their children's cognitive development. He devotes a whole chapter to provide parents with best methods for nurturing these children at home. School is the hardest thing that many of these kids are ever going to have to face, because it focuses so intensely on particular skills, such as math and language, while devaluing other important skills, such as interpersonal abilities and creativity. His position, experience, and knowledge of current research lend weight to his optimistic determination. Chapter 10 is devoted to helping the educator or parent pinpoint the areas of breakdown based on evidence from past productivity, behaviors, and learning difficulties.
Finally, he addresses the benefits and possible detriment of testing, and the outcomes in adulthood.Dr. Levine is an encourager, an empowering force, the voice of hope and predictor of success. Levine's book, A Mind at a Time, is so comprehensive that it is challenging to pare it down to a few essential ideas. Throughout the numerous case studies, Dr. He also reminds us that report cards are notoriously poor predictors of a child's potential. Later, at the end of each chapter detailing the neurodevelopmental systems, Dr. I have worked with a developmental pediatrician who trained under Dr. He discusses the management of a profile, which is broken down into stages: demystification, accommodations, interventions at the breakdown points, strengthening strengths and affinities, protection from humiliation, and using professional therapies.
Interestingly, research into problematic learning is also a study of all learning, and how the brain is supposed to function. He considers these children to be heroes and heroines, distinctively different in their learning styles, but valiantly courageous in their ability to cope, their resilience, and their will to overcome.Dr. He explains each profile, giving case studies to better illustrate what may be typical of each profile. Levine adds several additional chapters to provide even more tools for working with different kinds of minds. Levine lists strategies, a tool box of helpful, practical information to help students, their teachers, and their parents in ways that are immediate and useful. Levine myself.
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