Category Archives: Learning Disabilities

Testimony of Miraculous Healing – 10 Year Anniversary

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:56 — 12.8MB)

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Today, June 8, 2017 is the 10 year anniversary of the first day The Great Shalom Broadcast went on the air. So, please hear the story again! (Oops, no it is only 9 years! Senility or innumeracy or wishful thinking? Oh no! Anyway, it is an anniversary and the story bears repeating.)

When my dad questioned whether I should stop working for a semester to home educated my grandsons after their accident, I explained that I could work a lifetime and not earn enough money to pay for the kind of therapy I could give them. Furthermore, there was no point in saving for their college if they could never read. He understood. Then my pastor questioned whether I should go, and I told him the same thing. “Can you really do that?” he asked. “Yes.” “Then write a book!” Well, the book is written.

My book, Learn at Home for Great Shalom was written to cover all learning needs of any child, especially those with special needs/learning disabilities. Guess what: we all have special needs! So in a home education system, we are impoverishing ourselves if we merely replicate what public school does. It was set up to deliver basic skills and basic assimilation for the masses. They wanted immigrants to understand the American system and be able to work in the factories. The understanding the elites want the masses to have has changed, but the basic mission of public school has not. By contrast, the far-seeing Christian parent wants to inculcate in their particular children the kind of mind, character, and personality so that they will thrive, prosper and lead.

The best education is aimed at furthering a particular child’s talents, overcoming his/her weaknesses, cultivating the joy of learning, promoting good character, superior academic skills, superior thinking, and superior vocational skills. A far cry from the aim of public school! So when a parent is considering how to plan for their child’s education, they need a great deal more to guide them than merely purchasing a curriculum that may merely cover basic academics. My book offers all these questions and gives pointers to where to find various resources. It helps the parent choose which method, which curricula, and which directions to go. It helps the parent be sure that everything is covered.

But who reads books? I felt to create a radio program. The pastors I consulted said it would be impossible. It is true that in today’s day and age, Christian radio programs don’t pay for themselves. But, I felt God wanted me to do this and I have beat the impossibility, by having a solvent ‘cast since then.

In the ‘cast, I address the underlying need, for parents to have hope and faith. Without that, they won’t look for or even see the resources for their children. So I preach faith and hope and share great ideas, often letting other experts share good ideas from their expertise. And we have had some great interviews! I tell the pastor of one denomination he is only responsible for the good idea he brings, and not all the ideas that the pastor from another denomination may hold. We are just sharing good ideas. That is true for the teachers, the psychologists, and every other “denomination” too. Sometimes listeners haven’t liked an idea I’ve brought, but everything is back by science, Bible, or experience. I work for all three together! Anyway, if you don’t like one episode stay tuned, for we move on.

Or you could comment. Blogs are good that way.

Please help us celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Share my testimony with anyone who needs it. Consider how you might participate – either sharing, or purchasing a resource, or giving. BTW, I discovered over the years that the 501(c)3 was not paying for itself, so giving is really giving here. I offer the convenience of good products, but sales do not pay for the tech let alone for the time for this podcast. It remains a labor of love — to help someone else.

Times have changed and so have needs. I continue to think about a daily prayer cast and a cast for the grandparent generation. However, the limitations of time and money weigh against. Please weigh in! Tell me what you need; what you think others need.

New Book Announcement – English Spelling Patterns

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I wrote this first for my grandsons. I have never seen spelling taught in an organized, sensible fashion. Well, except once: my friend was teaching her preschooler at home and started with cat, rat, bat. So sensible. Never done.

Later, I discovered that many students could not intuit the rules like I could. Give me a word and I normally can guess how it is spelled. Many can not do that. So why not teach them the rules? I discovered that the Orton-Gillingham Method for teaching students with dyslexia does this, at least to some extent. So it was not until I was grown, with all my education, many degrees, and had a daughter in junior high and in a program for remediating Dyslexia, that I heard “when 2 vowels go walking, the first one does the talking, and says its name.”

I also realized that all Montessori teachers will need this, since all they have is the basic “what you see is what you get” from Montessori, who spoke Italian — a wysiwyg language.

Then I discovered that some very well educated ESL students appreciated the work. So now it is available on Amazon and Kindle for everyone.

Enjoy. Share.

Help for Special Needs Students Who are Homeschooled

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https://www.thsc.org/2017/05/encouragement-special-needs-homeschool-families-isolated/

You may remember the interview that Mr. Lambert gave us about the legal situation for homeschoolers in Texas. The Texas Homeschool Coalition that he and his wife founded does more than merely represent homeschooling families legally. They also have many other supports.

This article examines the plight of families with special needs children. Often these children must be home educated precisely because their families feel that the public school does not offer appropriate education. However, they are at greater risk of being targeted by state authorities. The parents, themselves, may need greater support because of the tremendous difficulty of rearing and educating their children. Yet, in order to keep them safe and to offer the best hope of getting an appropriate education, they often must isolate themselves. A homeschooling support group is the answer. Hear how others have triumphed.

The Great Shalom salutes all such parents who go out of their way to see that their children get what they need. Pollution, broken homes, poverty, and a failing school system make the burdens not only worse, but much more common. We salute the brave parents who do what it takes to see their children successful. It is this sort of parent that the Great Shalom was formed to support, encourage, and equip.

Secret of Montessori’s Christian Roots Revealed

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:59 — 13.7MB)

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Many people know of the Montessori Method’s outstanding results in higher academics. For 125 years they have outperformed every other method of education, especially in the preschool and primary years. What has been suppressed, however, has been the Method’s Christian roots. Barbara Fidellow, co-founder with her husband Edward Fidellow, of the Christian Montessori Fellowship shows how Dr. Montessori began the method.

The Fidellows began their journey with the Montessori Method when, as evangelical Espiscopalians in Dallas, they started a school at the request of their church. Then, for many years, they ran a school in Dallas. During this time they founded the Christian Montessori Fellowship and Cross Mountain Press. Now they run a school in El Salvador and are founding a teachers’ college.

The Montessori Method has helped many children become great students and leaders in their field. Better education through the Method is now helping families who are working in a factory in El Salvador where the owners are sponsoring a school for their employees’ children. The teachers’ college will promote more development wherever these teachers, directors, and school owners live. The character taught be be an even greater foundation than the academic foundations.

Please hear and share what Barbara Fidellow has to say! Whether you are a mother looking to expand your service to your own children, a leader in your church looking for the best mission, or an educator looking for fresh but tested ideas, our short series on the Montessori Method will be sure to equip you.

www.crossmountainpress.com
Cross Mountain Press provides educational materials for educators and parents …

www.christianmontessorifellowship.com
This is the only Christian Montessori association I know of. Christian Montessorians will want to join. Available here are some articles anyone may wish to read. Annual international conference held in January in San Antonio is announced here.