Friends of St. Francis Childcare Center & Parents Education Network present:

For the fourth year in a row, the early childhood education community & parents of preschoolers will be able to learn about how brain development is enhanced by play & how to create an environment that promotes learning through play. Places limited - sign up now! Cost: $20.00. Scholarships available--please contact us for details. Click here to register!

Sensory Integration:  Do We Really Need It?

Friday, March 19, 2010
9am - 12pm. Our Lady of Mercy School, Daly City.

This short workshop is designed to be an interactive and experiential introduction to the process of sensory integration. We will explore the way the nervous system goes about gathering, processing, defining and acting on sensory motor events. We will first address how this process typically develops and then experience what happens when processing is delayed or disordered in some way. Click here to register!

PEN & TEN present a Teacher Training Workshop:

The Classroom Management of ADD & Anxiety

Intended for audiences of teachers and other professionals, this lecture focuses on  stress and the non-medication management of ADD in the classroom.  The presentation offers specific, concrete, and practical ways to manage ADD in a mainstream classroom.  The same principles can be used in other settings, such as home or special classrooms, as well.  Click here to register!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

This year's EdRev features keynote speaker Dr. Ned Hallowell. 

Best selling author, Dr. Ned Hallowell offers groundbreaking advice on how to survive in an ultra-competitive, ultra fast, attention deficit society while remaining sane, how to raise happy children, the art of forgiveness and how to manage worry. He also offers a prescriptive guide that shows how to get the most out of life with Attention Deficit Disorder.

Dr. Hallowell is considered to be one of the foremost experts on the topic of ADHD. He is the co-author, with Dr. John Ratey, of Driven to Distraction, and Answers to Distraction, which have sold more than a million copies. In 2005, Drs. Hallowell and Ratey released their much-awaited third book on ADHD, Delivered from Distraction. “Delivered” provides updated information on the treatment of ADHD and more on adult ADHD.

Dr. Hallowell’s most recent book with Dr. Peter Jensen, SUPERPARENTING FOR ADD: An Innovative Approach to Raising Your Distracted Child, was published in December, 2008. With decades of experience working with ADD children, Dr. Hallowell understands how easily the gifts of this condition are lost on a child amid negative comments from doctors, teachers, and even loving but frustrated parents. He has long argued that ADD is too often misunderstood, mistreated, and mislabeled as a “disability.”

Dr. Hallowell observes that people who do not have ADHD still often show many of its symptoms due to lives that are so busy that they overload their brains. He explores this phenomenon in his book, CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! In this book, Dr. Hallowell shows how the hectic pace of modern life has led our society to suffer from broader, culturally induced ADD. His insight into how to unsnarl frenzied lives and take charge of how we really want to be living provides true inspiration to us all.

In addition to his fame in the world of ADHD and pseudo-ADHD, Dr. Hallowell is also an expert in parenting, how to manage anxiety, and the importance of connection and forgiveness.
Dr. Hallowell is a highly recognized speaker around the world. He has presented to thousands on topics such as ADD, strategies on handling your fast-pace life, the Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness and other pertinent family and health issues. 

From corporate audiences to parent-teacher workshops and national television shows, people who listen to Dr. Hallowell come away stimulated, inspired and empowered to change their lives. He is a charismatic speaker, combining the knowledge of a Harvard instructor with his incredible understanding of ADD, human nature and the struggles we face in this crazy/busy world.

Click here to watch some of Dr. Hallowell's many TV appearances!

EdRev 2010 will also feature keynote speaker Jonathan Mooney, plus an immense range of Workshops, Activities & Exhibitors. 

Please download this flyer and help spread the word!

And please register early to help us plan!

College Student Panel Speaks to Students and Parents at Immaculate Conception Academy

by Dr. Constance Clark, Director of Learning Services at Immaculate Conception Academy 

Illustration by Steven Cancemo

“ Here’s how I learn, here’s what I need….”

A SAFE Panel also spoke recently at San Francisco Friends School. This excerpt from the school newsletter describes the event and theimpact it is having at the school:

Fourth through seventh graders attended an assembly last week coordinated by Frances Dickson, our Developmental Support Coordinator. A panel of high school students with various learning differences from dyslexia to attentional difficulties shared their stories and helped take away the stigma around learning differences for our young students. They were all enrolled in local high schools, and eager to educate and inspireour students. Without exception, our panelists described the necessity for hard work, and the need for allies. Each had experienced frustrations along the way, and spoke from the conviction that they could help young students who are struggling not feel alone. One panelist said: “ I’m on this panel because I want to try to prevent anyone from taking the wrong path, from giving up, which I wanted to do sometimes. It just takes a voice to change someone’s life.” Interestingly, these high schoolers easily pointed out the advantages to their learning styles – creativity, inventiveness, a singular voice, and a tenacious work ethic. They cited countless well known people who had learning disabilities, and acknowledged that they had reached clarity that they now embraced and celebrated their learning differences, even as the journey had often been difficult. “I think knowing about my learning disability has made me a lot more confident” said one. “It’s also given me the ability to cope and work with people who have different learning styles. Learning how you learn is an asset. Even if you don’t have a learning disability, just figure out what works best for you.”

Frances hopes to train middle school students here at San Francisco Friends School to speak to lower school students, as so many of the “SAFE” panelists spoke so fervently about advocacy: “When I was younger, I didn’t advocate for myself, but now I see that it is super important. I can’t stress it enough. Walk up to your teachers and say, ‘Hey, I may have learning issues and this is what I need. I need extra time or a calculator’ or whatever. Just let them know. Don’t be afraid. It helps.” The advice shared by these students transcended the particular challenges that LD students experience: “Even if all of school is easy for you, eventually it’s gonna get tough. For us, it’s been tough for a lot of the way, for some of us since kindergarten. We’re used to that; we’re ready for that. And when we go to college, we’ll know how to learn.”

We’re eager for all our students to develop a comfortable “meta-cognitive” sense of themselves. We’d like them to know their strengths, and understand that they have tools and support to tackle those disciplines that are tough for them. One of our panelists summed it up beautifully: “Knowledge is a tool; intelligence is how you use it. We don’t necessarily lack in either of those areas.”