Vol. 8 • Issue 1

Download the Spring 2004 Newsletter in PDF format. If you don't have the free Acrobat Reader you can get it here.

InFocus - Spring, 2004

• LifeManagement Center’s at Burke, Rivers, Chicora, and Birney
• 9th Annual Southeastern Conference Features Dr. Patricia Quinn - Monday, November 8, 2004
• Executive Director's Report
• LifeManagement Center Presents Parent Power
• Student Friendly Memory Techniques
• 2003 Contributors to LifeManagement Center
• Who Are These People and Why Are They Smiling?
• Breaking the Code: LMC’s Reading Reinforcement Program

LifeManagement Center at Burke, Rivers, Chicora, and Birney

Pictured from the left to right with Dr. Glass (second from left) are Cheryl Williams, Martie Williams, and Cynthia Epps of CCSD.

Thanks to a federal grant and an exciting partnership with the Charleston County School District, the staff of LifeManagement Center is making a difference in four Charleston County schools.

As part of President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act”, the State Department of Education for South Carolina received a block grant to establish a number of 21st Century Community Learning Centers. These centers provide enhanced learning opportunities through quality after school programs. In other words, during the hours after school, when researchers tell us kids are most at-risk for getting into trouble, participating children are being provided with homework help, basic concepts review and an opportunity to participate in a multitude of art and recreational activities.

Through the 21st Century Learning Center Grant, Charleston County received funds to open top-notch after school programs at Burke High, Rivers Middle, Chicora Elementary and Alice Birney Middle Schools. And, as a part of the grant, LMC was contracted to work with the teachers on classroom management, recognition of learning styles and individualized teaching strategies. Our Dr. Ibis Glass has been front and center in these schools doing just that.

Martie Williams, 21st Century Community Learning Center Project Director, said, “The collaborative partnership between LifeManagement Center and CCSD’s 21st Century Learning Center grant has provided a fabulous opportunity to provide staff training in classroom management, learning styles assessment and in learning strategies that are grounded in evidence based research. Without this partnership, there would be a significant gap in the much needed area of after-school staff training. Teachers look at the LMC staff as mentors as well as trainers.”

And, fortunately, LMC’s involvement with these schools won’t end when the grant money runs out. Thanks to a generous gift from local benefactors, Jim and Harriett Rigney, Dr. Glass will continue in her outreach role, visiting each of the after-school sites throughout the spring semester and working with the teachers to help ensure success for children who are at risk of academic failure and dropping out of school.

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9th Annual Southeastern Conference Features Dr. Patrcia Quinn - Monday, November 8, 2004

Dr. Patricia Quinn

Dr. Patricia Quinn, celebrated speaker, author and Director of the National Center for Gender Issues and ADHD, will share the results of her extensive work at LifeManagement Center’s Ninth Annual Southeastern Conference. Dr. Quinn’s topics will include “Identifying and Helping Girls with ADHD” and “Adolescents with ADHD: Gaining the Advantage.” The conference will take place at the Citadel’s Holliday Alumni Center from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

Dr. Quinn, a developmental pediatrician from Washington D.C., has worked for over 30 years in the areas of ADHD and Learning Disabilities. For the last decade she has devoted her attention to the issues confronting girls and women with ADHD. Her 1999 book, Understanding Girls with ADHD, was co-authored with Drs. Nadeau and Littman and is groundbreaking in its presentation of this population.

At the November 8th conference, Dr. Quinn’s presentation will focus on the very high personal cost for girls growing up with undiagnosed ADHD and will present ways that parents, educators and mental health professionals can build a safety net to prevent them from falling through the cracks of the educational and health care systems.

Her presentation, “Adolescents with ADHD,” will discuss the effects of puberty and adolescence on children with ADHD and equip parents, teachers and health professionals to deal effectively with this challenging population.

Register early to receive a discount and ensure yourself a seat at the November 8th conference with Dr. Patricia Quinn.

A registration form is available inside this issue of InFocus and on the web at www.lifemanagement.org.

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT Educating the community about ADHD and LD has always been an important part of LifeManagement Center’s mission. Through our annual conferences, Mary Beth Dacey’s popular “Teach the Teachers” program and speaking engagements around the state, we have worked hard to raise awareness about learning differences and learning styles and to provide continuing education to school and medical professionals. Now, LifeManagement Center is going a step further in its educational mission. LMC’s board of directors has identified “community outreach” as one of the top goals of the organization, and, as you will read in this issue of InFocus, reaching out is what we are doing! And we’re doing it in diverse settings and in diverse ways. With two new community based initiatives, the “Parent Power” education series and our work in the 21st Century Learning Centers, LMC is touching more people than ever before. On behalf of the board and staff, I wish to thank our growing body of financial supporters who make these programs possible. As a non-profit organization, we rely on the help of donors for over 40% of our income. I invite you to review the list of LMC’s benefactors included in this newsletter. If you are a contributor, please accept our heartfelt thanks, and know that your gift has helped a child or an adult to succeed in a way they may never have thought possible. Your gifts are changing lives in a very positive way. Saida Huey, MSW, Executive Director LifeManagement Center’s Study Smart Program Formerly known as “Learning Styles,” LMC is once again offering our popular summer workshop. This workshop will help students identify their learning styles, get organized, improve their memories, pay attention, and develop effective study skills. The program will be divided into 2 groups: Rising 5th-7th graders, weeks of July 12, 26, & August 9 Rising 8th-10th graders, weeks of July 19, August 2 9:30 a.m.- 11:30 a.m. The charge is $250 per person. Please call 577.2277 if you would like additional information or if you would like a registration form mailed or faxed to you.

LifeManagement Center presents PARENT POWER Education and Connection for Parents of Children with ADHD or LD Tuesday evenings, 6:30-8:30 p.m. March 30 ADHD—What’s New? Russell Barkley, Ph.D. April 13 ADHD Medication James E. Edwards, M.Ed., M.D. April 20 Discipline for the Cora Ezzell, Ph.D. Difficult Child (age 5-11) April 27 Surviving the Teenage Years D. Scott Cutting, Ph.D. May 4 The ADHD & LD Connection LifeManagement Center Staff Downtown Palmer Campus Auditorium Trident Technical College, 66 Columbus Street Free Parking $10 per session Refreshments Call 577-2277 for further information Sponsored by the Pearlstine Family Foundation and Roper St. Francis Healthcare Student Friendly Memory Techniques Research indicates memory is facilitated if you combine language with visualization. Visualization requires that you create an image in your mind’s eye of the things you want to remember; the stranger the image, the stronger the memory. Use humor and color to trigger your memory. Techniques * Story or Link Method Link together items or ideas to be remembered in an unusual story. Example: You need to walk the dog, remember your school books, and take a shower. Link the items together in a story: The dog runs into the shower with your books in his mouth. First Letter Cues Acronyms – make a word out of the first letter of each item to be recalled, i.e.: HOMES spells the great lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior). Acrostics – first letter of each item stands for a word in a phrase, i.e.: When parking your car, remember: turn off lights, take keys, lock it, and note where you parked (lights, keys, lock, park). The acrostic could be Little Kids Like Pickles. Recalling Dates Associate the date to be recalled with a date you already remember, i.e.: the day before Halloween, a week after your birthday, two days after Fourth of July, a month before Christmas. Dates can become prices ($18.99) or a time (12:15). Rhyme or Rhythm Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. In treating shock: If the face is red, raise the head; if the face is pale, raise the tail. Time of doctor appointment (2:00); I’m blue at two. * Adapted from Hoover 2002

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2003 Contributors to LifeManagement Center

Who Are These People and Why Are They Smiling?

One Friday morning late last fall, LifeManagement Center staff members arrived at 90 Alexander Street and found seven suspicious characters sitting in their offices, drinking coffee and chatting on their phones! Who were these people? Can you guess?

They were … none other than our beloved LMC board members raising phone-a-thon dollars for the Center’s Annual Fund!

Our callers had a most successful morning, raising over $8,000, thanks to the many people who responded so
generously to their calls. Because tutoring and other fees pay less than half of the cost of operating the Center, we must appeal to the community for support. And, because LMC is registered with the state of South Carolina as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, gifts to our organization are tax deductible.

We invite you to join the growing group of LMC donors. When you receive a call from a board or staff member, please say “yes” and join our efforts to “save lives” through individual and community education. Thank you for your support!

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Breaking the Code: LMC’s Reading Reinforcement Program
by Kim Edmunds, M.A.T

Tap, tap, tap …an unusual noise can be heard most afternoons, coming from the back tutoring room at 90 Alexander Street.

This mysterious tapping is the sound of young students busy training their brains to refine reading and spelling skills in LifeManagement Center’s Reading Reinforcement program. These individualized tutoring sessions provide direct, multi-sensory instruction in phonics, word structure, vocabulary, spelling, reading fluency, and comprehension. The program is designed for students who have not internalized the sound and syllable system for reading and spelling and will benefit students with dyslexia, students with decoding difficulties, readers who lack fluency, and poor spellers.

LMC’s Reading Reinforcement program begins with improving the student’s decoding skills. The better a child is with decoding, the more accurate and fluent his reading. Because it provides the foundation for proficient reading, phonics instruction is the backbone of the program. Meeting the recommendations of the National Reading Panel’s report that the most effective phonics instruction is taught systematically and explicitly, all of the Reading Reinforcement programs follow the Wilson Reading System sequence of skills based on the structure of the English language. Because reading and spelling go hand in hand, encoding skills are included in this systematic instruction.

Each session is personalized to meet individual needs as the tutors find the strategies that work best for each student. The sessions are tailored to reflect individual learning styles and require 100 % active participation from the child. Tutors directly teach new and review skills, and the students participate in seven to ten short and enjoyable activities to practice these skills. The word study block of each session emphasizes phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, fluency, and finger tracking. The encoding block teaches spelling, proofreading strategies, and irregular words. Lastly, the fluency and comprehension portion focuses on controlled reading to practice acquired skills, story paraphrasing, and passage visualization. Keeping the activities fun and motivating is vital for the program’s success. Charting their weekly progress with reading fluency, students and tutors create a visual representation of reading growth. Mastery of each skill is necessary before moving onto higher-level skills.

In a student survey, children listed activities such as matching games, magnetic letter tile boards, quick drills, and scooping syllables as their favorites. The students rated their sessions high and recognized the positive effects of the instruction on their reading and spelling abilities. A first grader explained, “The tutoring sessions have helped me learn to read better. I know over 600 words!” Parents, teachers, students and tutors are delighted with the participating children’s reading and spelling advancements.

This program’s success reflects Dr. Reid Lyon’s research that demonstrates the most effective interventions for reading difficulties consist of phonics and direct and integrated instruction in text reading and comprehension. Furthermore, studies also reveal that the ideal time for identifying and remediating reading difficulties is during the first few years of school. Parents who notice their children struggling with reading or spelling should set up a consultation with an LMC learning specialist to determine if the Reading Reinforcement program could provide the extra boost necessary for their child to break the reading and spelling code.

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LifeManagement Center, Inc.
628 Saint Andrew’s Boulevard
Charleston, SC 29407
Tel. (843) 852-5705 | Fax (843) 852-5702