It's been weeks and weeks since I've posted anything here... As a full time working mom and educator finding the time to post recently has been tough. We've been working very hard with eldest to support him at school and have had a hick up or two over the past month or so. However, I am back up and on track again after getting recharged with two amazing conferences last weekend.

The first conference was a Saturday learning through the International Dyslexia Association. The talks centered around supporting students who are struggling around literacy. I got to see some amazing speakers and see some amazing resources. The main speaker was Dr. Nadine Gaab who spoke about her search and changes in the brain that occur for students who are struggling to read and understand words.

Check out here web sight at Boston Children's Hospital

Boston Children's Hospital

The other talks centered around how reading works in the brain but also the products out there to support and help those who struggle to read. Microsoft has come out with some amazing products to help support all students. No matter if they struggle or not these resources can help to enable all students to be on par with their learning.

Check out what Microsoft has to offer on their page: https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/education

The final day of workshops was on Sunday when I attended a full day workshop around supporting students as educators and/or parents. This was presented through Shift Your Thinking, a wonderful group started by two moms who were looking for support for each other but also for others.

The first speaker was Sonia Mastrangelo from Lakehead University. She works on research around children and self-regulation. She did a great chat about how the brain works when it's trying to self-regulated and how to support that work within the home. She also looks at supporting teacher candidates to help them learn better how to support students in a way which build resilience among students and understanding from adults.

https://www.lakeheadu.ca/users/M/smastran

Of all the speakers that day the one that spoke to me the most was a speaker by the name of Elisheva Schwarts. She is a dyslexic research and voice behind the podcast The Dyslexia Quest. She spoke about her own childhood struggles with learning and about her work now with families in the US around school prep. #elishevaschwartz

It was a weekend full of learning and exhausting but reminded me of why I started this agency. To help support families as they seek answers and resources for their children. Check out some of the web pages and see if they might be able to inspire you in your way down the road to support. This journey can be long but with the support others who understand it can be a much less bumpy ride.

Never Stop Learning