What you want for your children is the same thing that all parents and teachers want – to connect, to communicate, and to guide. Sometimes this seems almost impossible. And if your child is diagnosed with any of the following, your task can be especially difficult:
- ADD: Attention Deficit Disorder
- PDD-NOS: Pervasive Development Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified
- HFA/AS: High-Functioning Autism / Asperger's Syndrome
- NLD: Non-verbal Learning Disabilities
Now There is Help and There is Hope
Our book, On the Same Page!, is written for children ages three to eight, and comes from many years of experience in successfully teaching children, who for one reason or another have problems socializing, learning, or communicating. These children too have a lifetime of potential ahead of them, if they can only find a way to connect and express themselves appropriately.
Our practical methods give you potent tools and strategies to open a channel of real, effective, communication. We have seen powerful results happen with children, parents, and teachers – all because everyone involved learned how to “get on the same page.” Once a channel is opened, anything is possible.
Without effective communication, every interaction is a challenge that just frustrates everyone involved. Communication is the key!
Once communication is established, what happens next? What does your child need most? What is the purpose of communication?
Together, on the same page, we can begin to understand each other. We can then respond appropriately to meet your child's needs. It begins with listening. And since we are the adults “on the page,” we must learn to communicate at our child's level; we should not expect them to understand "our language.”
And once we connect with our children what do we see? What are their most pressing needs? What are they trying to tell us? What do they need from us?
What we have found is that your child's needs are primarily centered around their challenges in:
- Developing social skills
- Developing language skills
- Making and keeping friends
- Solving social problems, on their own
- Developing self esteem
- Overcoming shyness
Once these skills become easier for your child, all other skills -- and learning itself -- become much easier and more fun. And once your child begins to develop confidence through these skills, they become happier, healthier, and more open to all of life. They begin to want more, because it feels good to achieve success, and so they more readily pay attention to you.
Using the practical methods outlined in our book, you and your child become partners, and communication becomes fun. Your child will begin to make far more progress than you may now believe possible. We have many examples of parents and teachers who have reported unprecedented results and lasting success. And we have lots of smiling faces that tell us our methods work.
Best of all, anyone can learn these simple techniques, and have a significant influence on their child's behavior and success. Just open the book and begin the journey.
Your child's happiness is priceless.
What You Will Receive From This Book
On the Same Page! is a work book -- we call it a curriculum for living -- and its lessons will last you a lifetime. It is over 100 pages of concepts, lessons, and activities that you use with your child, and progress at your own rate. Teachers can use it as a lesson plan, very effectively – as we do. Parents can read the book with their children and use it as a teaching guide – many children make it their own and read it like a bedtime story.
Choose whatever lessons you need at the time – there is no need to follow them in sequence, and in fact you may want to come back to key lessons time and again until they are internalized. It may take you and your child a year to go through all the lessons, or it may take only a few month. But, along the way, your child will learn the skills and gain the confidence that will make both of you happier.
The book uses visual metaphors that are fun for your child to learn. You learn to use the accompanying flash cards to represent your ideas to your child, instead of verbally expressing your thoughts. Your child will respond quickly and eagerly because you are talking to them now in a language that they understand far better than your words alone. Sometimes just getting your child's attention seems impossible, but the flash cards always work because they are fun, colorful pictures and they become almost like a game.
The lessons are fun and easy and yet they express deep ideas that are often difficult for your child to grasp in words alone. But the pictures draw them in, help them remember, and make the whole process fun.
We recommend that you use this book, and the flash cards as daily reinforcement tools. In the back of the book we list many other resources – including some excellent story books – that will also help to reinforce the lessons.
What People are Saying
Read what parents and teachers are saying about this method and the dramatic difference it is making in their lives and the lives of their children.
Sample Pages
In the guide book, you will find:
- Teaching pages stating the purpose of each lesson and recommended activities.
- Colorful story boards designed to help capture the children’s attention and visually present each concept.
- Samples of our flashcards, which reinforce concepts presented in the book.
- A reading list of children’s books we use to introduce and reinforce each concept.
You do not need to teach the lessons in any particular order. Most often, the lessons found in this guide were created out of an issue that arose with one of our students right before they came into class.
Whenever you use this guide with your child, remember that teaching with compassion and consistency ensures the best outcomes. We consider these lessons "A Curriculum for Living." It is our wish that the skills your child will learn from this guide will last for a lifetime.
