Article: Tapping kids' strengths can give learning a boost

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May 7, 2002- Chicago Sun-Times

http://www.suntimes.com

Tapping kids' strengths can give learning a boost

BY BRENDA WARNER ROTZOLL STAFF REPORTER

" Winston Churchill had trouble learning to read and write.

Albert Einstein had trouble with math. Edison

couldn't read until he was 12. Tom Cruise still can't read

because of severe dyslexia. Magic has trouble

reading and says " it's a lonely feeling. "

That's far from unusual.

Dr. Mel Levine says every child learns differently because

every child's brain is wired differently. Figure out where

the short-circuits are, and you can help children overcome

learning problems by working with their mental strengths.

Sometimes solutions can be as simple as reading aloud,

printing instead of writing in cursive, or repeating a

thing over and over until it's remembered.

Levine's beliefs gradually are spreading across the nation

thanks to the Schools Attuned teacher training program run

through his All Kinds of Minds Foundation

(allkindsofminds.org). They got a big publicity boost this

spring through a PBS program on " Misunderstood Minds " and

his new book A Mind at a Time (Simon & Schuster, $26),

recently discussed on " The Oprah Winfrey Show. "

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http://www.suntimes.com/output/education/cst-nws-skul-dis07.html