Spring Break camp openings!

We’ve had several requests for information on recommended Spring Break camps that still have spaces, so here’s a short list with links. Note that these camps are filling quickly, so we can’t guarantee that there will be a spot for your kid. We’ll keep updating as we hear of more openings. Good luck! (And when you’re ready to turn your attention to the summer break, be sure to check out our extensive and detailed directory of summer camps.)

 

Austin Creative Art Center Spring Break Art Camp
Central Austin

Austin Tinkering School Spring Break Challenge Camp
North Austin

Badgerdog Spring Break Writing Workshops
The Griffin School (Central Austin)

Contagious Harmony Spring Break Music & Sports Camp
Steiner Ranch (West Austin)

Fantastic Magic Camp
Central Austin

GenAustin’s We Are Girls Spring Break Camp
Central Austin

Thinkery Pre-K–K Spring Break Camps
Mueller Neighborhood (Central East Austin)

A place at the table for failure

Educational psychologist Breana Sylvester, PhD, is leading her family on a journey through the alternative education landscape, observing and chronicling for others what she learns about noncoercive, interest-based learning communities. Here she shares an essay on failure adapted from her own blog, Dandelion Adventures.

Recently Ashton Kutcher made a surprise appearance at TEDYouth and decided to talk not about his successes but rather about his failures. Since then my corner of the internet has been atwitter with people sharing fun ideas, and I have seen a terrific number of illustrations of the utility and beauty of failure. Here’s an anonymous one currently making the rounds on social media:

What an incredibly important message to give to learners, child and adult! Failure is an opportunity to learn and grow. Sometimes it also helps us choose direction. Rarely will failure ruin all our plans for the future; usually it tells us we need to find new ways to approach our goals, and sometimes it even gives us hints as to how. In fact, not allowing children to fail can be impairing.

Yet our culture attaches a great deal of shame to failure. What do we lose, though, if failure is not an option? How does fear of failure influence how we treat one another and ourselves?

The above comic triggered some connections that I would like to share from what I have learned from educational psychology. In particular, Goal Orientation Theory and self-compassion came to mind.

Goal Orientation Theory, also known as Achievement Goal Theory, posits that our reasons for working toward goals can vary greatly and that our orientations toward our goals have implications for how well we learn new things and how we deal with failure in the process of learning. When we learn things because we enjoy the process of learning, we are more likely to remember what we learned and also more likely to see failure as a natural part of the learning process. This is known as adopting a mastery orientation.

Another orientation posited in earlier work on goals was called performance orientation, wherein the learner’s motivation behind work toward a goal was primarily that of success at that goal, whether it be making a good grade or obtaining recognition (or avoiding failure). It is possible to have a mix of more than one orientation toward a goal. Psychologists have done a great deal of research on these goal orientations and over time have modified the theories. (You can find updated information and research findings here.)

It seems clear to me that high pressure to succeed in the form of high-stakes assessments and competition for recognition such as we find in most, if not all, traditional school settings could only contribute to the performance orientation. I find myself wondering, then, what would a learning environment that supports a mastery orientation look like? What if failure and success weren’t so dichotomized?

The second concept that sprang to mind was that of self-compassion. I used to teach a college course on applied learning and motivation theory, and we would talk about inner voice and its influence on motivation. When we got to the part about the influences of our inner voice on our motivation and emotion, students would tell me how cheesy the idea of positive self-talk seemed to them. So at the beginning of the next class I would ask them to write down what they would say to a friend who was failing two classes and was afraid of losing his financial aid at the end of the semester. Once they were done, I’d ask them to turn over the card and write what they would say to themselves in the same situation. It wasn’t uncommon to hear nervous giggling and even gasps at the realization that their words to themselves were far harsher, and frequently unhelpful.

I was fortunate in my graduate school experience to learn a good bit about the psychological concepts of mindfulness and self-compassion from Kristin Neff, an expert on the study of the latter as a psychological construct. Of course, both mindfulness and compassion are appropriated from Buddhist philosophical concepts, but there is a lot of promising research on how they are currently being used in counseling settings.

It’s true that we rarely afford ourselves the same understanding, patience, and acceptance in our failures as we do those we care about; it takes practice and even hard work to learn to see failure as a necessary part of the human condition, but by freeing ourselves from the judgment of failure, we can more clearly see the path forward and enjoy the journey!

An Example: My own fear of failure

Recently Jerry Mintz, director of the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO), asked me what my goals were in regard to our family’s adventure in learning about alternatives to traditional educational settings. Up to that point, I’d felt that I had a somewhat clear idea of the things I knew I wanted to learn and those that I could pick up along the way. Even so, his question initially felt scrutinizing, given the early stage of our adventure planning. On reflection I realized that the reason the question made me feel uncomfortable was that I am afraid of failing, afraid of letting down the people who devote their lives to the learning environments I am just beginning to explore.

Just the tiniest shift in mindset—allowing myself to acknowledge my fear of failure and approaching his question as a learning opportunity—led me to experience a much deeper and more thought-out conceptualization of our adventures, which will, in all probability help me convey my goals to those I hope to work with. Yes, there’s a chance I may still fail at my ultimate goal of encouraging a large number of people to think more critically about how we educate students and teachers, but once my fears have been acknowledged, I can see past them, and I can see that what we gain by trying will be an experience of great value for me, for my family, and hopefully for others!

Here’s wishing you all wonderful opportunities to face your fears!

Breana Sylvester

Reversing dyslexia? A response from Dr. Books

In guest contributor Shari Holland’s review of the recent book Reversing Dyslexia, she voices several common concerns about author Phyllis Books’s unusual claims. Upon Alt Ed Austin’s invitation, Dr. Books has responded to Ms. Holland’s critique. We encourage you to join the conversation by leaving a comment below.

Dr. Phyllis BooksThank you so much for the opportunity to address the comments from Shari Holland regarding my first book. There are points on which Shari and I agree. For example, I think it is fair to say we both agree that dyslexia, as well as many other learning challenges, and indeed our overall health and well-being, respond well to good lifestyle habits, which include adequate sleep, healthy eating, and a good balance of work and play. It is easy to take these natural methods for granted or even dismiss their importance.

The Hawthorne Effect, which she discusses, is another area of agreement. Positive psychology, placebo studies, even studies on plants, all point out the importance of a positive framework to seed a positive outcome. Before I work with children, I have parents agree with me about who is responsible for what during our time together. One tenet is for the parent to keep an open mind and to hold the space for the child to change. There are many factors (such as getting decent nutrition, sufficient exercise, and enough sleep) that I have no control over but ultimately affect the long-term success of Books Neural Therapy^TM (BNT).

Shari writes, “Dr. Books seems to contradict herself about whether dyslexia is reversible. At one point, she writes that dyslexia may not be permanent.” The very fact that I have no control over variables mentioned above is reason for me to not make 100 percent guarantees. I willingly affirm that I have an 85 percent success rate, which, as my brochures and other literature say, is based on questionnaires gathered from clients six to ten years after treatment.

There are, however, several points I would like to correct or on which I would like to offer another view:

Shari states that she “found the organization of the book confusing and the logic muddled.” And “[I use] ‘dyslexia’ interchangeably with so many words describing learning challenges it’s hard to understand why [I] used dyslexia in the title.”

I have a degree in English and a master’s degree in communication, and my first thought was to find her comment disconcerting were it not for the fact that my publisher, who has been very successful over the past thirty years in publishing books written by professionals, chose to develop the chapters in a formula that works for most readers.

Upon further reflection, I wonder if some of the uncertainty she experienced about the title might not be caused by what the publisher left out of the contents of my book as originally submitted. My original book, before the publisher put the editing crew on it, was more of a “how to” guide for parents. The subtitle “Improving Learning and Behavior without Drugs” still reflects my original intention with the book; however, much of the content morphed into a different kind of book.  The publisher thought it best that my first book help establish me as a neutral expert in the field of dyslexia by explaining the whole playing field of dyslexia—describing the larger context of dyslexia, its many facets, and ways dyslexia can affect someone’s life—and offering insight and suggestions for addressing the various forms of dyslexia and issues the family member might be dealing with at any particular age. In the published content, I can see how she might mix up the definition of dyslexia, the definition of the various other diagnoses that may or may not accompany dyslexia, and the various ways children handle the emotional issues that so often accompany dyslexia.

Dyslexia is not a one-dimensional issue, which is one of the main points of the book. As Dr. Fred Pescatore, a New York–based integrative physician and author of several books on children’s health, states in the foreword to my book, “Dyslexia is not simply having difficulty with reading and writing. It is a disorder that permeates a person’s entire life, promoting all sorts of unwanted symptoms, from poor organizational skills to behavior and attitude problems.”

Shari writes, “If dyslexia is reversible, why talk to parents about choosing a tutor or a college that caters to dyslexic students?”

Actually, that was also my first response when my publisher insisted on adding a chapter on schooling, tutoring, and extracurricular activities. His response was wise: “You don’t know when people are going to pick up your book. Their child may be about to enter college when they first see your book. You need to meet people where they are. And since you aren’t there in person, you have to consider all possible situations, not just if their children have access to you at an early age.”

Shari wonders why I wrote the book if it wasn’t to promote my own therapy.

The preface says: “I wrote this book to dispel the myth that dyslexia is permanent. The idea that learning disorders are unchangeable is simply untrue, and it harms children. . . . I also wrote this book to open minds to a new way of looking at dyslexia, to create empowered advocates for dyslexic kids, and to make sure individuals get the help they need to dismantle the problem of dyslexia for good. Most of all, I wrote this book to help free the human spirit—the spirit that still lies inside every dyslexic person and begs to be unchained.”

Final thoughts: I’m passionate about my work with children, and I love my life. My life is geared around helping children become healthy, happy, and self-reliant—and to be free enough to usher their dreams into reality.

It takes a new mindset to believe there is hope for your dyslexic child, especially when “the experts” have ingrained the idea that it is permanent. My book may not be accepted well by people who want to hold onto their old beliefs. Even Einstein said, “I have all the new facts about quantum mechanics. I just don’t want to believe it.”

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right” is a statement very apropos with regard to dyslexia. If you believe and choose to hold onto your belief that dyslexia isn’t reversible, it won’t be. Not because that belief is true, but because your child will pick up on your belief—the belief of traditional education and the medical model which are embedded with the concept that dyslexia is permanent.

“We should never wait for science to give us permission to do the uncommon; if we do, then we are turning science into another religion. We should be brave enough to contemplate our lives and move ‘outside the box’ and do it repeatedly” (Dr. Joe Dispenza in Evolve Your Brain). I encourage all parents to be brave enough to follow their own internal compass. You know your child better than any expert. Scientific studies don’t trump your own truth, and no two dyslexics are alike. Seek help wherever you can. Believe in your own ability to choose wisely. Keep looking for ways to bring out your child’s highest potential. Believe in your child. The world needs you both.

Dr. Phyllis Books

Reversing dyslexia?

Alt Ed Austin is pleased to present two differing perspectives on the recent book Reversing Dyslexia by Phyllis Books, a chiropractor, nutritionist, and author based in Austin. The first is in the form of a thoughtful review (below) by Shari Holland, an Austin consultant and parent of a child diagnosed with dyslexia. The second (posted here) is Dr. Books’s response to Ms. Holland’s specific criticisms of the book. What do you think? We encourage you to make respectful use of the comments section below to continue the discussion.

Guest contributor Shari HollandHaving watched my ten-year-old son struggle with dyslexia, I visualize his challenge as a very tall wall, like the kind in a military obstacle course, one that you have to haul yourself up and over, maybe with the aid of ropes, maybe with help from others. This wall of words is very tall for some kids yet hardly present for those of us who easily and eagerly learned to read. Information—science, geography, fiction, even jokes and comics—is on the other side of the wall. The effort it takes to get to the information he craves is significant for my son.

When a friend passed along Phyllis Books’s recent book Reversing Dyslexia, I was intrigued. I had previously visited her website because I had heard about a technique she uses with dyslexic kids. This book only mentions her technique by name once in a brief paragraph among a list of alternative methods that presumably may prove useful in reversing dyslexia. If her book were simply a tool for marketing her technique, I could understand her purpose in writing it. But since it doesn’t do that, the book is all the more puzzling.

The flaws are numerous and significant. Reversing Dyslexia is long on opinion and anecdotes (most have nothing to do with dyslexia) and short on research. While Dr. Books has footnotes unevenly scattered throughout the book, many of the sources she cites are dated. She acknowledges that there is little research to support her claim that dyslexia is reversible, saying that case studies have to be sufficient proof until funds are available to study alternative therapies, including her own. She uses “dyslexia” interchangeably with so many words describing learning challenges (such as ADHD) that it’s hard to understand why she used “dyslexia” in the title. In the chapter titled “Determining Dyslexia” she bizarrely claims that self-mutilation (“cutting”) and drug and alcohol abuse may be clues that your child has dyslexia (or another learning disorder). And although I am not aware that there are currently any pharmaceuticals on the market for dyslexia, the subtitle of her book is “Improving Learning and Behavior without Drugs.” In the chapter called “Rewiring the Brain,” she writes that “dyslexics may be able to adjust their learning processes without using . . . pharmaceuticals.” I found the organization of the book confusing, and the research and logic muddled.  

Dr. Books’s website is as perplexing as her book. The details about her technique, called Books Neural Therapy, are vague, presumably because it is proprietary. The price of her services is also not disclosed. In an email exchange with her a year ago, she quoted her online course at around $1,000, with an unspecified higher cost if you work directly with her in her office. Her website claims that she has an 85 percent success rate in reversing dyslexia, but she provides no information about how this percentage is calculated and over what period.

Another organization, the Brain Balance Achievement Centers (BBAC), makes claims very similar to Dr. Books’s about the ability to ameliorate a whole host of learning and social disorders. The BBAC (there is one in Austin) offers a similar package of proprietary techniques that are designed to create new neural pathways based on the concept of brain plasticity. BBAC also does not disclose its pricing, but a number of blogs and message boards suggest that the cost is upwards of $5,000 for a three-month round of therapy – and since more time might be needed to see improvements in your child, the payout could be significant. Criticisms of the BBAC are easy to find on the internet (search:  “brain balance criticism”).

None of the educators, researchers, neurologists, psychologists, and chiropractors that I have consulted in the last few years has ever suggested that dyslexia can be eliminated. Moreover, even Dr. Books seems to contradict herself about whether dyslexia is reversible. At one point, she writes that dyslexia “may not . . . be permanent.” The chapter on “Schooling, Tutoring, and Extracurricular Activities” inexplicably discusses the academic supports that will be helpful to dyslexics. But if dyslexia is reversible, why talk to parents about choosing a tutor or a college that caters to dyslexic students?

While her argument is just not convincing, I do not think that it is necessary to “prove” that dyslexia is reversible. The point is that children with dyslexia will be profoundly affected by it—academically, socially, and emotionally—and it is our responsibility as parents to mitigate the effects as best we can.

I agree with Dr. Books that stress can impact learning, nutrition and creative play are very important to a child’s brain development, and dyslexia is multifaceted and varied; for those reasons, an integrated approach to addressing a dyslexic child’s needs makes sense. But before spending thousands of dollars on a vaguely defined program, I’d suggest starting with getting your family’s emotional house in order, making improvements in your family’s healthy food intake, and reading up on what you can do at home or within your child’s school to address your child’s needs.

I have no doubt that Dr. Books has helped many of her clients overcome obstacles and make improvements in their lives. I’m no stranger to alternative therapies, and over the years my son and I have seen acupuncturists, chiropractors, a cranial-sacral therapist, counselors, and tutors and tried herbal, homeopathic, and other types of home remedies, with many positive outcomes. While he still struggles with dyslexia, he has experienced great improvements.

The Hawthorne Effect cannot be overlooked when it comes to alternative therapies or any intervention. To paraphrase: a child to whom positive intention is directed will improve. This may explain positive results as much as anything in some situations. As parents, we are called to summon our best efforts to address the needs of our children. Our job is to help our children understand how their dyslexic brains make them special and how to make the wall separating them from knowledge and information less daunting to scale. You may choose to engage a village of mainstream and alternative teachers, therapists, and practitioners to work with you and your child, which may involve parting with some hard-earned cash; some will be beneficial and some will not be. The only certainty is that there is no silver bullet (yet), and all we can do is search for what works for our own families, within our means.

Shari Holland

Texas should tell parents about course choice.

Guest contributor Heather Staker, a senior research fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that works to transform education through disruptive innovation, writes frequently on blended learning and other education topics. This post is adapted from one that previously appeared on the institute’s blog. Three of Heather’s children attend Acton Academy, an independent school in Austin that regularly makes use of online learning resources.

The author with students at Acton Academy

Do you know what the TxVSN is? If not, you’re not alone. I asked 25 neighbors in Austin with children in grades K–12 what the acronym stands for, and not even one person knew. That’s unfortunate because last year the Texas legislature passed HB1926, which requires districts to pay for high school students to take up to three year-long online courses per school year through the TxVSN—the Texas Virtual School Network.

Despite that opportunity, 24 out of the 25 parents in my informal survey said they were not aware that tax dollars will pay for students to take online courses. When I asked how well schools communicate online course options to parents, 88 percent of the parents said “not at all” or “poorly.”

This suggests that thousands of students who need an alternative to a face-to-face course are likely to miss out simply because of lack of communication. Do students in Amarillo know that they can take online Chinese? Do busy athletes in Dallas and San Antonio know that they can take online world history, sociology, and psychology if those courses don’t fit in their normal schedules? What about students who want a course about information technology—do they know that the TxVSN offers an option for those whose districts have none?

The fine print of HB1926 says that school districts must provide parents with a written notification of TxVSN policies every year. But districts are likely to downplay that requirement; after all, they have little incentive to pay for students to pursue anything outside their geographic boundaries. Although I am sympathetic to the challenge of breaking down time-honored boundaries and staffing structures, limiting Texas students to the learning opportunities within their local vicinities no longer makes sense when countless lessons and resources are now available online and worldwide. Districts will need some pressure from parents and the state to do a really good job of publicizing options to students, but with some respectful encouragement, I’m confident they will choose to give their students every possible opportunity rather than keep them in the dark.

The legislature has acted to extend course choice to students. Let’s leverage that opportunity.

That’s my cheerleading for HB1926. Now for my criticism. Although HB1926 broadens course choice, Texas is nowhere near where it should be in terms of bringing digital opportunities to our children. For one thing, the TxVSN is pretty weak. Check out the site—it ought to look like the Amazon.com of learning opportunities, all listed in one clean, simple, user interface. Instead it’s a clutter of bureaucratic paragraphs and government FAQs. Dig a little deeper, and the range of courses is limited and uninspiring. I hope that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will take a clue from Silicon Valley about how to build a consumer-facing portal. As Steve Jobs said, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean and make it simple.”

One essential feature of the site should be information about which courses are any good. Do students find them engaging? Do they learn anything? Was it even worth it? Let’s have some transparency, openness, and student input about what this site is peddling.

Furthermore, I don’t see why state portals such as the TxVSN are even limited by state. Shouldn’t a Texas student be able to take a great Florida Virtual School or Michigan Virtual School course? In fact, Texas should grant credit to students who can ace the state’s end-of-course exams even if they learned the content from an outside site such as Khan Academy or the edX platform created by Harvard and MIT. Our interest is in helping Texas students reach mastery, not in overly controlling or limiting the pathway to get there.

These are primarily TEA issues. But the legislature has some work to do, too, to fix HB1926 next session. The law has all kinds of loopholes to limit course choice. Districts can deny choice, for example, if they think they offer a “substantially similar course.” The state won’t pay for more than three a year. And the maximum price for a TxVSN course is capped at $400, which means that the state bars students from certain premium courses purely because it set an arbitrary fixed price. Better to let the state commissioner of education negotiate prices.

Online learning is a classic disruptive innovation that’s changing the way the world learns. It’s shocking to me that so many shun the one innovation that arguably has more potential to broaden education access than any other since the dawn of the printing press. Texas should stop trying to limit and duck, but instead lead the way nationally in channeling online learning to its highest quality and broadest potential.

Let’s make learning options for our children as big and bold as Texas is. Our state has always been a leader, and it’s a shame to be laggards in bringing next-generation learning formats to our youth.

Heather Staker

Resolve to find the right fit for your kid.

January is my favorite month. When the new year arrives, it brings a sense of possibility that I find utterly exhilarating. I love making resolutions, both personal and professional, and sometimes I even manage to keep them. That January buzz is in the air here at Alt Ed Austin right now as more and more parents resolve to find the right fit for their kids—and take the necessary steps to do it.

As enrollment deadlines for the next school year approach, our community calendar is filling up with school tours, visiting days, and information sessions. Likewise, my private consultation appointments are filling quickly, so I've resolved to expand my office hours this month to accommodate parents who are available only on evenings or weekends. Just contact me with your scheduling needs, and I’ll do my best to find a time to meet with you for an in-depth discussion of your unique child’s best schooling options.

We’re also offering a small-group workshop on January 19 for parents who are looking for general information about choosing schools. We’ll address different types of educational approaches, things to look for and ask when you visit schools, and common fears about taking your kid off the beaten parth. In addition, we’ll do some exercises to help clarify your own educational attitudes, values, and priorities, with ample time for Q&A. If you attend the workshop and then decide that you’d like to talk with me privately and in more detail about your child’s individual needs, you’ll get $20 off the regular consultation rate.

And don’t forget that we have all kinds of free information available right here on the website. Take some time to explore the directories of alternative schools, preschools, specialty schools, and other alt ed programs. (We’ll also be updating our summer camp directory for 2014 soon.) You can hear directly from wonderful local educators about their own approaches and techniques in the many guest posts that have appeared here on the blog over the past two years.

Make sure you get the latest alt ed news, commentary, inspiration, and special offers by signing up for our monthly newsletter. For more frequent updates, please follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Got a question, comment, complaint, or idea? Our suggeston box is always open.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Teri