Learning Difficulties

New Year Resolutions for Parents — Part 2: Supporting Educational Needs and Fostering Success

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

In Part 1 of this post, we offered parents 8 simple, practical and effective tips for supporting your child’s mental health this year (and into the future).

In Part 2, we’ll be sharing 8 equally simple tactics to help your child not only survive this school year…

But also to thrive in the educational setting, and use the things they learn to achieve success in all their future endeavours.

You’ll find some of our recommendations double up over both posts…

But that’s because many of these actions have a multitude of benefits.

And because — as research increasingly shows — mental health and academic performance are inextricably linked.

9 Ways Our Psychologists Help Children Reach Their Full Potential

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Did you know that, according to research conducted in 2015, around half of all mental health issues start by age 14?

That’s why early intervention is so important.

And it’s why our main focus is on helping kids develop the practical skills they need to tackle their daily challenges…

And most importantly, these skills are not “quick-fixes”.

Rather, they are “life skills” that remain relevant and beneficial through adolescence and adulthood.

Here are 9 ways our psychologists can help:

7 Tips for Raising Children Who Love Learning

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Kids who get their homework done?

Great!

Kids who do well at school?

Fantastic.

Kids who love learning?

The best.

And parents can help their kids to love learning in and of itself.

But why should they?

5 Ways Anxiety Harms Learning and 8 Things Parents Can Do to Help

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

There is an ‘epidemic of anxiety’ among Australian children.

And many experts are attributing this to increasing pressure at school.

But when it comes to school and anxiety – it can be a case of:

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

How and why childhood anxiety develops is not the most important issue at hand, though.

What’s important is that it’s identified and addressed as soon as possible.

How Does Educational Psychology Help Children’s Learning?

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

When you mention psychology most people think of counselling as a treatment for emotional issues, such as anxiety or depression…

And while all psychologists have training in these areas, our team has specific postgraduate training in Educational and Developmental Psychology, which is a branch of psychology focused on learning and development.

Educational Psychology draws from other fields such as neuroscience and often involves standardised testing to obtain information about children’s learning skills and abilities.

This information enables us to gain insight into how children learn and process information and what their learning potential might be.

And it enables us to recommend specific learning strategies and supports for home and school to help them to reach that potential.

So what does this actually involve and how can it help children with learning?

NEPSY: Assessments for improving your child’s learning potential — Part 3

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

In part 1 and 2 of our blogs on our learning assessments, we taught you about the WIAT-III and WISC-V assessments.

We have invested in the most update-to-date versions of these assessments so that they can best identify your child’s learning potential and their educational needs.

And now we’d like you to learn about another invaluable assessment tool that we recently acquired — the NEPSY.

It’s a unique and effective test, offered by only a few psychology clinics in Melbourne, and designed to assess the neuropsychological development of children aged 3 to 16.

But before we get into the nitty gritty of the assessment, you’re probably wondering…

What is neuropsychological development?

WIAT-III: Assessments for improving your child’s learning potential — Part 2

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

Learning assessments help to ease the frustrations or concerns parents may have about their child’s academic performance.

And importantly, learning assessments can help your child to achieve their full potential during their school years.

By assessing the major areas that impact learning, our psychologists get a comprehensive insight into your child’s ability, potential, and any barriers stopping them from achieving it.

From there, the best approaches and solutions can be put in place to help a child thrive school.

In our first post of this series, we delved into one of the key tools for assessing learning potential — the WISC-V assessment.

In this post, we’ll give you a run down of one of our other core assessment tools — the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test — and how it can help your child.

WISC-V: Assessments for improving your child’s learning potential — Part 1

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We are always looking for new technologies to help our patients be their best selves.

And this is particularly important when it comes to educational intervention.

A learning assessment helps to identify a child’s learning potential, and address any barriers stopping them from achieving it.

The WISC — the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children — is a tool for assessing a child’s academic progress and potential.

We have been using the WISC for years, and recently invested in the updated version, the WISC-V.

It’s been reevaluated, redesigned and retooled to provide a more comprehensive picture of a child’s learning ability.

But what is it, exactly, and how will it help your child?

How Can We Engage Our Students in the Classroom? Part 2.

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

We recently wrote about new research that shows that up to 40 per cent of Australian students are bored or disengaged at school.

And this disengagement is having wide-ranging implications on academic performance.

Not only does it inhibit a school teacher’s ability to control a classroom, the disengagement of some students has a trickle down effect to other students too…

It’s what has been called the ‘hidden issue’ in Australian schools.

Why Australian Students May Be Falling Behind, and Private Tutoring is Booming

by Melbourne Child Psychology & School Psychology Services

According to a recent article in The Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian education is failing our kids.

While the school curriculum is becoming increasingly academically rigorous, more and more students are falling behind…

And the result is an increase in private tutoring for students around the country.

Health educator and GP Dr Annemarie Christie attributes these findings to a number of factors.

So what does this actually involve and how can it help children with learning?

But what is it, exactly, and how will it help your child?

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