This article reviews the embodied theoretical basis for the meaningful learning of abstract vocabulary and reviews selected educational programs that are theoretically based and have both success and promise for abstract vocabulary development. Abstract vocabulary is a mainstay of academic vocabulary, but its nature and educational development are…

A neuropsychologist describes a child's performance on a measure of short-term verbal memory as falling in the low average range. Another neuropsychologist reports that a child scored in the below average range. A third neuropsychologist describes a child's performance as mildly impaired. Yet, all three are referring to the same score on the same…

School neuropsychology focuses on brain--behavior relationships and how these connections influence the learning process. This specialized field considers the individual and sociocultural factors that influence cognitive development, using targeted neuropsychological assessments to guide effective intervention. While grounded in pediatric clinical…

This book addresses a wide range of issues situated in the core of theoreticians' and clinicians' work in the field of giftedness. It gathers practical issues, relevant for the lives of many gifted children, adolescents and adults, from a neuropsychological point of view. By studying the basic questions in gifted education through a…

This paper aims to start a conversation about a common yet under-examined emotion experienced by academic writers worldwide: frustration. What is frustration, exactly? What are its causes and effects, its symptoms and its cures? Is frustration an impediment to writing or a motivational impetus? Can academic writers vanquish frustration, or must we…

This chapter describes the ways in which the MVP model relates to recent research on neuroscience and learning, and demonstrates how those relationships may be used to better understand physiological impacts on motivation, and to facilitate improved learning.

As a teacher and designer of leadership classes, the author is often asked to speak at organizations around the world about topics dealing with business, leadership and learning that relate to honesty, ethics, diversity issues, and self-awareness. The authors approach to problems of misconduct of all kinds begins with the root cause: a lack of…

In recent decades there has been great interest in the study of dyslexia and the difficulties that students with dyslexia presented in reading. The result of the various studies have found dyslexia as a complex disorder with a multifactorial genesis in the predominantly phonological difficulties, neuropsychological and other learning, among which…

The last decade has yielded an unprecedented amount of new science relating to the unique strengths and weaknesses of the adolescent and young adult brain. It is now crystal clear that when it comes to the brain, adolescents are not simply adults with fewer miles on them. In fact, the brain is the last organ in the body to mature, and is finally…

The purpose of this article is to describe the history, current practices, and future directions in intellectual assessment of children and youth in Mexico. Differences and similarities with the United States are explored through the analysis of theoretical perspectives, practices, and policies. A summarized history of intellectual assessment is…

Storytelling is a part of who people are as humans. Melvil Dewey himself saw the need to catalog folktales and stories from the oral tradition in the 390s, a section dedicated to social customs. Stories form a part of the very fabric of who people are and give insight into the past as much, if not more so, than the histories. Teachers can leverage…

There are similar, non-linear complex dynamical systems that underlie the epigenetic development of young children. This paper discusses the confluence of research on brain functions; a body or research that informs the characteristics of young children's play and imagination; and the ways in which young children acquire fresh perceptions and…

For many of us, it is challenging to find the time to sleep enough each night or to sit down for a meal. So how can this author convince you that taking 10 minutes to do anything every day is actually worth it? The benefits of meditation--increased calm, clarity, compassion, and empathy, to name a few--have been known for centuries. Recently,…

Whenever the author explains the brain to her second-grade students, the look on their faces is one of simultaneous fascination and relief. What caught her off guard was the relief. In retrospect, it makes pure sense. Of course it was a relief for them to realize that they could affect their brains and its abilities--that nothing was set in stone.…

The new Institute of Medicine/National Research Council report, "Transforming the Workforce for Children From Birth Through Age 8: A Unifying Foundation" (2015), begins with a summary of the science of early development and learning, with particular attention to discoveries during the past 15 years since the publication of "From…