Helikx newsletter includes School Social Work, Remedial Teaching, Case History, Learning Disability, Counseling

1. An
Official
Newsletter
of
+91-98427-33318
news@helikx.com
open school and learning centre
Volume 1 | Issue 4 APRIL 2014
MOVEMENT AND
LEARNING THROUGH
BRAIN GYM
Ms Murugalakshmi Thirumalai
META COGNITION
TRAINING HELPS IN
REMEDIAL TEACHING
Ms Sassikala
1 NEWSLETTER | APRIL 2014
www.helikx.com
WHAT IS PAIR
READING?
IS IT IMPORTANT?
Ms P.V Ananthalakshmi
QUESTIONS
&
ANSWERS
Ms. Devipriya
PUPIL IN
PERSPECTIVE
Dr.K.Muralidaran
WILL INDIA BECOME
A DEVELOPED NA-
TION BY 2020?
Mr Alen Kuriakose

2. Meta cognitive means thinking
about one’s own thinking process. Meta
cognitive involves the planning, monitor-
ing and revising of cognitive strategies.
Young children, who lack an awareness
of their own cognitive process are often
ignorant of their incapability, causing
them to fail to recognize their own er-
rors. It is one’s awareness of how one
solves problem, how one remembers or
comprehends written materials.
Cognition refers to those mental activi-
ties that involve mental processes, such
as thinking, reasoning, understanding,
memory and problem solving. One way
of studying cognition is to find out how
people encode, organize, interpret, store
and respond to stimuli.
The learning process of three stages
namely,
 Selectively attending to the stimulus
 Processing the received information
 Storing information for retrieval
when require.
Cognition enables an individual to identi-
fy, interpret, organize and apply infor-
mation (Merces 1979)
Meta cognitive involves overall planning
of the cognitive task , self- instruction to
complete the task , and performance self
-monitoring, or checking to see that each
phase of the task is completed appropri-
ately and in the appropriate order.
In essence, meta cognition involves two
components
 Awareness
 Regulation (Loper 1982)
Meta cognitive training focuses on in-
struction in techniques to monitor and
appraise the use of cognitive and meta
cognitive skill of the students and suita-
bly transact the curricular content,
learner efficiency can be improved.
In remedial teaching we are applying
meta cognitive approaches and allow
students to use effectively the learning
strategies to monitor and regulate their
own activities. Regulation of cognition
refers to the executive control within
information processing and made them
to overcome their spelling difficulties by
using meta cognitive approach.
A learning strategy involving the use
of acronyms to structure inner lan-
guage which enables students to form
visual images while they read in order
to enhance recall and reading compre-
hension.
A sample of learning strategy is the RID-
ER strategy,
Read - Read the first sentence.
Image – Make an image of the material
read
Describe – Describe your image
Evaluate – Evaluate your image for com-
pleteness. Check to see that your image
include as much of information as possi-
ble.
Repeat – Repeat the earlier steps for the
next sentence.
2 NEWSLETTER | APRIL 2014
Meta Cognition Training helps in Remedial
Teaching
Ms K Sasikala
Joint Secretary
Helikx Open School
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT
Chairman’s Column
Mr. G. Senthilkumar
Greetings from Helikx
Happy to share my thoughts with you
through this newsletter.
Thanks for the encouraging feedbacks from
Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan
In the present educational scenario, need for
counseling and setting resource room for
learning disability has become mandatory in
schools.
We at helikx school social work and re-
search department has developed a mod-
ule with help of eminent expertise which will
help school heads and management in un-
derstanding the significance of such depart-
ment.
We are organizing a seminar on Need for
School Counseling in the month of June.
I extent my warm invitation to all the school
heads, management and coordinators to be
a part of this seminar.
Where staff and Students comes together…
Master Chandru leading the 5S Presentation in
the final round for 5S Trophy
BRIDGE THE G A P

3. 3 NEWSLETTER | APRIL 2014
Everybody knows exercise keeps our
body healthy and fit, but little did we
know that exercising our brain can im-
prove brain function. As a teacher I use
"hook ups" a lot in my classroom as a
calming tool for the children who finds it
difficult to listen and follow direction. It is
a very effective self disciplining tool in my
experience. So also "lazy eight" is a very
effective tool to enhance focus and im-
prove reading at a very drastic pace. A
novice who has never heard about brain
gym will be wondering what am I talking
about!
It is "Brain Gym", a movement based
brain exercise invented and co founded
by Paul E. Dennison Ph.D., and his wife
Gail E. Dennison in 1980s. Brain Gym has
been practiced in over 80 countries
around the world and has been utilized at
schools, health and fitness facilities, cor-
porate settings and private homes.
Brain Gym is based on a holistic philoso-
phy of looking at the mind and body as a
whole. It educates us to observe ourselves
and to take appropriate action when
needed. Brain gym can also be explained
as physical movements that enhances
learning and helps to overcome any learn
ing challenges by finding the right move-
ments which creates new pathways in a
person's brain.
The founder of brain gym Dr. Paul Den-
nison says, "Movement is the door to
learning." The operating philosophy of
educational kinesiology Foundation which
works under the trade mark Brain Gym
international is based on the knowledge
that humans learn through movement.
Brain Gym movements, exercises, or ac-
tivities refer to the original 26 Brain Gym
movements, these activities recall the
movements naturally done during the first
years of life when learning to coordinate
the eyes, ears, hands, and whole body.
The movements developed in brain gym
are extremely beneficial in times of
stress. Stress can affect the capacity to
move and inhibit the ability to compre-
hend, organize, and communicate. stress
may affect thinking, feeling, or sensing
influencing a person's performance. Brain
Gym observe and address movement pat-
terns with the intention of restoring the
skills associated with successful achieve-
ment
Movement is necessary for learning to
take place more effectively. Movement
stimulates the parts of brain and enhance
brain functioning. These movements help
to improve areas such as: Concentration
and focus, memory, academics, physical
coordination, relationships, self responsi-
bility, organization skills, etc.,
Educators and therapists around the
world are greatly appreciating the brain
gym benefits as it enhances learning to
take place with ease and manage stress.
There are so many studies that proved the
effective of brain gym, viz, “Pilot Study:
First-Grade Students Improve Their Writ-
ing Skills,” by Debra Honegger, Ohio.
Brain Gym® Journal, March 2004, Vol-
ume XVIII, No. 1, The Effect of Brain Gym
on Reading Abilities, © 1998 by Cecilia
Freeman Koester, Brain Exercise Im-
proves Reading and Memory, © 1994 and
1996 by Jochen Donczik (translated from
German by Christine M. Grimm and
Sigrid Wong) etc.
The simplicity of the movements helps to
practice it anytime and anywhere. Em-
bracing brain gym within our classroom
setting will ease the immense stress
shouldered by our younger generation to
stay in par with the advanced learning
system.
Reference:www.braingym.org
Movement and learning through Brain Gym
Murugalakshmi Thirumalai
Head Teacher, Centerra
Ranch Montessori School,
Katy, Texas
NOTES FROM TEACHERS DIARY
BRIDGE THE G A P

4. 4 NEWSLETTER | APRIL 2014
Pair reading is a technique which helps a
child to improve the reading skill.
Here the parent is the reader and the child
is the learner.
Who needs pair reading?
All the children including the children with
learning difficulties.
The pair reading improves
 Reading skill
 Self esteem
 Co-operation
Bonding relationship between the parent
and the child.
When should it be done?
 The time should be suitable for both
parent and the child.
 Both Parent/child should be active.
Make a schedule and stick to it.
Selection of books
 The class teacher/librarian can guide.
 Allow the child to do selection if possi-
ble.
 The vocabulary should be suitable.
 Colorful books with pictures will be
more interesting.
 Pictures will help in predicting and is
enjoyable.
Continue reading till the child is ready on
his own. Once the child attains the reading
skill, becomes an independent learner. Now
that your child is reading himself/herself
don't stop reading to him/her at other times.
The more times you read to your child will
increase his/her enjoyment of books.
The pair reading is encouraged not only at
home but also in the school especially at
schools which renders help to special need-
ed students. The special educator reads with
the child. While reading don`t discourage/
compare Go along with the child according
to the pace. Motivate the child for the effort.
What is pair reading? Is it important?
Mrs. P.V Ananthalakshmi, Principal
Wall Painting by S Jayakanthan
Drawing Master
Master Saran of Eighth Standard of
Helikx Open School giving final touch
to the wall painting did by his friends
Arvinth and Karthick
Hypnotism Class by Mr Muthaih Ramanathan
for Helikx Staff
Participants of 15 days workshop on
Learning Disability with our Chairman
BRIDGE THE G A P

5. 5 NEWSLETTER | APRIL 2014
1. What are learning disabilities?
The term “learning disabilities” is
actually a general term that de-
scribes specific kinds of learning
problems. There are many different
kinds like dyslexia, dysgraphia, dy-
scalculia, dyspraxia etc., but our
main purview is dyslexia.
2. What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a specific learning disa-
bility. It comes from a Greek
word (dys means difficulty and
lexia means language). It is a hid-
den disability and is not visible
like the other handicaps like
blindness or deafness. Individuals
with dyslexia have specific learn-
ing problems that can cause a
person to have trouble learning
and using certain academic and
education-related skills.
3. How is it caused?
An individual with dyslexia is ei-
ther born with those issues or ac-
quires them through events such
as a brain/head injury. Dyslexia is
a developmental disorder. They
tend to run in families – there is
definitely a genetic component to
it.
4. What is a developmental disor-
der?
A developmental disorder is that
which occurs right from the very
beginning. All developmental disor-
ders fall in a continuum and can be
mild, moderate, or severe.
5. How early can a child be identi-
fied?
Children who have a difficulty in
speech, language and some motor
aspects can be identified even be-
low 5 years and helped. These chil-
dren are not termed as having dys-
lexia but being ‘at risk’ for a learn-
ing disability if they are not helped.
6. How do they perform?
A person who has SLD often per-
forms inconsistently. One day she/
he may be able to do something,
and the next day, may not be able
to perform the same task. There is
a severe discrepancy between the
person’s ability and performance
level. That discrepancy or gap is
evidence of the learning disability.
7. How is their performance differ-
ent from a slow learner’s perfor-
mance?
A dyslexic child’s performance
could be erratic. There are “on and
off” days. While the slow learner
struggles and just gets border
marks and manages to perform al-
most at the same level throughout,
this child could do very well in one
test but poorly in another test in
the same subject.
Questions & Answers
BRIDGE THE G A P
Mrs. Devipriya Senthilkumar,
Secretary, Helikx Open School.
Helikx Painting Exhibition
JUNE 15, 2014
HOTEL CENNEYS GATEWAY, SALEM
CONTACT: 98427-33318
Amateur Painters can
exhibit their
Paintings

6. Pupil is a term that refers to students
in educational institutions, especially in
schools. A student is expected to be studi-
ous in studies. This is the simple expecta-
tion from the LKG level students to Higher
Secondary level students.
A pupil at the primary education level be-
lieves that the parents and teachers know
everything about everything. Their
thoughts and exclamations are posed as
questions to parents seeking clarifications.
Very few parents do clarify them satisfac-
torily. The other lot discourage them and
perish their questioning tendency.
The pupil in the middle school level is de-
sirous of establishing relationship with his
peers. There is an interchange of affection
from one another. This sharing of affection
gets extended at home from the next sib-
ling to the grant parents. Pampering by
parents and grant parents towards the
child/student/pupil take place spontane-
ously. School and home work become dis-
gusting events to some pupils at this
stage. Their feelings towards teachers are
of ambivalent nature: sometimes they like
and sometimes dislike or even afraid of.
The later part of the schooling is totally
driven by the pluses and minuses of the
adolescent stage of psychological develop-
ment. There are more possibilities for an
adolescent pupil to get confused easily. He
searches for role models from parents,
relatives, and teachers and largely from
the society. But this attempt is easily over
ruled by the exposure to media and the
peer group.
In fact the peer group influence is very
strong. The school pupil is encouraged in
some social processes like competition
and rivalry than accommodation.
The pupil is a son or daughter; a grandson
or granddaughter; and a brother or sister.
He is a friend and has friends. He is a
member of the society, a citizen. What
actually happens very often is that per-
spectives are unnoticed and the pupil is
perceived only as an obedient student in a
more disciplinarian perspective. All those
who work with students for counselling
them have to understand that a pupil has
to be seen in all these perspectives and
not by the literal word ‘student’ alone.
School Social Workers who do counselling
are supposed to look at their client in
different perspectives and work with them
in accordance with the needs and capaci-
ties of the pupil.
The question on development of India
is a crucial one. Will India become a devel-
oped nation by 2020? Can we achieve mil-
lennium development goals? These were
the questions asked to us, the young social
workers by our mentor during a discussion
session in our department.
As enthusiastic youngsters of India we
replied " yes, of course", but surprisingly
he responded as "no, we cannot". It raised
the question "why cannot?".
Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, the former presi-
dent of India dreamt of India as a devel-
oped nation by 2020, envisaging the youth
power of India. But unfortunately their
power, energy and time is spent or hacked
by drugs, drinks and social networking
sites. The multinational companies have
taught them the materialistic culture and
greed for money. This youth of India can-
not fulfill the dreams of Dr. Kalam or Swa-
mi Vivekanada. The cause of the problem
is the uprooting the value system, the val-
ues which were the soul of India for centu-
ries.
Imbibing western culture our is sacrificing
our own age old values, which once we
took pride of. It is at this cross road that
the need to practice value education in
schools arise. Values does not seem to be
a new concept, but it is a preexisting one,
which should now deliberately be included
in school curriculum.
A school culture be brought out where the
whole school system be a part of it and
this will gradually be inculcated into the
students as a downward filtration. Our
political leaders who break their throat
shouting about deposits in Swiss bank,
who throws the secular trump card, who
cries about corruption, all for the sake of
election; need to think and talk on value
based governance where each and every
citizen of this
country are
given equal
opportunities.
We, at Helikx
Open School
practice five
values-
humility, ecological balance, enjoy educa-
tion, innovation and respect for human
dignity.
And we ensure that these values are effec-
tively practiced within and out of the
school premises.
Our school social work and research de-
partment has come out with a separate
module for imparting values in schools.
The goal is not farther, the dream of 2020,
a value based educational system. Its high
time, lets together work for a value based
new generation. Preserving old values and
synthesing new values.
Pupil In Perspective
Dr.K.Muralidaran,
Mentor, Helikx Department of School Social Work and Research
MENTOR’S COLUMN
LAST WORD– ALEN KURIAKOSE
Trainer, HSSW
6 NEWSLETTER | APRIL 2014
BRIDGE THE G A P
Will India become a developed nation by 2020?

7. 7 NEWSLETTER | APRIL 2014
BRIDGE THE G A P
HELIKX DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL SOCIAL
WORK AND RESEARCH
Certified training on School Social Work
Training Modules:
 Introduction to school social work – objective, aim, goal, role and
focus
 Child development and disorders (Specific Learning Disability)
 Counseling
 School based Research
 Intro to informal assessment, remedial and occupation therapy
 School administration and management
 Data Collection
 Report writing
Dr.Muralidharan
Former HOD, Department of Social Work, PSG College of Arts and
Science Coimbatore.
Mentor, Helikx School Social Work and Research
Mr. G.Senthil Kumar
Chairman Helikx
Mrs.DeviPriya Senthil Kumar M.Phil.,Psychology,
Secretary Helikx Open School,
Ms. Roopika.S
Head, Helikx Department of School Social Work and Research
Mr. Alen Kuriakose
Trainer, Helikx Department of School Social Work and Research
Resource Persons
Admissions Open for the Year 2014-2015
Alternative School for Children with Specific
Learning Difficulties
Open School and Learning Centre
149, Alamelu Nagar,
Pagalpatty, Muthunaicken patty Road, Salem - 636304.
+91-98427-33318|info@helikx.com|www.helikx.com
Our Services
 Assessment for Students
 Remedial Teaching
 Professional Counseling
 Training for School Teachers
 Certification Course on Learning Disability
 Block Placement training for MSW Professionals
 Need Based Research
 Training for Life Skill Trainers
 HR Manual Preparation
Need for a Counselor in your School?
We at Helikx School Social Work and Research Department constantly involve
our self in such research and have designed a module to cater to school. We
will train a counselor and set up a counseling department, guide and
supervise for two years.