THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 23, 1994 TAG: 9410250516
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BILL RUEHLMANN
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Elaine Levenson wrote a book about science for children with the help of her learning-disabled son.
``William noticed everything,'' says Levenson, 50. ``He was hyperactive and very distractable. But he helped me organize the text and was particularly good at making meanings clear.
``One of his lines was, `Metamorphosis is sort of like Toyland - once you leave it, you can never come back.' ''
The book was Teaching Children about Science, a hands-on approach to observation and experimentation for parents and teachers. It came out to acclaim 10 years ago, selling 40,000 copies in four printings. Today Levenson teaches kindergarten at Linkhorn Park Elementary School in Virginia Beach and has just completed an expanded two-volume revision.
Teaching Children About Physical Science and Teaching Children about Life & Earth Science (TAB/McGraw-Hill, 200 pp. and $16.95 each) offer easy, creative ideas and activities for parents and teachers to use that tie into real-life experience.
The content of these books is accurate and interesting. The sequence is logical. The format is attractive, and the materials employed are readily available.
``Science,'' says Levenson, ``is thinking about the world in terms of how and why. It is seeing relationships between common occurrences and looking for patterns in these common occurrences to help the world make sense. Science helps develop a better understanding of natural and physical phenomena.''
In a word, science is fun. Levenson knew that, and William found out. (So did younger sister Emily, who is today a premed student at James Madison University.)
Hold up a newspaper, let go and it falls to the ground. Hold up a newspaper, let go as you walk forward and it sticks to you. Air pressure in action.
All it takes to teach a child about science is a little excitement, a modest toleration for mess and a Levenson book. The first edition of her efforts for all children was used by a professor at the University of Florida at Gainesville to train teachers working with learning-disabled students. William understood, as did his mother, that concrete, hands-on materials make the strongest lessons.
Some kids have difficulty in school, and not because they are stubborn or dumb. It may be because they have a learning disability. Learning disabilities can affect a child's ability to read, write, speak or compute math, and they can even impede skills in getting along with peers.
``These children may be overactive,'' reports national LD expert Melvin Levine, ``but some have perfectly normal activity levels, and some are even lethargic. They are likely to be impulsive, to do things quickly and get into trouble because they haven't thought through the risks they take. They are often described as emotionally disturbed, and the parents may be blamed, whereas everyone is really an innocent victim of a subtle handicap affecting the way the child's brain organizes his ability to concentrate.''
Fully 10 percent of the U.S. population has some form of learning disability; the figure may be higher with undiagnosed and unreported cases. Neurological in origin, learning disabilities interfere with a person's capacity to store, process or produce information. They create a gap between ability and performance.
Because learning disabilities are not easily recognized, they are not always considered serious. They should be. There's help; early detection and treatment can enable kids with LD to learn how to compensate for their difficulties and lead productive lives.
Consult the National Center for Learning Disabilities, which provides a free information and referral service. The center will also send a useful general information packet about learning disabilities and what to do about them. Write the center at 381 Park Ave. S., Suite 1420, New York, NY 10016; or call (212) 545-7510.
Both Levenson's science volumes are available by order from the publisher and at Earth Friendly Co. and Riverbend Books in Virginia Beach.
As for William, now 24, he has done just fine. He was a straight-A student in business and math at Radford University and president of the accounting society there. Today William is a banker in Boise. MEMO: Bill Ruehlmann is a mass communication professor at Virginia Wesleyan
College. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Elaine Levenson developed material with help from her
learning-disabled son.
by CNB