Teachers are the Best Screeners

Since 80% of what a child perceives, comprehends, and remembers depends on the efficiency of the visual system, teachers need to be S.M.A.R.T. and CREATIVE!
Many children appear programmed for academic failure. We assume that children come to school with all of their readiness skills in place but, for some, their visual systems are not sufficiently developed to cope with the demands of the reading and writing tasks they are expected to do in the early primary years.

Can a bright child do poorly in reading, writing, spelling, and math? Can a bright child have low self-esteem and feel he/she is stupid?   If the child has an undetected vision problem the answer is a resounding, "Yes."

In recent years games that encourage the development of vision skills have been replaced by passive visual activities; watching television, and video and computer screens. The good news is that vision is a learned skill, and S.M.A.R.T. activities are designed to assist in the development of a strong visual system.

To be successful in school, a child needs a coordinated and efficient visual system. Accurate eye movement control, or tracking, is needed to shift one's eyes along lines of print in a book (reading) and to effectively scan vertical columns (math).   These voluntary movements of the eyes also make quick and accurate shifts from desk to blackboard an easy task. If these skills are not working efficiently children may lose their place easily, their attention span on visual materials will be shortened, and/or near point work may be avoided.

Eye teaming is the ability to coordinate the two eyes together so that they both point at precisely the same object. Both eyes should simultaneously and accurately interpret what is seen. The human visual system is designed so that the paired eyes and all of their reciprocating muscles work as a team, two eyes performing as one. If this skill is not in working order a child may see double, have blurred vision, avoid close work, and experience eye fatigue. He/she may reread lines or skip lines, omit letters or numbers, and/or have trouble aligning columns.

The S.M.A.R.T. Curriculum Guide contains 70 pages of visual efficiency and visual perception activities. Once teachers become comfortable with these procedures, they find many creative methods and materials to enhance the activities.

S.M.A.R.T. mentors take these ideas and share them with teachers and staff at many Designated Learning Sites and workshops.

For those of you planning agendas for your mentor's visits throughout the school year you might want to set aside a date designed specifically for the sharing of these new and creative ideas and implementations. For those who have not attended a S.M.A.R.T. workshop before, or whose schools have already completed their three years of mentoring and would like a re-training, we have a four-day workshop scheduled February 27 through March 2, 2007.   The workshop is a good way to learn about or to review these important S.M.A.R.T. activities designed to prepare your students to learn.

Remember, teachers are the best screeners. They observe the child functioning in the classroom.

For more information, visit www.pavevision.com .   This is a national non-profit education, resource and support organization whose mission is to raise public awareness of the crucial relationship between vision and achievement. You may also want to visit www.covd.com , College of Optometrists of Vision Development. Both sites contain useful information for both parents and educators.