"Hello, my name is Debbie. I am 54 years old and will graduate from DeVry, Keller Graduate School of Management in 2014. I have worked for the past thirty years in a local fortune 500 company as well as within my own resume business. I have been a foster parent and raised two of my own children. I am currently raising a nine year old and my newborn grand daughter. I love children - no question about that. I have found many school environments lacking in special needs teaching. My daughter was learning disabled with an auditory processing deficit disorder. We worked with her school which developed a "core" learning program. My daughter did very well in this environment. My son was a very strong student who, in early high school years, became quite bored with the school scene so we put him in college. Children all learn differently and at different paces. No child is fully challenged and few reach for their full potential. Each can be easily and happily reached if the child's specific learning style is identified and respected. There is no secret to successful teaching. Children need to be interested, successful, rewarded and challenged. I would say, of the four teaching challenges, the most important for the child is success. Set the goals low and continuously raise the bar - for each hurdle achieved, celebrate while raising the bar higher. Never forget the hard work the child is putting forth to accomplish the goals - or, if the child is not working hard, try to figure out how to better engage them. Your goals are not necessarily his/her goals. Work together to find their interests and create a program and an environment of learning around their interests. I hope to hear from you regarding challenges your child would like to meet." less...