Teaching Kids with Learning Difficulties in the Regular Classroom: Strategies and Techniques Every Teacher Can Use to Challenge and Motivate Strugglin

This book provides useful strategies for teaching all types of children, not just those with learning differences. Winebrenner promotes awareness of each child's unique learning styles and provides practical, teacher-friendly ways to make the classroom friendlier for children with learning differences, gifted children, and any other children who can benefit from sensitivity to their individual ways of learning.

Although the author has revised and expanded her similar book on teaching Gifted Kids, I think the present one (1966) still has great value, for all elementary students. Aside from Chapter 3 on understanding learning difficulties and intervening, all the other chapters are applicable to all students. Just look through the chapter headings: making all students welcome in your classroom, getting everyone involved in learning, matching your teaching to your students' learning styles... This is a very practical and valuable book for teachers. It has fairly comprehensive coverage, including 8 multiple intelligences, the teaching of reading, writing and math, authentic assessment, improving behavior, conflict resolution, enlisting parents as partners... There are many case examples, numerous techniques for each topic. Take spelling as an example (p111-115). Students are taught to match spelling with their learning styles: visual, auditory, tactile-kinesthetic and multisensory. There are 5 or 6 more techniques for spelling. Teachers are also reminded to "avoid circling spelling errors for visual learners". Susan pays attention to so many useful details. This book should be available in all primary teachers' libraries.

This book is great for the General classroom. It has many ready to use materials; such as, charts, story webs, and much more. Also, the author offers an abundance of ideas to help the regular education teacher work with the Learning Disabled student in their classroom.

As a classroom teacher who is trying to adapt multiple intelligences and learning styles into my lessons, I found Susan Winebrenner's book a valuable resource. She has many stategies for aiding children with learning disabilities as well as controlling inappropriate behavior in the classroom.