School Psychology Blog

The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence – Third Edition (WPPSI-III Australian) is similar to the WISC and is used to assess young (usually preschool children, Ages 2:6 to 7:3 years.).

The Whip-See is not a stock man’s whip or a blender! It is simply an abbreviation that many psychologists use to represent the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Like the WISC is not the WISK! (Sorry for the confusion – check out the WISC-IV here).

The WPPSI is not a Whip-See or a Whip!

What is a WPPSI?

The WPPSI is a colorful, current, and interesting for children. It measures Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, Performance IQ, and Processing Speed and has an optional General Language Composite. IQ stands for Intelligent Quotient. It is an indication of a person’s intelligence as indicated by an intelligence test.

The WPPSI had three main Scales:

1. Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) – most reliable and representative of general intellectual functioning. (Information, Vocabulary, Word Reasoning)
2. Verbal IQ (VIQ) – acquired knowledge, verbal reasoning and comprehension, and attention to verbal stimuli.
3. Performance IQ (PIQ) – fluid reasoning, spatial processing, attentiveness to detail, and visual-motor integration. (Block Design, Matrix Reasoning, Picture Concepts)

Verbal IQ Sub Tests

• Information: recall of facts learned through interaction with the world.
• Vocabulary: knowledge of and the ability to express the meaning of words.
• Word Reasoning: measures verbal comprehension and reasoning.

Performance IQ Sub Tests

• Block Design: measures the analysis and reproduction of abstract design with blocks.
• Matrix Reasoning: measures verbal reasoning, verbal comprehension, general reasoning ability, the ability to integrate and synthesise different types of information, verbal abstraction, domain knowledge and the ability to generate alternative concepts.
• Picture Concepts: measures abstract, categorical reasoning ability.

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You may or may not recall the song lyrics, “It’s your life, it’s now or never…nothing’s going to last forever. It’s your LIFE!”

It is your life and only you can take charge of your own path. You need to discover what you truly want from life, and sometimes this is hard to determine! Start by finding out what makes you happy and what you love doing.

Ask yourself these three simple questions:

1. What things do you love doing?
2. What were you doing last time you felt really good about yourself and about life?
3. What things give you energy?

Next create an action plan to live your life to the full, each and every day!

Do something today that you really love and enjoy!

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

- J. A. Spender

Being successful with study means that you have to be organised! Completing homework and getting all your assignments done is great, but this isn’t study.

This post will outline reasons for getting organised, some tips for getting organised and  it will define what studying actually is! It will also gives students some study tips.

Reasons for getting organised:

• You can easily find the books you need to study.
• You know what needs to be studied.
• You have a complete set of notes of the work completed in class.
• You can learn more effectively.
• You don’t waste valuable time looking for things!
• You are able to break tasks down into manageable study blocks.
• You are able to achieve better result!

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Change is part of life. Without change and adapting to new situations we are not able to grow. A quote that is often wrongly attributed to Charles Darwin is: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, or the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” This is true; we must adapt to new situations and make changes in our lives.

Often a life coach or counsellor can be a facilitator for change.

However, sometimes when is difficult to change our immediate situation, we must change the way we think about it!

If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.
~ Mary Engelbreit

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Assistive technology makes life easier!

Students with learning difficulties, specific learning disabilities or physical disabilities such as vision or hearing deficits can benefit from specialised assistive technology.

There are a variety of gadgets, programs and equipment that can make life a whole lot easier!

Many of my clients have found that a variety of assistive technology can help them with their academic work.

You might not be the world’s best speller and you won’t always have access to a dictionary or a computer, so you might like to try a hand held spell checker. It is about the size of a calculator and fits nicely into a pencil case or hand bag.

There are numerous programs that help you with grammar and writing skills that you can use on your computer. Other programs such as WYNN (What You Need Now!) or JAWS will read documents to you! Makes reading and correcting your work easier!

An Information sheet for assistive technology for students can be downloaded.

I was asked to talk to a group of year three and four students the other day about ways to resolve conflict. I asked some of the students to suggest ways that they resolve conflict in their daily lives.

After some discussion, I presented the group with 10 tips and we discussed each tip in detail.
Ten ways to resolve conflict
1.    Seek to understand the problem.
2.    Listen to each other – take turns to speak.
3.    Listen to the other person’s point of view.
4.    Calm down first – manage your emotions.
5.    Clearly and calmly state your opinion.
6.    Be honest about your feelings.
7.    Always put yourself in the other person’s shoes.
8.    Compromise on some things.
9.    Seek a win – win solution.
10.  Ask some to help you (e.g. a Teacher or Counsellor).
As our discussion came to the end, one of the students said in a matter of fact way, “Yes, we need to be honest and talk about it!” This is exactly what the 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935), Tenzin Gyatso said:

“Dialogue is the most effective way of resolving conflict.”

Happy Dolphin

We teach children to count, to read, we teach them about the world, we teach them how to be resilient, how to bounce back, how to solve conflict and how to manage their anger… but do we ever really teach them to be happy and how to practice it daily?

Happiness must be taught.

It is a learned skill, it needs to constantly reviewed and drilled into our young minds, and so we can create a more optimistic future!

Planning to be Happy

Happiness is something that we can work on; in fact we need to make plans to ensure that our highest potential and greatest good is reached. As the saying goes,

Those you fail to plan, plan to fail!

So let’s looks at ways we can plan to be happy on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly level!

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It is important to be organised

Being organised and concentrating during class time are essential elements for academic success at school and at university.

During Class

• Just hearing what your teachers say is not the same as listening to what they say. Listening is a cognitive act that requires you to pay attention, think and mentally process what you hear.
• Make an effort to concentrate during every class.
• Be attentive and concentrate on what the teacher is saying.
• Try to make links between what you are learning and what you already know.
• Sit near the front or middle of the class room.
• Identify what the teacher hopes to teach you during the lesson.
• Make an effort to sit away from friends who distract you during class.
• Participate in class – ask at least one question per class.
• Write notes – jot down a few points about what the teacher is saying.
• Wear an elastic band around wrist and flick it to remind you to concentrate!
• Use Diary – after each lesson write down homework (if nothing is set write this down).

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A small child was bugging her father to play with her. He was intent on reading his daily newspaper, and was trying to ignore her.

He then came across a large map of the world, so he ripped it out the paper and then tore the picture of the world into small pieces to resemble a jigsaw puzzle and gave it to the child.

Satisfied with his genius, he thought that will keep her busy for at least 20 minutes.

Within a minute, the child exclaimed, “Dad, I have done it!”

Amazed, the father looked at her and said, “How did you do it so quickly?”

“It was easy,” she replied. “On the other side of the world was a picture of a person. If you get the person right, you get the world right!”

If you get the person right you get the world right!

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To Risk

Risk taking is an essential skill for young people to learn. Teenagers are often accused of engaging in excessively risky behaviour.

Yet this is not always the case; some young people don’t like to take many risks at all.

We need to teach young people to take calculated risks.

Often teenagers and children lack foresight. They don’t think beyond the next moment and need instant gratification. Taking risks, trying a new food, or sport are essential skills that should be encouraged.

I like to share the following poem with some of the young people I talk with.

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails.

William Arthur Ward