DV Resource Center

For students who learn differently, vocabulary can be about much more than memorizing definitions. Understanding how words are built can give students a powerful tool for unlocking unfamiliar language across everything they study. That’s the thinking behind a new morphology curriculum developed by DVFriends’ upper school language arts team* for students in grades 9–11.

DVFriends director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Stacey Joseph explores three ways to help foster a healthy sense of belonging for your child at home, at school, and in the world.

How dyslexia is defined is changing. DV's Director of Teaching and Learning Megan Fairchild sat down with dyslexia expert Dr. Tim Odegard to discuss the implications of these changes.

DVFriends parents and guardians have first-hand experience with this pivotal moment in their child’s educational journey and know the depth and breadth of the impact of that diagnosis. Here are three of their top tips.

What does recent research say about Executive Function disorders? What is the connection between Executive Function and ADHD? What are some support strategies for teachers and parents? Sarah Ward (MS, CCC/SLP), a dedicated clinician and passionate lecturer known for translating complex ideas into practical strategies that work to improve executive function skills, answers these questions and more.

“Susie is very bright—but she needs to focus more.” It’s a comment many parents hear in conferences and see on report cards. A capable student who seems to drift off, forgets assignments, gets distracted talking with friends, or takes longer than expected to complete her work. Girls are diagnosed with ADHD at nearly half the rate of boys.

A Specific Learning Disability (SLD) is a brain-based disorder that affects an individual’s ability to read, write, and do math (e.g., dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia)(National Center for Learning Disabilities).

As defined by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), dyslexia is “a neurologically-based, often familial disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language.”

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. ADHD typically manifests before the age of 12 and affects behavior inhibition, sustained attention, the ability to resist distraction, and self-regulation of one’s activity level to match a given situation.

Executive Function has many varied definitions, but in essence, it is the brain's "air traffic control system."