News
If you live in, or near Leicester, and you are interested in encouraging primary school age children to read, then there is an event you MUST attend. It is a free workshop at the Central Lending Library on Monday 4 October. Engaging readers is presented by Karen Ferguson on behalf of WORD! Karen is well-known locally for her voluntary work for children with autism and has an amazing success story to tell! Expect an entertaining, lively and informative event! Whether you are a parent, teacher, carer, or work in special education support, you are very welcome. You do need to book, as places are limited and there is great interest in this event already. Book by either emailing Karen, KarenLouiseFerguson@hotmail.com or phoning 078 127 73919.
The 14th Mind Sports Olympiad takes place from 21 to 30 August, at the Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street. It specialises in board and card games such as chess, scrabble, Chinese chess, poker, etc. There are also creative thinking and mental calculations competitions. There is still time to book places to compete in many of the events.
In July I went to Gloucester for a speed reading presentation, not far from where I took the photograph of the old crane.
I had a wonderful welcome from the people on the course, who picked up the skill really well in a short space of time. Only three hours training and AFTER work! Congratulations to the group on their achievement!
I promised an update about the German Society for Speed Reading. In the second telephone conference, we discussed their plans for the future. They have arranged a number of events with speakers. You don't have to be a speed reader to join the group; all you need is an interest in speed reading. This group is excellent.
On Sunday 21 March, I was part of a tele-conference with a wonderful group of German speed readers, who have a virtual meeting every month to discuss speed reading. What a great idea! They have very kindly invited me back in May. I am really looking forward to it, because I have so many questions to ask them about how they are both using and researching speed reading techniques. If you would like to find out more about the German Society for Speed Reading, the home page is www.dgfsl.de . I will keep you updated with news about the May tele-conference.
The new revised and updated of The Speed Reading Book by Tony Buzan is now published. The BBC asked me to write the Foreword to it, which I was delighted to do. I made some suggestions about revisions and I was surprised and very pleased to discover that I was credited as special consultant on the title page.
Another book that came out around the same time is Mind Chi by Vanda North and Richard Israel. When I read it, I was amazed at how much useful information was packed into one book! If you are thinking about making positive changes in your life, this book has a great deal of helpful advice to offer. It is often the accumulation of small changes that makes a big difference. Vanda has given me a great deal of useful advice over the years and was my speed reading mentor when I first started. I can highly recommend Mind Chi.
Next Generation Brains is an exciting and very worthwhile educational project that I have been involved with for a couple of years now. It aims to make a positive difference to youngsters from age 11 upwards and explains why some youngsters have problems organising themselves. If you are a parent of a child of this age, check out the web site, www.NextGenBrains.com . You'll be glad you did!
The artist I worked with on the Next Generation Brains training materials is Alison J Best. Alison's next exhibition, with photographer Iain Duncan, is Ice: Beyond the Edge and will be at North Tyneside Council Offices for ten weeks, starting the first week in May. Alison's exhibition has proved very popular and North Tyneside council have extended it for a few more weeks. If you are visiting the Quadrant, there is still time to see it! One of Alison's recent works, Amelia red and blue, is featured on this page. If you would like more information about Alison's exhibition, or her work, please email AlisonJBest@gmail.com.
A few years ago I wrote a children's book, set at Alnwick Castle, entitled Knight's Quest. As a result I was invited to write content for the Explorer Files: Alnwick Castle guide. This has just gone on sale at the Castle and in local shops in and around Alnwick. The publisher is Kingdom of Northumbria. Visit www.kingdomofNorthumbria.co.uk for more information.
In January 2010, I had the great honour to be invited to the Swaminarayan School in London. The children had enjoyed learning about reading and were very good at using their magic wands to guide their eyes as they read.
In the autumn of 2009, I returned to Burleigh Community College, where I used to teach, to train 56 youngsters in the art of speed reading. We did some eye experiments using 3-D glasses (as each lens is a different colour, it is easy to determine how our eyes are combining to see the text as we read). They had great fun doing the mini-experiments!
Fans of Chris Evans' Drivetime Radio 2 show may have heard me being interviewed by Chris on 29 and 30 September 2009. Chris asked some great questions and I was thrilled to be on his show.
I was asked to speed-read Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol at Borders, Islington, when it was released on 15th September 2009. I read the 161,178 words in 41 minutes, 55 seconds, at 3837.55 words per minute. I had been asked to do this at relatively short notice and had spent the weekend before practising by reading and re-reading all Dan Brown's previous books as fast as I could.