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Thursday, May 21, 2020

Consider Dyslexia: If Your Child is Struggling

by: Stephanie Morgan
05/21/2020

By the age of 7 a child should be showing all the signs that they are ready to read with the base knowledge of letters and sounds they have learned in their early ed years, learning that can come through interactive play based strategies. Most children will already have begun reading their first words and blending simple letter sounds, some will already read sentences or even paragraphs at 7. For some children reading comes more naturally than others, some show more interest in reading and with verily little effort will begin to read. If however, your otherwise bright 7-8 year old is struggling to learn the names of the letters, having trouble connecting letters to their sounds, confusing or substituting words, having difficulty decoding (sounding out) single words, making consistent errors, reversals of letters or words after the 2nd grade (7-8 years old), is generally frustrated with school work -- especially those assignments that require reading and writing and/or rote memorization -- having problems with attention, and reading is very slow and painful, you likely have a dyslexic child.

It is estimated that 1 in 5 human beings (20%) have dyslexic brains and dyslexia is the most common “learning disability” affecting both reading, writing, and arithmetic, yet it is the most misunderstood and largely unmet challenge in education today. Teachers colleges in the U.S. devote no significant time to the study of dyslexia and the average teacher receives practically no training in appropriate instruction methods to meet the needs of dyslexic learners. What is most tragic about this is that the curriculum and methods that work best for dyslexic learners are also excellent curriculums for all learners, and yet American schools do not use these curriculums or methods.

Dyslexia is often referred to as a learning disability, but more accurately it is a learning difference resulting from an entirely unique brain structure and brain processing which can now be seen through fMRI technology. Dyslexia is genetic and therefore a family history of late reading and learning difficulties should be present, however, it is difficult for families to identify their family trait because of the poor diagnosis of dyslexia and the fact that dyslexia in adults looks very different than it does in children. Dyslexic thinkers have both gifts and challenges, in fact, it is their unique brain structure that results in valuable brain strengths which have trade offs in early education. Dyslexia is observed in differing severity and dyslexics are often referred to as having mild, moderate or profound dyslexia. Because of the spectrum within dyslexia many child dyslexics will never have their dyslexia identified. The only sure way to diagnose dyslexia is to have a child thoroughly evaluated by a neuropsychologist with special training in diagnosing dyslexia. However, for most home-schooled children it is not necessary to seek a diagnosis for dyslexia since a home-school can equip itself to meet the challenges of educating a dyslexic thinker without seeking special ed services. In cases where dyslexia is profound (severe) a diagnosis may be needed to receive accommodations in college entrance and college coursework and testing.

Dyslexia is a lifelong condition, it is not a developmental lag, because it results from a completely unique organization of the brain and the unique brain processing style. For this reason a dyslexic does not grow out of dyslexia, they do not “overcome” dyslexia, instead they learn in spite of the challenges presented and their strengths compensate for their weaknesses. Early intervention and correct instruction methods can help reduce the frustration and stress a dyslexic will experience in learning but it will not eliminate it. The best prescription beyond choosing the right methods and curriculums is to educate yourself about dyslexia and be patient and persistent in your child's instruction. If you think your child might be dyslexic I would encourage you to read about dyslexia. I highly recommend the book “The Dyslexic Advantage, Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain,” by Brock L. Eide M.D. M.A. (Author), Fernette F. Eide M.D. (Author), as the place to begin.

My Recommendations:

The curriculum and teaching methods I will recommend for Elementary ED are excellent for children with dyslexic brains or your average brain. The good news there is that if you use these curriculums and you discover that your child is dyslexic at between 8-10 years of age (the most common period for which dyslexia is recognized due to the serious education lag that occurs in this range) you will feel confident that you have been using methods suited to their brain differences. If however, your child is not dyslexic and has no cognitive impairments, you will find these curriculums thorough and easy to implement. For this reason I believe these programs to be the best programs for teaching reading and writing that I have seen.

My Treasure Trove of Education Resources for Elementary ED instruction

ELA (English Language Arts):
  • All About Reading & All About Spelling
  • “Writing Skills” by Diana Hanbury King
  • Extra Writing Practice: Learning Without Tears Writing has some writing building work books I like
  • Handwriting Without Tears: They have an early ed program as well, they do a great job in how they introduce writing and they also continue with cursive for grade 3 and up. **If I did it again I might consider teaching cursive from the beginning instead of teaching print. They do it that way in England and it works wonderfully.
  • Keyboarding Without Tears, teaches typing early on. Very helpful skill for dyslexics who struggle with handwritten tasks.
  • Extra Phonic Practice: Explode the Code workbooks & online
  • Notability App: Is a great resource for kids when doing longer writing assignments. They can use text to type to get their ideas down and then do edit and revision right in the app. They can add pictures to their stories and reports and save their work easily.
  • School House Rock: Grammer Rock
  • Story Cubes game
  • Dr. Suess Early Readers
  • Bob Book Early Readers (for very first reading, which may already have done in early ed)
  • Usborne Early Readers (have various levels for advancing readers and the usborne illustrated classics are interesting for older readers who may still need an easier reader)
  • Scripture Readers from the LDS Gospel Library
  • Read straight from the scriptures Once they establish relatively fluent reading let them read quality literature that interests them. Early readers are only instructional but kids grow out of them quickly. For a late reader the early readers become a problem because they are too mature for the stories but their reading level is too low for things that would interest them more. I have found that scripture reading and the scripture readers are enjoyable for them because the stories are meaningful. I also find that Dr. Suess holds the attention of all ages as well as being good early readers.
  • A list of Quality Children’s Literature (not a comprehensive list, but a good start): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YQGKpN3ox6vI_64VQzTPKenjW5J7cNOXDZP-paPwBqs/edit

Some apps we like:

Math:

  • Math Inspirations: Emily Dyke will teach you how to teach math in a way that will build a logical thinker who is able to solve problems not just proform rote memorized algorithms. I find that her method for math is especially powerful in early ed and elementary ed because of how it builds foundations for higher level thinking. I took her teacher training and it has framed how I instruct in math every since. I have not done her program exclusively but it has made me a better teacher.
  • Teaching Textbooks: I moved my son into teaching textbooks his 3rd grade year. He had already established a strong number sense and base for arithmetic in Math Inspiration and more free form manipulative math instruction. Teaching textbooks helped him advance to middle school math and learn common instruction and testing techniques.
  • Schoolhouse Rock: multiplication rock
  • Math Fact Practice: APPS -- Math Ninja, Pet Bingo, Quick Math -- Triangle flash cards in addition/subtraction and multiplication/division.
  • Prodigy -- Math Practice Online, they have an app too
  • Game Apps: such as Unroll me, BlockuDoku, Blokus, Flow, Tetris, Sodoku, etc.
  • Logic/Math Games: Sumoku, Math Inspirations “100 Math Games Book” Science:
  • Dr. Jay L. Wile: Science in the Beginning, Science in the Ancient World, Science in the Industrial Age, Science in the Scientific Revolution, Science in the Age of Reason
  • Supplement with Usborne science books, and other science encyclopedias.
  • Science Documentaries.
  • Enrichment Books & Experiments such as: Catastrophic Science, Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction
History:
Art:
  • Usborne Art Books and Curriculums; such as The Usborne Art Treasury
  • How to Draw Books
  • Art Ideas on Pinterest
  • Original Art Work
  • Art Hub for Kids on YouTube
  • I try to work art into everything we do 

Other Science and Technologies:
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