The question that most people ask me is………
“How can I help my child to become a better reader and speller”?
Eight years ago when my first son started school I thought he would do well, socially and academically. I was sure that he was going to enjoy school, have loads of fun and be confident and self-assured. This dream was quickly shattered when it became evident that he was unable to learn as quickly as the other students and he struggled to learn to read and to spell.
My worry and despair soon turned to anger and then thankfully to a more productive emotion, which made me ask WHY? This led me on a journey and I began searching for ways to help my son. I soon discovered through my research that approximately 10-20% of school starters, or two to five children in every classroom, find learning to read and spell difficult, even though they are intelligent….. and yes there are many ways to help them. My son was just one of these children.
Children spend six hours everyday in a school environment that focus’ on learning to read and spell in the early years and then in the later years reading to gain knowledge and writing to show what you know. This can play havoc with a struggling learners self-confidence and self-esteem.
Today’s schools offer an education, which is a ‘one sized fits all model’, yet it does not fit every child or all of their learning styles. Every child is an individual; they process information in different ways and learn at different rates, yet teachers seem unable to cater for every child in their class. Many teachers have a lack of training, a lack of funding and resources, large class sizes and many extra bureaucratic demands being placed on their time. You may now be beginning to understand why parents are so important in the process of supporting a child who is struggling at school.
You have just started a journey. You are about to begin the process of learning how to support your child. I was in exactly the same place you are eight years ago. The education and knowledge you are about to gain will change the life of your child. Soon you will be the expert and you will know what your child needs to succeed at school and in life. Now let’s get you started.
Here Are The 7 Critical Keys To Help Your Child
To Succeed With Reading And Spelling
When your child started school they never intended to struggle and fail only to succeed and make you proud. Children start school excited and full of good intentions. They can’t wait to hang out with the big kids, learn to read, write and do sums, yet for many children this is where it all goes horribly wrong. They struggle to learn what the other children seem to pick up easily. They become mystified and confused and so they try harder, but to no avail. Now we need to understand why this is happening in order to help them.
According to English language expert, Professor John Stein, from Oxford University in the UK, learning to read is possibly one of the most complicated tasks our brain will ever have to master. Learning to speak is innate. We as humans have been speaking for tens of thousands of years. All that is necessary to learn to speak is inbuilt from birth. Reading on the other hand is not innate; rather it is an invention of humankind and has been piggy backed onto our speaking ability. As a race of people we have only been expected to be able to learn to read for approximately the last 200 years. This means our brains have had to evolve very quickly, making new neurological connections. Some brains are better at learning to read than others, yet scientific research shows this is not relative to levels of intelligence. Struggling readers and spellers are generally of average or above average intelligence, which can make struggling to learn at school incredibly frustrating. The ability to learn to read also has a genetic component, with many parents passing on learning strengths and weaknesses to their offspring.
Young children learn and remember new skills using a range of cognitive processes. This is relative to their brain’s capabilities to process and apply the new information. To do this a child will take in new information using their senses, their sight, hearing, smell, touch and movement. The information gained will then travel to their brain via their nervous system. It is a difficulty processing this information that causes the direct struggle to learn to read and to spell. We all have strengths and weakness in these processing areas and we all have preferences for how we like to learn. Every brain is different. To add to this we also have different speeds of learning and of working to complete set tasks (known as our processing rates), whilst we also rely upon different ways to remember what we have learnt.
Formal schooling is more suitable for some brains than others. The child whose brain can easily learn to decode the alphabet symbols, while associating each symbols or group of symbols to the sound they represent, will learn to read as if by ‘osmosis’. They will be exposed to a word on only a few separate occasions and immediately that word will be placed in their brain’s long-term memory for future recall at any time. These are the children who will be happily reading chapter books before their 8th birthday.
Children, whose brains are wired differently, will often struggle to decode letter symbols and to process their related sounds and then store the words in their long-term memory. According to UK genetic scientist, Dr. Silvia Paracchini these types of brains are normal and children who struggle with formal schooling methods are often highly intelligent, capable and creative with the ability to develop into good readers and spellers if the right educational support structure are in place.
When a child is experiencing a learning struggle it is important to have their sight and hearing tested first to ensure their eyes and ears are working correctly. Once this testing has been completed it will be necessary to investigate further. You will need to consider
- Visual processing skills –What the brain sees
- Auditory processing skills –What the brain hears
- Phonological processing skills –Alphabet letter symbols and their related sounds
- Executive dysfunction – Organisational skills
- Processing speed – Cognitive and working speed
- Memory –How the brain remembers what it learns
Visual, auditory and learning difficulty/disability experts are the best and most qualified professionals to provide you with this information. This can also include trained educational psychologists and educational specialists. This further investigation will help to provide a learning profile for your child. You will soon discover where your child’s strengths and weaknesses lie and this is the key to understanding how to help them. Using a child’s learning strengths to help them to overcome their weaknesses is like having a key to unlock the door to the most effective and efficient ways to help them to learn. Many reading programs are very specific in the methods they use to teach reading and spelling. It is important to select one that utilises all the areas of your child’s learning strengths.
Once you have an assessment done you can use the details below to help you undrstand your childs area of difficulty. They may have one or more of the following traits. The term dyslexia is a general term and in brief means, ‘someone who given normal exposure to learn how to read and spell, is unable to adequately do so’.
The main components to look for in a literacy program are:
- A program that utilises your child’s brain processing strengths to help them to overcome their weaknesses
- A program that is engaging so that your child will want to do it.
- Learning to read and spell is a logical and sequential process so the program should cover all aspects of the reading process to ensure any gaps in your child’s understanding are addressed
- The program should be multi-sensory and should include; visual, auditory, phonic, touch and movement cues to aid the learning process and memory recall.
- The learning program should be logical with each lesson building on the knowledge acquired in the previous lessons with plenty of opportunity for repetition and practise to aid memory retention.
- The program should not teach in isolation. It must be logical and build knowledge, utilising teaching strategies and rules so children will know when to apply them.
- The program should be enjoyable and fun. Formal schooling is often boring, but tutoring should be fun. This is because the chemical dopamine is released into our brains when we are having a good time and this helps to cement what we learn.
- Reading and spelling programs that add on hours of formal learning after school are a real turn off for kids who are already feeling mentally exhausted. Programs should offer an efficient and effective visual and auditory format utilising 10-20mins per day rather than hours at a time every week. Brain training research tells us this aids efficient learning and promotes memory retention. Children also need the opportunity to spend time doing what they enjoy and what they are good at to maintain their self-confidence and a healthy self-esteem.
- The program must fit in with your child and your family’s lifestyle. If there are no opportunities to use the program, your child will not find time do it, it won’t work and your money will be wasted. The program should be accessible at any time, from anywhere, when it suits you.
- Parents can pay $40.00 – $150.00 per hour for a private tutor. Reading and spelling programs can cost upwards of $1000.00 or more. This makes supporting a child unaffordable for many families. Make sure the program you select is financially achievable and offers flexible payment options.
- Lastly the program must work, the child must make gains with their reading and spelling and the parent needs to be able to monitor these gains on a weekly basis to ensure the program is working.
| Would you like your child to receive 28 ten minute video tutorials per month with Liz Dunoon as the teacher? Click here to find out how to register for our in-home video tutoring program – The ten Minute Tutor for just $49 per month & See a sample of the video program |
Parents are often frustrated and angry with teachers when they realise that their child is struggling to learn at school. However as a parent of a child who is struggling, it is important to keep communication lines open and to create a solid support structure around them. Working closely together with your child’s school and teachers is imperative if your child is to receive the support they need at school. You know your child intimately and your child’s classroom, specialist and learning support teachers need to be fully aware of your child’s needs academically, socially and psychologically. By sharing your personal knowledge of your child, as well as diagnostic reports, assessments, teaching and learning strategies, your child will be provided with a much better chance of receiving the support they need at school and of achieving success. When teachers and parents work together to advocate, support and teach a struggling learner, the child will make better learning gains. Don’t just include teachers in your support network for your child, also include, immediate and extended family members, friends and the leaders of your child’s community and sporting groups where appropriate.
When a child struggles to learn at school it can become overwhelming for them and for their parents. It can only take a matter of weeks before their self-confidence begins to slip and they spiral down into deep despair. The key to changing this is to find positive ways for your child to define themselves. Take the emphasis off academic success and put it back onto personal success in other areas. For a struggling learner many aspects of school are challenging, but there will also be areas where they excel. Outside of school children must be allowed to take time to pursue activities, hobbies and sports that interest them and in which they have a particular talent. The child who has the opportunity to feel successful and is recognised socially by their peer group and wider community for their talents, will not allow a difficulty to learn to read and spell at school to hold them back in life. Many self-made entrepreneurs, elite sports people, scientists, designers, authors and even academics fall into this category. Many will say they had a parent who believed in them and that they were permitted to pursue what they were good at.
Children who struggle to learn to read and spell at school often have to deal with stress and anxiety on a regular daily basis. This can play havoc with their ability to learn, their health and their psychological wellbeing. Children’s behavior is often a reflection of the stress they are under and the symptoms of this behavior can include anger and frustration, disruptive classroom antics, feelings of embarrassment, exhaustion, being bullied and suffering anxiety attacks, withdrawal, sadness and even depression.
As parents it is imperative that we help to alleviate the stress and anxiety our child is feeling before any long-term psychological damage is done. One of the best ways to do this is to provide them with strategies to overcome these negative feelings, and the earlier the better. Do this by using programs that teach them how to become insightful about how they learn and what they need to achieve their goals. Educate them to advocate on their own behalf to ensure school activities, tests and exams are accessible and achievable for them and empower them to use assistive technology. An overly anxious and stressed child can become confident and capable when they are provided with the right skills. These skills will remain with them throughout their lives helping them to overcome adversity and to remain confident.
A child who is struggling at school will often feel like a deer in the headlights, stuck in a moment in time and unable to move forward. As you know life is a journey and we make progress by growing, moving forward, reaping the rewards of our hard work and effort and being reconised for it. By choosing the right reading and spelling program, you are providing your child with a vehicle to move forward. A child who is setting their own goals, making progress and actually seeing their own personal improvement will be motivated to learn and to do well. To add to this they will be happier, healthier and more capable of embracing a successful future.
Provide A Multi-Sensory Tutoring Program That Will Also Teach Your Child To Believe In Themselves
After being asked by hundreds of parents (and teachers) for an affordable reading and spelling program for their children I have developed The Ten Minute Tutor. This program has been created after speaking to hundreds of parents and children about what would suit them best in terms of content, format and personal presentation. Would you like to give your child access to a tutoring program that has been designed and created with me as the teacher? For just $49 per month I will help your child to learn to read and spell, whilst also developing a healthy self-esteem and self-confidence……..Plus you get access to our monthly webinar. We look forward to helping your child to learn. To find out more about what the tutoring program covers, please click here
Good luck
Liz Dunoon
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Would you like your child to receive 28 ten minute video tutorials per month with Liz Dunoon as the teacher? |
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