A strange discovery!
My daughter never wanted to read. This clever little toddler refused to look at words with me and stayed clear of jigsaws and puzzles. As a teacher I thought to myself - she will get inspired when she starts school; it's simply too early. She started pre-school and yes she would listen to me reading to her and ask lots of questions about the story but when I said, "Let's look at this word." or "Do you know what this word says?" she simply closed her little eyes and said, "You read it mummy."
When she went to P.1 again my hopes and dreams for her to discover and love books came crashing down when she was the one "struggling" in Primary 1. She didn't want to talk about her day at all. In the car on the way home I would ask daily, "Well honey-bunny how did your day go?" Her reply was simple, "Mummy you answer for me and I will open and close my mouth. You pretend that I am talking." I was devastated! I was told at the end of P.1 that she was below average and that she was not reading and not keen to write at all.
Then I did what most parents do - I went into denial. My daughter was clever there was no way that she was going to struggle through school and refuse to read and write. I blamed her lack of learning on the fact that she was born in April and was one of the youngest children in her class. I was working in the same school so I knew that she would be in my class the next year and in my head I wanted her to enjoy school - this love will instil a love for learning. That summer I would call her down to read and she would drag herself over to my side. Her anxiety about reading was apparent. She would avoid reading and become frustrated when I would constantly cox her.
I taught my daughter in P.2. The strange thing about this year was the fact that she thought I was teaching her because she didn't like school. She announced to me in December, "Mummy you can send in the real teacher now as I like school now." Her look of shock when I told her that I was going to be her teacher for the whole year was priceless.
As her teacher I could see that she had trouble recognising rhyming words, recognising the beginning sound of a word, struggled to learn new words and she had trouble recognising letters and matching them to sounds. It wasn't just the reading that she struggled with, she also struggled with numbers. Number 12 would be written like 21 and when she was working out the number "before" or "after" I nearly cried in class. She just couldn't get these concepts! The issues started to impact everyday skills and activities. She became very emotional and upset and she couldn't express her feelings in words.
When she went to P.1 again my hopes and dreams for her to discover and love books came crashing down when she was the one "struggling" in Primary 1. She didn't want to talk about her day at all. In the car on the way home I would ask daily, "Well honey-bunny how did your day go?" Her reply was simple, "Mummy you answer for me and I will open and close my mouth. You pretend that I am talking." I was devastated! I was told at the end of P.1 that she was below average and that she was not reading and not keen to write at all.
Then I did what most parents do - I went into denial. My daughter was clever there was no way that she was going to struggle through school and refuse to read and write. I blamed her lack of learning on the fact that she was born in April and was one of the youngest children in her class. I was working in the same school so I knew that she would be in my class the next year and in my head I wanted her to enjoy school - this love will instil a love for learning. That summer I would call her down to read and she would drag herself over to my side. Her anxiety about reading was apparent. She would avoid reading and become frustrated when I would constantly cox her.
I taught my daughter in P.2. The strange thing about this year was the fact that she thought I was teaching her because she didn't like school. She announced to me in December, "Mummy you can send in the real teacher now as I like school now." Her look of shock when I told her that I was going to be her teacher for the whole year was priceless.
As her teacher I could see that she had trouble recognising rhyming words, recognising the beginning sound of a word, struggled to learn new words and she had trouble recognising letters and matching them to sounds. It wasn't just the reading that she struggled with, she also struggled with numbers. Number 12 would be written like 21 and when she was working out the number "before" or "after" I nearly cried in class. She just couldn't get these concepts! The issues started to impact everyday skills and activities. She became very emotional and upset and she couldn't express her feelings in words.
Primary 3
Primary 3 made a big difference to my daughter - She still didn't want to read, but her sight word vocabulary started to improve. It was at this point that I relaxed again.... still in denial.
When she went into P.5 - the teacher, who was fabulous at inspiring children to read, again there was an increase in sight words and for the first time she was keen to read. Thank goodness - I never thought the day would come when my daughter would lift a book without being told to. At the end of P.5 she did well in her NFER tests. This was really unusual as up to that point her scores were always below average.
My daughter complained daily of feeling tired and on the way home from work she told me that she was struggling to read what was on the whiteboard. She also got upset when she told me that when she is on the computer she would have to stand up and look into the screen otherwise she couldn't see what was on the screen. Wow!!! Finally, I accepted that something was wrong.
The more I talked to her about the problems the clearer that she could have dyslexia became more evident. I got a green sheet to go over her reading book and I called her down to read. I didn't use the sheet at first - instead I asked her to read her book without it covered. She moaned and groaned about having to read and nearly cried. Then I covered the page with the green sheet. She said, "This is a different page mum." I answered, "No it is the same page. What made you think that it was different?" She looked at me and simply said,
"I know it is different because all the words are staying still." Wow! I couldn't believe it! My brave daughter for the first time explained how hard it was for her to read. "It was like doing those jigsaws you used to try to make me do - the pieces don't always fit together." Now I understood why she hated jigsaws.
Then another missing link fell into place. The NFER tests that she had done in P.5 were printed on green paper!!! That is why she did so well that year.
When she went into P.5 - the teacher, who was fabulous at inspiring children to read, again there was an increase in sight words and for the first time she was keen to read. Thank goodness - I never thought the day would come when my daughter would lift a book without being told to. At the end of P.5 she did well in her NFER tests. This was really unusual as up to that point her scores were always below average.
My daughter complained daily of feeling tired and on the way home from work she told me that she was struggling to read what was on the whiteboard. She also got upset when she told me that when she is on the computer she would have to stand up and look into the screen otherwise she couldn't see what was on the screen. Wow!!! Finally, I accepted that something was wrong.
The more I talked to her about the problems the clearer that she could have dyslexia became more evident. I got a green sheet to go over her reading book and I called her down to read. I didn't use the sheet at first - instead I asked her to read her book without it covered. She moaned and groaned about having to read and nearly cried. Then I covered the page with the green sheet. She said, "This is a different page mum." I answered, "No it is the same page. What made you think that it was different?" She looked at me and simply said,
"I know it is different because all the words are staying still." Wow! I couldn't believe it! My brave daughter for the first time explained how hard it was for her to read. "It was like doing those jigsaws you used to try to make me do - the pieces don't always fit together." Now I understood why she hated jigsaws.
Then another missing link fell into place. The NFER tests that she had done in P.5 were printed on green paper!!! That is why she did so well that year.
I wanted to find out as much information so I read the following books:
The Green sheet
Apparently your child can react well to one of the colours - so best to try all the colours. This is what I did. Again she liked only the green Acetate sheet.
Then I bought her books from Amazon - in green to encourage her to write more. |
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I am now looking into getting my daughter glasses.
There are different colours for children but not green. So if you know where I can get green glasses let me know. You can get these on Amazon too but only for Adults at the moment.
I'm still at the early stages of working out what to do next. She is reading more now - but always with the green sheet. It is so lovely to see.
Being on this journey - the ups and downs have been incredible and never boring. You constantly find yourself taking one step forward and 3 steps back. There are so many ways forward and I will continue to look until I find the solution that suits my daughter. She will be tested at the beginning of P.7 (It feels as if I am too late but I still feel determined to help her.)
I found a fantastic group on Facebook, that I would definitely recommend for all reading this to check it out. Dyslexia NI Helps Kids Read.
Joyce Shaw is a straight talking lady:
"This is a confidential group dedicated to helping parents of children that are 'poor readers'. Check out our 'Files' and 'Photos' sections before you ask questions.
We are only interested in offering practical help and not concerned with psychologists' labels stuck on your kids. I have studied 'dyslexia' for more than 12 years and tried all the rubbish on my own son during that time - coloured plastic, primary movement exercises, flash cards, etc. It just confused him even more :-(
Well, let me be really controversial... there is no such medical condition and they've known that since they could do brain scans.
There is no 'brain damage' the kids just need to learn the rules of reading and to practise each new rule 3 or more times.
There is not even a link between reading and intelligence as they are two totally different parts of the brain. It's like saying your child should be able to read cos they can roller-skate. Ridiculous!
However, that's what they call 'dyslexia' - your child is more intelligent than their ability to read. Good! If they are intelligent they can be taught the rules of reading :-)
I cannot recommend the Toe By Toe reading manual by Keda Cowling highly enough (Amazon or Ebay £20+) as it has never failed to teach a child how to read yet. However, it cannot be done with the modern phonics but with the little u or schwa after the consonants! If anyone needs any help to do it, just come on here and ask questions.
I have no connection to the author or the company.
I believe in 'plain English' and don't do the jargon!
We will even try to find you a tutor in your area if required.
Let's dry all those tears now "
Being on this journey - the ups and downs have been incredible and never boring. You constantly find yourself taking one step forward and 3 steps back. There are so many ways forward and I will continue to look until I find the solution that suits my daughter. She will be tested at the beginning of P.7 (It feels as if I am too late but I still feel determined to help her.)
I found a fantastic group on Facebook, that I would definitely recommend for all reading this to check it out. Dyslexia NI Helps Kids Read.
Joyce Shaw is a straight talking lady:
"This is a confidential group dedicated to helping parents of children that are 'poor readers'. Check out our 'Files' and 'Photos' sections before you ask questions.
We are only interested in offering practical help and not concerned with psychologists' labels stuck on your kids. I have studied 'dyslexia' for more than 12 years and tried all the rubbish on my own son during that time - coloured plastic, primary movement exercises, flash cards, etc. It just confused him even more :-(
Well, let me be really controversial... there is no such medical condition and they've known that since they could do brain scans.
There is no 'brain damage' the kids just need to learn the rules of reading and to practise each new rule 3 or more times.
There is not even a link between reading and intelligence as they are two totally different parts of the brain. It's like saying your child should be able to read cos they can roller-skate. Ridiculous!
However, that's what they call 'dyslexia' - your child is more intelligent than their ability to read. Good! If they are intelligent they can be taught the rules of reading :-)
I cannot recommend the Toe By Toe reading manual by Keda Cowling highly enough (Amazon or Ebay £20+) as it has never failed to teach a child how to read yet. However, it cannot be done with the modern phonics but with the little u or schwa after the consonants! If anyone needs any help to do it, just come on here and ask questions.
I have no connection to the author or the company.
I believe in 'plain English' and don't do the jargon!
We will even try to find you a tutor in your area if required.
Let's dry all those tears now "
Next step for me is to buy the book and check this method out. Over 1000 members are in this group and all very positive about how their children are improving. I'm won over!!!! I will blog more here - after I check out the book. I'm being positive and as Joyce says, "Let's dry all those tears now."
Meanwhile, my daughter, who was obsessed with Fairies convinced me to write a book about Fairies and to ensure that the main character was dyslexic and that is what I did. I started writing a novel .... not a easy thing to do but I did it and 54,000 words later I finally did it. The main character is dyslexic and she overcomes a number of major issues that she had because of the fact that she is dyslexic. Here it is:
Meanwhile, my daughter, who was obsessed with Fairies convinced me to write a book about Fairies and to ensure that the main character was dyslexic and that is what I did. I started writing a novel .... not a easy thing to do but I did it and 54,000 words later I finally did it. The main character is dyslexic and she overcomes a number of major issues that she had because of the fact that she is dyslexic. Here it is:
