ReadingPen Continued

My son was so excited when he got home from school yesterday. We immediately read a book together using the pen. One thing we discovered is that the contrast between the page color and the letters makes a difference. It also needs to be held at the proper angle, but this is not too hard for him. He spent the rest of the night scanning every word he could find. This includes the toothpaste tube – LOL!!

One of the things that I was hoping would happen did. I was concerned that he would “take the easy way out” and just use the pen, not reading at all. What actually has happened is that it is just hard enough to do that it is easier and faster to just read the words he can and only use it when he gets stuck.

Another fun thing is that he was going around last night “discovering” words that he would never try to read on this own. He came into the room I was in so proud of himself saying “Mom, I know how to spell professional.” He had scanned it off one of my magazines.

One of the most exciting things is that he can have some independence when he reads. If he is just reading for fun, not for homework, I don’t care how much he uses the pen. If he is enjoying a book, I am all for it!

Seeing is Understanding

My extra help with my son is going well. We have been doing a lot of work with breaking apart two consent sounds. Like so many other things, he understands the concept but needs a lot of practice for it to become automatic.

At home I have found that he needs visual reinforcement. For us this means charts. For example, each nine weeks his teacher gives him a reading goal based on a points system. I determine how many points he needs each week to reach his goal by the end of the nine weeks. As he earns points we color in the chart. If the chart not full by the end of the week, we know we need to catch up. Being able to visually "see" his goal makes it much easier for his to stay on track.

What about you? Do you use charts or anything else that has been effective for you? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

What Are We Teaching?

There was a recent article in the New York Times addressing the fact that a surprisingly high percentage of entrepreneurs in the United States have dyslexia. Is anyone surprised by this? If you truly understand dyslexia, you know that the ability to be a visionary is a common trait among people with dyslexia. I can think of a handful of books that are out there right now written by successful business people. Almost everyone begins with their tale of how horrible school was for them. So how exactly are we preparing our future leaders?

A report, compiled by Julie Logan, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, states that 70% of entrepreneurs who said they have dyslexia also reported that they did not succeed in school. Basically what this is saying is that these people succeeded despite their schooling.

I think it is time that we figure out how to foster the strengths of all children! In the US, many classrooms group students by reading ability. Where does our obsession with reading come from? Who came up with the idea that a good reader equals a good student? Why do we have all of these programs to teach the love of reading?

I do not love to read! There I said it. You will very rarely find me reading just for the fun of it. That being said, I read all the time! I read things that interest me. I read things that I can learn something from.

I wonder what would happen if we spent less time trying to convince children that they have to be great readers and more time teaching them to recognize what their individual talents are and how to use those talents. What if we taught children that they don’t have do be good at everything. It is ok to be average in some areas. What if we fostered those talents and taught the interpersonal skills needed to work with each one another to leverage those talents. Would we all rise to the top together?

Poor Handwriting is a Symptom of Dyslexia

My family comes from a long line of people with poor handwriting. My family laughs about how we have all had poor handwriting for generations. We also have said with pride that we come from a long line of “math people”. So it was no surprise when my son at 5 years old figured out the concept of multiplication while asking questions in the car. However, he could not write a sentence using proper spacing. It would just be a long line of letters and the reader had to figure out were to separate them.

Fast forward to second grade and his handwriting is still terrible. But now we are moving on to cursive. Wait! What is this! The letters are sitting on the line and the short letters lightly touch the dotted line! The tall letters go all the way to the top line!! It is a master piece. I show this to my mom who says in shock, “he wrote that?” My answer was (after I double checked), “it has his name on it”

Of course now I am confused and need to do some research. I like to understand the reason behind things. I don’t want to only know that poor handwriting is a symptom of dyslexia, but I want to know why.

So I still have more research to do, but so far I have found that it has something to do with the continuousness of cursive. The less he has to pick up his pencil and then put it back down in the correct place the better. If anyone can explain it in a more professional way, I would love to hear it!!!

Three cheers for cursive!

More Proof

In case anyone wasn’t sure how happy I have been with the results of trying the Feingold diet, I have more proof.

Yesterday was the “Fall Feast” at my son’s school. The teacher had a cute activity for the kids to do. They each had a cooking that they would decorate as a turkey. Of course this involved candy corn, frosting, and a gel decorative frosting. Of course, this involved artificial colors and who knows what else.

I allowed my son to have it because, well let’s face it, I am a push over. By that afternoon and into this morning he was extremely grumpy and whiny. Now that over 24 hours have past, he is doing great again.

Before we started this diet, I would have never thought my son would be sensitive to artificial colors and flavors. Now I am absolutely convinced that we both are. The Feingold diet is not new. I wish I had known about it much earlier.

For those of us in the States, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I keep telling everyone that this diet really isn’t that difficult to do. As proof of that, we are having almost everything we had last year with very few adjustments.

The hardest thing for me has been becoming more aware of what we are eating. As long as you are paying attention, there are so many options and choices out there.

I challenge everyone to think about what their child eats in one day. Are there easy alternatives you could provide? I promise the answer is yes and I encourage everyone to give it a try.

Dyslexia Symptoms and Spelling

I have really been focusing a lot on our diet lately, so I though it was time that I get back to how we are dealing with our dyslexia symptoms.

We have seen a really big improvement in his spelling grades. I think our time at Lindamood Bell really helped him learn to hear each sound. We also have made a point to practice his words every night.

On Monday, I write the words on note cards. He reads then all first. Then we go through and spell them all. He doesn’t have to get the right and we only do each word once.

On Tuesday, we just spell the words. Each word that he gets correct (without help) goes into one pile and each word that he misses go in another.

On Wednesday, we only practice the words he missed the night before.

On Thursday we practice them all including doing the ones he has trouble with more than once. Friday is the test.

This has worked very well for us. One of the main things I had to learn was that he needs to spell them out loud. I spell by seeing if the word “looks right”. So last year I made him write the words to practice because I thought that would help him. I was WRONG. LOL

We all know that everyone learns in different ways. Finding the right learning style for your child is not always easy. I hope that share what works for us may help someone else.

Let us know what your strategy is by leaving a comment.

More Dyslexia Symptom Improvements

Although we are still having trouble staying strictly on the diet, the dyslexia symptoms seem to still be improving. Last week there was a notable attitude change in doing his homework. Instead of fighting over each paper and spelling practice, he just did what needed to be done. Such a needed break for me! It is very draining on me as well as my son when so much energy is used just getting started.

By the way, Halloween went very well. Not only did my son trade in his candy for money which we spent the next day on a toy, but my nephew (not on the diet) did the same. I think this will be a new tradition for us! I just wish I had started it years ago. I am looking forward to a more quiet week. Hopefully we can do better staying on track this week and we will see even more improvements with dyslexia symptoms.

So Far, So Good

We made it through the weekend without too much trouble. The only time we really went astray was at dinner. I must say, we have only been doing the Feingold diet for a week and I can already see a difference. It is hard to know for sure if it is the diet or so many other possible factors, but we have not had a major melt down in several days.

I am sure it will be some time before I can tell a difference with his dyslexia symptoms. I am not too concerned about that at this point. We do many things to help with his dyslexia, but my true goal for the Feingold diet is to improve these rage type outbursts. Even if we are not perfect on the diet, it seems to be making a difference.

Grades and Going

So we got our first report card of the year. All A's and B's. Whoo Hooo!! With hard work and a great teacher who understands and recognizes dyslexia symptoms, success is very possible!!

So now we are getting ready to face the first trip while being on the feingold diet. My family of 5 adults and 3 kids 7 years old and under all under one roof. We are only going to be gone Friday through Sunday. I have enough food for 3 weeks. LOL I have several kinds of approved snacks, 2 types of cereal, 2 types of sandwich meat. We are not going to go hungry. I also have a wonderful family who is very supportive of this new road we are taking. They have all called (while in the grocery store) to make sure that anything they bring is either acceptable, or not a temptation for my son.

We are going to do all we can to stay straight this weekend, but I am also not going to freak out about things. This trip is to celebrate my dad's birthday, so we will make the best choices we can, but will also go with the flow when our choices are limited.

If anyone is also a feingold family, I welcome any advise, tips, encouragement you have to offer in the comments.

Here's to a great weekend . . .

Understanding Dyslexia Symptoms

When my son was diagnosed with dyslexia, the psychologist recommended a book to to help me better understand what we were dealing with. As we went over the diagnosis, she referred to this book several times. I knew it must have some good information. I went out and bought it the next day.

From that day forward, this has been the most helpful book I have ever read. I told everyone I came in contact about Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz. My son's teacher read it and said "Why have I not known about this book!"

Reading this book was like opening my son's brain and letting me in. I learned that so many of his daily characteristics were connected to his dyslexia. Things were finally making sense to me!! Most importantly to me, this book was written by a professional woman with the science of brain scans and research groups to back up her information.

I highly recommend that everyone reads this book, but especially if you or someone close to you may be dealing with dyslexia. It can be found on amazon here:

Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any LevelTechnorati Profile