It's all Chinese to me

I'd like to start with something that has happened to me several times this month. I've had few ill informed people make hurtful comments to me about my son's dyslexia. I'll tell you about a couple of them.

The first incident happened while I was talking with a close friend and was confiding in her about some of our educational struggles. She decided to confide in me also and went on to tell me her struggles. She started with, "Well, I have the opposite problem. My son is so smart." Whoa!!!!!! So the opposite of dyslexia is smart? Last time I looked at the science related to dyslexia, it didn't mention anything about IQ. IQ is completely separate from dyslexia, but most people are completely ignorant of what dyslexia is and what it isn't. I on the other hand, have embraced the unique strengths and deficiencies in my children. It makes us who we are. It just so happens that some fit into the "school mold" a little better. Because Big brother is severely dysphonetic, he is deficient in processing speed and short term auditory memory recall, but superior in all things visual and spatial. These are his strengths and weaknesses, and not necessarily specific to all dyslexics.

During the second incident, I had a friend tell me that I would need a lower level curriculum than what she was using. I asked how she came to that conclusion and if there was a lot of reading and writing required. Also, if there was a lot of rote memorization or fill in the blank learning, Big Brother would probably have a problem. Then, she hesitated, and went on to tell me that it was probably to much information for Big Brother to understand and that the information was mostly presented visually. Ughhh, understanding is not the problem, especially visual information. She barely knows my children and obviously knows them less than I thought, yet she was making educational judgments about what my children could learn. I was a little more than irritated.

Unfortunately, I know that I've said some hurtful things to people I cared about and can recall one specific incident where I said something to a friend about her son's autism. Looking back, it makes my stomach hurt. I knew nothing about autism at the time. I wish I would have kept my mouth shut, but I didn't, so all I can say now is, "I'm sorry". Hopefully, I can turn some of these hurtful experiences into a learning experience for us all, by forgiving those people that hurt me through their words and lack of understanding and start educating people about dyslexia. Dyslexia is not rare. 20% of the population has dyslexia. That is 1 out of 5. So if dyslexia is all Chinese to you, below you will find some myths and facts surrounding dyslexia.



MYTH
Dyslexia is rare.

Fact
20 % of the population is dyslexic. That is 1 out of 5. Take a look around a classroom, homeschool group or organized sport, I'm almost positive there is more than one in that group. The severity of dyslexia varies, and some can disguise their disability.


Myth
Dyslexics can't read.
Fact
Dyslexics can read, but will usually hit a wall in about third grade. One of the biggest factors distinguishing dyslexics from non-dyslexics, is their ability to spell. Now, look around that classroom or homeschool group again. I think you will start to see a few more kids that might be dyslexic if you add the ability to spell in the mix.

Myth
Dyslexics see things backwards

Fact
Dyslexics see just the way non-dyslexics see. The problem is with direction. They are confused about direction and that is why they mix up their b's/d's when reading or writing. Actually, many dyslexics can see things in 3D. I know this is true of my son. At the age of 5, he drew me a picture of a car. He had different scenes on the paper, one was of the car facing forward, the other was a side view of the car, and the other was the rear. He obviously could take that car and spin it in his mind.

Now, lets look at that same ability and how it relates to our written language. Take a chair put it in the middle of the room. What is it....a chair. Take that same chair and lie it on it's side. What is it....a chair. Take that same chair and turn it upside down. What is it....a chair. A chair is a chair no matter which direction you place it. Our written language is the only things that changes what it is based on it's direction.


For a list of more myths and facts about dyslexia, please visit Bright Solutions for Dyslexia.


Lastly, I have to add this article from Popular Science. The article is titled Dyslexia is different in Chinese and English. The article goes on to say that scientists discover that entirely disparate regions of the brain cause dyslexia in different languages. In dyslexic Chinese children, less grey matter was detected in the area of the brain dedicated to identifying images and shapes. In the English-speaking children, the affected region is more closely associated with converting letters to sounds. The discovery was surprising to the researchers because like other common brain dysfunction, they had expected the problem areas to be the same across the board. It does seem to make logical sense, considering the strikingly different ways the two languages represent meaning. Asked if someone dyslexic in one language would necessarily be dyslexic in another, the lead researcher, Li-Han Tan, expressed doubt because "different genes may be involved in Chinese and English dyslexic readers."


This is fascinating to me. The skills needed to understand the Chinese language are the exact strengths that Big Brother possesses. His weakness on the other hand would not impact his abilities if he were Chinese. Ironically, Big Brother started desiring to write Chinese, so the picture above is his first attempt at writing his name in Chinese.

Did you know about the code? (Handwriting without Tears)

Did you know that there is a code on the front of your Handwriting without Tears teacher's guide? I wouldn't have known it if it weren't for the fabulous seminar I attended a few weeks ago given by Handwriting without Tears. Handwriting without Tears was birthed by the passion and expertise of one mother, Jan Olsen, who wanted to help her first grade son who was struggling with handwriting. Jan, an occupational therapist by profession, used her knowledge and love to devise a program that worked to solve her son's handwriting issues. Naturally, when the teachers saw the improvement in Jan's son, she was asked to help other children in the classroom. Now, fast forward to today, and we have the wonderful curriculum known as Handwriting without Tears.

I learned so much in their seminar, but one of the main things I took away with me, was to use the multi-sensory tools that they've provided. I hate to admit it, but I thought some of these tools were a waste of time or money. Who needs songs about handwriting....right? Well, my children need them. These multi-sensory materials are so beneficial for the early elementary years, and more importantly, any child that has a learning difference. I sat in the seminar for 8 hours learning why all these materials work, and I was not bored for even a minute. It was fabulous. If you use these multi-sensory tools from the beginning, remediation won't be necessary. The multi-sensory materials help to embed the information deeper in the brain, and if you have a child with dyslexia, you know that learning the "usual way", just doesn't cut it. So, if you are looking at Handwriting without Tears and wondering what to get, I encourage you to not forget the multi-sensory materials.

Now, back to the code. This code found on the inside front cover, enables you to log onto their website and print your own worksheets. I did skim through the teachers guide, but never noticed their blurb on the inside front cover titled A Click Away. Along with the worksheet maker, there are several other resources listed. Soon, I plan to use the Screener of Handwriting Proficiency. A clever little tool to help asses your child's handwriting proficiency and to determine if any remediation is necessary. Now go grab your teacher's guide and find your code.

Time4Learning

Before the Holidays, I was excited to hear about an opportunity to try an online interactive curriculum. I had been looking for something that my children could do independently while I was working with another child. Teaching children with dyslexia can be very labor intensive, and I needed a way to keep the distractions from my other two children at a minimum. The generous people at Time4Learning allowed me to use their curriculum for free for one month, and in return, I agreed to write a review of our experience with their curriculum.

Time4Learning uses animated lessons to teach language arts, math, social studies and science. Kids are able to learn at their own pace, and parents are able to take advantage of their automated grading, lesson plans and detailed reporting.

What worked for us

Time for learning was easy to use
It kept my children engaged
The material was interesting
It kept distractions to a minimum while I was working one on one with another child.

What didn't work for us

My children are dyslexic, so I couldn't take advantage of the Language Arts portion.
The only portion we were able to use was the Science portion, and we would be able to go through it within a month or two.

Although I love Time4Learning's interactive format, it could never take the place of a loving parent teaching their child. However, I do think Time4Learning is an awesome supplement for Homeschoolers or for parents who want to keep their children engaged during the weekends, Holidays or summer months. If you are a new homeschooling parent, Time4Learning would be a great place to start while you research all your homeschooling options. For your free trial visit Time4Learning

Praises for Singapore Math

Perhaps you've heard the buzz about children in Singapore producing some of the highest math scores in the world. Where did this originate? In 1995, eighth-graders in the tiny nation of Singapore finished first in the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). In 1999 they repeated the feat. In contrast, the U.S. finished in the middle of the pack both times. What is their secret? Why are children in Singapore performing so well on math tests. I believe there are several factors involved, such as age appropriate material, their effective and thorough training of teachers, and mainly, their method of teaching math.


The Singaporean method follows a sequential approach of concrete, pictorial and finally abstract. For example, today we were talking about which two numbers together equal 8. I drew a green tree on one side of the paper and then a brown tree on the other side of the paper. I gave my son 8 raisins and asked him to place them on the trees. Then I asked, "how many raisins are on the green tree? How many raisins are on the brown tree?" We kept doing this until we exhausted all the possible number combinations. I wrote each number combination on a white board. After that, we looked at his math text book, and it had a picture of eight bunnies. We told each other number stories about the bunnies. For example, three bunnies where above the ground and five bunnies were under ground. After that he did the exercise in his workbook. The exercise went as follows: Mr. Eight knocked down two pins in each set. The numbers on the two pins should make 8. Color them. He's presented with a set of pins that have the numbers 6,3,5,1 and 8. He had to figure out which two made eight. Now remember, he's already seen it with the raisins on the trees and the pictures of the bunnies. Even if he gets it wrong, he quickly corrects himself.

Now, if you have a child with dyslexia, maybe you've been told it is very difficult to teach them by rote memorization. Rote memorization just doesn't stick with them, so a lot of these children struggle to learn their math facts. I was told to teach Big Brother using "Touch Math" which places dots on the numbers to reduce the need for memorization, but I haven't had to resort to that yet, because he is remembering his math facts through this type of teaching. Also, he is enjoying math.

Maybe you're a homeschooling mom and starting to feel some anxiety, because you aren't using Singapore math, or maybe you tried and it didn't work for you. My advice is to stick with what works for your child. But, if you have a struggling child, which is also very visual, you might want to look into Singapore math. It's working for us, and I can't be more pleased.

The Claw

Wow, that was a long time away. We had a wonderful Christmas, and it seems the break did us all good. We focused on joy during the Holidays, with lots of crafts, decorating, cooking and some really fun fieldtrips.


Here we are mid January, and we are fully back in the swing of things. I've been doing some research on dysgraphia (also known as a visual-motor integration problem, people with dyslexia often have poor, nearly illegible handwriting and often have an unusal pencil grip, often with the thumb on top of the fingers) and asking some questions on messages boards, but nobody can really give me a good answer as to why it is better to change a child's pencil grip to the tripod grip. My husband had asked me in the past not to change Big Brother's grip, so I ignored his somewhat strange grip for awhile. I thought after the break, maybe we could just try getting him to do the tripod grip through the pinch technique, and to my surprise, he was a lot more receptive to it, but I could see he was still struggling, and it was frustrating for both of us. Thankfully, someone suggested the "writing claw". It's a device that allows the fingers to hold the pencil in the correct position while writing. In the past, I shied away from those. To me, they looked like some type of torture device, but I went against what I thought was my better judgment and ordered one. When it arrived, the kids were so excited that they got something in the mail, that they immediately started playing with them. I showed Big Brother where to put his fingers and how to position the pencil. He ran and got some paper and I saw him sitting at his table writing with it, and immediately he looked up at me and shrieked, "I love it". What? I thought I would pass out. So all those battles in the early days about his pencil grip could have been avoided. I love this thing too! Anything to make our lives less frustrating. Here is the link to their site. The Writing Claw