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Homeschooling a Child with Dyslexia |
Homeschooling a dyslexic child can be quite a challenge. Jackie Penn tells the story of how she supported her dyslexic daughter through the school years.
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My daughter, Hannah, began experiencing problems in school during kindergarten. She had trouble reading and spelling, and phonics made absolutely no sense at all. She made reversals in her letters, but I wasn't terribly concerned because it is not uncommon for children to make reversals at such a young age. She became panicked when her teacher would call upon her to read in class. She knew she couldn't do it and it caused such anxiety in her that she really began to hate school. It broke my heart to see her under such pressure at such a tender, young age. I spoke with her teacher and asked her not to call on Hannah in class. She agreed. Thus began our journey toward figuring out what adjustments, modifications, and remediation would help our daughter get the very most out of her education.
We were both in it for the long haul My husband and I were not exactly happy with the diagnoses because we knew what a difficult time Hannah was in for. However, we were both willing to do whatever was necessary to help Hannah succeed. This was a family effort; Hannah was not on her own. We installed Ginger Software on our computer, and it is a fantastic program. It was created for dyslexics. We tried "chunking" and breaking words into syllables. It also helped at the time, but Hannah thinks she is way too big for stuff like that now. I had to find something to encourage my daughter She hates most anything and everything connected with school. However, I knew I had to find something to encourage my daughter, challenge her at her level, and help her education grow. I firmly believe I found just the ticket in an online curriculum called Time 4 Learning. At first, Hannah wanted no part of it. I had to make her give it a try. She was determined it was another "stupid program" I dug up and it was not going to work. She thought since 'Time 4 Learning' has animation, it must be just like the other program, which was very kiddish. After lots of prodding, begging, and out-and-out pushing, she tried 'Time 4 Learning' and found out she loves it.
Miss Independent turns 13 next week. The days of me hovering over her every move during the school day ended this year. It was a semi-gradual transition. This is a little sneaky on my part, but I allow her free time from school work to explore things of interest by searching on the Internet. I must caution parents first to go over Internet safety rules with your child before allowing this type of free reign on the computer. What is so sneaky about it? The fact that she thinks she is using free time from school is sneaky. If I assigned things for her to research, it would be school. This way, it's her time for what she enjoys, not school work. Hannah loves this activity the very most of all. For example, she is very interested in astronomy. She takes time off to search for information about the ten largest stars in the universe. You might say, "Well, that's great, but how is this going to lend itself to something productive?" Every site she visits challenges her reading skills without me having to force her to practice reading. Sweet! Also, she took it upon herself to begin creating her own science board like the ones kids make for science fairs. It is always a work in progress. I do not ever tell her she has to finish it. She will finish it when she is ready, and if she doesn't, well, she sure knows more about stars than she did before - all done on her own free time.
I no longer experiment with ways to help her learn. I let her figure things out by trial and error. This builds great decision making skills in her. I sneak peeks while she is learning just in case she gets stumped. It has taken forever (literally years) for Hannah to find a type of reading she enjoys. She loves fantasy fiction and reads stuff like The Hobbit, Eargon... It takes a very long time to read even a few pages, but she does it on her own and senses the accomplishment. That is something I could never give her. She has earned that feeling! I've finally come to the comforting understanding that Hannah WILL survive in this world. She will learn to read better and better every day because she has gotten a grip on it more this last year than ever before, and that is because she is finally interested in reading. Jackie Penn
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Problems in school during kindergarten
First grade was not much better. Hannah still had the same struggles she experienced in kindergarten. She was now experiencing problems trying to memorize her math facts. Finally, we decided to have her tested by a clinical psychologist. That was a total waste of money, other than showing us her unusually high IQ. I was determined not to give up on my little girl. I petitioned Baylor University in Texas, to have her tested. They completed a much more through testing regime than the psychologist. The testing showed the same high IQ. It also showed areas where Hannah was having problems - including dyslexia. 
I received a call from the college notifying me that they were going to move Hannah to the front of the list of 900 kids and that I had better have her in class every week. I was thrilled! Baylor was fantastic. Hannah made excellent progress with her teachers and I could see a difference in her attitude. Now, don't get me wrong, she still hated school and school was still very difficult. However, she wasn't as self-conscious as she once was. I think she knew she was going to survive this new label. She was even asked to attend summer camp for kids with dyslexia. 
I allow her free time from school work
She loves fantasy fiction