Headphones are Not Evil I marvel that some teachers despise headphones. They see no problem with asking a student to concentrate on difficult mental work like reading or writing, in a group of 20+ other people tightly packed. Many people who work in computer science, remote customer service, accounting, or many other fields routinely use […]
What is Tracking? In reading instruction, tracking refers to readers watching the words on the page while someone else says them aloud. This can be done in person or with an audiobook. Audiobooks provide students with more independence and more reading time than most parents or teachers can spare. I recommend using both and responding […]
School Choices As a dyslexia tutor, parents often ask me what schools are best. It’s helpful to map out the choices. Depending on the community, choices might include public, private, parochial, specialty school for dyslexia, online school, free schools, home-school with various curriculums, unschooling, co-op or micro-school, or a combination. The first task: discuss what’s […]
You Keep Saying That Word… I hear “science of reading” everywhere in education lately. It’s used to stop conversations about outcomes: “I’m using the science of reading in my classroom, so if they don’t learn to read it’s not my fault.” I see it in papers and professional development materials: “Buy and use only this […]
Made by Dyslexia Kate Griggs, herself dyslexic, makes waves in the U.K and beyond by claiming — and demonstrating — that dyslexic thinking is precisely what the world needs to solve the challenges of the future. She explains, “dyslexic minds process information differently,” making them experts at problem-solving, empathy, and communication. She gave a TED […]
Cursive Writing and Neurodiversity I received a review copy of Read Cursive Fast – Learn to Read Cursive, Historical Documents, and Notes Even if You Don’t Write by Hand from the author, Kate Gladstone. It piqued my curiosity because many of my dyslexic and autistic students find cursive impenetrable. My daughter, Dr. Alta Graham, age […]
Literacy Frees Slaves Frederick Douglass, a former slave, said, “Once you have learned to read you will be forever free.” Just because slavery was legally abolished in the U.S. and U.K. doesn’t mean it disappeared. People still experience life situations that keep them enslaved to poverty and dead-end employment. Furthermore, the school-to-prison pipeline is real. […]
From a Dyslexia Tutor I picked up Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, because my 12-year old granddaughter had just finished it and liked it. As a dyslexia tutor, I felt curious to see how the author presented her main character, a 6th grade girl with dyslexia. Even though the book is written […]
Judge this book by its cover, not by its fonts Opening How Tony Learned to Read: Growing Up Dyslexic, by Tony and Judy Fishel, was a bit of a shock. I was confronted with some paragraphs in large print Comic Sans. It was stunning since I expected another sober case study by a dyslexia researcher. […]
Celebrate School Choice, Including Public School It seems obvious that children, parents, and communities need a variety of educational choices. After all, children and families encounter different needs at different times. Real choice means an opportunity for any child to be unschooled, homeschooled, or attend a private school, traditional public school, or charter school. Trash […]