My Dyslexic Student is Stuck; Now What? This post responds to a question from Jennifer Plosz, the Canadian educator doing brilliant groundbreaking work in visual math for dyslexics. She used tools like tracking, scanning, and silent reading first, from my book, Dyslexia Tool Kit Expanded Edition: What to do when phonics isn’t enough, to help […]
SET: The Family Game of Visual Perception BUILDS COGNITIVE SKILLS SET is a card game. The 81 cards have four attributes: color, symbol, shading, and number. It can be played solitaire, or with a small group. It has won a lot of awards, over 25 at last count. There’s a good reason. It’s both fun and […]
What is Unison Reading? Unison reading, also known as choral reading, is simply reading together aloud. This can be done by a tutor and a student, a parent and a child, or a teacher in a classroom. It’s especially effective in a classroom because there are enough students reading to make it easy for dyslexic […]
Book Review: Reading Remedy, by Marion Blank, Ph.D. Reviewed by Yvonna Graham, M.Ed. DR. BLANK IS MY HERO The Reading Remedy: Six Essential Skills That Will Turn Your Child Into a Reader, by Dr. Marion Blank, published in 2006, should be required for all elementary teachers. Dr. Blank obtained her Ph.D. in Medical Psychology from the […]
Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education, by Ken Robinson, PhD Reviewed by Yvonna Graham, M.Ed. CAN’T I JUST WATCH THE KEN ROBINSON TED TALK? By all means, watch the 20 minute TED talk: Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? It’s informative and highly entertaining. But if you are a teacher or tutor who […]
by Yvonna Graham, M.Ed; www.dyslexiakit.net GET RID OF BAD BOOK VIBES: Students who have trouble learning to read often develop negative reactions to books. By the time I see them as a reading tutor, some of these students actually shudder and get tears in their eyes when I bring out a book! This unfortunate pairing […]
SPELLING tool for dyslexic students: Word Imaging Spelling presents a tremendous challenge for many students with dyslexia. One of many tools which can help is word imaging. I find that students absorb the word best if they are allowed to draw their image in color with input from a teacher to be sure they understand […]
Gifted children may do poorly in school Gifted children often do poorly in school. This is true so often that it sounds cliche. A math story problem illustrates one way this happens: “If there are 3 apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?” Unfortunately, tests and worksheets often contain this sort […]
Multiplication Facts Should Not Be Scary Math seems to be the universal “scary” subject. Many students assume that math must be painful: after all, dreading math is so common it’s practically clichéd. In the case of K-5 addition and multiplication facts boredom and loss of focus can be issues. Sword fighting can avoid painful math […]
by Yvonna Graham, M.Ed; www.dyslexiakit.net Cognitive Skills Two important aspects of cognitive skills training are working memory and processing speed. Working memory, or short-term memory, lets you retain and use the information immediately applicable to a task. Processing speed refers to how fast you can think through a problem or series of actions. Both are […]