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 […]
Find out Why Public School is Attractive Home-educated children sometimes decide they want to try public school. This can cause a hard-working homeschooling parent to wonder why. In fact, that’s the first question to ask. The student has a reason, and that reason is the most important piece of the puzzle. It may take time […]
Writing Can Be Hard A recent conversation with author and writing coach Arnie Bernstein (@RealArnieB) convinced me I needed to write a piece on writing … with teens … with dyslexia. I’ve done a lot of that, and I’ve learned some things. Since many people with dyslexia also exhibit dysgraphia, writing can be a real […]
Because it’s teaching to the weakness, not to the strength Rote memory comes hard for those with dyslexia. However, I’ve known many students who put in phenomenal effort to memorize all the letter sounds, blends, syllables, and rules of the English language. Unfortunately, the payoff was NOT carefree easy reading! Automatic word recognition just didn’t […]
What’s the Best School Choice? As an educational consultant and tutor, I assist parents in deciding how to provide their children’s education. I ask questions that help the parents define their goals, the children’s goals, the specific needs of their children, and numerous other concerns. Then I help them review the options that are open […]
Expanded Edition Dyslexia Tool Kit Expanded Edition: What to do when phonics isn’t enough, published April 2021, replaces the first edition and costs less! The book is available on Amazon as an ebook or paperback. Dyslexia Tool Kit Expanded Edition includes three new chapters. The new version also answers questions posed by readers of the […]
Are Dyslexic People Organizationally Challenged? The cliché that dyslexics are hopeless at organization misses the truth. In reality, dyslexic people frequently maintain complicated and highly effective organizational systems. These systems simply don’t look right to neurotypical people. In fact, poor organization by a dyslexic person often results from an attempt to impose a “standard” organizational […]
Mastery vs. Grades Students educated at home often work on a task until they master it. A math paper can be corrected. An essay can be re-written until it is concise. A book may be read and discussed. A project might be started, abandoned, and then taken up again. Working toward mastery rather than grades means […]