My summer enrichment

The english language, is very complex.  And, the teachers that must teach children, with learning disabilities how to read, really have their hands full! 

To better understand how to help my daughter, and to understand the “teacher speak”, I enrolled in a 2 day, 8 hour total course, that discusses the Orton-Gillingham approach, to teaching reading.  We started this past Saturday.  In the class, are 4 students.  Two are teachers, and two of us are parents.  The other parent, though, is also a teacher’s aide in a special education classroom.  So, I am the only Non teacher!  Our instructor is wonderful!  I know that she is a great teacher, because she is able to clearly explain all this information to us. 

I am learning so much.  There are things that I did know.  For example, the Orton-Gillingham method, has many different programs that utilize the methodology.  The methodology includes: visual stimulation; tactile means; kinesthetic (large body movements) means; and auditory means of teaching and learning.  We have been doing this since the first grade, when we first started with our tutor.  We also discussed that dyslexia involves not only difficulty “decoding” what is written on the paper, but, a person with dyslexia has difficulty processing words phonologically.  Or, according to Sally Shaywitz:  “Dyslexia is and unexpected inability to read.”

So, to help teach a child or even an adult with dyslexia, you utilize various sensory methods.   By doing this, you teach the child in various methods, so that you repeat what you are teaching, and so that the information is processed in various methods through the sensorineural system.  Everyone is stronger in learning by certain techniques (visual, auditory are the two big groupings used). 

Tactile:  There are special flashcards that you can buy, with the letters made out of a sandpaper feeling paper, then you can trace that letter with the child, and name it.  While they look at it, and when they close their eyes.  You can make your own flashcards- by writing on index cards with a dark marker (letters, or letter blends), poke through the back with a push pin.  Let the kids do this, it is fun!  Turn the card over, and you now have a tactile learning experience.  Other messy suggestions (and these are coming from my line of work, as and Early Interventionist)- writing in shaving cream in the tub/shower, finger writing in the sand or dirt or grass, writing and spelling in pudding, on the carpet, etc.  I am sure that there are many other suggestions out there, and feel free to share them!

Kinesthetic learning, is learning, by moving the body in large movements.  Did you know that large motor movement is the strongest learning modality?  I never really thought about this, and, I am the gross motor person (a Physical Therapist).  But, as I look back, our motor development, and the way our body develops those skills is the foundation for how we visualize our envirionment, then, how we learn to support our heads, and learn how to eat and speak.  We must first develop head and neck control, then, as we strengthen, we develop shoulder and upper body strength.  As this progresses, we are able to swipe for toys, then start to use finer motor movements to manipulate our toys.   As we work on our upper arm movements, we start to strengthen our trunks, and learn to sit up.  And, then our hips get stronger, and we push up onto hands and knees, then, we get up into tall kneeling, then we stand then we walk.  So, the ability for us to stand up and walk, is not the first thing that we must look at, we need to look at how strong the body is.  And, we experience learning, by moving our body in big body movements. 

So, off my PT stepstool!  How do we encourage kinesthetic learning?  Write large letters in the air.  Work on refining those letters.  Say the name as you write it.  Progress to syllables, then to whole words.  Have your child close their eyes, and say the word as they write it.  Don’t ask them to spell it, but, to write it and say it.  When we sit down with a book, we don’t spell the words in our heads, we actually say the word.  Makes sense, right? 

Orton-Gillingham programs, include many versions.  They are Orton-Gillingham based.  They all follow the basic teaching strategies set forth by Orton and Gillingham. 

These programs include:  Project Read; Wilson System; Lindamood; Reading Assist; Stevenson; Alphabetic Phonics; Language Tool Kit; Slingerland; and Texas Scottish Rite.  They are all multisensory reading teaching methods.  You can ask your school if they have a teacher/teachers who are certified to teach in any of these methods.  If your child has a diagnosis of dyslexia, you can have a recommendation from that diagnostician that your child be taught in a “multisensory” approach.  Then, the teacher can use any method that they are certified to use.  They are all structured.  You want your child to learn in a less challenging way, review what they have already learned, and expand upon that, then at the end, they learn something new. 

Hopefully, your child can start to become confident in their own abilities.  They can have a new set of “tools” to help them to learn.  And, they will want to learn!  I know that this is just an overview and I am not an expert by any means.  I want to learn how to help my child, so that together, we can open the doors to reading!

Keep an open line of communication with your childs’ teacher.  Ask them what method they are using.  See if they can sit down with you, and show you how they utilize it, and what it includes.  By understanding how your child is learning in school, you can help apply those same methods at home, to be consistent and to provide positive carryover of skills. 

And, you can join the International Dyslexia Association- the link is in my sidebar.  Each state has their own chapter.  There are meetings annually, and each chapter may have their own annual conventions.  It can provide you with the knowledge, and the ability to understand all that Teacher Speak.