What do good readers do?

I think this picture really illustrates what we are aiming for when we teach a child who is experiencing difficulties with reading. As an experienced private tutor of children with dyslexia and other ‘special needs’ , I often find that the student doesn’t do one or more of the above. One of the main ones which is missing is the making ‘brain movies’ while reading. If you ask a struggling reader whether they do this, most ( but not all) will say that they don’t. The students who have the most difficulty with reading seem to lack this ability. This is an area which has been researched by others, including N Bell ( 1991) who believe this is an important aspect of reading comprehension.  I have found that for students who have difficulty in reading comprehension, making a visual mind map which mirrors what they are reading can help them.

Recent research has pointed out how important questioning is, which also links in with critical thinking. By asking questions ( what will happen next, what has just happened, what do I think of hero / heroine?) you are engaging with the text you are reading. A lot of the teenagers I work with really struggle with the idea of questioning and they often don’t do this. It is really important that we ensure they know about questioning rather than assume that they are doing this.

Inference is another difficult area. Often students can pinpoint information which is ‘right there’ but cannot ‘read between the lines’. As above, it is important that a struggling reader knows how to do this – look for clues in the text and then think about their reaction to this information. What do they think the writer means? Is there a particular tone being used in the writing which changes the meaning of what the actual words say? This is a difficult area but one which all struggling readers need encouragement in.

Do you have a reluctant reader on your hands?

Understandably, when a child has struggled with their reading skills they stop wanting to practice this at home. This is very common amongst children with learning difficulties such as dyslexia. However, not reading stores up problems for the child later on in their education because they won’t have had the chance to develop their vocabulary or build on their knowledge. I have had first-hand experience of seeing how this affects their ability to pass GCSE English Language which expects a student to have acquired a good vocabulary and general knowledge.

So what can you do as a parent to help your reluctant reader? First and foremost it is important that reading remains enjoyable, otherwise your child will switch off from this. So how can this be achieved?

-       Ask the child to choose the reading material. At least in this way he or she has some interest in wanting to read it in the first place!

-       If the book has been made into a film, watch this first.

-       K J Topping advocates ‘ paired reading’ . This is where the child chooses what to read and this is discussed with the parent/grandparent/older sibling (whoever is acting as the tutor). The tutor and child read aloud together at the child’s pace. When any error is made, the tutor says the word correctly and may point to the word in the text. The child then repeats this and then they both resume reading the passage. At regular intervals, you should discuss the content with the child to ensure they understand the passage. In this way the act of reading becomes less laborious, the meaning isn’t lost in the decoding ( saying the word) and your reluctant reader should enjoy the book/magazine or article.

It has been shown that children make gains in both reading age and comprehension using these methods. Further details about this programme can be found at: http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Paired_Reading_Writing_and_Spelling.html?id=cHAdKK-SzRMC

-       Identify the tricky words in a passage before reading it, read these words for your child so that when he or she comes to the word they will already know what it says.

-       Make good use of audio books and assistive technologies. Amazon have a large selection of audio books. I don’t have any personal experience of reading software but a quick search on google comes up with several results. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has experience of one of these.

-       Ensure your child knows how the sounds and letters work in word construction ( this is called developing phonological awareness) . This is generally agreed to be the best way to develop independent readers who have a literacy issue such as dyslexia. You can do this at home using one of the many structured programmes available (such as Nessy or Toe by Toe )  or you can engage the services of a specialist tutor. The benefits of doing this will be seen throughout your child’s education – especially at secondary school and above when they need to be able to read specialist vocabulary which is new to them. It is never too late to embark on this – even if your child is already at secondary school. In my experience, all children can learn the alphabetic code but you must go at the right pace for them as an individual.

If you have any questions about this blog please leave a comment on the blog or join my facebook group at facebook.com/groups/silverpeachdyslexia.

Don't panic if dyslexia is diagnosed!

You’ve probably known for ages that something has been up – your child seems to be behind in reading and you’ve noticed that they don’t write as much as others in their class.

This is a big worry for a lot of parents who, quite rightly, bring this up with their child’s school.  I find, quite often, that their concerns are then brushed under the carpet, usually being told that their child is developing slower than others. This can, of course, be right as children do develop at different rates. At some point parents may decide to look for an underlying cause. In most cases this will mean paying for an assessment to be done by either a specialist teacher or an educational psychologist (if you’re lucky your school may do an initial dyslexia screening).Whatever happens here, it does still come as a shock when you’re told that your own child has dyslexia.

What does this mean? In general terms it means that their reading and writing skills are being hampered by one or a number of things. These usually fall under the categories of a slow processing speed ie it takes your child longer to work through things and a poor working memory which will mean it is harder for the child to hold information in his/her head ( important in reading, writing and maths). A major issue is a poor understanding of the letter/sound correspondence ie knowing what sounds to make for each letter or combination of letters in a word. Some children with dyslexia also have a poor awareness of time and coordination.

Try not to panic! It can take some time to come to terms with this and a lot of parents will try and question why this has happened. In my opinion there are lots of positive action you can take which include the following:

1. Ensure your child has an interest or hobby which they enjoy. This is important to maintain self-esteem. Some of my students enjoy drama, dancing and playing drums!

2. Read with your child as often as possible. Read some pages together, you read some pages, your child can read as much as they are comfortable with ( even if a few words/ sentences at a time). This will help them enjoy reading without it becoming a battle ( which nobody enjoys). It also helps them to read more interesting books.

3.Ensure your child’s teacher is aware of the assessment and their difficulties. They may need reminding now and again! However, this area of teaching is gradually improving…..

4. Get them specialist help. This could be in the form of employing a specialist tutor or buying a programme which has been developed for dyslexic children. The crux of any tutoring/ specialist learning programmes is building up the student’s knowledge of words in a step by step way, using multi-sensory methods. In essence, this just means getting the student to see, hear, speak and write simultaneously.

Many children, with the correct help, make extremely good progress at school and pass many exams ( including English Language). Some, like Richard Branson, go on to be multi-millionaires!

 

Learning Styles - Revision tips.

Easter onwards is the traditionally busy time for revision. However, if you have any learning issues such as dyslexia or dyspraxia then you may find that this will not give you enough time to revise so my top tip is to start early!

Revision will be most successful if you use a method which appeals to your own learning style. So if you are a very visual learner, then revising from mind maps will be a good way. There are free mind mapping software available on the web so you can also use technology if this is what you prefer.

If you are more of an auditory learner then recording your work on your smartphone and playing it back will be a good method of revising.

There are many free resources on the web which will help you to work out your own learning style - this is worth doing.

It's getting close to that dreaded and stressful time of year for Year 11 students. GCSE's and revision!
You could consider taking a revision course, especially if you know you won't take the time to revise on your own. Here at Silver Peach Tutors we are gearing up for a busy time with our revision courses in English Language. They are being held over two mornings, so not too exhausting! Students attending these will be able to work on their own weaknesses and clear up any confusion they have about the questions on the exam paper. We can also help students who have dyslexia who may be finding this time of year particularly challenging as there is a lot to take in.

I will be following this up with more exam and revision tips over the next few weeks. For more information see www.silver-peach-tutors.co.uk.