Name: Teach Them Diligently (Branson)
Start: 2025-05-15T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-17T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Branson, MO

Tagged: dyslexia, reading struggles

This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 2 months ago by Harterhouse.

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

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Posts
February 2, 2016 at 10:55 am
Nichole De Line
Participant
Hello everyone. I am new and so happy to have the forum to learn from other’s experiences. In fact, I could really use some advice on how to work with a child who has dyslexia. My daughter is 12. I have always known that she had some reading struggles but thought it would pass over time. I had her take the dyslexia test online through lexercise.com and her results showed that she is reading at a 3rd grade level. It suggested that she have therapy with an online clinician once a week, however, can not afford a therapist right now. Is there some way that I can tutor her myself? Are there any self help books out there that I could learn from in order to help her? Thank you so much for your help in this matter. Also, sorry if this has already been discussed on the forum……
February 2, 2016 at 1:58 pm
Sue
Participant
We are in a similar situation, with DD15 struggling with reading over the years, and we couldn’t quite figure out what was up. I do believe if we had her tested somewhere, they would likely place the label “dyslexia” on her.
Recently, I attended an event where one of the workshops was led by Jan Bedell of Little Giant Steps. She has focused on neurodevelopment of children for many years, and she favors the use of brain training methods for dyslexia (and other developmental issues) rather than simply teaching dyslexics to acquire coping skills to address the problem. The things she spoke of during the workshop really made sense to me.
If you live in Texas, you could schedule an appointment with her team to have your child evaluated, but she does not have locations outside of that region. If you do not live near enough to travel there, you can fill out an online survey (which is what we did) to submit, and they will have someone get back to you with some general information. Then you can dialogue with them to see what their recommendations are. They have materials available to purchase (we hope to start with them soon) that will show you how to implement some therapeutic exercises designed to train your brain. The entire family can do these. They also have materials specific to math and reading available.
I think you can also arrange for some distance consultations, but I’m not sure what that entails. You can poke around on their website and watch some short videos that explains more about what they offer. The site can be found by clicking here.
HTH,
Sue
February 2, 2016 at 2:04 pm
Sue
Participant
One other thing I wanted to mention is that the brain training exercises we are undertaking will take several months of work. Since we don’t expect to see dramatic results immediately, I have begun reading her science textbook to her. She is great in math, we do history and geography together with her older sister, and I leave her to read her literature selection by herself. (What I’ve done for literature is to alternate paper books with audio books, so she gets a “break” from the hard work of reading every so often…..when she finishes the book she is reading, the next book will be on cd or mp3.)
Science is just about her favorite subject, so I want her to continue to love it and learn from the book. She does review the unit in the book before taking the test, so she does read some of the material after I’ve read it to her, and she then has to look for the concept she is studying in the text. It is working in that she has learned a lot, and I really don’t feel as though I will be reading her college textbooks to her once she gets there!
February 2, 2016 at 3:26 pm
Karen
Participant
I found out about Susan Barton’s Reading and Spelling Program about 2 years ago. I’ve used it since then with my 9yo daughter and have seen so much improvement (we are now in Level 4, Lesson 7).
It seems expensive ($250 – 300) per level, but when you figure that a tutor costs $50 per hour, plus your travel time and expense, tutoring my daughter myself is a definite savings. Also, you can buy used curriculum from Evelyn Smith, etsmith2[at]cox[dot]net. I’ve bought levels 1, 2, and 3 used and bought a brand new level 4 — all were in very good shape, all the necessary parts were there, so I’ve had a good experience buying used.
To use this curriculum, you basically watch the included DVD, then teach lesson 1. Watch the DVD again for lesson 2 and then teach it, etc. It takes us about 3 weeks to complete a lesson — they are long! Each lesson has about 12 parts, and it’s mastery based, so you don’t move forward until it’s mastered. But there are plenty of extra practice pages and things so that it’s not drudgery. It is work!!! But it’s not terrible. We spend about 1/2 hour each day (5 days per week) on Barton — but the time you spend will depend on your daughter and the practice she needs.
Susan Barton has lots more info here.

February 3, 2016 at 9:08 am
retrofam
Participant
Reading Reflex is a book you could use. They have companion materials at phono-graphics .com
Abecedarian, abcdrp .com uses a similar approach.
The above are my favorites.
All About Spelling and/or All About Reading are popular options too.
SpellingYouSee. .com works well for my dd7.
I prefer materials that don’t drill rules and that are easy to customize for my dd. Some kids like the rules, but for some it can be overwhelming and confusing.
“The Right Side of Normal ” by, Cindy Gaddis discusses reading problems and offers unique solutions. The biggest take away for me was to study my child, and not try to cram her into a program because it is popular or appealing to me. I figured out that she learns to read best by writing, so we use Abecedarian.
There are several other good books about dyslexia. I will post the titles later when I find them.
You can do this!:) I pray that you find what is best for you and your daughter.
February 3, 2016 at 9:16 am
retrofam
Participant
“The Dyslexic Advantage” by, Brock L. Eide.
“The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan” by, Ben Foss
Both are encouraging books with great ideas.
February 4, 2016 at 12:11 am
greenebalts
Participant
I have children with dyslexia and I’ve written a variety of posts here with links to various resources…
http://reflectionsfromdrywoodcreek.blogspot.com/search/label/Dyslexia
One that may be particularly helpful is adapting a Charlotte Mason education for a dyslexic student…
http://reflectionsfromdrywoodcreek.blogspot.com/2015/10/charlotte-mason-and-dyslexia.html
Blessings,
Melissa
February 4, 2016 at 10:01 pm
Harterhouse
Participant
Brain Integration Therapy program by Diane Craft works on a proven method of better coordinating the two hemispheres of the dyslexic’s brain. She has taught this method to many special educators and students over the years with very promising results. There is explanation of different channels that may may be blocked — the reasons some kids have visual, kinesthetic, auditory, and other difficulties.
The program is very doable by a parent. I have showed our tutor how to implement this one day a week, giving me a break! The manual is worth reading even if you don’t invest in the program (175$) After wasting money on All about reading (which guarantees success) and countless days and several years and gaining no reading ground with my 8 year old son, I am convinced that some children just cannot “eventually click” with reading. It is a legitimate concern for many misunderstood homeschoolers and traditional reading methods just don’t work. I’m glad you are seeking intervention for your daughter. Best wishes on your search.