When Learning to Read is a Challenge Part I

Since reading is the foundation for all learning, when homeschooling parents are faced with a child who struggles with reading, we often are at a loss as to how to proceed. Among my ten children I had nine who learned to read almost effortlessly and one who struggled painfully. From that experience I learned a lot about how to work with a Dyslexic child.

A few months ago Donna commented on one of my posts and asked whether any of my children had struggled with reading. Her question sparked a flood of memories. I was reminded of how truly painful learning to read was for my ninth child, and how truly painful teaching him to read was for me. Because this is a problem that touches so many homeschoolers, I have decided to devote several blogs to this subject. In this first I will discuss some of the things that it took me years to discover about my child’s view of the world and how it differs from those of us who see the world “normally.” In future blogs I will discuss the reading theory that I developed and the method that I used to teach him to read.

By the time my ninth child was “ready” to learn to read, I was confident that teaching him would be a quick and easy process. After all, the other eight had learned to read in six weeks using the reading method that I had devised myself (more about this in a future blog). I was, therefore, completely unprepared for the years of hard work that lay ahead for both of us to accomplish something so “simple” as learning to read.

My child was never diagnosed as dyslexic, but I did not need a medical diagnosis to pinpoint the problem. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines dyslexic as follows: “A variable often familial learning disability involving difficulties in acquiring and processing language that is typically manifested by a lack of proficiency in reading, spelling, and writing.”

As we both struggled through those early years, I had no idea how my child saw the world. Since then I have read a little about how dyslexic children perceive written language, but what is written about dyslexia is written by people who are not dyslexic. I have discovered that most of their explanations do not even come close to the reality of how these people process both language and symbols.

My first genuine insights came when I accompanied my two youngest children to take their on-campus seminars to earn their bachelor’s degrees. During those seminars they met the professors with whom they had worked through their home study. They listened to lectures, completed seminar assignments, and were tested in every subject. They were completely on their own without the benefit of having Mom by their sides.

By this time my ninth child was fifteen and preparing to graduate from the university. He and his brother, who was ten months younger than he, were taking their seminars together, and when they came back to our apartment each evening, they completed the assignments that were due the following day.

One evening both boys were working on an art assignment that called for them to create a design that would look the same viewed from any angle. Within a few minutes my ninth child had drawn a very intricate design that looked exactly the same viewed from any angle while his non-dyslexic brother struggled for quite a while before drawing a very simple design that barely met the criteria.

I was impressed and asked number nine how he had managed to do such a complicated drawing in such a short time. He said that it was “easy.” He then began to show me other skills that I did not know he possessed. He picked up a pen and began to write very rapidly. When he was finished he handed me the sentence, which was written entirely backwards. He told me that if I would hold it up to a mirror that I could read it; he was right.

After further discussion, he told me that he had always been able to write backwards; the key was that he could not stop to think about it. If he would just let himself “go with it,” he would always write backwards. It was the “normal” writing that was a challenge.

I had always known that my ninth child was very creative, but as he entered his teens this creativity became increasingly evident. He was, and is, a talented artist. He is a wonderful story-teller and in his mid-twenties wrote several screen plays. He entered his first screen play in a global contest with fifty-thousand entries and, he placed in the top fifty entries.

Now twenty-eight years old, my ninth child reads and writes like a “normal” person, but he is not “normal.” The same things that kept him from processing language like everyone else have also given him the ability to see all of life through a prism that brings humor and creativity into just about every situation. He is interested in many subjects and is something of a political junkie. He also designs all of the covers for our books for our publishing company and has created some of the art work for them.

Yet, I know that the years of struggling to overcome his inability to read well presented challenges for him on a number of levels. That is why I have chosen to tackle this subject.

What I learned, I learned from experience. In subsequent blogs I will share with readers those things that worked for us so that you may apply them to your little students who are having difficulty learning to read. My hope is that these insights will make life easier for both you and them.

For books and updates by Joyce Swann, visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net/ or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup