Friday, May 13, 2016
Spring
I woke at 4am with a headache, which is never a good start. But, after I got the big kids tucked away at school and activities, I loaded baby girl in the stroller for a walk in the Springtime. She watched for dandelions and asked me to stop and pick them for her. We paused to smell the blossoming crab apple trees. She got out for a quick run and back in for another ride. More than once. I smiled as I looked down at the cup holder, full of withered dandelions from a different day's adventure. And, the stroller basket, strewn with pinecones. I breathed in the lilac bushes and turned my face toward the sun and thought: Ahhhhh. It is a good life.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Books
Books have always been my favorite. I would chose reading over most any other activity. I've been in countless book clubs over the years. Finding the library is always top priority when I've moved to a new place. And, I love to own books just so I can pass them on to others with an urgent, "You've got to reading this!"
So, it has been hard to watch my boy as he has struggled to read. It was evident to me ever since he was a baby that his mind worked differently than my older kids. He reached milestones at his own pace, and in his own way. Learning to read was no different. He loved letters early on and knew all the sounds they made before he started preschool at age 3, but somehow the connection between those letters, those sounds and the words they could make was a huge hurdle for him. When he was a kindergartener, and on the advice of a friend, I got the book, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." We sat down to start with Lea (only 20 months younger) along for the ride. We worked through the book together and these two siblings were staying right on pace with each other, until about lesson 50. Suddenly, it clicked in Lea's head, and like my other two readers, she was remembering sight words and making sense of letter combinations, and, quite amazingly, she was reading!
And, Davis wasn't.
He was still laboriously sounding out every.single.word. Even when it appeared on a page several times, he couldn't remember it from one line to the next; sometimes even from one sentence to the next. Words like "the" and "to" would
constantly trip him up. It was ever more apparent to me that the English language is seriously messed up. And, that something was not clicking for my boy.
I have come to learn in the past couple years that if nothing else, I am my child's advocate. Often the only one he has. It was difficult to get anyone in the school to take my concerns seriously.
"He just has a speech delay."
"It will come in time."
"He isn't ready yet...he needs to be in school longer."
Nothing, however, felt right.
One day I went to lunch with my visiting teachers and another lady they visit. We somehow got on the topic of her family's struggle with dyslexia and like a spotlight in my head, I knew that that was what Davis had. I just knew it. As soon as I got home I started to research all I could find about dyslexia. I contacted friends who I knew had children who struggled with it. I called several literacy centers in town looking for answers. I was told by more than one person that since he was only 6, he was too young to be tested. Yet, everything I read talked about how much early intervention can help those with dyslexia. I knew if he had it, it was best to get him help now, and not wait until he was struggling through 3rd grade or until the school reading specialist noticed something.
After much push and shove on my part, I was finally able to get him tested. The doctor worked with him for a couple hours and when the results came back, I was not surprised to learn that Davis is dyslexic.
Now, after a year of tutoring and extra help from teachers, I am in awe at the reader that has emerged. His abilities have skyrocketed. Reading is still a struggle for him, and it might be for his whole life. Additionally, his dyslexia affects memory, attention, spelling, writing, speech, math facts and other areas of his academic life. This isn't something you cure or fix. It is the way his brain functions and something he will have to work around for always. But, learning about his uniquely wired brain has opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at my son. The abilities he has and the ways I can see his mind working through things far outshine the disabilities and struggles.
And, at last, he LOVES to read. We are working through the Magic Treehouse Books, just like I did with my bigger kids. He is excited about each new book, each new chapter. Tonight as I tucked him in, our chapter read and the cliffhanger ending waiting for us tomorrow, he said, "I just love to read, Mom! I love books!"
Me, too, my boy. But not as much as I love you!
So, it has been hard to watch my boy as he has struggled to read. It was evident to me ever since he was a baby that his mind worked differently than my older kids. He reached milestones at his own pace, and in his own way. Learning to read was no different. He loved letters early on and knew all the sounds they made before he started preschool at age 3, but somehow the connection between those letters, those sounds and the words they could make was a huge hurdle for him. When he was a kindergartener, and on the advice of a friend, I got the book, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." We sat down to start with Lea (only 20 months younger) along for the ride. We worked through the book together and these two siblings were staying right on pace with each other, until about lesson 50. Suddenly, it clicked in Lea's head, and like my other two readers, she was remembering sight words and making sense of letter combinations, and, quite amazingly, she was reading!
And, Davis wasn't.
He was still laboriously sounding out every.single.word. Even when it appeared on a page several times, he couldn't remember it from one line to the next; sometimes even from one sentence to the next. Words like "the" and "to" would
constantly trip him up. It was ever more apparent to me that the English language is seriously messed up. And, that something was not clicking for my boy.
I have come to learn in the past couple years that if nothing else, I am my child's advocate. Often the only one he has. It was difficult to get anyone in the school to take my concerns seriously.
"He just has a speech delay."
"It will come in time."
"He isn't ready yet...he needs to be in school longer."
Nothing, however, felt right.
One day I went to lunch with my visiting teachers and another lady they visit. We somehow got on the topic of her family's struggle with dyslexia and like a spotlight in my head, I knew that that was what Davis had. I just knew it. As soon as I got home I started to research all I could find about dyslexia. I contacted friends who I knew had children who struggled with it. I called several literacy centers in town looking for answers. I was told by more than one person that since he was only 6, he was too young to be tested. Yet, everything I read talked about how much early intervention can help those with dyslexia. I knew if he had it, it was best to get him help now, and not wait until he was struggling through 3rd grade or until the school reading specialist noticed something.
After much push and shove on my part, I was finally able to get him tested. The doctor worked with him for a couple hours and when the results came back, I was not surprised to learn that Davis is dyslexic.
Now, after a year of tutoring and extra help from teachers, I am in awe at the reader that has emerged. His abilities have skyrocketed. Reading is still a struggle for him, and it might be for his whole life. Additionally, his dyslexia affects memory, attention, spelling, writing, speech, math facts and other areas of his academic life. This isn't something you cure or fix. It is the way his brain functions and something he will have to work around for always. But, learning about his uniquely wired brain has opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at my son. The abilities he has and the ways I can see his mind working through things far outshine the disabilities and struggles.
And, at last, he LOVES to read. We are working through the Magic Treehouse Books, just like I did with my bigger kids. He is excited about each new book, each new chapter. Tonight as I tucked him in, our chapter read and the cliffhanger ending waiting for us tomorrow, he said, "I just love to read, Mom! I love books!"
Me, too, my boy. But not as much as I love you!
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