October is Dyslexia Awareness Month

October also shines a light with bringing awareness to Dyslexia.  We wanted to share resources for yourself, for your family, and for your child’s school.  Awareness creates understanding which then empowers those around us to be able to see the struggles our children experience.  We are then better equipped to help and teach them in a way they can be successful.

One terrific resource is the International Dyslexia Association:

https://dyslexiaida.org/dyslexia-basics/

 

Read here to find out common signs and symptoms of Dyslexia starting from preschool-high school:

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/understanding-dyslexia#item1

 

Click here to experience how a child is dealing with a learning or attention difficulty:

https://www.understood.org/en/tools/through-your-childs-eyes?gclid=CjwKCAjw3_HOBRBaEiwAvLBbomy-fC21AGAv14y2aQkw1iHZOhcYpbzgRiDfqGZ0TlM5cOekC9fOLxoC3SwQAvD_BwE

 

Of course, we feel that all children benefit from being taught as if they have Dyslexia. If you’re interested in hearing more about Orton-Gillingham or a multi-sensory approach to teaching reading, please contact us at confidentolustions7@gmail.com.  Read below for an interesting article on how all children benefit:

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/why-we-should-teach-all-pupils-if-they-have-dyslexia

 

Some research on how a Dyslexic brain works:

http://www.bu.edu/research/articles/dyslexic-brain/

 

20 Things parents of children with Dyslexia would understand:

http://www.lifehack.org/285680/20-things-only-parents-children-with-dyslexia-would-understand
Dyslexia in the general education classroom:

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/dyslexia-in-general-ed-classroom-kelli-sandman-hurley?utm_content=blog&utm_campaign=dylexia-in-gen-ed-class&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_term=link

 

Different types of Dyslexia:

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/different-types-of-dyslexia?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=understoodorg
Dyslexia and the law. Can my child receive an IEP, 504 plan, or accommodations? (Hint: Dyslexia is considered a learning disability, which is recognized in schools) :

http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/community/dyslexia-and-special-education-law/

http://www.wrightslaw.com/nltr/13/nl.1015.htm

 

An excellent book on Dyslexia:

http://dyslexia.yale.edu/book_Overcoming.html

https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Dyslexia-Complete-Science-Based-Problems/dp/0679781595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498261380&sr=8-1&keywords=overcoming+dyslexia+by+sally+shaywitz
Frequently asked questions:

https://dyslexiaida.org/frequently-asked-questions-2/

From Learning Disabilitlies Association of America:

https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/dyslexia/

Question and answer session on the benefits of having Dyslexia:

https://www.wired.com/2011/09/dyslexic-advantage/

Christina tutors students of all ages with Dyslexia and learning disabilities using Orton-Gillingham.  If interested in more details, please reach out to us at confidentsolutions7@gmail.com.
With Appreciation,

Christina and Wendy 

 

What Makes a Good Reader?

Often times, parents will ask how can they  help their child become a stronger reader. There are several components necessary for building a strong reader and when one of the components is weaker, it can affect other areas such as comprehension. The components include:

Phonemic awareness skills-which is having the ability to manipulate sounds that make up our spoken language

Phonics skills-which is having the understanding that there are relationships between letters and sounds

Fluency skills-which is reading with accuracy, speed, and expression (or prosody)

Application of reading comprehension strategies to enhance their understanding, and they should enjoy what they are reading. Reading should be fun! 

Within these components, a child must also utilize known strategies for decoding new words, know how to figure out the meaning of new vocabulary, and pull that together for smooth fluency.   Some children learn these reading skills regardless of how they are taught while other children truly need these skills taught explicitly meaning they need them taught through direct instruction.

There can be a fine line between a struggling reader and a reluctant reader.  A struggling reader will be having difficulties with one or more of the above areas and, often times, as the child gets older can “mask” those missed skills.  A reluctant reader could be a struggling reader or could be that he/she hasn’t yet developed the overall fluency skills necessary to enjoy a book.  I do want to remind parents that reader’s theatre passages, comic books, graphic novels and poetry books are good resources to use for having a student choose a book or reading material that he/she is interested in.   It’s also important for a child to be choosing independent reading books that is “just right”. What does “just right” mean?  It means that your child can open a book to any given page and have less than five decoding errors.  Plus, they should be able to tell you what was read.

If you want to strengthen your child’s overall reading, it’s important to first determine the area or areas he/she needs to focus on.   If your child is struggling overall with comprehension then it’s possible he/she needs help with the three previous skills stated above.

I’ll work on typing up a “series” of reading information and strategies for the different components above.  In the meantime, if you have any specific questions please e-mail them to me at confidentsolutions7@gmail.com.

We also have some helpful reading resources and books on our Pinterest page.  You can check them out here https://www.pinterest.com/confidentsoluti/boards/

With love of reading,

Christina

Homeschool Classes: Orton-Gillingham Plus

Orton-Gillingham Reading Plus

Beginning on Wednesday, August 23rd, weekly homeschool classes lasting an hour and 15 minutes  will begin with Orton-Gillingham tutoring and moving into language acquisition of skills.  Students will be explicitly taught reading through a multi-sensory approach teaching phonemic awareness, decoding skills, encoding skills, blending, memory techniques, and handwriting.  The students will then make a smooth transition into language acquisition focusing on fluency which includes prosody, rate and accuracy of reading as well as comprehension skills.  Other specific areas targeted based on your child’s needs could be sequencing, categorizing, answering “wh” questions, and recalling details.

Orton-Gillingham (OG) is a language based, multi-sensory approach to reading. This will help your child if he/she is struggling with reading and spelling.  This enriches your homeschool reading curriculum.  When paired with language skills, your child will have a dynamic support of tools with direct teaching that benefits him/her in several areas of their life such as reading, writing, spelling, and communicating.

Confident Solutions, LLC is unique because we offer a combined approach in OG and language skills. This approach will not only focus on  finding your child’s strengths but will specifically address the areas that need improvement in the acquisition of language and literacy. Spoken language provides the foundation for the development of reading and writing. Spoken and written language build on each other which creates language and literacy competency. When language acquisition is paired with Orton-Gillingham tutoring we can help prevent written language problems by fostering language acquisition and emergent literacy.

75 minute classes are $75.00 per week and are grouped K-2, 3rd-5th, and 6th-8th.  If you currently have a high schooler that would benefit from these classes, please contact us.   All classes are held at University Ridge Office Center, 1905 JN Pease Place, Suite 201, Charlotte, NC 28262.  We need one registration form per family.  You may pay for one class at a time or for a full month.  Groups will consist of no more than 5 children.  Registration will stay open each week unless a group becomes full.

Groups run every Wednesday, beginning on August 23rd. The full list of dates can be found on the registration form.

K-2 meets from 10:00-11:15

3rd-5th grades meets from 11:30-12:45

6th-8th graders meet from 1:00-2:15

To register your child, please fill out this form Registration for Homeschooling Classes-Fall semester and e-mail it to us at confidentsolutions7@gmail.com.

If you would like more information about our homeschool classes, please send us an e-mail.  We would love to schedule a time to talk with you!

With Appreciation,

Christina and Wendy

What Is Inside of my OG Bag?

My Orton-Gillingham bag is full of fantastic resources and tools to help a child read. It is quite heavy!  I  was looking for a large bag that would zip close.  I decided on this bag from Lands End because of the pockets on the inside and the heavy fabric.

Sitting right inside is my double blending board.  I found this one on Etsy.  It’s made in Colorado using blue stain pine.  Love it as much as i do? Check out their Etsy site here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/245551667/18-single-blending-board-with-blue-stain?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=blending%20board&ref=sc_gallery_3&plkey=f08b7dba599f0db574d5a0464f6715fba28101e6:245551667

I have two sets of the OG card packs. These are used during each session to review sounds, teach new sounds, and practice how they are spelled.  We than practice how to blend the sounds together on the board.

 

I found two perfectly sized containers at Target to hold my red and green crayons.  You can buy just red or green crayons straight from amazon. Here’s a link: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=red+crayons

I have this little 31 tote bag inside that holds different sized sticky notes as well as extra colored index cards.  It’s important to be able to find what I need quickly in my bag when working with a child.

Those colored index cards make the vowel tents.  This is where we practice the open and closed sounds of the vowels not only in isolation but in words as well.

Flip those vowel tents inside out, prop them back up and you have the different sounds that -ed makes.

I love a good notebook! 🙂 I have a notebook for everything! Here is where I can quickly take notes on each student and later write it in their individual file.

No OG is complete without their multi-sensory sand. It has two different colors with two different grains.  When we pour it on a paper plate and the student spells the sound, the color pops through.

Here’s where the inside pockets of my large bag come in handy. I have three small containers.  One for glue sticks and tape, one for vowel intensive craft sticks, and one for highlighters and pens.  I also have individual pouches of pencils and my scissors.

An important tool is the Recipe for Reading book. It has letter sounds, vowel digraphs, consonant blends, and spelling rules in a sequential cumulative order.

Another 31 bag that I previously had sits at the bottom of my bag with all of my file folders.  I have an individual file folder for each student, assessments, literacy connection pieces, phonological awareness activities, encoding and decoding tools.

This is a wonderful tool for encoding phonetic words.

 

For decoding new words, students learn the different syllable division patterns. I personally love this activity. 🙂 The composition notebook is cut in half. After the student completes a decoding activity through syllable division, she/he glues it into their notebook to create an interactive colorful notebook with the syllable division rule. We also add vocabulary meanings when necessary.  We use the highlighters here which not only makes it colorful but easy to locate the individual rules.

 

I stapled my baggies of felt to the inside of my Elkonin Boxes folders for students who need extra practice with Phonological Awareness.

This Phonological Awareness book creates practice of skills through fun and engaging games.

A file folder with everything I need to teach a new red word.

 

Another important piece is strengthening vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency.  I have books and folders of reading passages that align with the lesson being learned that specifically work on each of those three areas.  I also have a file folder of different levels of reader’s theater for students to practice reading.

If you would like to receive updates to our website, please enter your e-mail address on our home page and connect with us on Facebook.

Check us out on Pinterest as well! We are finding some useful resources that we love sharing.

https://www.pinterest.com/confidentsoluti/boards/

 

If you’re interested in OG tutoring, or hearing more about Orton-Gillingham, please send me an e-mail at confidentsolutions7@gmail.com.  Please put OG Tutoring in the subject line.

With Gratitude,

Christina

OG Tutoring

The Orton-Gillingham approach was originally used to teach people with dyslexia how to read.  However, this systematic, multi-sensory approach truly benefits all learners.  If your child is struggling to read, please contact me for further information about tutoring using the Orton-Gillingham approach.  Filling in the gaps and teaching necessary reading skills to your child will benefit him/her throughout their life.  Having the ability to pick up a book, read it and get lost in the story is a true gift.  I would love to help your child succeed! If you would like more information about tutoring or what the Orton-Gillingham approach is, you can reach me at confidentsolutions7@gmail.com.  Please put OG Tutoring in the subject line.

With Appreciation,

Christina

 

Communicating an “Invisible Disability”

We are aware of the challenges of communicating an “invisible disability” with a teacher, administrator and even a relative.  What do we mean by “invisible disability?”  This refers to a disability other people can not easily see, and often times, they will unknowingly bear judgment towards the parent and/or child.  The disability may be ADD/ADHD, anxiety, Asperger’s Syndrome, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, etc.  Unfortunately, we may hear teachers or relatives imply the child needs more discipline or will offer an opinion about how to parent.   Usually there’s a “therefore…” thought that follows. People who don’t deal with invisible disabilities on a daily basis often want the child to perform to their expectations. Their individual awareness of what the child struggles with becomes apparent. If you pull back and look at the situation, often these statements from other adults are coming from a place of their personal awareness, social expectations and individual experiences they have had in their lives.  Often, as adults, we struggle seeing beyond our own personal experiences.

So, how do we communicate with people who do not “see” the disability? This is especially important if they have an influence in the child’s life (such as a relative or teacher).

As a parent, you are in the role of helping your child succeed.  First, you are gaining information about your child and his or her disability.  As you work with other professionals, attend classes, and build your child’s team, you are creating a shift of awareness within yourself.  Understanding where your child’s strengths and weaknesses lie and setting goals to further help your child will create a shift within your family.

As awareness increases you will be setting up expectations and goals at home.  What do you expect as a parent?  How do you communicate and help your child with these expectations at home?  What are your expectations and goals for yourself? A plan will begin to form based on your new knowledge. Your parenting style may change.

Hold true to your plan even if a grandparent, aunt or uncle can not understand it.  Remember, they have awareness based on their experiences.  You may choose to give information to a family member along the way, but we recommend doing so with an open heart instead of a goal of creating a shift in them.

When working with teachers and school staff, understand two things: one, they are working with your child from their experiences and training, and two they may see your child in a different light. Difficulties you experience at home may not be the same as what they are experiencing  at school. Share your knowledge; but listen to theirs as well.  Share evaluations and your home experiences but also remember to be open to  hearing about situations from school.  You both may have different perspectives, but work towards coming together for the benefit of your child.

With your child’s teacher, come up with a plan for school.  Be specific in your expectations.  Are you hoping to have your child’s teacher gain more awareness of how your child thinks socially?  Or are you wanting them to help your child experience more academic success?  We have found that you will have more success  communicating with your child’s school when you have one or two specific goals in mind.

In closing, we are aware that “invisible disabilities” are very real.  They affect our children differently in different environments.  The level of impact one of these disabilities has on a child can be significant in all areas of their life.  Ultimately, you are creating a shift in thinking within yourself, creating goals and expectations for your family, bridging a gap with your child’s school, and holding true to your plan when around extended family.  Although these areas can be challenging, consistency with your overall plan will reap the greatest reward.

With Appreciation,

Christina and Wendy