Her son could recite Goodnight Moon word for word at two years old, but he couldn't learn his letter names. He couldn't rhyme. He could read "redeemer" in scripture but not "an."
Liz from Idaho never planned to homeschool. Her husband wasn't sold on it either, so they made a deal: try kindergarten at home for a year, and if it didn't work, he'd go to school. After that year, her husband became the biggest homeschool advocate in the house.
Then came the reading. Five reading curriculums. Every Orton-Gillingham program she could find. Speech therapy, OT, an endless line for the neuropsychologist. When nothing worked, Liz figured, "it must be me," so she got trained herself. Today she's a dyslexia therapist, certified in EBLI, and in grad school for speech-language pathology.
In this episode, Liz explains the 3 D's in plain language:
- Dyslexia: reading
- Dysgraphia: handwriting and getting thoughts onto paper
- Dyscalculia: understanding quantity, time and counting
She also covers:
- The early signs she wishes more parents knew
- Why speech to print finally clicked for her son, who came up three grade levels in spelling in nine hours of instruction
- How audiobooks gave him a college-level vocabulary while he was still decoding at a 2nd-grade level
- Where to start with a kindergartner, and when to stop pushing
- Three-cueing, the "Reading Wars," and why she calls teaching kids to read her "civil disobedience"
Then the honest part. This year her son started school in 6th grade, and Liz gets emotional talking about it. If you've ever felt like putting your child in school means you failed, this conversation is for you. It isn't failure. It's paying attention to what your kid needs right now.
If your child is fighting you on reading, remember Liz's line: there's a difference between not being interested in reading and not being able to do it.
Resources mentioned:
For Speech to Print and Structured Linguistic Literacy, check out this page
Reading Simplified
Truth About Reading
EBLI
Sold a Story
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Epic App
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