Help Learning to Read

Learning to read is a very complex process for about 20% of all children.  Some children have a hard time unlocking the reading ‘code’ because they need multisensory reading instruction.  This means that all senses are activated and the instruction is direct, systematic, and taught from most common to least common.  Surprisingly, that is not the way reading is traditionally taught in most elementary classrooms.

If your son or daughter struggles to learn to read, the one thing to know is don’t wait to get help.  The investment you make by starting testing and/or tutoring will give a life time of dividend returns.  Study after study shows that early intervention is better than waiting to see if it is just a developmental issue.  With the high stakes testing in our public schools, waiting can mean your child being retained.  A year of specialized tutoring can make a world of difference.

Once your child becomes a good reader, I like Dr. John C. Maxwell’s philosophy of paying your child to read a book.  He is an internationally known author who explained that rather than getting allowance to do childhood chores, his parents paid him to read a book and write a one page summary.  The idea of this is that parents need to invest in nurturing what is important.  If reading print is too hard for your teen then have her listen to an audio book and then write up the report. 

The take away message is that if your intuition has you worried about your child’s reading skills, get them checked out.  I recommend that for tutoring you don’t just use any teacher but that you use a tutor who follows a specialized curriculum.  I know dyslexia tutors in our area (Jupiter Florida, Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Wellington, Stuart, Port St. Lucie, Vero Beach) that can help you.