Learning to read is the most fundamental skill children must achieve to have a chance of success in the world. Most children learn to read with ease. However, for those that don’t, and are thrust into the “learning disabled” or “dyslexic” box, the world changes for everyone: the child, the parents/guardians, and the teachers.
I have fallen in love with teaching children who struggle with reading. I didn’t choose to be a reading specialist—this job chose me. My story begins with a little boy who sat in school during his first year of school and failed: at learning to read, learning to write, and learning to engage. Once labeled a “failure,” he now holds a Ph.D.
For the past twenty years, I have worked with children, from 7-17, who were disengaged, disregarded, and discounted. I found multiple ways around any challenges they encountered and subsequently taught them to read so they could take their rightful place in the world.
To me, teaching struggling readers is the most exciting and fulfilling job in the world.
What’s my secret? Changing the initial learning-to-read process. And, sharing my knowledge on different approaches to learning. The greater knowledge teachers have of the challenges which struggling readers face in reading, the greater the chance of reading success.
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