Most public and private schools are geared to instruct one type of learner. The traditional school setting is designed to instruct through reading information and then “spitting out” those facts in writing, either by taking a test, answering a worksheet, or writing a report. However, many intelligent kids aren’t able to express their knowledge in this manner.

If your child demonstrates his brainpower in an unconventional way, he or she might be considered an unsuccessful student, could receive poor grades, may be threatened with grade retention, or be required to attend summer school. These outcomes are unacceptable to most parents. But what do you if your child is a non-traditional learner?

In the past, if a child struggled with reading, spelling, and writing he or she could choose an occupation that didn’t require these skills. However, in our modern 21^st century this is no longer an option. For example, if a young man was mechanically inclined, he could make a decent living repairing cars. He could manipulate his environment to avoid reading and writing. But today the job of an auto mechanic has become so technical that he has to rely on written information to repair the car correctly.

This might sound discouraging, but it is not! If you realize that your child is not learning as easily as his peers, you’ve already taken the first step. There are other essential qualities that dedicated parents need in order to assist their child as they overcome their struggles:

1. Commitment and Dedication– you need to be committed to your child and his success, no matter what obstacles may come your way!

2. Endurance – There are no quick fixes! The process of assisting your child will take time. Overcoming learning challenges is not an easy road, but it is always worthwhile.

3. Education – Educate yourself about your child’s learning differences and discover how he or she learns best.

4. Advocacy – Become your child’s advocate in the school system. Being able to explain your child’s challenges and how he learns is essential to their school achievement.

The key to your child’s success will be your dedication to their success. You cannot allow your child to struggle through another school day. Your son or daughter needs help now since they may have an undiagnosed learning disability, like dyslexia. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability and effects up to 20% of our population. If slow, choppy, inaccurate reading, terrible spelling, and poor handwriting characterize your child, he or she needs help and needs it as soon as possible. Waiting will not help or change the situation.

If you take appropriate steps to help your child now, the sky will be their limit in the future!

Now is the perfect time to get a handle on your child’s struggles and get the kind of help he or she needs to succeed!

Many children and adults struggle with an undiagnosed learning disability that can affect reading, spelling, and writing. There are many misconceptions by both parents and teachers regarding reading instruction. Below is list of reading myths that has been adapted from Michael Pressley’s book Reading Instruction that Works. Below are several common reading misconceptions:

• “Learning to read is a natural process.” People will often suggest that children will learn to read if they are immersed in a literacy-rich environment. If reading was natural, everyone would be able to read and we wouldn’t be worried about the “literacy crisis” facing our country. According to the National Institute for Literacy, 40% of 4^th graders lack even the most basic reading skills.
• “Children will eventually read if they are given enough time.” Research has shown that if a child is not reading grade-appropriate materials by the time he is in the 4^th grade, the odds of him ever developing good reading skills are slim. Of course, it is possible to turn that around with proper reading and spelling intervention.
• “Skilled reading involves syntactic and semantic cues to “guess” words, and good readers make many ‘mistakes’ as they read text.” Studies show that only poor readers use context clues to guess at words. Good readers depend upon the visual information in the word, so he can sound out the word successfully.
• “Phonemic Awareness (the ability to hear sounds within words) is a consequence (not a cause) of reading acquisition.” The evidence showing the importance of phonemic awareness as a valuable pre-reading skill is overwhelming. Children who develop phonemic awareness are more likely to develop good word decoding skills and become better readers.

Don’t let your child become a reading statistic – get your son or daughter appropriate help now!