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Should I Homeschool?

Should I Homeschool?

by | Feb 27, 2022 | , , , , ,

With a large part of the world at least partially homeschooling this past year and students falling behind, some parents are asking whether they should homeschool their kids for the rest of the school year or perhaps for the 2022-23. Homeschooling during the pandemic really isn’t like how homeschooling was before the pandemic – because many museums and community groups are closed or have closed their classes, homeschooling groups may not be meeting in-person, or if in-person, smaller, with social distancing in place. Still, homeschooling can be a powerful option for students if financially viable. Homeschooling can allow students to have more individualized remediation and cultivate their strengths and talents.   ADVANTAGES OF HOMESCHOOLING FOR DYSLEXIC STUDENTS – Customized education – build on strengths and […]

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Education During the Pandemic: Preparing for the Unpreparable [Premium]

Education During the Pandemic: Preparing for the Unpreparable [Premium]

by | Feb 11, 2022 | , , , , , , , ,

As I am writing this, omicron cases have not reached their peak in the US, and calls for schools to close again because of the extreme contagiousness of this variant. How do parents, teachers, and tutors prepare for another unpredictable year?   ONE STUDENT AT A TIME If pandemic education has told us anything thus far, it’s that students will tell us what they need as much as any best laid plans. No matter what you decided for your students for the past year, reviewing what worked and what didn’t can be valuable going forward. If you have several children, you might have seen something work for one student, but not another. As before, the goals should be focusing on reasonable fits and not inflexible […]

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Strength-based Thinking and Communication through Metaphor [Premium]

Strength-based Thinking and Communication through Metaphor [Premium]

by | Feb 9, 2022 | , , , , ,

“Since dyslexics are visual learners and thinkers, I make sure to integrate that into how I work throughout the day. I always approach architecture decisions via white-boarding. I use metaphors when I explain things to other people or when I try to reason about the problem space in my head…” – Josh Brunner, from Embracing Dyslexia as a Software Engineer   An interesting thing happened when researchers (sorry free abstract only) set out to study figurative language in dyslexic and non-dyslexic people. Dyslexia is often referred to as a “language learning disability” and in the usually deficit-focused literature, there have been plenty of studies that might have suggested figurative language could be problematic – but Kasirer and Mashal also were aware of the creativity literature […]

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Higher Math for Scientists: Don’t Give Up [Premium]

Higher Math for Scientists: Don’t Give Up [Premium]

by | Feb 8, 2022 | , , , , , ,

“…To be a successful scientist, you need to do what you like to do. If you don’t like mathematics, don’t give up. That doesn’t forestall you’re being a scientist at all.” — E.O. Wilson   One of the first science professors I had as a freshman at Harvard was E.O. Wilson, a pioneer of Evolutionary Biology, and scientific giant. I would only learn years later that he was also dyslexic, struggled with math, and was blind in one eye due to a childhood injury. He passed away in December at the age of 92, and left a legacy of insights on the natural sciences and the education of young scientists. One bit of advice that drew him into controversy was his strong insistence that “being […]

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Literature for Dyslexics [Premium]

Literature for Dyslexics [Premium]

by | Feb 2, 2022 | , , , , ,

“What can students learn from literature they cannot learn elsewhere? Why should they bother?” — Gary Morson   At the same time that Brock and I have been reviewing the research literature for our update for Dyslexic Advantage, I also came across an article by Russian Literature professor Gary Morson on Why College Kids are Avoiding the Study of Literature. As it turns out, some of the problems and solutions he identifies has direct implications for dyslexic readers.   THE CHALLENGES The challenges facing dyslexic readers and complex literature are many – there is so much of it, for instance, the sheer quantity may be impossible for younger readers even if they are able to listen-read through audiobooks; great literature may also have complex grammar […]

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Finding the Positive

Finding the Positive

by | Jan 19, 2022 | , , , , ,

Recently, I received an email from parents of a student that we tested almost ten years ago. They were celebrating their recent news of his acceptance into his college “dream” pick. Things had looked very different a decade ago, but since that time, I know he had flourished under homeschooling, tutors, and remote schooling. He won some Dyslexic Advantage student awards and another award at the national level. Almost the same time, a letter came in sharing a similar aged student’s struggle. He was coming to the end of his academic career and yet was frustrated, embittered, and exhausted. What would the future hold for him? EDUCATIONAL MISMATCHES ABOUND FOR DYSLEXIA – FIND THE POSITIVE The reality is that educational mismatches abound for dyslexic students; […]

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MATH: Learning Through Examples, Not Repetition and Drill [Premium]

MATH: Learning Through Examples, Not Repetition and Drill [Premium]

by | Jan 19, 2022 | , , , ,

“… children with dyslexia, because of disruption to left hemisphere language area, use a less optimal route for retrieval-base arithmetic, engaging right hemisphere parietal regions typically used by good readers for procedural-based arithmetic.” — Evans et al, 2014   TEACH MATH TO DYSLEXIC STUDENTS THROUGH STRENGTHS It was a research group at Georgetown University that first made the observations that a group of school age dyslexic students used a different brain strategy when doing single digit arithmetic. As it turns out, an area of the brain (left angular gyrus) implicated in some of reading difficulties associated with dyslexia is also the area of the brain that processes math learning through drill in non-dyslexic kids. So math drill may be the exactly wrong way to teach […]

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Connecting the Dots with John Chambers of CISCO [Premium]

Connecting the Dots with John Chambers of CISCO [Premium]

by | Jan 13, 2022 | , , , , , , ,

“A lot of leaders would say they’re curious. I can tell you from personal experience that most leaders are not. They don’t ask a lot of questions, rarely challenge conventional wisdom, stick with what they know, and often turn to sources that reinforce their existing point of view… my curiosity about things I don’t understand has been a critical factor in my success as a leader.” – John Chambers   I recently came across a book review of Chambers’ book by Emma Wallace, a fellow dyslexic who works in a very different industry, fashion. Despite these differences, Chambers’ description of strengths resonated.   “Not only has dyslexia meant that for John (and myself) it forced him to learn important skills early on: persistence, finding your […]

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Better Living Through Technology with Auto-Text and Macros [Premium]

Better Living Through Technology with Auto-Text and Macros [Premium]

by | Jan 13, 2022 | , , , , ,

=Here’s how you can simplify writing and other work tasks using technology.   AUTO-TEXT If you use Gmail or Outlook for your email, you may have already see examples of automatic text. As an example, if you are typing an email with Smart Compose turned on in Gmail, typing “how” will generate a prompt for “how are you” in lighter text, so that you you hit the tab key and have the rest of the phrase written. The settings are under the Gear settings at top right. This can be very convenient, a time saver, and hack that is likely to reduce the chance of typos or other mistakes, but there is a privacy dilemma that Google may be accessing what you write (see more […]

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Helping Kids to Practice Reading Aloud [Premium]

Helping Kids to Practice Reading Aloud [Premium]

by | Jan 11, 2022 | , , ,

Reading aloud can improve reading fluency, but for many students reading aloud at school causes stress and embarrassment. So what to do?   SMALL GROUP or 1:1 READING At school, students may be able to get important practice in small groups or paired group reading or 1:1 with a teacher or teacher’s aide. There are also newly available free resources from Google Reading Tutor or Microsoft Reading Progress that record students reading, analyze speed and mistakes, and chart students’ progress over time.     The picture above is an example of a report generated by Microsoft’s Reading Progress program. A formal software program is not needed for every day practice however; some students may be motivated by such a program, while others may not. For […]

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Multiple Choice Questions and Dyslexia [Premium]

Multiple Choice Questions and Dyslexia [Premium]

by | Jan 5, 2022 | , , , ,

One bane of higher education and professionals is the ubiquity of multiple choice questions and tests acting as gatekeepers for higher levels of credentialing, program admission, or pay.   This problem affects individuals seeking their GED, drivers licenses, college entrance exams, graduate school exams, professional licensing and credentialing exams, and formal performance reviews in company settings. Individuals with stellar educational and work achievements, may find their advance in schooling or job positions blocked because of trouble on multiple choice tests which may hold inappropriate sway on assessments and evaluation. Why?   WHY MULTIPLE CHOICE TESTING IS A COMMON CHOICE FOR ASSESSMENT One of the reasons that multiple choice questions are so pervasive is that once written, a database of questions can be used to automate […]

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The Social-Emotional Side of Dyslexia [Premium]

The Social-Emotional Side of Dyslexia [Premium]

by | Jan 4, 2022 | , , , , , ,

“A lot of the time I take the parts of learning that are still hard for me as rejection — as someone telling me I can’t. I see points taken off for misspelled words on in-class English essays, and I start to see my future crumbling. I see the colleges that my dyslexia could prohibit me from going to. I see the kids with better scores, who don’t need tutors, or extra time, and I feel jealous. I feel worthless.” – Anna Kopelmann   The social emotional journey for dyslexic people can be complex and change over time depending on one’s life contexts, support, and environment. As few as 1 in 4 dyslexic students may be formally identified in public school systems, leaving the majority […]

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