Today I had a 25 year veteran teacher tell me about the guilt she feels by how she taught reading all these years, by “whole word.”
This guilt is driving her to learn about how the brain works and change her way of teaching reading. The seeds have been planted and I can see the tremendous impact she’ll make in the future.
My wish is that more teacher’s would come to this realization. So many lives could be changed.
My son’s best friend suffered for years in special education. His friend was in special ed for years and was dyslexic and ADHD. By 4th grade he was three years behind. He was being teased and the stress was causing him to scratch himself raw. His family went thru due process…an extremely stressful situation. It’s such a difficult process that the following years they opted to forgo it and paid $20,000 each year to educate their child. They are not a wealthy family by any means. I’ve heard stories of families that take second mortgages, just so their kid could go to that school and learn to read. Had this child received the proper literacy instruction early on, years of strife and heartache could have been avoided.
My child attended a school that specializes in dyslexia. At the first parent gathering, the headmaster spoke, “All of our children come to us as damaged goods.” I thought of my son’s friend, and how for so many children it’s true.