Nate finished his writing course last night, with final grades this morning! This was a new experience for us. On quite a few levels. For starters – my oldest son has been conquering a tangle of learning differences that has delayed his speech, reading and writing.
I write this morning thinking of the mom with younger children. Facing the Thursday of week of frustration. Wondering if she has done enough. Wondering why the learning is so hard. Wondering if she will ever find a groove. Wondering why tears are a part of learning. Wondering what the number of the school district is.
When we were starting out at 4 and 5 years old, we didn’t know that our oldest had Audio Memory Deficiency as part of his Dyslexia. Or that he would have ADD type 2 with turrets. This boy who seemed to be a sponge of learning – would not retain random details. Which became evident only in the early years when to him, what sound ou and ow makes seemed irrelevant to him.
I had a mom ask me – “Why don’t you just go over the sounds with him every day? You could say the sound, over and over, and he could put them together and read?” Blank stare from me. This was several years into it. 3 or 4. In even the first 2 years, would anyone have any idea how long the poor boy and his very tired mom went over the sounds? With games? Cards? Computers? On a walk? In a car? On a Train? In the Rain? Sigh.
As we learned about Dyslexia – and this part of Audio Memory Deficiency – we learned that he didn’t have learning Disabilities, but rather learning differences. I had to learn to change how we taught the sounds and facts, to find how he would absorb them. I’ll work on writing through how we finally learned how to remember the tools of reading another day.
I just want to be one more voice – of sharing our stories with the moms of young kids – that age and maturity will come. So many moms told me that as they got older they would Read. They Would Write. And I believed them. Both of the boys now, reading – writing – creating. Prayer, seeking mentors, learning about their differences, and time.
Today Nate finished his eight week Middle School Powerful Paragraphs writing course. He had to write a paragraph in the end as an opinion review of the class. I was surprised when he shared that he was surprised he finished with a 98. The thought he’d get a 50 or 60. Our forward prayer and learning this year is to give so many opportunities to succeed with the skills that he has learned. His voice. His actions. His victories. His 150 foot Raccoon stories. 🙂
To the mom with a young struggling boy, when the tears come, hug ‘em. Make some cookies. Gather leaves. I think you’ll find that YOU will be learning far more these years than your little son. 🙂
+Angie Wright
Pebblekeeper 
I am 25 and I have learning disabilities…I remember trying to learn to read, my mom would write on flashcards with glue and glitter and sand…I would trace the words with my fingers as I said them aloud…that, (or perhaps it was my mothers close involvement) was key to my reading and comprehension skills…
There’s a movie called Dyslexia I think everyone will find interesting. It looks into different teaching techniques utilized in teaching students with learning disabilities.
This is a great little doucmentary, well Docu-comedy, and it is very funny.
Capturedtimeproductions.com
The movie studies the varying and unique approaches people take in dealing with Dyslexia. And how Teachers, Family and friends can help, as well as how Dyslexics like me can find our own ways of learning based on what our strengths are.
The film takes a very positive look at something that many consider a disability, it studies the unique strengths that children AND adults have when they have minds that work a little differently…
Follow the blog at captime.wordpress.com to see the journey of this film, as Harvey Hubbell tries to use education and comedy to raise awareness, and show people that all of us learn in our own “special” ways!
checkout our blog captime.wordpress.com…
And think about this…as our teachers look for new ways to improve our failing education system they should look to those heroes who help learning disabled students everyday…Many techniques discovered by pioneering Special Ed teachers have been found to be useful for teaching ALL students…
awesome blog as usual……love the pictures.
Having taught 3 children to read, and having homeschooled for 12 years I never thought that I could wind up in tears again over phonics. But I did, this week. The learning differences you’re describing in regards to Nate’s ability to remember a sound and associate it with letters is something that I have been on the road to discovering is an issue with my youngest son. I would love to hear what you’ve learned along the way in regards to that.
Thank you for reminding me that academic excellence is NOT the reason we chose to homeschool. We chose to homeschool so that our children could grow in a safe, loving place where they would be encouraged to find their place in the world and develop all the talents that God has given them.
Love this. I’ve watched so much of your journey from a distance but I’ve always clearly seen such a powerful desire to reach and teach and guide and love your boys.
They are all shiny with it! Way to go, Nate!!