Children with Reading Difficulties

Does your child have a reading difficulty?  Both of my boys had difficulty learning to read.  I was surprised when this happened.  I had read to them since they were babies.  We visited the public library and checked out books.  They went to toddler story hour every Thursday morning.  Yet, they had difficulty learning to read.  If your child has a reading difficulty, this can make school difficult for them and you.  It’s hard for them to read their social studies book or their science book.  I remember reading those books with my kids.  “OK.  You read a paragraph and then I’ll read a paragraph.”  Homework was not a pleasant time in our family.  In fact, it caused great disharmony at home.  We never gave up though, year after year we struggled along.  When they were in  junior high and high school, I hired college students to help with homework.  They were lucky to get this extra help from me and tutors. 

Now the boys are twenty-six and twenty-four.  The oldest one who was in RSP (a branch of Special Education) in grades third through sixth is now getting his PH.D in Organic Chemistry.  In high school, I had him reevaluated and from this evaluation he was able to get extra time on the SATs which is a test that is required for most colleges.  He took the SATs three times before he got a high enough score.  In college, I told him “Cs get a degree.”  In the first two years of college, I was happy to see Cs.  When he took Organic Chemistry, he got an A and had found his niche.  Oh, happy day!  It took him seven years to get an undergraduate degree.  With his slow reading, he only took three classes a semester.

In my next blog, I will talk about my younger son’s difficulty with reading. 

Many immigrants or migrants in the United States may have had little prior schooling in their home country and may only be able to read a few words in their native language.  When immigrants have access to language and literacy instruction, they can increase their literacy skills.  Which in turn will help them participate more in their community and the job market.

Our series English Reading and Spelling for the Spanish Speaker is an excellent place to begin for Spanish speakers who need to learn how to read and spell in English.  This series uses a very systematic and explicit approach in teaching the English speech sounds which are necessary in learning to read.

Visit our website at www.Fisher-Hill.com to see all of our workbooks for Spanish-speaking teens and adults.

Image courtesy syracuse.com