I thought McKenna would be easy to homeschool. She is very smart. She retains words quickly and she’s very inquisitive. Preschool was great and kindergarten started off great until we progressed into harder levels of reading. Guess what her favorite thing to say about homeschool is? I love school with Mommy but I don’t like to read!
This girl has me so confused. She knows SO many words but she doesn’t want to put them together. She doesn’t even want to try. If we open a book and she doesn’t know that she will be able to read it perfectly she refuses to attempt it at all. I try not to compare my children but Parker and McKenna are the same age and it’s hard to watch him progress through the reading levels and enjoy books while she doesn’t want to read at all.
I’ve tried so many different techniques to get her over the hump this year, knowing that once she gets past her quest for perfection she will love books as much as I do. But nothing is working and oh.my.gosh I’m glad it’s summer so we can both take a break from the pressure of reading.
We recently saw a neuropsychiatrist to look at some of the long term issues McKenna has and she was reassured by her scores despite having a cerebral hemorrhage soon after birth. She noticed a discrepancy in her intelligence level and the work she was able to produce but did not spend much time on this issue so I wasn’t too concerned.
Until I watched this video.
This is only the first in a four part series on stealth dyslexia from MomAssembly and I came away with so much information to help me help her.
So much of this rang true for McKenna and I’m relieved I watched this now so that I have something to talk with her specialists about rather than going through another frustrating year without any direction.
I spent a long time looking through the MomAssembly site and all of the videos are just as good as this. They are conducted by well-versed specialists and don’t just talk about the issues that us moms have already read about in baby books but give real, hands-ons solutions to help get through every age and every issue with our kids. I’m diving into their library again to get some help with my five year-old’s sleep schedule (or lack of).
MomAssembly, co-founded by Jill Spivack and Jen Waldburger is such a huge wealth of information. I rarely spend money on online subscriptions but this is one site that is worth the very affordable cost. It’s $3.99/month annually or $7.99 a month if you want to pay monthly and either subscription comes with a free 7 day trial.
But wait I have good news! (Do I sound like an infomercial yet?)
The first 10 readers to complete sign up for a subscription plan through this link will receive their first month free!!
So run, or just sit on your couch and click away, to get your subscription to MomAssembly. It is well, well worth it.
MomAssembly compensated me for my time and provided me with a subscription for this review but all opinions and stubborn children are my own.
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We have our moments. I’m just so glad that your little girl is loving school, only that she doesn’t love to read. How about giving her a little more time? I helped my mom raise my little sister and she had a stage similar to McKenna wherein she wouldn’t want to read at all. My mother never took away the books because she was very patient with Dallas, my sister. Give her a little more time. After all, childhood need not be rushed, what I do believe is that you’re doing a fantastic job as a parent. Keep it up!
Thanks so much for sharing your sister’s story.
This is awesome! As a Mom to two children with dyslexia, this looks like a wonderful resource! My six year old also struggles with anxiety and won’t answer questions if she thinks she will get it wrong. So much like your daughter, it sounds. The frustrating part for me was that the school refused to test either of my girls because a.)they weren’t far enough behind and b.) they were girls and “girls aren’t usually dyslexic.” There is so much misinformation regarding dyslexia. At any rate, I refused to wait for them to fall behind and they have a tutor they see regularly. Early intervention is really the key! Ok, now I am off to check out their site! Thanks for sharing!
So interesting, I would love to hear more about how you are working with your 6 y/o. I’m having such a hard time finding ways to help McKenna read.
My 6 y/o primarily works with her tutor. Her tutor uses the Orton-Gillingham method, while my older daughter did better with the Wilson Reading system which employs tapping the syllables. You can find information on both those systems here. http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/tools/reading-programs/comparison
Another resource I found helpful as I struggled with my daughter was this site.
http://www.ldonline.org/questions/reading
I didn’t understand for a long time how she could sound out a word and one minute later not have a clue what it was. My 6 y/o struggled with the names of shapes, letters and letter sounds. Half way through Kindergarten, and after two years of preschool, she still couldn’t recognize most of the alphabet. I honestly credit her advancements to her tutor. She didn’t work well with me, but has grown leaps and bounds with her tutor. She and her sister both read at grade level, which to me is a miracle.
Both girls still struggle, but with the aid of some early intervention, they are both doing fine in school. However, my 6 y/o will likely always test below par because of her anxiety. Every year I have to work with her teacher to convince them that a timed test is like the end of the world for her. Time completely stresses her out.
I am happy to share any other information you might find useful! Feel free to email me!
Thank you so much for all of this information Stacey, I’m checking out the websites now and will definitely email you if/when I need more help. Thanks again!!
This makes so much sense to me and gives me a new place to start this August as well… Dyslexia runs in my husbands family so it was something I considered ruled out. Kindergarten reading was the hardest hurdle for us. Thanks so much for posting this!