Read and Spell Blog

Literacy skills are one of the most important areas of ability children develop in their first few years at school. That's why it's crucial to provide fluency strategies for struggling readers as soon as a learning difficulty is picked up.

Most children begin by sounding out words and learning to recognize common vocabulary from books and classroom materials. With sight reading and more spelling practice comes greater fluency. Reading then speeds up and comprehension of more complex texts becomes possible as vocabulary knowledge grows exponentially. However, not all students find learning to read such an easy process. Struggling readers can quickly fall behind their peers and may develop low self-esteem and a lack of confidence as a result.

Because reading ability affects performance across all areas of the curriculum, including writing skills, it’s important to provide adequate strategy training as early as possible. Ideally remediation is tailored to the individual student’s needs, particularly when a learning difficulty is involved.

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Dyspraxia vs. apraxia of speech

Dyspraxia is a fine and/or gross motor skills difficulty that may also affect learning. Symptoms range in severity and can make it difficult for a child to dress him or herself, hold a pen or pencil and perform other daily activities. Estimates in the UK suggest that 1 child in every 10 struggles with some form of dyspraxia.

While apraxia is a related neurological condition, it represents a complete loss of motor skills impairing a person in a particular capacity. There are different kinds of apraxia but in the case of apraxia of speech, the muscles of the mouth including the tongue, jaw, cheeks, palate and lips cannot be coordinated to produce intelligible spoken language.

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9 Strategies for dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a specific learning difficulty that affects writing skills. While no two individuals will experience the same set of symptoms, dysgraphia can cause difficulty with forming letters, spacing words and even organizing text into complete sentences. Students with dysgraphia may struggle with taking notes in class, completing homework and long-term assignments, and performing well on traditional assessment measures.

Producing text by hand is often both difficult and painful, causing everything from cramping in the muscles of the hand to excessive sweating and high anxiety. Over time, this can lead to poor performance and falling behind in lessons due to an inability to take notes. It may also result in avoidance of school and extra-curricular activities that involve writing.

Fortunately, there are strategies and classroom accommodations for dysgraphia that can help. These include allowing the use of audio-recorders in the classroom and teaching touch-typing so computers can be used as an alternative to handwriting.

Encouraging children with learning difficulties to succeed at school

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Encouraging children with learning difficulties

Specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia can make it difficult and sometimes impossible for a child to achieve the same results as his or her peers in a traditional classroom setting. Some children face a constant struggle with reading and writing and many are at risk for developing low self-esteem, particularly when their condition goes undiagnosed and/or untreated.

The thing to remember is that there are alternative learning approaches, strategies, and tools that can help students with learning difficulties achieve their full potential at school. Moreover, a positive attitude and plenty of encouragement from parents and teachers can do wonders when it comes to inspiring these children to stay motivated and persevere.

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ADHD Reading problems

While not all children with ADHD attention deficit hyperactivity disorder experience difficulties when it comes to reading, some studies estimate around half may struggle with literacy skills.

That’s because attention issues make it harder for children with ADHD to concentrate on a text. They may have trouble following a narrative, holding what they've read in memory, connecting a text to their prior knowledge of a topic and/or guessing at the meaning of unknown words met in context. If auditory processing is also an issue, sounding out words may be a challenge.

When ADHD and dyslexia present together, which occurs in about 1/3 of ADHD cases, both reading fluency and comprehension are affected. The child may take longer to get through a page and stumble when reading aloud. There can also be difficulties sitting still for long periods, in order to read the assigned pages.

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How to find a good tutor

When kids lack confidence in the classroom, are struggling to keep up with their peers, need help preparing for exams or are dealing with a learning difficulty, parents may arrange for them to see a private tutor outside of school.

Tutors provide the extra scaffolding that less able students may require and can also encourage gifted children by introducing them to more advanced topics not covered in a school curriculum. By working one-on-one, tutors are able to go over content at a pace that is right for every child.

They can also assist with school assignments and help enforce good study habits, including setting smart targets which are specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant in a given time period.

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Self-confidence vs self-esteem

The terms self-confidence and self-esteem are often conflated. Confidence is a measure of faith in one’s own abilities; esteem is about our sense of self. It involves both thoughts and emotions and influences how we perceive others and interact with the world.

When children have healthy self-esteem, they tend to be confident. Similarly, if a child has a negative self-view, which can be the case for learners with undiagnosed learning difficulties, it can cause them to lack confidence.

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What are learning difficulties?

Learning difficulties, known as learning disabilities in North America, are conditions that can affect an individual’s ability to gain knowledge and skill at the same rate as his or her peers. Having a learning difficulty does not make someone less intelligent, it just means they learn in a different way and traditional classroom activities might be less effective.

Children and adults with learning difficulties may require specific accommodations and/or strategy training in order to overcome the challenges they face and make progress in an academic or work environment. They can also benefit from additional support when it comes to motivation and encouragement.

That's because despite there being plenty of strengths that correlate with learning difficulties, such as enhanced creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, it's more common to hear about the negatives. Focusing on the positives for a change can make a big difference in encouraging people with learning difficulties to develop healthy self-esteem and increased self-confidence.

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The importance of motivation for kids

Motivation to learn correlates with success at school. That's why many parents and teachers are concerned with helping students become more motivated in the classroom. This may mean using recognition and rewards to encourage behaviour that’s conducive to learning.

However, extrinsic motivators alone don’t always do the trick. Teachers who make lessons interesting to kids and help learners get excited about school can foster a lifelong love of learning and encourage students to overcome obstacles and find success.

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Slow processing speed

Processing speed is a way of describing how the brain receives, understands and responds to information. Not everyone thinks at the same pace. And while speed has nothing to do with how smart a child is, kids who struggle with slow processing speed may struggle to follow lessons and complete tasks at school.

Slow processing speed is also related to literacy development and math skills. It can cause a child to fall behind their peers, become frustrated, and form negative associations with learning. Often these experiences make kids think they aren’t good at school, causing low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence.

But this downward spiral can be avoided if the symptoms are recognized early on. When students are provided with targeted strategy training and teachers adjust tasks appropriately, it gives kids with slow processing speed the best chance of reaching their full potential.

9 Teaching strategies for students with ADHD

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9 Teaching strategies for students with ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a specific learning difficulty typified by short attention span, lack of concentration and in the case of ADHD presentations that include hyperactivity, poor control of impulses. A student with hyperactivity and impulsivity might be restless, uncooperative or even disruptive in class. They can be the child who doesn’t sit still and struggles to listen. Because of their high activity level, children with this ADHD presentation can try to solve problems physically and their behavior may lead to problems with other students.

ADHD without hyperactivity, formerly known as attention deficit disorder (ADD), is now included under the ADHD umbrella and identified as ADHD with a primarily inattentive presentation. These students may struggle to focus but are often harder to spot in the classroom. They can be quiet and calm, and may seem to be paying attention to a lesson. Nonetheless, problems can show up when they are called on to answer a question or struggle to complete homework and other assignments.

Using the right teaching strategies can help students with different ADHD presentations focus their attention, strengthen their self-esteem, and have more agency in learning. If you haven't tried a strength-finding activity, it might be a great way to start any new teaching program. Children with ADHD often receive a lot of negative attention so looking at their strengths first and understanding how their learning difficulty might actually benefit them, can help them get on board with new approaches. You can learn more about ADHD strengths and get some ideas on lesson plans in this article.