“I’m so STUPID!” -- three heartbreaking words you never want to hear your kids say.  Yet, if your kids struggle in school, you are likely to hear these horrific words come out on more than one occasion as they mentally (and often physically) chastise themselves for forgetting something that they feel as if they should already know.

The truth is that many of these struggling kids are anything but stupid.  In fact, many are actually GIFTED.  They are just dyslexic. 

Often, these are kids with incredible acting skills…storytelling skills…survival skills…intrapersonal skills…athletic skills…math skills…musical skills…art skills…building skills...mechanical skills...and so much more.  These are kids who absolutely SHINE in so many other areas…who are bright, capable, fun, inquisitive, hard-working, talented, and personable…but who are also suffering from memory, retrieval, and directional issues, among others. 

Because of their dyslexic tendencies, many of these kids have a really difficult time learning to read, remembering irregular (and even regular) spelling patterns, writing letters correctly, and memorizing just about any random facts or figures (especially math facts).  They can also have trouble quickly retrieving what they do know, making timed tests a virtual nightmare.  To make matters worse, what they finally manage to “master” one day is often quickly forgotten by the next.  As a result, they soon discover that they must continuously practice/review any random facts, methods, or processes they wish to retain.  Otherwise, their “neat-freak memory banks” will deem it "useless information" and quickly release it once more. 

To get an idea of what it's like to be dyslexic and have retention and/or retrieval issues, imagine having everything you ever put on your computer, tablet, or phone quickly relegated to the recycle bin and then erased permanently if you didn't bother to look at it for a couple of days.  All of your pictures.  Emails.  Texts.  Calendar events.  Notes.  Games.  Addresses.  Everything.  This is what it’s like for many dyslexics.  Every new process is a bit slower because they have to go through an additional step (the recycle bin) to get to it.  And what they don’t continue to use (or attach to a special memory), they lose, often within days of successfully acquiring it.  They know this.  And they know that most of their peers and loved ones don't have to deal with this.  And so they make the horrific and life-altering conclusion that loving parents and caring teachers cringe violently in response to – “I’m so STUPID.”

“You are certainly NOT stupid,” I quickly responded to the last child I heard mutter this.  (He was frustrated over continuing to misspell the same three letter word over and over again as he worked on writing a story.)  “You know how to fix things, build forts, hunt for food, take care of farm animals, play baseball, tell funny stories, read, make friends, etc.  You can do SO MANY things!  Writing, particularly spelling, may not come easily to you, but that does not make you stupid.  EVERYONE has stuff they have to work harder at than others.  This is just your thing to work at.”

He smiled at this news and went back to working on his story.

But I'd be lying if I said my heart didn't break for him.  With at least 9 more years of school ahead of him, he will have many struggles still to come.  He will be constantly asked to do all of the things that are most difficult for him -- write complete sentences and essays to prove he has mastered the information taught, memorize random facts in multiple subjects, spit back information quickly and accurately with time constraints in place, etc.  As he does so, he will have to continuously battle the voice in his head that has already started whispering and nagging (when it's not screaming)..."I'm so STUPID!"

If you are working with a dyslexic child, let him or her know that he or she is NOT stupid.  Remember to praise his or her strengths as well as to acknowledge and help him or her with his or her weaknesses.  Don’t let difficulty with school, particularly with memorization, ruin him or her.  Teach him or her how to work hard for what he or she wants and to come up with ways to compensate for his or her particular weaknesses.  Let him or her know that he or she is not alone and that you will do everything you can to help him or her on his or her journey.  Pledge to be supportive and patient, loving and kind, and, most of all, unrelenting in your belief in him or her and your expectations for him or her.  Show up to school meetings, insist upon the accommodations your child needs, and refuse to let your child fall through the cracks.

Dyslexics can be extremely high achievers despite the difficulties that they face.  Just look at Henry Winkler, Jennifer Aniston, William Hewlett, Charles Schwab, Leonardo da Vinci, John Lennon, Henry Ford, Agatha Christie, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Edison. No one would dare to call them “stupid”…at least not anymore!

Wishing you all the best and much success,
Katy Huller

Author of Kinders Can! READ and WRITE!, Get Your Kids READING and WRITING! 2 and 3 Letter Words!, Tricks Practice Cards, More Tricks Practice Cards, and Alphabasics!

To read more literacy posts by Katy Huller, click HERE!

Worried about how many words per minute your child can read?  Don't be.  That's really not the most important thing when deciding how good of a reader your child is (or isn't).  While a basic level of fluency is important, reading a "zillion words per minute" is not.  Just as some kids will run faster than others, eat faster than others, and make friends faster than others, some kids will READ faster than others.  It's really not that big of a deal.  What IS a big deal is whether or not your child can read ACCURATELY as well as whether or not your child can UNDERSTAND what he or she is reading.  If your child is having trouble in either of these two areas, you need to jump in and help him or her right away!

Tips for Improving Accuracy:

1.  Make sure your child is looking all the way through words, from the very first letter to the very last one.  A lot of kids who misread words tend to look at the words as a whole rather than at their individual parts, from left to right.  Oftentimes, this will lead to their calling out a similar-looking word rather than the right one.  You might hear your child say, "very" instead of "every," "handed" instead of "handled," or "commented" instead of "complimented."  If your child is making mistakes like these, slow him or her down and have have him or her carefully sound out any miscalled words.  If needed, cover up all but one part at a time until your child gets through the whole word.  If the problem doesn't resolve itself with your help, you might consider getting your child's eyes checked for convergence issues as well.

2.  Make sure your child knows how to sound out words effectively.  Just because your child can read a bunch of words doesn't mean your child understands how to read.  Unfortunately, many kids who have been asked to learn one "sight word" list after another have simply acquired a bunch of "sight words" over the years.  These kids can read what they can read, but often struggle with anything beyond what they have managed to memorize.  If your child falls into this category, you will have to teach him or her how to look at a word, break it up into smaller parts, and figure out what it says.  Otherwise, asking him or her to sound out a word will be fruitless.

3.  Make sure your child knows the "tricks."  Even if your child understands how to break up a word, sound it out one part at a time, and blend it back together efficiently, he or she can STILL struggle to do so if he or she isn't aware of the many "tricks" in the English language.  What are "tricks?"  Tricks are letters and/or letter combinations that create new sounds when they appear together or in certain positions in words -- sh, ch, th, ar, er, oo, ook, ou, ow, a endings, ed endings, and tion are just a few examples.  For a much more comprehensive list of "tricks" (as well as practice words that contain them), click HERE!  It's crucial that your child become aware of each "trick" on the list if he or she isn't already.

4.  Make sure your child is reading for understanding.  If your child is reading for understanding, he or she should be able to catch many of his or her own errors.  After all, when you miscall a word, it usually doesn't make much sense!  Urge your child to pay close attention to what he or she is reading.  Tell him or her to reread any sentences that don't seem right.   

5.  Make sure your child gets enough PRACTICE reading books of ALL SORTS out loud TO YOU!  For your child to become good at reading all sorts of new words accurately and confidently, he or she will need to get a lot of practice doing so!  Make sure you sit with your child and have him or her read aloud to you as often as possible.  Look at the words as your child reads to make sure he or she is reading the words correctly.  Gently redirect your child when a mistake is made.  This will help keep him or her from incorrectly memorizing that word as something else!  Also, while there is nothing wrong with rereading favorite books on occasion, it's important that you make sure your child is reading lots of new, unfamiliar books during this time as well.  Otherwise, your child will only become familiar with certain words and certain topics.  For best results, vary what your child reads and expose him or her to as many types of literature as possible.  Increase the difficulty as you do so!


Tips for Improving Understanding:

1.  Ask your child to make a "mental movie" of what he or she is reading!  Children who can read the words accurately but who aren't understanding what they are reading often struggle because they are "reading but not thinking."  By asking them to make a "mental movie" out of what they are reading, you can often get their attention on the words and help them to plug into the meaning more effectively.

2.  Make sure your child is starting with the title!  Many of the kids who have come to me for reading help initially skip right over the title when asked to read a story or passage.  If your child is doing this, remind him or her to start with the title and think about it for a second.  It can give your child a "heads up" about what to expect.

3.  Make sure your child is STOPPING at periods, PAUSING at commas, and PAYING ATTENTION to all of the other little symbols that come up!  Flying through punctuation marks can have extremely detrimental affects on one's ability to comprehend what is being read.  Make sure your child understands what each mark means and uses it to correctly read the sentence at hand.

4. If your child is flying through the text, tell him or her to S-L-O-W down!  Although some kids can fly through text and still understand every word of it, others need to read it much more slowly and methodically to fully digest what it says.  If this seems to be the case with your child, slow him or her down and remind him or her that it's more important to understand what he or she is reading than to read it at super-fast speeds!

5.  Make sure your child has the background knowledge and/or vocabulary necessary to understand the story and/or passage at hand.  If your child is reading a story and/or passage about the Civil War, but has no idea what the Civil War was, what "north" and "south" are referring to, and/or what life was like during that time period, he or she is likely to struggle to understand what he or she is really reading about.  To help with this, talk to your child as much as possible about EVERYTHING you can.  Make sure you discuss topics you see coming home from school as well.  The more your child knows about history and the world around him or her, the better he or she is likely to do when it comes to comprehending texts of all sorts.  I really can't emphasize this enough -- TALK, TALK, TALK to your kids about EVERYTHING you know about and/or run into!!!  Make sure your kids are acquiring lots of new vocabulary and background knowledge each and every day!

When your child is able to read through a passage and understand it, your child is a "good reader."  Don't be fooled by numbers, grades, or anything else!  Speed will come with practice.  At least for most kids.  If it doesn't with your child, don't worry.  Just make sure he or she can read the text, understand the text, and, hopefully, ENJOY the text.  That's what's really important!  

All the best and much success,
Katy Huller

Author of Kinders Can! READ and WRITE!, Get Your Kids READING and WRITING! 2 and 3 Letter Words!, Tricks Practice Cards, and Alphabasics!

To read more literacy posts by Katy Huller, click HERE!

Is your child having comprehension issues? If so, you need to figure out why.  Kids who struggle with comprehension issues usually don’t just “grow out of it” without at least a little intervention.  If you want to help your child, you need to figure out what the true problem is and work to solve it.  Below are a few things to check for...and what you can to do to help fix them.

1.  Check to see if your child can read the text he or she is trying to comprehend fluently and accurately.  To comprehend anything well, your child must first be able to read it.  If your child is having to work extremely hard just to figure out what the text at hand says, he or she will probably not be able to comprehend it very well.  Likewise, if he or she is able to read most of the text but is MISCALLING a lot of important words while doing so, his or her comprehension is likely to suffer as well.  After all, miscalling even a few crucial words can drastically change the meaning of the text being read.  Failure to stop at periods and/or pause at commas can also mess with your child's ability to comprehend the text at hand.

What you can do:  Have your child read the passage he or she is having difficulty comprehending OUT LOUD to you.  Listen carefully to see if he or she is struggling to read the words, miscalling words, and/or flying through punctuation marks.  If necessary, help correct any of these errors. If you don't feel comfortable helping your child with the mechanics of learning to read, consider hiring a good reading tutor. Since vision and/or convergence issues can play a part in many reading issues, especially with regard to miscalling similar-looking words and/or flying through punctuation marks, you might also consider getting your child's eyes checked.  In any case, your child MUST be able to read accurately and fluently to get the most out of whatever text is in front of him or her.

2.      Check to see if your child has any vocabulary, language, and/or processing issues.  Kids who can read all of the words on a page correctly but who don’t understand what they are reading as they go through the passage at hand often sneak under the “trouble with reading radar" because everything "sounds good" when they read.  Unfortunately, "sounding good" is not the same thing as comprehending well.  Oftentimes, this is due to  underlying vocabulary, language, and/or processing issues. 

What you can do:  Pull out a few key words from the passage and see if your child can define them and/or use them in a sentence.  If he or she has trouble, vocabulary issues could be to blame.  Don't forget to ask about peculiar phrases as well, such as “burning with anger” or “cracking up.”   Some kids read these quite literally and get an entirely different picture of what is going on in the passage as a result!   If your child has trouble understanding words and/or phrases, begin working to improve his or her vocabulary, language, and background knowledge.  Talk, talk, talk to your child about EVERYTHING!  Explain any weird phrases that pop up.  Don’t forget to READ new stories and/or passages to your child daily as well!  A good vocabulary, an adequate grasp of the language, and a decent amount of background knowledge on a variety of topics are all crucial to understanding text of all sorts. 

If your child has a clear understanding of what various words and phrases mean but still has trouble comprehending the text at hand, he or she may have a processing issue.  See what you can do to help your child use his or her strengths to overcome whatever processing issue is at hand.  For instance, some kids can't comprehend text read aloud; let these kids read silently before asking them to answer any questions.  Other kids MUST read aloud to comprehend what they are reading; let them do so.  Help your child figure out when he or she comprehends best and encourage him or her to do more of whatever seems to help him or her the most!

3.      Check to see if your child has short-term and/or working memory issues.  Kids with dyslexic tendencies and other learning difficulties often have short-term and/or working memory issues.  This can affect their ability to recall what was read.  Even though they might read the sentences at hand beautifully, kids with short-term and/or working memory issues may quickly forget each sentence read as they move on to the next.  Obviously, this can greatly limit a child’s ability to answer questions about the text read when they finally get to the end of a story or passage.  The longer the story or passage, the harder it is for someone with short-term and/or working memory issues to remember and/or comprehend what was read.

What you can do:  After a sentence or two, ask your child if he or she can remember what he or she just read.  Kids with memory issues will often have to look back at the previous sentences to remember.  In many cases, they’ll simply read back the sentences verbatim to answer your question.  If this is the case, try covering up the sentences previously read the next time you ask.  See if your child can recall anything when he or she can't look back at the words.  If your child looks at you blankly and/or can’t remember what he or she just read about, encourage him or her to begin making "mental movies" as he or she reads each sentence.  Sometimes the mental visual is enough to help kids remember what they are reading about so they can absorb the information better.  Other times, kids need a more concrete reminder.  If this is the case for your child, allow him or her to draw a little picture in the margin (or on a separate piece of paper) to represent the main idea of whatever happened or was discussed in each paragraph.  In either case, remind your child that it’s okay to look back at the passage read when answering comprehension questions, but that he or she needs to TRY to remember as much as possible while reading the text.  With this said, encourage your child to look back through the text whenever he or she simply can’t remember something – a date, a name, a place, etc.  Guessing is generally NOT a good idea for kids with memory issues!

4.      Check to see if your child is paying attention and/or racing through the passage.  Kids with attention issues who struggle with comprehension might read the passage beautifully but “tune out” and/or think of other things while they are reading.  Others (with or without attention issues), might simply race through whatever they are reading, forgetting to soak up all the details while they do so.   For many of these readers, the goal seems to be more about simply getting through the passage than understanding and/or learning from it. 

What you can do:  Listen to your child read.  If he or she is rushing through the text, slow him or her down.  Make sure he or she is stopping at periods and other ending marks, as well as pausing at commas, dashes, and semi-colons.  Remind your child that someone is trying to tell him or her about something and that he or she needs to pay attention while reading in order to understand the message and/or story being told.  Encourage your child to make a mental movie of the story while reading to help him or her keep his or her full attention on the text at hand.  Ask questions afterward to ensure he or she paid attention and understood the story and/or text read.  Have your child reread the text if necessary.  Let him or her know that it is important to go back and reread text if he or she finds he or she no longer knows what is going on in the story.  Remind your child that it's not just about getting to the end of the passage; he or she needs to actually know what the passage was about when he or she gets to the end!

All in all, there are many reasons why some kids have trouble comprehending text.  If you are unable to help your child, search for someone who can.  If you believe your child has a condition that requires medical intervention, talk with your pediatrician.  There is little value in knowing how to read if one can’t also comprehend what is read.  Do whatever you can to ensure you child learns to not only read the words before him or her but to comprehend them as well.  It will be time well spent!

All the best and much success,

Katy Huller

Author of Kinders Can! READ and WRITE!, Tricks Practice Cards, Alphabasics, and Kids Can! READ and WRITE! 2 and 3 Letter Words!

If you are a parent or teacher of a beginning reader, you've probably been urged to teach your beginning reader "sight words" at one time or another.  My advice to you?  Don't.  As a former teacher and current literacy tutor, I have seen too many kids suffer needlessly from what I call "Sight Word Syndrome." And it's not a pretty sight.

What is "Sight Word Syndrome?"  Sight Word Syndrome is a condition characterized by the inability to sound out new or unfamiliar words, often accompanied by the frequent miscalling of seemingly "known" words.  Most kids afflicted with Sight Word Syndrome (SWS) appear to be readers as long as the text they are asked to read is kept within their "sight word vocabulary" and/or is either memorized or extremely predictable in nature.  Once text becomes more difficult, however, more and more words are miscalled, mumbled over, or skipped altogether.  This can make it extremely difficult for the person afflicted with SWS to accurately comprehend what is being "read," and often leads to increased frustration, tantrums, and tears.  Generally, this condition does not go away on its own.  If not treated effectively, it can become a lifelong ailment.

Unfortunately, more and more parents and teachers are relying on having their kids learn lists of "sight words" to get them reading.  The result?  Far too many kids who glance at words to read them, rather than through them, from left to right. This causes similar looking words to look the same to those with SWS.  As a result, you might hear them call out "in" instead of on, "what" instead of want, or "very" instead of every.  The word "that" might become with, "where" might become here, and "tell" might become tall.  Even a word as simple as "I" might be confused with the word A. 

And it doesn't stop there.  As these "sight word readers" progress, they often make more costly switches, turning words like "deserved" into discovered, "stretched" into screeched, and "scene" into since.  When this happens, comprehending the text supposedly "read" becomes more and more difficult.  Even the smartest kids with the best vocabulary can begin to struggle and fail.  In many cases, kids who used to love books often begin to hate them, creating another problem altogether.

So what should you do?  Teach your beginning readers how letters work together to make words.  Start by showing them how to sound out 2 and 3 letter words like is, in, on, him, his, hat, big, can, fit, bug, red, etc.  Once they are comfortable doing this, show them how to sound out words with beginning and ending blends such as and, flag, just, sled, sent, grab, hand, fast, long, etc.  Then teach them the "tricks" (letters and/or letter combinations that create new sounds when they appear together or in a certain position in words, such as sh, ch, th, er, ou, oo, etc.), and show them how to read (and write) words that contain these.  This is when the world of reading REALLY opens up to them.  Words like out, she, gave, like, take, want, them, these, never, were, are, tall, weird, different, chilly, deserved, discovered, etc. are all easily decodable once you know the "tricks!"  After your kids have a decent base, get your kids reading Dr. Seuss books, and help them sound out and adjust any weird words that don't follow the "tricks."  Then move them into whatever trade books interest them.  Finally, introduce them to beginning chapter books.  This process not only teaches them the "sight words," but how to read just about any other word they come across as well.  This is what real reading is about.  Being able to read.  Anything.  Not just memorized or predictable text.

Don't delay!  Throw away the confusing "sight word lists," and teach your kids how to really read instead.  They are counting on you.

All the best and much success,
Katy Huller

To help your kids tell the difference between a "b" and a "d," tell them that the "b" has the /b/ /b/ bat first, while the "d" has the /d/ /d/ daddy's face (or the /d/ /d/ donut) first.  Then have them practice telling you which is which and why!  If they still continue to switch the two, keep reminding them of this trick and continue to quiz them!  (Old habits can be hard to break!)

All the best and much success,
Katy Huller

Ready or not, Halloween is coming!  My daughter has already picked out her costume.  She wants to be Yoda from Star Wars.  This suits her.  She’s tiny in stature but mighty in spirit.  Still, when she goes trick-or-treating this year, she is hoping to be greeted with TREATS, not TRICKS.  This makes sense -- how many kids that you know of would look forward to hiking through hilly neighborhoods on Halloween if they thought they were going to get a bunch of nasty tricks rather than treats? 

The same is true of reading.  If your kids discover they are going to get "tricked" rather than "treated" each time they try to make their way through written text, most will quickly lose interest, and many will stop wanting to read altogether.  After all, it won't be fun.  It won't even make sense. 

It will be confusing.  And frustrating.  And they won't want to do it.

Can you blame them?  Who among us looks forward to doing things that are hard for us...that don't make sense...that confuse us...that make us feel stupid...that scare us...that make the people we love most seem angry and frustrated around us?

Not many, that's for sure.

If you want to make reading more of a "treat" than a "trauma" for your kids, you must prepare them for the words they will encounter on their journeys before you send them out to discover the world of reading on their own. In other words, you must turn the "tricks" they are sure to come across into treats!

To make reading more of a "treat" for your kids, you must teach them more than letters, sounds, and "sight words."  You must teach them to blend sounds together, starting on the left and moving to the right.  And, equally as important but often overlooked or introduced way too late, you must make sure your kids are equipped to deal with the many "tricks" they are sure to meet along the way -- letters and/or letter combinations that create new sounds when they appear together or in a certain position in words than they normally make when alone. Combinations like sh, ch, th, er, or, ou, tion, oo, aw, ay, etc.  And don’t forget “sleepy e,” “2 vowels,” and “le endings.”  Y at the end of a short or long word is another doozie you need to remember to teach them.  There are many others as well.  I’ve counted up to 37 so far, but I’m sure there are more.   

One or more of these "tricks" are hiding in almost every word!  If you skip this part of their training and rely on teaching "sight words" instead, your kids (especially those with less than stellar visual memories) may just turn to the “dark side” and begin guessing their way through unfamiliar text, saying such things as “why” for very, “tell” for tall, “deserved” for discovered, and/or “admit” for amount. You might even hear them confuse the word I with A!  "Had" might become did.  "Take" might become like. Such scandalous switches are common among those who have been sent to battle words before they have been adequately trained to even spar with them.  They simply don't have the tools or training they need to deal with such skilled adversaries. Before long, one previously "known" word starts looking like the next, and these untrained "readers" either give up or resort to spitting out words from their mental Roladexes each time they see a word with a somewhat familiar letter, shape, or size.

Don't let this happen to your young Jedi.  Teach your kids what they really need to know to read the words they will soon encounter -- letters, sounds, “tricks,” a good blending/segmenting technique, and a few common “outlaw words” (words that can’t be sounded out even if you know the “tricks”).  If you teach them these skills and give them lots of guided practice using them, you should see your kids' reading habits skyrocket.  You should see them turn into excellent readers who get "treated" as they read rather than "tricked."   And, as reading the text before them becomes easier and easier, you should see your kids learn to love interacting with books and literature, rather than racing off to avoid them.  Or crying.  Or complaining.  Or throwing a king-sized fit.

Of course, you'll also have to make sure your kids have a good vocabulary, adequate background knowledge, and a few other key reading ingredients.  After all, being able to decode words effectively is only the first step.  To be real readers, your kids must also be able to understand them! 

Regardless of where your kids are today, start giving them the skills they need to move forward.  They are counting on you.  Don't end their training early and neglect to teach them what they really need to know to read the words around them.  Don't send them out to battle a book only halfway prepared.

As my daughter loves to quote from Yoda, "Try not.  Do.  Or do not.  There is no try.” 

Train your kids.  Teach them what they need to know to be successful readers and writers.  Send them out this Halloween and every day thereafter equipped to turn any "trick" into a treat.  You won't be sorry. 


All the best and much success…and may the Force be with you!

Katy Huller