Three Strategies for Helping a Classically-Educated Student Improve His or Her Reading

Every teacher at a classical or liberal arts school has heard it: “Johnny was diagnosed with dyslexia/dysgraphia/dyscalculia/processing disorders/etc. so he HAS to leave our school in favor of a school with ‘better services.’”

When people speak of “better services,'“ they’re often referring to a dumbed-down version of the curriculum, and they often equip students with unsustainable tools. While certainly well-intentioned on part of the teachers, students are often left thinking that they’re incapable of learning texts and materials that are aligned with their peers.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

In order for a student to, for example, be diagnosed with dyslexia, she needs to be, at a minimum, within the “normal” IQ range… In fact, students with dyslexia are often have a high IQ. So, there is no reason she can’t learn the same material as everyone else, with perhaps some (sustainable—more on this later) tools along the way.

Reinforce Phonics

Students with learning disabilities often take longer to learn phonological concepts than students without… And that’s OK! We often find that students as old as high school-age could use a reinforcement in phonics, which makes reading much easier!

Utilize Audiobooks WITH Tracking

At Higdon Literacy Solutions, we’re generally anti-technology with one exception: audiobooks (and virtual reading coaching, of course!). We love them, as long as they’re being used responsibly! One great way to reinforce learning while using audiobooks is to require students to track the text with their finger. It’s also important to stop the audiobook every 2-3 minutes to have students summarize what they’ve heard. As they get the hang of using audiobooks, you can decrease the support, but it’s important for them to be active listeners/readers.

Teach books using Reader’s Theater Methods

This obviously takes some planning and preparation, but having different students read characters’ voices can make novels much more comprehendible and entertaining! Many students with and without learning disabilities have a tough time remembering characters’ names and this is a great way to keep them all straight.

Think your student needs to transfer to another school just because of a learning issue? Think again. With some additional scaffolding and perhaps some additional planning, the vast majority of students dyslexia can stay right where they are.