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Remediating dyslexia...


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I'm not sure what the IEW program includes, but this is very simple to do on your own--plus you can work at a pace that fits your child without feeling the need to get through a certain curriculum. Get a good anthology (we like The Harp and Laurel Wreath) and begin.

 

My oldest dyslexic ds memorized "Horatius at the Bridge" (a VERY long poem, sections of which are included in HLW) as a 4th grader. It was a fabulous achievement for him and we did it by reading each line aloud (me, giving the cadence) and then repeating a section over several times until he had mastered it. I would give a line out orally, he would repeat it...and repeat it...and repeat it...until he could say it perfectly, and then we would go to the next line. Then he would repeat both new lines, then a whole stanza, then two...and so on, learning a new part while continually repeating and reviewing the previous. I think he learned the whole thing in about four months--which, considering the length of the poem and the amount of time we spent each day, I thought not bad at all! (And I must add that I, too, memorized it rather inadvertently, and also the younger children who were around for all this knew great chunks, too!)

 

He had no concept of or natural "feel" for cadence or rythm, but was able to recite it properly in the end, and did so in front of an audience. And FWIW, it was he who chose this poem, having a love of things Roman and noble and involving swords. I was highly sceptical of his ability to learn this, particularly at his age, but encouraged him to try. I would never have assigned such a piece, but I read it aloud and it captured his fancy. Maybe you could try that approach...reading a variety aloud and letting him choose?

 

BTW, I did not use any of this as a "teaching opportunity", trying to talk about rhyme schemes, etc. If something naturally came up (he said a line incorrectly and ended with a word that did not fit the rhyme, or used a cadence which did not fit) then I might point out something about how poetry works, but otherwise he would have been really turned off the memorization. For him, it was a challenging and fun game.

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