supporting the dyslexic child in the montessori environment · supporting the dyslexic child in the...
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SupportingtheDyslexicChildintheMontessoriEnvironment
AlisonAwes
Alison Awes is the Director of Elementary Training at the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota. In addition to Orton-Gillingham Level I training, Ms Awes holds AMI diplomas for Primary and Ele-mentary levels, a B.A. in Art History from Smith College, an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Tulane University, and an M.Ed. in Montessori Education from Loyola University Maryland. She has taught in both six-to-nine and nine-to-twelve classrooms. Ms Awes is an AMI examiner and has presented a number of workshops, including those on making books with children and supporting the dyslexic child in a Montessori environment. She has served on the boards of private and charter Montes-sori schools and other organizations, including the AMI Elementary Alumni Association. Ms Awes attended Montessori school until the age of twelve.
introduction
Language,oneofthegreatestgiftsofhumanity,iscentraltothecultureandcol-lectiveintelligenceofhumanbeings.Collab-orationandcommunicationcreatedthelan-guagehumanscurrentlyuse,alanguagewhichcontinuestoevolveeachday.InthewordsofMariaMontessori,‘Languageistheexpressionofagreementamongagroupofmen,andcanbeunderstoodonlybythosewhohaveagreedthatspecialsoundsshallrepresentspecialideas.’1
Ratherthanaparticularlanguage,chil-dreninheritthepotentialforlanguage.Becausethesensitivitytolanguageisuncon-scious,acquisitionisvirtuallyguaranteed(barringadevelopmentalorauditoryprob-lem).Throughexposuretospeechwhilethe
vocalmechanismsdevelop,throughcom-municationwithothers,andthroughsomeknowledgeofthesymbolsandsoundsoflanguage,alltypicalchildren,regardlessofculture,willatagivenmomentcometospeaktheirnativelanguage.Also,childrengenerallytakeinthestructure,sentencepat-terns,andwordorderofspokenlanguage.Throughobservationsofhumandevelop-ment,Montessorifoundthattheabsorbentmind,sensitiveperiods,andhumantenden-ciesassistinthisacquisition.
Incontrast,writtenlanguagedoesnotcomenaturallytohumanbeings.Childrenwillnotdevelopwritingandreadingwithoutsomedegreeofdirectexperience,prepara-tion,andinstruction.Theamountandtypeofexperiencerequiredvariesamongindivid-uallearners.Eventually,thechildmustreal-
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izethatthelettersshereadsrepresentthesoundsshehearsinspokenlanguage.Whenachildrealizesthatawordcanbebrokenapartintosmallerpieces(sounds),shedevel-opsphonemicawareness.Thisistheabilitytonotice,identify,andputtousetheindi-vidualsoundsofspokenwords.
national reading panel
In1997,theUnitedStatesCongressdirectedtheNationalInstituteofChildHealthandHumanDevelopmenttogatherapanelofexpertstocomprehensivelyreviewexistingresearchontheteachingofreading.ThetaskofthisNationalReadingPanel(NRP)wastodeterminetheevidenceforspecificandeffectivereadinginstructionalmethodsandapproaches.Thepanelpresentedfind-ingsinareporttoCongressin2000,2pro-vidingaguideforparentsandteacherstothemostsuccessfulandscientificallyprovenapproachesfortheteachingofreading.Thereportaddressedfivekeycomponentsofreadingimportantforearlyliteracy:(1)pho-nemicawareness(soundsofspokenlan-guagewhichworktogethertomakewords);(2)phonics(thepredictablerelationshipbetweenphonemesandgraphemes,whicharethelettersandthesoundsofwrittenlan-guage;sometimescalledthealphabetic princi-ple);(3)readingaccuracyandfluency(theabilitytoreadwithexpressionandeffi-ciency);(4)vocabulary;and(5)readingcom-prehension.
Amongotherthings,theNRPfoundover-allthatspecificinstructioninreadingisbothimportantandeffective.Programmeswhichteachphonicsinasystematic,orga-nized,explicitmannerarethemostsuccess-ful.Theseprogrammesprogressivelyintro-ducethechildtodifferentsounds,beginningwiththesimplest,mostconsis-tent,andmostfrequentcombinations.Later
researchersfoundteachingchildrentomanipulatesoundsandwordstobehighlyeffectiveunderavarietyofteachingcondi-tionswithvariedlearnersinarangeofagesandgrades.3
Themostimportantphonemicawarenessskillsappearedtobethoseofblendingandsegmenting.Ratherthanteachingmanytypesofmanipulation,instructingchildreninblendingandsegmentingphonemesinwordsgenerallywillhavethegreatestimpactontheirlearningtoread.4Significantbenefitsofthisknowledgewerealsofoundforchildrenthroughthesixthgrade(ageelevenortwelve)whowerehavingdifficultylearningtoread.Oncethereaderlearnsthedifferentpatternsofthelettersandthesoundstheyrepresent,theresultisthatsheappliesherexistingknowledge(gainedthroughexperience)whensheanalysesnewwords.
AnimportantpointmadebytheNRPwasthatwhilephonemicawarenessisnecessary,itisnotenoughforlearningtoread.Inaddi-tion,fluencyisanimportantnextsteptowardsthegoalofreadingcomprehension.Guided,repeatedoralreadinghadapositiveimpactonfluencyandcomprehensionacrossarangeofages.Incontrast,theresearchonindependentsilentreadingwasinconclusiveinregardtofluency.5Finally,theNRPreportedthatvocabularyinstructionplaysacentralroleinincreasingcomprehension.Ifchildrendonotdevelopvocabulary,theydonotlearnnewgrammaticalconstructions.
ThefindingsoftheNRPwerenotwithoutcontroversy.6Questionsaboutwhethertheresultsofvariousstudiesconstitutedscien-tificevidence,apprehensionabouttheviewsofindividualsonthepanel,andconcernsabouthowtheinitialquestionwasframedhavebeenraised.Somescholarshavetrepi-dationthatresearchbasedonstandardizedtestsprovidedbiasedorinaccurateresults.
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Mostproblematicisthatmuchofwhatwasrecommendedassumesawhole-classteach-ingtechniqueinwhichallofthechildrenlearnthesamething,atthesametime,inthesamemanner.
Theinitialquery,tofindthemosteffec-tivemethodtoteachreading,assumesthatthereisonebestwaytoteachallchildren.Yetthisviewdismissesavarietyoflearningstyles,strengths,andweaknesses.Instead,perhaps,theinitialquestioncouldhavebeenframedaroundhowchildrenlearntoread,focusingonthechild’sdevelopmentratherthanonateachingmethod.
OnepromisingresultoftheNRPresearchwastheimplementationofthethree-tieredResponsetoIntervention(RTI)model,usedinsomepublic(state)schoolsfortheidenti-ficationandsupportofstrugglingchildren.7Thefirsttierinvolvescarefulprogressmoni-toringforallchildrenbasedontheirchang-ingneeds.Thisincludesclassroominstruc-tionwhichcoversatleastthreeofthefivekeyareasnotedbytheNRP.Childrenwhoarenotsuccessfulatthisfirsttiermovetothesecondtier,whichincludessmall-groupworkwithmoreintensiveintervention.Chil-drenmovetotierthree,thespecialeduca-tiontier,whenmoreintensiveinstructionspecificallytailoredtotheindividualisneeded.WiththeRTImodel,ideallychildrenaresupportedbeforetheyfailandarenotrequiredtoscorepoorlyinordertoreceivetheadditionalservicestheyneed.
definition of dyslexia
Childrenwhoconsistentlystrugglewithreadingtasksdespitebeingprovidedreadinginstructionneedfurthersupport.Dyslexiaisadifficultywithlanguageinwhichintelli-genceisnotaproblem.Forlearnerswiththisdifficulty,anunexpectedgapexistsbetweenthepotentialforlearningand
schoolachievement.Theymayhavediffi-cultywithreading,spelling,processingauditorylanguage,orexpressingthemselvesclearlythroughspeakingorwriting.
Priorto2002,definitionsusuallyexplaineddyslexiabyarticulatingwhatitwasnotratherthandescribingitscharacter-istics.However,newscientificdiscoverieshavemadepossibleamoreprecisedefini-tion,suchasthisonefromtheInternationalDyslexiaAssociation:
Dyslexiaisaspecificlearningdisabilitythatis
neurologicalinorigin.Itischaracterizedby
difficultieswithaccurateand/orfluentword
recognitionandbypoorspellinganddecod-
ingabilities.Thesedifficultiestypicallyresult
fromadeficitinthephonologicalcomponent
oflanguagethatisoftenunexpectedinrela-
tiontoothercognitiveabilitiesandtheprovi-
sionofeffectiveclassroominstruction.Sec-
ondaryconsequencesmayincludeproblemsin
readingcomprehensionandreducedreading
experiencethatcanimpedethegrowthof
vocabularyandbackgroundknowledge.8
Toexplainfurther,dyslexiahasabiologicalbasisandischaracterizedbyavarietyoflan-guagedifficulties.Ratherthanatemporarystruggleinreadingdevelopment,dyslexiaisachroniccondition;thecharacteristicsareunchanging.Thereisnotasingleformofdyslexia.Thestrugglescanbewithwordrecognition(suchasreadingasinglewordbyitself),withspelling,orwithdecodingorsegmentingwords(suchassoundingwordsoutorbreakingawordintosyllables).Aphonologicalcomponentexists,meaningthedyslexicpersonhasdifficultywithsounds.
Additionally,thedyslexicgenerallyhasatleastaverageoraboveaverageintelligence,andanunexpectedgapoccursbetweentheabilitydemonstratedandthepotential.So
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thechildhastohavesomecognitivestrengths,notonlyweaklanguagefunc-tions.Further,apersoncannotbeconsid-ereddyslexicifheorshehasnothadade-quateclassroominstruction.
Otherconsequencesofimpairedphono-logicalawarenessarerevealedindyslexicchildren.Readingcomprehension,whileproblematicinsomecases,isgenerallyasecondaryconsequenceofweakphonemicability.Theresultofthisdifficultywithcom-prehensioncansignificantlyimpedevocabu-laryacquisition.Theaveragechildlearnsabout2,700wordsperyear,oraboutsevennewwordsdaily,9andreadingisasignifi-cantinfluenceonthisdevelopmentofvocab-ulary.Atthesametime,alargevocabularyisanimportantelementinreadingcompre-hension.Booksoffermorecomplicatedwordsthandoeventhemosteducatedspeakers.Goodreadersspendmoretimereadingeverydaycomparedwithpoorread-ers,sotheyendupreadingmorewordsinayear.Asaresult,theconsequencesofpoorreadingextendfarbeyondthereadingpro-cess.
Forthedyslexic,theweaknessinthelan-guagesystemoccursatthebasiclevelofphonology,withtherestoflanguagebuild-ingonthisweakfoundation.Semantics(vocabularyandwords),syntax(thestruc-tureofgrammar),anddiscourse(howsen-tencesareconnectedandused)allrelyupontheinitialunderstandingandawarenessofsounds.Indyslexics,thebrainareadedi-catedtoprocessingparticularsoundele-mentsoflanguageiscompromised.Theseelements,thephonemes,arethebuildingblocksofallspokenandwrittenwords.Indifferentcombinationsthesesoundspro-ducethemanywordsinaparticularlan-guage.Beforewordscanbeidentifiedandstoredinmemory,theymustbeisolatedintotheirparticularsounds.
Dyslexicchildrenandadultsmayhaveahardtimeselectingtheparticularphonemewhichcorrespondstoawrittensymbolormightorderphonemesincorrectly.Asaresult,sound-basedconfusionsinspokenlanguageoccur.Forexample,achildmightsayemenywhenshemeansenemyorAprilinsteadof Rachel.
Theselearnersarechallengedwhendevel-opingawarenessthatspokenandwrittenwordsarecomposedofthesespecificpho-nemes.Researchonphonologicallearningdemonstratesthatmanychildrenwithread-ingdisabilitiesdonotperceiveormanipu-lateindividualsyllablesandphonemesinthesamemannerastheirpeers.10
Threepathwayshelpthebraintolearninformation:visual,auditory,andkinaes-thetic(musclemovement).Childrenwithstrongvisualmemoryreadwellandwilllearnthroughmostconventionalforms.However,dyslexicchildrenneedsystematicmultisensoryavenuestolearn,astheyhavepoorvisualmemory.Allthreeoftheseave-nueshavenocorrelationtoI.Q.
Childrenwithspecificreadingdifficultiesdemonstrateproblemssummarizingormakinginferencesfromreadingatextbutdonothavethesamedifficultieswhenlis-teningtothetext.Theymaymisreadmanywordsorreadwordsaccuratelythoughrequiremuchtimeandefforttodoso.Thesechildrenneedadditionalworkonphonologi-calawareness,decoding,andfluencybutgenerallydonotneedadditionalsupportincomprehensionbeyondregularclassroomstrategiesforvocabulary.
br ain imaging
Relativelyrecentlythroughfunctionalimag-ing,scientistsareabletoviewandrecordimagesoftheneuralsystemsatworkinthehumanbrainwhileapersonreads.11These
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imagesprovidethephysicalevidenceofthedifficultieswhichdyslexicreadersencounterandconfirmthatthecoredifficultyfordys-lexicsoccurswhentranslatingprinttosound.Scientistsseeevidenceofafaultinthebraincircuitryonlyinthisisolatedpartofthereadingprocess.
Recordingthebrainactivityofbothnor-malanddyslexicreadersrevealsdifferentbrainactivationpatterns.Goodreadersacti-vateboththebackandthefrontofthebrain,whiledyslexicreadersshowanunderactiva-tionofparticularneuralpathwaysinthebackofthebrain.Atallages,goodreadersshowconsistentbrainactivationpatterns.Incontrast,thebrainactivationindyslexicschangeswithage:OlderdyslexicchildrendemonstrateanoveractivationinBroca’sregion,afrontalregionusedforreading.Itisthoughtthatstrugglingreadersuseaddi-tionalsystemsinthefrontofthebraintotrytocompensateforthedisruptioninthebackofthebrain.
Everytimeoneacquiresanewskill,groupsofneuronscreatenewconnectionsandpathwaysamongthemselvesinthebrain.Scientiststhinkthatafterachildhascorrectlyreadawordseveraltimes,heformsanexactneuralmodelofthatword,whichreflectsitspronunciation,meaning,andspellingandisstoredinaparticularlocationofthebrain,theoccipitotemporalsystem.Formostreaders,seeingthisfamiliarwordinprintactivatesthewordmemoryautomat-ically,withouteffort,andcallstomindallthecontextualinformationabouttheword.Forskilledreaders,imagingduringreadingshowsthiswordformationregionofthebrainactivatingaloneandincombinationwithotherbrainareaswhichhelpwithwordanalysis.
Theinformationfromimagingisconsis-tentwiththereadingstyleofmanydyslexics.Becauseofthedeficitinthewordformation
area,dyslexicsrelyonaccurateyetslowerprocessesinthebrain.Inparticular,theselearnersoftenvocalizequietlyduring“silent”reading.Inthismannerthedyslexiccanhearandfeelthewordssaid,aprocesswhichutilizesBroca’sregion.Thisappearstobetruefordyslexicsofalllanguagesandages.12Brainimagesalsoshowdyslexicreaderssoundingoutwordsthroughsec-ondarypathwaysinthebrain.Onealternaterouteincludessystemslocatedontherightsideofthebrain.Thisexplainshowbrightadultdyslexicreadersimproveaccuracyeventhoughtheirreadingremainsslow.
Becausebrainimagesprovideconcreteevidenceoftherealityofthereadingdiffi-culties,dyslexiaisnolongerahiddencondi-tionwithoutphysicalproof.Oneresultisthatthespecificdeficitcanbemorecarefullytargetedwithevidence-basedinterventions.Infact,someimageshaveindicatedbrainrepairafterinterventionforphonemicawareness.
Brainimagingalsoshowsthatthebrainisorganizeddifferentlyinpeoplewhousedifferentwritingsystems.Inthe1930s,abilingualmanproficientinChineseandEnglishlosttheabilitytoreadChineseduetoastroke,yethecouldstillreadEnglish.13Thisrevealstheuseofdifferenthemispheresfordifferenttasksinthebrain.
Presentinmanylanguages,includingnonalphabeticones,dyslexiamanifestsdif-ferentlydependingontheemphasisinanygivenlanguage.14Asaresult,differentpre-dictorsofreadingfailureoccurinGerman,alanguagewhichemphasizesfluency,orChi-nese,alanguageinwhichspatialmemoryiscentral,ascomparedwithEnglish.Spanishreaderswithdyslexiasufferfromfewercom-prehensionproblemswhencomparedwithEnglishspeakerswhohavedyslexia.Inthiscase,itseemsperhapsthattheshortertimerequiredtodecodeinSpanishallowsaddi-
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tionaltimeforcomprehension.Whilelessfrequentnowthatbrainimag-
inghasmoreclearlydocumentedproofofdyslexia,somescholarsmaintainthatthereisnosuchthingasareading,language,orlearningdisability(shortofmentalretarda-tion).Theyarguethatifthereweresome-thingwronginthebrainsofthesechildren,remedialinstructionwouldnotbesuccess-ful.Someofthesescholarsconcludeinsteadthatchildrenarenotcorrectlytaughttoreadinschool.Inthisview,theschoolsystemsareatissue,notthebrainsofthechildren.15Additionally,referringtothelearner’sexpe-rienceasadisability,ratherthanadifferenceinlanguageprocessingorlearningstyle,isatissueamongsomescholars.AccordingtoMontessorian,paediatrician,andspeech-languagepathologistSylviaRichardson,‘Publiceducationviewsitasadisabilitybyfailingtoprovideappropriateinstruction.Societyasawholeviewsitasadisabilitythroughlackofunderstanding.’16
the prevalence of reading difficulties
Anestimatedfifteentotwentypercentofthepopulationhassymptomsofareadingdisability.Dyslexiaisthemostcommoncauseofreading,writing,andspellingdiffi-culties17andaffectsaboutoneofeveryfivechildren,abouttenmillionintheUnitedStatesalone.18In2001,8.9percentofUSstudentsagedsixthroughtwenty-onewerereceivingspecialeducationservices.19Evenif,asSallyShaywitzofYaleUniversityesti-mates,eightypercentofthesestudentshadareadingdisability,20itwouldseemthatchildrenwithreadingdisabilityingeneral,anddyslexiainparticular,arevastlyunder-served.
Additionally,becausedyslexiaexistsonacontinuumfrommilddisturbancetosevere
limitation,readingdifficultiesareoftendeterminedatanartificialcut-offpointbyeducatorsandgovernmentofficials.Soachildwhoneedshelpmaynotqualifyforitwithintheschoolsystem.Evenmoredis-turbingisthatchildrenwhoreadpoorlyinthethirdgrade(ageeightornine)continuetohavereadingproblemsinhighschoolandbeyond.Inonestudy,seventy-fourpercentofchildrenwhowerepoorreadersinthethirdgraderemainedpoorreadersintheninthgrade(agefourteenorfifteen).21Inotherwords,theyoftenstillcannotreadwellwhentheybecomeadults.22Thismayindi-catethattheneuralsystemsresponsiblefortransformingsymbolsintolanguagemightbecomelessresponsivetointerventionaschildrengetolder.23
Dyslexiaaffectsfemales,males,andpeo-plefromdifferentethnicandsocioeconomicbackgroundsequally.Inaddition,somereadingproblemsaregeneticallyinfluenced.Betweentwenty-fiveandfiftypercentofchildrenborntoadyslexicparentwillalsobedyslexic.Andinone-thirdtoone-halfofthecaseswhenachildisidentifiedasdys-lexicandhisparentsarethenevaluated,oneorbothparentsturnouttobedyslexicaswell.24Forthesereasons,achildwithadys-lexicsiblingorparentshouldbemonitoredmorecloselyearlyonforindicationsoforallanguagedifficulties.Still,althoughdyslexiarunsinfamiliesandiscarriedasagenetictrait,itisnotentirelygenetic.
Althoughthereisnocurefordyslexia,childrenandadultscanlearnhighlysuccess-fulstrategiesforcompensation.Researchshowsthatcompensatingdyslexicshaveadistinctadvantageovernondyslexicsintheirabilitytoreasonandconceptualizeandthatthephonologicaldeficitmaskswhatareoftenexcellentcomprehensionskills.25
Despiteclearandconsistentresearch,mythsstillexistaboutdyslexia.Dyslexiais
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notadiseaseandcannotbeoutgrownorcured,althoughindividualswithdyslexiacanlearnhowtolearnmoreeffectively.Aspreviouslystated,dyslexiaindicatesalan-guageproblem.Visualimpairments,lackofintelligence,laziness,ornotcaringonthepartofthechildallhavenobearing.Fur-ther,scientificevidenceislackingtosupportclaimsforimprovingtheacademicabilitiesofdyslexicswithtreatmentbasedonvisualtrainingorneurologicalorganizationaltraining(suchasbalanceboarduse).26
Attentionproblemsmightaccompanydyslexia,buttheymightnot.Theneurobiol-ogyandeffectivetreatmentsdifferforspe-cificsymptoms.Dyslexiaisdifficultyaccess-ingthebasicsoundsoflanguage;attentiondeficithyperactivitydisorder(ADHD)isdif-ficultywithattendingtoanactivity.Some-timesthedisorderscanclearlygohandinhand.Othertimes,itmightlooklikeadys-lexicpersonisnotpayingattentiontoread-ingbecauseitissodifficultforhertodecodethewords.Readingrequiresasignificantamountofattentionforthedyslexic,morethanfortheaveragereader.
indications and evaluations
Asaresultofrecentresearch,healthcareprovidersareabletoidentifywithahighdegreeofaccuracythechildrenwhoaremostatriskfordyslexia,evenbeforetheydevelopreadingdifficulties.Theycanalsodiagnosedyslexiaaccuratelyinchildren,youngadults,andadults,andthedisordercanbemanagedwithextremelyeffectiveandproventreatmentprogrammes.
Earlydiagnosis,joinedwitheffectivetreatment,canhelpdefinethestrengthsratherthanthechallengesofthechild.Par-ticularattentionshouldbepaidtoprotect-ingthechild’sself-concept,asdyslexicchil-drenareespeciallyvulnerabletoweak
self-esteem.Whenachildisaccusedofalackofmotivation,notworkingtoherfullability,beinglazy,ornotbeingsmart,shebeginstodoubtherself.Theseaccusationsaremorecommonthanwemighthopebecauseoftenthepotentialinthechildisclearerthanherability.Thechildneedstheknowledgethatshecancountonherparentsandteachersforunwaveringsupport.
Alsonotableisthatbrightchildrenwithdyslexiacanescapenoticebecausetheypos-sesssomanyotherstrengths.Theyoftenlearntocompensatefororcoveruptheirdifficulties.Theselearnersareoftenquitetalentedinpredominantlyright-brainedskillslikethevisualarts,music,mechanicalaptitude,andmathematicalreasoning.27Sci-entistsarestilltryingtoexplainthesignifi-cantamountofcreativitypresentinmanypeoplewithdyslexia.Onespeculationisthatperhapsthebrainwasforcedtousetherighthemispherebecauseofproblemswiththelefthemisphere,sotherightside’sconnec-tionswerestrengthenedinuniqueways.Orpossiblytherighthemisphere’screativecon-nectionsbeganasdominant,leavinglessroomforotheractivities,suchasreading.28Furtheranecdotalevidencesuggeststhatdyslexicsappeartorepresentthemostcre-ative,uniquethinkersofsociety,andonemighthypothesizethisisbecausethedys-lexiccannotsimplymemorizebutmustunderstandtheconceptatafundamentallevelinordertoremember.
Teachersandparentsmayprovideimpor-tantobservationsforhealthcareprofession-als,butteachersareusuallynottrainedtomakeadiagnosis.Keepingthatinmind,andrecallingthatdyslexiawillpresentdiffer-entlyindifferentchildren,earlyredflagsincludeadelayinspeaking;difficultyinpro-nunciation;adecreasedsensitivityforrhyme,alliteration,andassonance;ortrou-blelearningnurseryrhymes.Later,achild
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mighthavedifficultyrecallingoraccessingaparticularphoneme.Andaschildrengetolder,theymighthavedifficultyunderstand-ingthatwordscomeapart,asinacom-poundword,andthatwordscanbeisolatedfurtherbytheirsoundsandsyllables.Thesechildrenalsohavedifficultyassociatinglet-terswithsounds.Ortheymaymakeerrorswhenreadingthatarenotrelatedtosound,suchassubstitutingafamiliarwordforadifficultonethatappearsinthetext.Addi-tionally,thechildmaycomplainabouthowdifficultthetaskofreadingisandmightavoidreading.
Inonestudy,preschoolers’phonologicalaptitudepredictedreadingprogressthreeyearslater.Childrenwhoreceivedtrainingbasedonsounds—identifyingthebegin-ning,middle,andendsound—showedthemostimprovementinreadingandspelling,ascomparedwithchildrenreceivinggenerallanguagetrainingwhichemphasizedthemeaningofwords.Thestudyalsoshowedthatthekindsoflanguageexperiencesthechildhasbeforehegoestoschoolinfluencehisabilitytoreadyearslater.29Additionally,avarietyofstudiesdemonstratethatphono-logicaldifficultiesarethemostsignificantandconsistentmarkersofdyslexiainchild-hood.30
Inconventionalkindergarten(nurseryschool),whereletternamesaretaughtpriortosounds,thechild’sabilitytosuccessfullynamethelettersofthealphabetisthemostsignificantreadingpredictor.Inthefirstgrade(aboutagesix),thechild’sknowledgeoflettersounds,taughtafterletternames,becomesthemostimportantindicatorofsuccessfulfuturereading.31Controversyexistsoverthebenefitoftheknowledgeoftheletternameforlearningtoread.Infact,teachingletternamescanbeconfusinganddetractfromthechild’sabilitytosuccess-fullylearnthesoundsofeachletterorletter
combination.32I.Q.testsarenotstrongindi-catorsorpredictorsoflaterreadingdifficul-tiesinyoungchildren.33
Thedyslexicelementary-agedchildmightusenonspecificlanguage,likethewordsstufforthings,ordescribearoundawordratherthanusingtheworditself.Further,shemayconfusewordswhichsoundalike,likelotionforocean.Thischildmighthavedifficultyrememberingisolatedpiecesofinformationwhichuserotememory,likedatesorrandomlists.
Additionally,thisolderchildmayhaveanextremelyslowprogressionwhilelearningtoread,withaparticularlydifficulttimereadingneworunfamiliarwordswhichmustbesoundedout.Thechildmayomitpartsofwordswhenreading,substituteormispronounce,andreadinadifficultorlabouredfashion.Thechildmayoftenrelyonthecontextorpicturestounderstandthemeaningofthepassageandhaveaverydif-ficulttimeunderstandingisolatedsinglewords.Thechildmightsubstitutewordswiththesamemeaningforawordinthetexthecannotpronounce,likerainfor thunder-storm.Thechildbecomestiredfromtheeffortofreadingandoftensuffersfromlowself-esteeminthisarea.
Yetthechildwilllikelyexhibitstrengthsinthethinkingprocess,suchasadeepimagination,curiosity,andexcellentaudi-torycomprehensionwithasophisticatedlis-teningvocabulary.Whenastoryisreadaloud,sheshowsgoodunderstandingofnewconceptsandtakesjoyinnewideas.Sheoftenexcelsatreasoningandabstractionandcanlearnbestthroughcontextualmeaningratherthanmemorization.Higher-levelcomponentsofthinkingremainsuc-cessfulsincephonologicalawarenessisnotrelatedtoI.Q.Strengthsincriticalthinking,reasoning,problemsolving,vocabulary,andcomprehensionmayallsurroundaweak-
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nessinphonologicalability,aweaknessintheabilitytodecode.
Tohelpchildrenwithlearningdelays,itisessentialtoobserveandtracktheirstrengthsaswellastheirweaknesses,becausethesecharacteristicscanoftenbeusedtohelpbypassthechallenges.Thestrengthsensurethechild’ssuccessinlearn-ingevenifthelearningtakesplaceoveralongerperiodoftime.
Afterrulingouthearingorvisionprob-lems,anadultobservingachildforsomeofthesechallengesshouldbesuretonotethefrequencyofthedifficulties.Mostchildrenwillexhibitallofthesebehavioursatonetimeoranotherastheylearntoread.Buttheconcernariseswhenthesymptomsrepeatinaregularpatternovertime.
Whenobservingachildwithreadingchallenges,oneshouldnotwaittoolongtoseekexpertassistanceifthereareconcerns.Ratherthantimeorthematurityofthechild,itisspecificreadinginstructionwhichleadstobetterreading.Teachersneedtocommunicatewiththechild’sparentsandwithschooladministratorsaboutanycon-cernsandaskforhomeobservationsaswell.Additionally,theschoolshouldmaintainafileofresourceswithinthecommunityfortheparentsandteachersandprovidesup-portinseekingfurtherevaluationforthechild.
Onceastruggleissuspectedorobserved,apsychologistorotherhealthcareprofes-sionalmakesevaluationsfordyslexia.Addi-tionally,thisprofessionalwillrelyonthecarefulobservationsofteachersandparents.Theprofessionalwilladministeravarietyoflanguagetests,includingoral,written,audi-tory,andmemoryassessments.Oneparticu-lartestscoredoesnotsignifythechildisdyslexic.Rather,thehealthcareproviderlooksforaphonologicalweaknessaffectingothercomponentsofthelanguagesystem,
combinedwithanestablishedreadingprob-lem,accordingtotheeducationandageofthechild.Thediagnosiswouldbesupportedbyevidenceofahighlearningcapabilitywithsomeglitchinthelearningprocesspreventingthechildfromperformingbet-ter.34
Unfortunately,dyslexicchildrenaregen-erallyinthethirdgradeorolderwhentheyareinitiallyidentifiedasdyslexicbytheirschools.Readingdifficultiesdiagnosedafterthirdgrade(ageeightornine)aremuchmoredifficulttoremediate.35Oneoftherea-sonsforthisisthattheinitialdisadvantageiscompoundedovertime.
Ifadiagnosisismade,anadultshouldexplaintothechildherreadingprobleminawaythatshecanunderstand.Ifachildhassomeunderstanding,thatcangivehercom-fortassheisnotsodifferentfromotherchildren.Withoutthisconversation,achildmaybequicktolabelherselfasperhapsstu-pidordumb,ratherthanunderstandingthatherbrainfunctionsdifferentlyfrom,yetjustaslegitimatelyas,herpeers’.
Thechildwithdyslexianeedsanadultwhocansupportandchampionher.Thisadultwillbelieveinherstrengthsandefforts,understandthenatureofherreadingdifficulties,andactivelyworktobesurethatshegetsthelearningandemotionalsupportsheneeds.Thisadvocacymightinclude(butnotbelimitedto)helpingherschoolunder-standherneedsandperhapsdirectingthemtoherrightsprotectedbylaw,suchas(intheUnitedStates)theAmericanswithDisabili-tiesAct(ADA).Withproperdocumentation,shemaybeentitledtoacademicaccommo-dationsincludingextratimeforspecificactivities,individualsupport,orbeingabletodemonstrateknowledgeinavarietyofways(e.g.,orallyinsteadofthroughwrit-ing).
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successful intervention for the dyslexic child
Dyslexicpeopledonotprocesslanguageinthesamemannerasotherlearnersdo.Spe-cifically,theidealcurriculumforchildrenwithdyslexiaismultisensory,structured,cumulative,andsequential.36Thismethodofdirect,unclutteredinstructionbenefitsmostnon-dyslexiclearnersaswell.
AccordingtotheNRP,theessentialsofaneffectiveearlyreadinginterventionpro-grammeincludesystematic,sequential,explicitinstructioninphonemicawareness.Inparticular,thechildneedstheabilitytonoticeandmanipulatethesoundsofspokenlanguage.Sheneedsexplicitinstructioninphonics(howthelettersandgroupsoflet-tersrepresentthesoundsofspokenlan-guage),decoding,sightwords(non-phoneticwords),spelling,vocabulary,andreadingcomprehensionstrategies.Additionally,thechildneedsregularpracticeintheapplica-tionoftheseskillsinreading(aswellaswriting)towardsfluency.Furtherlanguageexperiencesshouldincludetelling,listeningto,anddiscussingstories.37
Systematicphonicsinstructionhelpschildrenincreasetheirabilitytocompre-hendwhattheyread.Oncethechildreadswordsautomaticallyandaccurately,heisabletofocusonthemeaningofthetext.Phonicsinstructioncontributestocompre-hensionskills,ratherthaninhibitingthem.38
Unfortunately,traditionalteachertrain-ingatthecollegeoruniversityleveloftenfallsshortofprovidingfutureteacherswiththeskillstheyneedeithertoeffectivelyrec-ognizedyslexiaortoteachlanguageskillsinastructured,sequential,multisensoryfashion.39Infact,DrRichardsonpointsoutthat‘university-basedteacherpreparationprogramswerefoundtobeinadequate’to
prepareteacherstoaddressreadingdifficul-ties,dyslexia,andotherlearningdisabili-ties.40
the montessori method
MariaMontessorirelieduponhertrainingasamedicaldoctorandscientistforherinves-tigationsintothedevelopmentofthechild.Sheconsideredobservationtobetheinte-gralsupportivefoundationofhermethod.Montessori’sprinciplesarebasedonwhatthechildrenrevealedtoher,andthroughobservationshefoundthekeytotheeduca-tionaldilemmaofhertime.
AnessentialcomponentoftheAssocia-tionMontessoriInternationaleteachertrain-ingateverylevelisthatofcarefulobserva-tionofchildren.Teachersstudyobservationtheoryandpractisespecificobservationtechniquessothatonceleadingtheirownclassroom,theyarepreparedtoconsiderdif-ferentlearners’approachesincontextanddevisestrategiesbasedontheirknowledgeofthedifferentwaysinwhichlearningcanwork.Teacherslearnaboutthenatureofthechild,includinghersensitiveperiods,psy-chologicalcharacteristics,andhumanten-dencies.Inthismanner,Montessoriteach-ersalreadyhavepreparationfornoticing,andthenmeeting,thespecificneedsofanyindividuallearnerintheircharge.
MariaMontessoribeganherteachingswiththegreatsuccessmentallychallengedchildrenexperiencedbyusingthesensorialmaterials.Sofromthebeginning,DrMon-tessoriobservedthatchildrenwithlearningdisabilitiescouldbequitesuccessfulinherclassroom.Shealsofoundthatbyisolatingthedifficultiesofeachtaskandbybreakingthewholetaskdownintoitsconcrete,smallerparts,allchildrencouldworkpur-posefullytowardstheirownself-construc-tion.However,theMontessorimethodisnot
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exclusivelyaimedatlearningdisabledchil-dren;rather,itisparticularlysuitedforavarietyoflearners.
Childrenwithdyslexiabenefitfromtheprimary(agesthreetosix)Montessorienvi-ronment,whichmeetstheirspecific,indi-vidualneeds.Dyslexicchildrenneedsequen-tial,multisensory,andexplicitexperiencewiththesoundsandsymbolsoftheirlan-guagetoreadfluently.Theintroductorypho-neticapproach,combinedwiththeemphasisoncontext,functionsofwords,andanalysisofsentences,particularlysuitsstrugglingreaders.Amongotherthings,thisenviron-mentincludesregularexperiencewithlan-guage,activitieswhichencouragetheaware-nessofsounds,andvocabularyenrichment.Further,unlikeaconventionalkindergartenorpreschool,Montessorigivesthechildthreetofouryearsofregularlanguageactiv-itiesinschool,ratherthanoneortwoyears.Thisfurtherrepetitioncanmakeasignifi-cantdifferenceinthefoundationforastrug-glingreader.
TherecommendationsfromtheNRParequitecongruentwiththeobservationsmadebyDrMontessori.Thesecomponentsbenefitallchildren,includingdyslexics.Alreadysequentialandmultisensory,thetotalread-ingpathofMontessorinotonlyincludesalloftheNRP-identifiedcomponentsbutcaneasilybeadjustedwithincreasedrepetition(asneeded)tomeettheneedsoftheindivid-ualdyslexicchild.Inthisway,so-calledremediationtakesplaceforat-riskreadersintheregularMontessoriclassroomsidebysidewiththerestoftheclass.
Readingmustbeginwithexplicitatten-tiontotheprincipalcharacteristicsoforallanguage.So,fromthebeginning,soundgamesareimportantpreparationforreadinganddevelopingphonologicalawareness.Theteacherholdsanobject,stating,‘Thisobjectinmyhandbeginswiththesound/f/.What
amIholding?’Additional,regularrepetitionisnecessaryforthechildtogainpracticewithinitialsounds,finalsounds,middlesounds,discriminatingdifferentsounds,soundingoutwords,andeventuallyselect-ingthesymboltogowiththespokensound.Inthiswaythechildbuildsthefoundationtodevelopanawarenessofandabilitytomanipulatethesoundsinwords.
Lettersoundsareintroducedwiththesandpaperletters:Theadultsaysthesoundandtracesthesymbol,andthechildrepeats.Thismultisensoryexercisecombinesvisual,auditory,andtactilelearningtohelpthechildcommittomemorythesound-symbolassociation.Thisinstructioninhowthelet-ters(andlater,groupsofletters,thephono-grams)representsoundsofspokenlanguageisessentialtothesuccessofthechild’sread-ing.Thethree-periodlesson,inwhichthechildgetsvaried,directedrepetition,helpshertosolidifytheconcept.
Thedyslexicchildwillgenerallyneedadditionalandmoredirectworkwiththesoundgamesandthesandpaperlettersbeforeshecanapplytheirconceptstowordbuilding.Further,anincreasedsecondperiodofrepetitionwillbebeneficial.Addi-tionally,itmaybenecessarytopreciselyordereachnewpresentationandrepetitionofthesounds,fromsimpletocomplex,basedontheorderoftheOrton-Gillinghammethod41orsimilarprogramme.
Asthechildneedsmoreexperience,sepa-ratingwordsintosyllablesandclappingeachsyllable(likeclappingthreetimeswhilesayingA-li-son)helpshertofurtherhearandmanipulatesounds.Inaddition,achildcanplaceaconcreteobject(suchasabean)onthetableforeachsoundheardinaword(placingtwobeansforeat:/ee/+/t/).
Especiallyfordyslexics,occasionallyworkinginasmallgroupofchildrenonphonemicawarenessmaybemoreeffective
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thanindividualorwhole-groupinstructionbecausethesechildrenoftenbenefitfromlisteningtotheirclassmatesinadditiontoreceivingindividualizedfeedbackfromtheteacher.42
OneofMariaMontessori’sgreatestdis-coverieswasthatgenerallyreadingcomeslaterthanwriting.Shewrote,‘experiencehastaughtmetomakeacleardistinctionbetweenreadingandwriting,andithasshownmethatthetwoactsneednotbeabsolutelycontemporaneous.’43Shefoundthatreadingtypicallybeginssixmonthsafterwritingwiththemovablealphabet,andfairlyindependently.
However,thiswillonlyhappenbecausethechildhasbeenindirectlypreparedinboththehandandthemindwiththekeystolanguage:thesandpaperlettersandthespeechsounds.Montessorieducationpre-paresthemindthroughspokenlanguage(vocabularyenrichment,storytelling,poems,etc.)andpreparesthehandthroughexercisesofpracticallife,tracingmetalinsets,theartofhandwriting,themovablealphabet,andotheractivities.Thedyslexicchildalsorequiresthisimportant,repeatedindirectpreparation.
Ratherthansimplytechnicalskill,Mon-tessoricalledtotal readingthegoalforthechild,noting,‘achilddoesnotreaduntilhereceivesideasfromthewrittenword.’44Thechildmustreadforunderstanding,graspingtheemotion,nuance,andintentoftheauthor.
TheMontessorimethodpreparesthechil-drenfortotalreadingthroughtheactivitiesofspokenlanguageinalinguisticenviron-ment.Oftenthegreaterthechild’sexposuretoculture(suchasart,music,geography,poetry,etc.),thehigherherreadinglevel.Additionally,readingstoriesandpoemsaloudtochildrenhelpstostimulateaware-nessofaspectsoflanguagesuchasrhyme.
Practicewithgraceandcourtesyalsodeep-ensachild’svocabulary.
Inaddition,teachersinMontessorienvi-ronmentspreparethechildfortotalreadingwiththemechanicalskillsandreadingpracticeacquiredthroughthephoneticobjectbox,phonogramwork,puzzlewords,readingclassification,andreadinganalysis.Herethesynthesisanddecodingtakeplace.Formoreinterpretivereading,Montessorioffersfunctionofwords,wordstudy,books,andalsoreadinganalysis.‘Thechildofthisagelearnsmanynewwords’,wroteMontes-sori.‘Hehasaspecialsensitivenessforwords;theyattracthisinterest,andhespon-taneouslyaccumulatesaverygreatnum-ber.’45Thechildalsorepeatsmuchofthisworkwithinterestandvariety.
Similarly,theNRPnotedthatlisteningto,telling,anddiscussingstories(vocabu-laryenrichment),inadditiontoreadingcomprehension,areessentialforreadingfluency.Further,directinstructionwithsightwords(alsocallednonphoneticor,inMontessori,puzzlewords)andothervocab-ularyareimportantcomponentsforsuc-cessfulreaders.Regularpracticewithalloftheseskillswasalsonotedasessential.
DyslexicreadersinMontessorifollowthissamelogicalprogressionastheirtypi-calpeers,thesimple-to-complex,parts-to-wholeapproachtototalreading.Theselearnersneedincreasedrepetitionandtimewiththeseactivities.Coupledwithregularobservation,readingaloudmakesimpor-tantfeedbackfromtheadultpossible.Itisduringthistypeofreadingthatfurtherinstructionindecodingcansupporttheindividualchild.Thesetimesshouldbepos-itiveandconstructiveforthechild.Whenamistakeismade,thechildcanalterthepro-nunciationverballyandstorethecorrectneuralmodeloftheword.Repetitionwillreflecttheexactpronunciationandspelling
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oftheworduntilitbecomesautomatic.46Achildmustbeableaccuratelytoperformatwo-stepprocess—readingtotakethewordinandcodingitforstorageandretrieval—beforethatwordcanbereadfluently.
Smalldecodablebookscangiveconfi-dencetotheemergingreader,ashewillbeabletoreadonhisown.Oftenchildrenliketoreadthesesimplebooksbecausetheycan.Ifthechildcannotreadaboutninety-fivepercentofthewordsonthepagecorrectly,thebookisprobablytoodifficultforhimtoreadonhisown.Resourcesareavailabletohelpaccuratelygaugeabook’slevelofreadingdifficulty.47
Other,moregeneral,Montessoriprinci-plesarejustasapplicabletothedyslexicchildastothetypicallearnerandsupportherindividualdevelopment.Theenviron-mentandlessonsaresequential,theclass-roomisorganizedandlogical,andmulti-sensorydidacticmaterialsareused.TheMontessorimaterialsaredesignedwithcon-troloferrorandcanbeaperfectdiagnostictool.Theadultgainsmanyindicationsofthechild’slearningabilitiesthroughobserva-tion.Thematerialsarebeautiful,givingonlythenecessarykeysforthechild’sexplora-tion,repetition,andsynthesis.Insomecasesthematerialsalsoallowthechildtoself-correctherwork,thusbuildingindepen-dence,confidence,andrespect.
Montessorisawtheneedforthechildrentohavefreedom—tochoose,torepeat,andtomove—coupledwithnecessaryresponsi-bilityintheenvironment.Oftenthechildknowsherownneedsand,withfreedom,willchooserepetitionofaskillwhensheneedsit.Repetitionisprovidedforinthedesignofthematerialsandactivities.Fur-ther,brainimagingtechnologydemon-stratesthepositiveeffectofpractice,asthebraincreatesaneuralcircuitwhenexpertiseorskillisdeveloped.48
elementary reading support
JustaswiththeMontessoriprimaryenviron-ment,CosmicEducation(theplanfortheelementary-agedchild,agessixtotwelve)canbeanexcellentfitforthedyslexicchild.ThefundamentalMontessoriprinciplescon-tinuetooperateandtheteacheriswellpre-paredtoobserveandmeettheneedsoftheindividual,includingthestrugglingreader.
MostchildrenwhohaveattendedtheCasadeiBambiniforthreeyearscometotheele-mentaryenvironmentalreadyreading.Ifachilddoesnotread,theteachershouldpro-videdailysupport,combinedwithregularobservationofthespecificdifficulties(e.g.,‘missesendblendsoundsregularly’),tocor-rectthisdeficit.Thisdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatthechildisdyslexic,butaplanofactionwhichincludesmultisensory,repeti-tive,smalldosesofsoundawarenessandreadingpracticeshouldbeprovided.Thereisnotimetoloseforthissix-year-old;ifchil-drenwhoaredyslexicgeteffectivephono-logicaltraininginkindergartenandfirstgrade(agesfivetoseven),theywillhavesig-nificantlyfewerproblemslearningtoreadatgradelevelthandochildrenwhowerenotidentifiedorhelpeduntilthirdgrade(ageeightornine).49Thisisalsothetimetoemphaticallyprotectthechild’sself-esteem,aslikelyshewouldlovetoread,cannot,andissurroundedbythosewhodo.
Ideally,remediallessonsshouldbegivendailytoprovideconsistency.50Further,thescheduleofinstructionshouldnothindertheotherregularschoolactivities.Inthisway,theteachermeetstheuniquepaceofthechild’slearningandthechildcanfurtherdevelopautomaticity.TheMontessorienvi-ronmentperfectlymeetstheneedofthischild,assmall-grouporindividuallessonsareregularlygiven,basedonthechildren’sneeds,everydayintheMontessoriclass-
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room.Remediationispossibleinamixed-ageenvironmentwithoutthepotentialstigmaorwork-cycledisruptionofkeepingregularappointmentswithaspecialist.
Asthechildenterstheelementaryclass-room,theteachershouldassessthevariouscomponentsofherreadingskills.Eventhemostcareful,unbiasedobservershouldkeepinmindthatcognitivephenomenacannotbedirectlyobserved.Onesimplycannotseeintothemindsofchildren.Facialexpres-sionsandbodylanguagecangivesomecluestothestrugglesofachild,ascanlisteningtoherreadingaloud.Whenachildhasdiffi-cultiessegmenting(pullingapartawordintoitssounds,usuallyobservedwhilespell-ing)orblending(pushingsoundstogethertoformawordwhilereading),andhasbeenphonologicallywellprepared,furtheranaly-sisshouldbedone.
Oralconversationswiththechildmayrevealanawareness(orlackthereof)ofsoundcomparison,segmentation,andblending.Tocheckcomparison,theteachermighthavethechildpronouncetheindivid-ualsoundsheardinawordorcountthem.Tosegment,thechildbreaksthewordapartbysoundsorsyllables;toblend,shejoinssounds.Achildwhohastroublehearingsyl-lablescanplaceherhandunderherchin;eachtimeshefeelsherjawdrop,asyllableisbeingspoken.Fordyslexicchildrenwithblendingdifficulties,presentingmanywordswiththesamesoundtogether(asa“family”)canbemoreeffectiverepetition.51(Forexample,thechildreadsalistcontain-ingwordsbeginningwith/sl/suchasslip,slam,sled,etc.,orwordswiththerootport,suchasreport,portable,transport,etc.)
Theteachercanalsoperiodicallypointoutaparticularwordandchecktoseeifthingsmakesensetothechild.Inthisway,thechilddecodesanunknownwordandtheteacherverifiesthatthepronunciationiscor-
rectbyrepeatingthatword.Also,thisfos-tersthechild’sindependenceasareaderbybuildingherconfidence.Forexample,whensheisabletoarticulate/d//o//g/andcanblendthesesoundstoformdog,theteachermayask,‘Doesdogsoundrighttoyou?Doesthismakesenseinthestory?’
Fluencywillchangeforthechilddepend-ingonwhatsheisreadingandwhethershehasfamiliarityorpracticewiththetext.Childrenneedpracticewithfluency,whichiscloselylinkedwithreadingcomprehension.Whenchildrenreadpassagesorallymultipletimesandreceivefeedback,theybecomebetterreaders.Childrenwhoreadandrereadtextrepeatedlyorrelyontheuseofaudio-tapesorpeerguidancefororalreadingalsoincreasetheirfluency.52Parentscanalsoreinforcefluencybysupportingtheirchildwithreadingaloudathome.Repeatedlyreadingthewordcorrectlydevelopsanincreaseinaccurateneuralrepresentations.
TheMontessoriadultshouldconsultthepublicschoolcurriculumforanunderstand-ingofreadingrequirements.Forexample,insomeMinnesotadistrictsitisnotuntilfourthgrade(agenineorten)thatchildrenareexpectedtoreadmultisyllabicwordseas-ily,yetchildrenareexpectedtodevelopintofluentreadersbytheendofsecondgrade(ageeight).Fluencyconnectsthedecodingskillsandbringsthechildtocomprehen-sion.
gener al support through cosmic education
Basedonextensiveobservationofnaturalhumandevelopment,Montessoricreatedpreparedenvironmentstosuitthecharacter-isticsofchildren.CosmicEducationappealstothepsychologicalcharacteristicsofthechildfromsixtotwelve.Duringthistime,thechildmovesfurtherfromtheconcrete
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towardsabstraction,experiencinggreatintellectualgrowthanddemonstratingthecapacityforgreatwork.Sheconcernsherselfwithjustice,fairness,andmoralityandformssmallsocietieswithherpeers,seek-ingheroestoemulate.Asaresultofthesecharacteristics,theMontessorielementaryclassroomofferstheuniversetothechildandshereadilyaccepts,usingherreasoningmindandimaginationtoexplorethehowandwhyofeverything.Theseregularcom-ponentsoftheMontessorielementarypro-grammesupportthelearningofthedyslexicchild.
CosmicEducationisanaidtolife,offeredfortheentirehumandevelopmentofthechild.Animportantaspectofthechild’ssuc-cessistheuseoflanguageinaconstructiveandproductivewayforthebettermentofsociety.Language,wroteMontessori,‘mustnotbeconsideredmerelyasasubjectinschools….Itis,rather,a characteristic of civi-lized man.’53Thechilddiscoversthatlan-guageisahumancreationthathelpspeoplesatisfytheirneeds.Languagetransmitshumancultureandcontinuestoshapeandchangethehumanworldeachday.
DrMontessorireferredtotheintegratedspokenandwrittenlanguageworkoftheelementarychildaspsychogrammar,createdtosupportthecharacteristicsofthechild.Ratherthanteaching,theadultlinksthechildrentoavarietyofavenuesofexplora-tion,offeringopportunitiestorecognizepatterns.Withenthusiasm,theMontessoriadultbringslanguagetolifewithenticingquestionsandexcitingexamples,leadingthechildrentowardsdiscoveriesmadethroughreason.RenownedMontessoriteachertrainerMargaretStephensonsaidelemen-taryteachers‘makelanguageworkadetec-tivestoryadventureoftheimagination.’54
Therichlypreparedelementaryenviron-mentprovidesaplethoraoflanguageexperi-
encesforthechild.TeachersconveytheworkingsoftheuniversethroughspokenlanguageintheGreatStoriesandfurtherstories,beginningwiththewholeandmov-ingtotheparts.Withconcretematerials,thechildisolatesnewideas.Multisensoryexperiences,includingregularmovement,providerepetitionthroughvariety.Further,thechildexploresthroughreading,writing,andspeakinginmanyways.Forachildwhostruggleswithreading,thenatureofCosmicEducationanditstransmissionthroughkeys,impressions,andstoriesprovidesameaningfulandthoroughexperience.Insum,thenonreaderhasmuchpurposefulworktodointheMontessorielementaryenvironment.
Theelementarychildacquiresbroadersocialexperiencesthroughgoingout.‘Herequirestogooutintotheworldtomakewidercontactswithbothnatureandhumansociety’,Montessoripointedout.55Inthisway,thechildhaspracticeinsocietyandhecanseefirsthandtheworkingsofhiscul-ture.Further,thechildrenhaveagreatdesiretoviewpertinentexamplesoftheirstudiesinnatureandthecommunity.
Thedyslexicchildlearnsthroughactivityevenmorethanhispeers,whichprovidesaframeworkformemory.Inthisway,goingoutfitstheneedsofthisindividual.Hemustfullyunderstandthetopic,asrotememorywillnotworkwellforhim.Concepts,real-lifeexamples,andexperiencesprovideopportunitiesforpractice,andthusthechildcanmakeconnectionswithinandbetweencategories.Hands-onexperiencesarevitaltothedyslexic.56Theseexperiencesarefoundwiththemanipulativematerialsintheclassroomandthewidersocietyoutsideoftheclassroom.
Inthepreparedenvironmentoftheclass-roomandthroughthegoingoutpro-gramme,thechildrendevelopsocialskills.
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Theypractisehowtoformagroupwithaleader.Theycollaborate,delegatingtaskstoeachindividualwhilejointlymakingacon-tributiontothewhole.Theyworkunderthedirectionofeachotherandeachhasanopportunitytolead.Theyexperiencehowtodiscussanddisagree.Thechildrensettheirownguidelinesfortheclassroom,theirownsmallsociety.
TheMontessorienvironmentprovidesthechildthefreedomtospendasmuchtimeassheneeds,inanextended,uninterruptedworkcycle,tocompleteatask.Thereisnopressuretomoveontoanothertopicataprescribedtime(e.g.,thirtyminutesforwriting,thirtyminutesforhistory),noemphasisonrotememorization,notesttak-ing,norarethereregularteacher-imposedassignments.Withthestateschoolcurricu-lumasaguide,thechildisfreetofollowherowninterests.
Becausetheenvironmentconsistsofagroupofchildrenofmixedages,thestrug-glingreadergenerallyhasapeergroupatherlevelatanygiventime.Lessonsandmaterialsarespecificallyplannedbytheteachertofitwhateachchildneeds,andbecausethechildrentendtowardstheirpeers,grouplessonsarefrequent.Inthisway,bothchildrenbenefitwhenabuddingdyslexicreadermentorsanotherchildwhoneedsmoreguidance,regardlessoftheirages.
CosmicEducationintroducesthechildtotheimportantaccomplishmentofhumanbeingsthroughthefourthGreatStory,Com-municationinSigns.Likemanystoriesele-mentaryMontessoriteacherstell,thisoneinspiresgratitudeinthechildtotheanony-moushumanbeingswhocontributedtoourlivestoday—inthiscase,gratitudeforthepreciousgiftofthealphabetandothersym-bolsystems,andthecreationofwrittenlan-guage.Becauseofthoseamazingearly
humans,notonlydocontemporarypeoplehavethepossibilitytothinkclearly,theyalsohavethepossibilitytowriteandspeakclearly.
Asthechildworkstowardsthemasteryofsound-symbolassociationsinEnglish,otherspecificmaterialscanreinforcethosepat-ternsandgivefurtherpractice.Afluentreadercanalsoworkwithanonreader,help-ingorreadingduringthatportionofthework.
BuildingontheworkoftheCasadeiBambini,thechildexploressinglewordsandwordmeaningsintheelementary.Thechildlearnsprogressivelyhowwordsarebuilt,learningaboutsuffixes,prefixes,andwordfamilies.Inonecase,thechildusessmallmovablealphabetstoinvestigatewordsbybreakingthemintoparts.Differentaffixesaddedtothesamerootchangethemeaningofthewordandsometimeseventhepartofspeech.Theisolationofthepartsthroughthedifferentalphabetcolourshelpsthechildtounderstandcompoundwordsandwordfamilies,whichgivesreadingprac-tice,strengthensvocabulary,andaidsinspelling.Deliberatewordstudyisessentialasphonologicaltrainingtransferstothereadingofbothnewandfamiliarwords.Ifteachersencouragechildrentofullyanalysewrittenwords,theycanapplytheirknowl-edgetothenewwordsencountered.57Onlytwentyprefixesaccountforninety-sevenpercentofallthewordswithprefixesfoundinEnglish-languageschoolbooks,andnineoftheseprefixesaccountforseventy-fivepercentofallprefixes.58
Becausethesecond-planechildlikesrea-sons,Montessoriteachersgiveetymologyinmanystoriesandlessons.Besidesjustgivingthemeaning,theetymologyoftenhasthecharacteristicembeddedwithintheword.Forexample,aflowerwithpartsbelowtheovaryiscalledhypogynous.Thewordcomes
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fromtwoGreekwords,hypo,meaning‘under’or‘below’,andgynous,meaning‘female’.Also,thechildmightstudytheori-ginorclassificationofotherwords,suchasEnglishsurnames,forexample,whichcanbedescriptive,occupational,patronymic,orgeographical.Knowingtheetymologyorhistoricaloriginofawordisanimportantsupporttoreadingandfluentcomprehen-sion,asitgivesinformationabouttheword’spronunciation,spelling,andmeaning.Also,byknowingthehistoricalbackgroundforlanguage,childrencometobetterunder-standhowmanyofourbasicAnglo-Saxonwordshaveevolvedfromtheiroriginalmeanings.
Additionally,olderelementarychildrenexplorethehistoryofmanyLatin,Greek,andFrenchprefixesandsuffixes,discover-ingthatoftenaffixesarenotofEnglishori-gin.Whenchildrenmoveontomiddleschool(agestwelvetofifteen),thereadingmaterialchangesfrompredominantlyAnglo-Saxonwordstoamixofwordsofeveryorigin,soastrongfoundationinwordstudyhelpstoreinforcereadingskill.Inpar-ticular,towardsmiddleandintohighschool,textscontainlargenumbersofwordsfromLatin,French,andGreek.59
Englishissurprisinglyorganizedandsensiblyingenious,whichappealstothesec-ond-planechild’spsychology,aschildrenenjoytheimaginativeexplorationanddis-coveryofavarietyoflanguageconstruc-tions.Astheydevelopmorality,notonlydotheyenjoyrulesandputtingthemtouse,theyrelishthediscoveryoftheexceptions.Moreover,oftenthereasonsforthestructureofthelanguageappealtothechildandcansupportreadingcomprehensionbygivingcontextualclues.
Evenwordswhichcannotbecompletelydecodedbasedonsoundandlettercorre-spondenceareoftenpredictable,basedon
phonics.Soteachersshouldnottellearlyreadersthat‘Englishisirregular’,becausethatsendsamessageofnegativityandisnotreallycorrect.60Infact,thebrainisquiteskilledatdeterminingpatternsandregulari-ties.Muchofthepredictabilityoccursintwo-letterspellingunits,andchildrenshouldlearnallofthemostfrequentspell-ing-phonemecorrespondences.
Increasedvocabularysupportsreading,fromdecodingtocomprehension.Theinter-pretivereadingcards,sequencedbycom-plexity,canhelpthechildtodecodejustasmallamountoftextandexplorethemean-ingsofwords.Workwiththecommandcardsandgrammarboxes,inwhichthechildactsoutthewordsonthecards,givesincreasedpractice.Also,avarietyofmaterialexistsintheclassroomwhichrequiresthereadingofonlyasinglewordortwo,suchastheanimalstorymaterial,geographycom-mandcards,mathwordproblems,andnomenclaturecards.
Manyopportunitiesalsoexistforthebuildingofvocabularythroughliterature.Acollectionofcarefullychosen,limitedbooksintheclassroomofdifferentgenres(fiction,nonfiction,poetry,reference,etc.),authors,andtimeperiodssupportsthisdevelopment.Readingalouddailybytheadultalsoexposesthechildrentogreatvarietiesoflit-erature.Theadultcanpausetoexplainordiscussparticularwords,oraskavolunteerforadefinitionasneeded.
the montessori adult’s role in sup-porting the dyslexic child
Becauseitisessentialtoidentifythechild’sreadingproblembeforehefails,avarietyofassessmenttoolsforphonologicalskillscanhelpidentifychildrenwhoareatriskforreadingdifficulties.61Forthestrugglingreader,wordandsoundassessmentshould
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besystematicandregular.Theerrorpat-ternsinanolderchild’swritingprovidecon-creteguidancefortheadultaboutsoundsthechildmaynothearandthereforedoesnotrecord.62Thesechildrenmayhavebecomesightreaders,relyingexclusivelyonmemorizationtoreadwords.Theteacherorlearningspecialistisbestequippedtoadministerthistypeofreviewwhenneeded.
Usuallychallengesarenotinitiallyrevealedthroughconventionalachievementtestsordiagnostictools.63Rather,aregularclassroomteacherwhohassomeexperienceobservingherchildren’sworkandhabitsnoticesthesechildren.Basedonherobser-vations,atthatpointtheteachercanhelpanindividualinthelearningprocess.Amajor-ityofdysfunctionscanbemanagedsuccess-fullyintheregularclassroomwithoutdirectspecialeducationservices,whilethepsy-chologistsandspecialeducationteacherscanserveasconsultantstotheclassroomteacher.
Ifahealthcareprofessionaldiagnosesthechildasdyslexic,explainingthenatureofthedifficultytothechildcanbeanimpor-tantstepforbothherunderstandingandhersuccess.64Herparentorteachercanletherknowthat‘Dys-means“problems”and-lexia means“words”,sodyslexiameansproblemswiththewordsyouspeak,thewordsyouhear,andthewordsyousee.’Whentellinghistorystories,theadultcanpointouttothechildthatbeforepeoplelearnttoreadorwrite,dyslexicswereregardedaspowerfulandwereoftentheleadersoftheirtribesbecauseoftheirstrengthsofobservationandcreativity.Thegroupswiththedyslexicmembershadanincreasedchanceofsur-vival.65Additionally,anunderstandingoftheconditioncanbeliberatingforchildren,whofinallyknowthereisanactual,under-stoodproblemwithlearning.Childrenwhocannotreadalreadymayknowintheir
heartsthatthereisaproblempriortoadiagnosis.Yetthesechildrenneedtoknowthattheyarecapableandbrightpeoplewholearndifferentlyfromothers.
WiththeimplementationoftheAmeri-canswithDisabilitiesAct(ADA)intheUnitedStates,conventionaleducationallowsfor‘specificaccommodations’tosupportdyslexicchildren.Theseaccommodations—includingaspacetoworkwhichisindividualorquiet,extratimetocompleteataskortest,and/oranalternativemethodtodemon-strateknowledge—arealreadyprovidedeverydayinaMontessoriclassroom.Otheraccommodationscouldincluderegularsmall-grouporindividuallessons,increasedrepetition,supportontheorganizationoftasks,andremovalofdistractions.Again,thetrainedMontessoriteacherregularlyprovidesthissupportforanyofherchildrenwiththeseneeds,includingthedyslexicones.
Someteachersareconcernedthatextratimeontestsgivesanunfairadvantage.However,collegestudentswithandwithoutdisabilitieshavebeenstudiedontimedandnon-timedstandardizedtestswithconsis-tentresults.Onlydiagnosedlearning-dis-abledstudentsshowedasignificantimprovementintestscoreswithadditionaltime.Anadvantageisnotgiventothedys-lexicstudentwithextratime;ratheritisanattempttoleveltheplayingfield.66
Insomecases,adyslexicchildmaybene-fitfromtutoringafterschool.Thesetypesofservicesoutsidetheclassroomrequirecare-fulcommunicationbetweentheclassroomteacher,thetutor,andtheparents.Ideally,additionalpracticeortutoringshouldrein-forcetheskillsthechildhaslearntinschool,ratherthanintroducenewonesortaketheplaceofthechild’sclassroomteacher.
Inmiddleschoolandbeyond(aboutages
Communications 2012/1-2 page 72
twelveandup),theuseofacomputerfornotetakingmaybeofbenefittothechild.Also,asthechildprogressestoconventionalschoolsystemswhichusetextbooks,organi-zationssuchasLearningAllyinPrinceton,NewJersey,USA,canprovideaudiobooksupport.67Inthiswaythechildcanpartici-pateincoursesathislevelofunderstandingratherthanbeheldbackbyslowreading.Thiscanallowthechildtoreadmoreactivelybyunderliningortakingnoteswhilelistening,therebyreinforcingthecontent,whichmaynothavebeenpossiblepreviouslywhenhewastotallyfocusedondecipheringthewordsonthepage.
conclusion
Dyslexiaisalanguagedisorderwithabio-logicalbasiswhichischaracterizedbydiffi-cultywithreadingandotherlanguagepro-cessing.Typically,thechallengesresultfrompoorphonologicalawarenessandareunex-pectedascomparedwiththeotherabilitiesofthechild.Dyslexicchildrenrequirespe-cificinterventionandsupportandcanbehighlysuccessfulthroughoutschoolandinamultitudeofcareers.Theseare,inJaneHealy’swords,‘youngsterswhomightbeacademicstarsinaculturewithadifferentsetofintellectualpriorities.’68
Formostchildren,readingdifficultiescanbeaddressedverysuccessfully,thuseradicatingreadingfailureasapublichealthproblem.Bothidentifyingchildrenbeforetheyfallbehindandprovidingthehelpthattheyneedareimportantcomponentsneces-saryforthestrengthofouryouth.Thecycleoffailurecanbeavoidedbecauseeducatorsnowknowhowtoidentifychildrenatriskforreadingfailurebeforetheybegintoexpe-riencethattypeofdifficulty.
TheMontessoriclassroom,inboththeCasadeiBambiniandtheelementary(ages
sixtotwelve)environment,isdesignedtomeettheneedsofeveryindividualchild,includingthedyslexiclearner.ThetrainedMontessoriadultobservesthechildandpro-videsherwithwhatsheneedsforsuccessnotonlyinlanguagebutfortheblossomingofallofherhumanpotentials.Asaliteratememberofsociety,thechildfeelsempow-eredtocontributetoothers,pursuehercos-mictask,andsupportthebuildingofapeacefulworld.The‘humanteacherscanonlyhelpthegreatworkthatisbeingdoneasservantshelpthemaster.Doingso,theywillbewitnessestotheunfoldingofthehumansoulandtotherisingofaNewManwhowillnotbethevictimofevents,butwillhavetheclarityofvisiontodirectandshapethefutureofhumansociety.’69
notes
1 MariaMontessori,Education for a New World
(Madras,India:KalakshetraPress,1946),
p.41.
2 NationalReadingPanel,Teaching Children to
Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific
Research Literature and Its Implications for Reading
Instruction(Bethesda,MD:USDepartmentof
HealthandHumanServices,NationalInsti-
tutesofHealth,NationalInstituteofChild
Health&HumanDevelopment,2000)<http://
www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/small-
book.cfm>[accessed16October2012].
3 PeggyMcCardleandBrettMiller,“WhyWe
NeedEvidence-BasedPracticeinReadingand
WheretoFindThatEvidence”,inImplementing
Evidence-Based Academic Interventions in School
Settings,ed.byVirginiaW.BerningerandSyl-
viaRosenfield(Oxford:OxfordUniversity
Press,2009),pp.19–48(p.27).
4 BonnieB.Armbruster,FranLehr,andJean
Osborn,Put Reading First: Kindergarten through
Grade 3(Jessup,MD:TheNationalInstitutefor
Literacy,2000),p.7.
Communications 2012/1-2 page 73
5 McCardleandMiller,p.27.
6 NicholasMeier,“ReadingFirst?”,Critical Liter-
acy: Theories and Practices,3.2(2009),
pp.69–83.
7 BarbaraWise,LauraRogan,andLouannSes-
sions,“SharingResearchKnowledgewith
Teachers:TheStoryofLinguisticRemedies”,
inImplementing Evidence-Based Academic Interven-
tions,ed.byBerningerandRosenfield,
pp.443–477(p.448).
8 InternationalDyslexiaAssociation,“Defini-
tionofDyslexia”,2002<http://www.interdys.
org/ewebeditpro5/upload/Definition.pdf>
[accessed16October2012].
9 MarcelAdamJustandPatriciaA.Carpenter,
The Psychology of Reading and Language Compre-
hension(Boston:AllynandBacon,1987),
p.107.
10 MaryanneWolf,Proust and the Squid: The Story
and Science of the Reading Brain(NewYork:
HarperCollins,2007),p.174.
11 Fordetaileddescriptionsofthebrainimaging
process,seeSallyShaywitz,Overcoming Dys-
lexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program
for Reading Problems at Any Level(NewYork:
Knopf,2003).
12 Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,pp.78–84.
13 Wolf,p.61.
14 Wolf,p.190.
15 DianeMcGuinness,Why Our Children Can’t Read
and What We Can Do about It(NewYork:Simon
&Schuster,1999),p.203.
16 SylviaOnestiRichardson,“ResearchValidates
MontessoriApproachtoTeachingLanguage”,
Montessori Life,16.3(Summer2004),pp.46–48
(p.48).
17 InternationalDyslexiaAssociation,“Dyslexia
Basics”,2008<http://www.interdys.org/
ewebeditpro5/upload/BasicsFactSheet.pdf>
[accessed16October2012]
18 Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.6.
19 USDepartmentofEducation. Twenty-Fifth
Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
2003<http://www.ed.gov/about/reports/
annual/osep/2003/index.html>[accessed16
October2012].
20Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.29.
21 Shaywitz, Overcoming Dyslexia,p.121.
22InternationalDyslexiaAssociation,“Dyslexia
Basics”.
23Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.256.
24Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.99.
25SallyShaywitz,“Dyslexia”,Scientific American,
275.5(November1996),pp.98–104(p.104).
26PriscillaL.Vail,Smart Kids with School Problems
(NewYork:Dutton,1987),p.53.
27Vail,pp.7and117.
28Wolf,p.201.
29L.BradleyandP.E.Bryant,“Categorizing
SoundsandLearningtoRead:ACausalCon-
nection”,Nature,301(1983),pp.419–21
(pp.420–21).
30Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.55.
31 Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.147.The
researchthatDrShaywitzcitesstudiesonly
childreninconventionalreadingprogrammes
inthekindergartenandfirstgrade.Wemight
considerthatwhenchildrenlearnthesounds
thatthelettersmakepriortolearningthelet-
tername,astheydoinaMontessorienviron-
ment,alackofknowledgeofthenamesofthe
letterswouldnotbeanindicatoroffuture
readingdifficulties,asthenamesofthelet-
tersarenotnecessarytoread.Rather,a
knowledgeofthesoundsisnecessaryfor
reading.
32McGuinness,p.331.
33Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.136.
34Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.133.
35Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.30.
36GavinReid,Dyslexia:A Practitioner’s Handbook,
4thedn(WestSussex,England:Wiley,2009)
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
book/10.1002/9780470745502>[accessed16
October2012](p.160).
37NationalReadingPanel.
38Armbruster,p.16.
Communications 2012/1-2 page 74
39DianaHanburyKing,“AConditionRightly
Named:WhyDyslexiaIsaUsefulTerm”,Per-
spectives on Language and Literacy, 34(Winter
2008),pp.17–19(p.19).
40Richardson,“ResearchValidates”,p.47.
41 TheOrton–Gillinghammethod,collaborated
uponbyamedicaldoctorandateachermore
thanonehundredyearsago,systematically
introducesthephonemesinamultisensory,
repetitivemannerbeginningwiththemost
commonsoundsthatfollowthemostcom-
monrules.
42Armbruster,p.8.
43MariaMontessori,The Discovery of the Child
(1948;NewYork:RandomHouse,1967),
p.229.
44Montessori,Discovery of the Child,p.229.
45MariaMontessori,The Absorbent Mind(1949;
NewYork:Holt,1995),p.174.
46Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.232.
47TheDegrees of Reading Power(DRP)programme
listsliterature,textbooks,andpopularbooks
onaCD-ROM,rankingthembyreadability
(see<www.questarai.com>).Alternatively,
Children’s Booksin Print indicatesrecommended
gradelevelforbooks(at<www.booksinprint.
com>).
48Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.188.
49InternationalDyslexiaAssociation,“CanIndi-
vidualsWhoAreDyslexicLearntoRead?”
<http://www.interdys.org/FAQLearnToRead.
htm>[accessed16October2012].
50AnnaGillinghamandBessieW.Stillman,The
Gillingham Manual: Remedial Training for Children
with Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling, and
Penmanship(Cambridge,MA:EducatorsPub-
lishingService,1997),p.12.
51 JoyceS.Pickering,“MontessoriansHelping
ChildrenWhoLearnDifferently”,The NAMTA
Journal,33.2(Spring2008),pp.76–99(p.93).
52Armbruster,p.21.
53MariaMontessori,The Formation of Man
(Madras,India:KalakshetraPress,1991),
p.109.
54MargaretE.Stephenson,“HomoLoquens:
LanguageintheContextofCosmicEduca-
tion”,The NAMTA Journal,26.2(Spring2001),
pp.83–97(p.88).
55MariaMontessori,“The Four Planes of Educa-
tion”(FromlecturesgiveninEdinburgh,1938,
andLondon,1939;Amsterdam:AMI,1971),
p.7.
56Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,pp.283–84.
57VirginiaW.BerningerandToddL.Richards,
Brain Literacy for Educators and Psychologists (San
Diego:AcademicPress,2002),p.236.
58ThomasWhite,JoanneSowell,andAlice
Yanagihara,“TeachingElementaryStudents
toUseWordPartClues”,The Reading Teacher,
42.4(January1989),pp.302–308.Thisarticle
includesalistofthesemostcommonprefixes,
p.303.
59BerningerandRichards,p.233.
60BerningerandRichards,p.227.
61 Onepossibleapproach,DIBELS(Dynamic
IndicatorsofBasicEarlyLiteracySkills),pro-
videsabrief,individuallyadministeredsetof
taskslastingjustafewminutesandmaybe
administeredfrequentlytomonitorprogress
andenabletheteachertomakethenecessary
instructionalrefinementsforastruggling
child.Thisapproachassessesthefiveaspects
identifiedbytheNRP.<https://dibels.uoregon.
edu/>.
62LouisaMoats,“KnowledgeFoundationsfor
TeachingReadingandSpelling”,Reading and
Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal,22.4(April
2009),pp.379–399(p.392).
63MelLevineandMary-DeanBarringer,
“GettingtheLowdownontheSlowdown”,
The NAMTA Journal,33.2(Spring2008),
pp.178–185(p.182).Theauthorsdiscusshow
classroomteacherslearntoobservechildren
andidentifystrengthsandweaknessesin
academicfunctioning.
64King,p.18.
65King,p.18.
66Shaywitz,Overcoming Dyslexia,p.337.
Communications 2012/1-2 page 75
67Thisorganization,formerlyknownasRecord-
ingfortheBlindandDyslexic,maybefound
at<http://www.Learningally.org>.
68JaneM.Healy,Endangered Minds: Why Children
Don’t Think—And What We Can Do about It (New
York:Simon&Schuster,1999),p.146.
69Montessori,Education for a New World,p.3.
additional resources
Adams,MarilynJager,Beginning to Read: Thinking
and Learning about Print(Urbana–Champaign,
IL:CenterfortheStudyofReading,University
ofIllinois,1990)
Henry,MarciaK,Unlocking Literacy: Effective Decod-
ing and Spelling Instruction(Baltimore:Brookes,
2003)
Moats,LouisaCook,andE.D.Hirsch,“Overcom-
ingtheLanguageGap”,American Educator,25.5
(2001),pp.8–9
Montessori,Maria,From Childhood to Adolescence
(1948;Oxford:Clio,1994)
Montessori,Maria,To Educate the Human Potential
(1948;Oxford:Clio,1998)
Pickering,JoyceS.,“SuccessfulApplicationsof
MontessoriMethodswithChildrenatRiskfor
LearningDisabilities”,Annals of Dyslexia,42.1
(December1992),pp.90–109
Richardson,SylviaOnesti,“TheMontessoriPre-
school:PreparationforWritingandReading”,
Annals of Dyslexia,47(1997),pp.241–256
Torgesen,JosephK.,“CatchThembeforeThey
Fall:IdentificationandAssessmenttoPrevent
ReadingFailureinYoungChildren”,American
Educator,22.1–2(Spring–Summer1998),pp.
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Wilkins,AngelaM.,andAliceH.Garside,Basic
Facts about Dyslexia: What Every Layperson Ought
to Know(Baltimore:TheInternationalDys-
lexiaAssociation,1993)