His "Intervention"

I'm anxious to see how Jared's school year will be. As I was talking with the elementary principal this morning, she said she will most likely be taking Jared out of the reading portion of the day 3 times a week, for an hour each time. She will wait for a couple weeks for him to get used to the school schedule and then start his intervention plan. What a blessing this will be!

So, what is will this intervention entail? The principal believes that if you uncover the cause, you often discover the solution. How do you do this?
PROMOTE - a noted deficiency should alert them to look for a proficiency of a different kind.
ACCOMODATE - take him out of a part of the class schedule that he will probably struggle with to help him learn a different way, perform verbal tests, multiple choice questions, etc.
REMEDIATE - using phonemic vocabulary programs, therapy, etc.
COMPENSATE - help him with tools, i.e. "i before e except after c", etc.

I will continue to work with him, daily, until he can start the intervention program. I know this will mean long days for him, but we can't just take 2 weeks off. I’ve heard it over and over again. Time is critical! We already completed 120 school lessons this summer and we're not finished yet. His principal has a great program that, she feels, will have him reading smoothly in no time. She said she has worked with dyslexic kids for over 25 years.

Speaking of DYSLEXIA, I wanted to share a few more things the expert shared last week at the seminar:

• The state of Texas is a "Mecca" for dyslexia information. Years and years ago, Barbara Bush went to the national institute of health because one of her children had dyslexia (not George W). Because of that, Texas is the best state for recognizing dyslexia.
• It’s carried on chromosomes 1, 6  & 13. Chromosome 6 is immune system chromosome. This means kids usually had frequent upper respiratory infections or constant drainage. They often say, “What did you say?” Congestion is blocking their ears. Isn't that interesting? I mean, Jared has always been labeled with allergies/asthma. Now, I'm hearing THAT is a sign of dyslexia??
• Dyslexia affects 20% of all children.
• Dyslexic kids are good at using their hands. They have an uncanny ability to see how things work – pull them apart and put back together. They are usually good at visual/spatial things. Many extreme athletes are dyslexics. However, they can also be clumsy, or tend to fall or trip.

I still have a great deal of notes to share from the seminar, so I'll just keep sneaking them in the blog.


By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. Psalm 42:8 (NIV)