A Student’s Story
“I hate being taken out of class for reading. Everybody thinks I’m stupid. I can hear them whispering and laughing at me.”
Dana, a Grade 3 student, had already begun to feel the full impact of her reading difficulty, which negatively affected her confidence. While she excelled in subjects like math and athletics and received ample reassurance at home, Dana suffered from a negative self-image.
Although Dana was in Grade 3, she could barely read at a Grade 1 level. When asked to sound out the word “mat,” she would give one sound: “mat.” She could recognize parts of words but would guess at the rest. Her sight word vocabulary was limited to “love,” “to,” “do,” and “of.” All these factors resulted in both weak spelling and reading skills, leaving her confused and disheartened.
During her assessment at Mind Over Learning, she stated she was the “dumbest kid in class.” Tears welled in her eyes as she added, “They take me out of class every day and try to help me read, but it’s too hard. They tell me I’m not trying.”
After completing Dana’s assessment, we gave her parents a simplified explanation. We conveyed that there are many children like Dana, who have phonological weaknesses, and therefore struggle to hear or recognize sounds. She has trouble with the individual sounds that fit together to make words. These sounds don’t come to her mind enough, and learning phonics doesn’t help with this situation. We told Dana and her parents that we aid many other kids who struggle with reading, and we could help her overcome it as well.
Dana was eager to begin sessions, exclaiming, “I can’t wait to get started!” The relief on her parents’ faces was palpable. It began to sink in that Dana truly could learn to read—she just had to be taught differently. As they headed out of the center, Dana’s mom stated, “Wow. We finally found someone who understands Dana’s difficulties.”
A few months of sessions passed before Dana’s mom approached us. She was ecstatic about Dana’s gradual but apparent improvement in her reading. She knew it was a process, and Dana had a long way to go, but her progress gave them hope for their daughter’s future. Dana, too, was beginning to feel better about school, developing confidence and a healthier sense of self.
Dana’s mother was excited to discuss her daughter’s progress. “Since we took Dana out of reading assistance, she doesn’t feel like she is identified by her classmates as ‘stupid.’ And I just have to tell you this: the other day, I walked into her bedroom and she was reading a book out loud to her younger cousin. I just cried. I don’t know how to thank you. Mind Over Learning has changed our lives.”