My daughter just started 4th grade and she was very nervous about it, but she is always nervous at the start of the new year. My little secret is, I was really nervous too. I know what 4th grade is like and I have been worried about how she will do with this tougher school work. I tried to make sure I had everything ready and set for her but you just never know what you might be missing.

Her first week of school she got in the car when I picked her up and she started doing her homework. She had to write 6 sentences about the story they read in class. Sigh. I was so nervous for her, that she would be stressed out about it but we got home and she finished her sentences. Later that evening she asked if she could read to me what she wrote, and I said "of course". This is what she wrote....

She did an excellent job on her sentences, she said exactly what happened in the story. But....look at her spelling errors. Now, any parent of a dyslexic student at this point might get very worried, all that red ink (or whatever color the teacher uses) all over the paper, handing it back to the student and maybe even making her re-write it, we all know how that student would now feel, and it's heartbreaking.

So the next day she brings home her paper and this is what it says on the front...

She didn't have to rewrite it, there were no marks on the sentences in the back, just that big 100 and Awesome work kiddo! I am still beaming about this paper.

Any guesses on how this happened? You're right, my daughters teacher understands dyslexia! She knows what dyslexia is and she knows how to accommodate in her classroom! She didn't grade on spelling, she graded on content! I love my daughters teacher.

I will say it again...Teacher training is so important!

People don't slip through the cracks. They sink. Slowly. While screaming for help to a world that pretends to be deaf.
                                                                                         @SSparklesDaily                                                                                 
I read that on Twitter yesterday and I have not been able to get it out of my mind. I am not sure what the person was referring to when she posted it but it certainly does fit our dyslexic children pretty accurately doesn't it?

Dyslexia can be accurately diagnosed as early as Kindergarten, if we know what to look for, this is why teacher training is so important. Children with dyslexia do tend to slip through the cracks until the earliest 3rd or 4th grade most times, and by that point kids self esteem is already tanking and kids that don't get caught till even later suffer from even more than just self esteem issues. Kids can really begin to hate school, and anything associated with school, and is that really what we want?

There are so many simple things teachers can do for children in the general education classroom that would make a world of difference for a student who struggles. Catching kids with dyslexia before they "slip through the cracks" would make a world of difference and prevent kids from even entering Special Education which a lot of times might not always be the best place for them. This would be a good transition to RTI which I have discussed at length but there is always more to discuss, and I will...soon.

So, how can we help our kids from slipping though the cracks? Teacher training is key. Talk to your child's teacher about what dyslexia is. There are a lot of misconceptions about dyslexia but there are also a lot of great places to go to get the correct information. My favorite video is one from Kelli Sandman-Hurley and it less than 5 minutes long. Share it with your child's teacher and be prepared to answer questions because you will be asked.