Give kids with dyslexia the right recipe to succeed

The end of school is in sight, and this means that parents are asking themselves the big question: “Is my child ready for the next grade?” For parents of struggling readers, this question is critical.

Teaching kids to read is like throwing wet noodles against the wall. The teacher is the chef, with a big pot of pasta. In her kettle are spaghetti noodles, rigatoni, wagon wheels and macaroni. After she drains the water she tosses the entire pot at the kitchen wall.

The first-grader is the wall, arms outstretched, wanting to wiggle but trying to stay still. If the pasta is cooked just right, it sticks to the wall.

Day after day the teacher throws pasta. Sometimes, she sweats standing there at the hot stove, but she keeps cooking. Boil the water, set the timer, drain the water, throw! She’s a pasta-cooking expert.

In April she looks at the wall and it’s plastered with pasta. The kid is so glutenized that he’s a strong, sticky tangle of firing neurons, ready to read “Frog and Toad,” “Arthur” and “Bob Books.”

But for some kids the standard method of pasta throwing doesn’t work.

This doesn’t mean that the teacher isn’t cooking pasta properly. It’s not because the child isn’t standing up straight and holding his arms out wide. For some reason, the spaghetti, wagon wheels and macaroni won’t stick. It’s like part of the kid’s wall is slathered in olive oil and the pasta slides right off.

When I was a first-grade teacher who saw this happen to a couple of my students, I went to my school administrators and expressed concern. I was told that all children develop at different rates and that I shouldn’t worry. “Wait until third grade,” the special-ed teacher said. “Then we’ll see.”

Now that I’m a parent, this rationalization makes me boiling mad.

Unfortunately, our schools are set up with a “wait and see approach” for reading disorders like dyslexia. Eight-year-olds who are two grade levels behind set off warning bells. Six-year-olds who repeatedly sound out “the” do not.

When your child is the one trying hard but failing to collect pasta, you need to determine what type of pasta sticks as early as possible. If rigatoni sticks, don’t waste time and money with spaghetti. Don’t make your child feel like a failure because he can’t absorb macaroni. Don’t torture him with wagon wheels.

If the dyslexic child had received all rigatoni, all the time, starting back in kindergarten, then he could be as glutenized as every other child in his first-grade class, ready to glom on to any book that came his way. That’s called early intervention, and it’s imperative.

Rigatoni kids are smart too and they don’t deserve all the crap that gets thrown at them.

So if you’re the parent of a first- or second-grade child who struggles, please don’t let anyone tell you to wait until third grade for reading to stick. Demand an evaluation right away. Your child deserves to learn.

Jennifer Bardsley lives in Edmonds. Her book “Genesis Girl” comes out June 14. Find her online on Instagram @the_ya_gal, Twitter @jennbardsley

or at teachingmybabytoread.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Sarah Jean Muncey-Gordon puts on some BITCHSTIX lip oil at Bandbox Beauty Supply on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, in Langley, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Bandbox Beauty was made for Whidbey Island locals, by an island local

Founder Sarah Muncey-Gordon said Langley is in a renaissance, and she’s proud to be a part of it.

A stroll on Rome's ancient Appian Way is a kind of time travel. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves on the Appian Way, Rome’s ancient superhighway

Twenty-nine highways fanned out from Rome, but this one was the first and remains the most legendary.

Byrds co-founder Roger McGuinn, seen here in 2013, will perform April 20 in Edmonds. (Associated Press)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

R0ck ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn, frontman of The Byrds, plans a gig in Edmonds in April.

Mother giving in to the manipulation her daughter fake crying for candy
Can children be bribed into good behavior?

Only in the short term. What we want to do is promote good habits over the course of the child’s life.

Speech Bubble Puzzle and Discussion
When conflict flares, keep calm and stand your ground

Most adults don’t like dissension. They avoid it, try to get around it, under it, or over it.

The colorful Nyhavn neighborhood is the place to moor on a sunny day in Copenhagen. (Cameron Hewitt)
Rick Steves: Embrace hygge and save cash in Copenhagen

Where else would Hans Christian Andersen, a mermaid statue and lovingly decorated open-face sandwiches be the icons of a major capital?

Last Call is a festured artist at the 2024 DeMiero Jazz Festival: in Edmonds. (Photo provided by DeMiero Jazz Festival)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Jazz ensemble Last Call is one of the featured artists at the DeMiero Jazz Festival on March 7-9 in Edmonds.

Kim Helleren
Local children’s author to read at Edmonds Bookshop

Kim Helleren will read from one of her books for kids at the next monthly Story Time at Edmonds Bookshop on March 29.

Chris Elliott
Lyft surprises traveler with a $150 cleaning charge

Jared Hakimi finds a $150 charge on his credit card after a Lyft ride. Is that allowed? And will the charge stick?

Inside Elle Marie Hair Studio in Smokey Point. (Provided by Acacia Delzer)
The best hair salon in Snohomish County

You voted, we tallied. Here are the results.

The 2024 Kia EV9 electric SUV has room for up to six or seven passengers, depending on seat configuration. (Photo provided by Kia)
Kia’s all-new EV9 electric SUV occupies rarified air

Roomy three-row electric SUVs priced below 60 grand are scarce.

2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium AWD (Photo provided by Toyota)
2023 Toyota RAV4 Prime XSE Premium AWD

The compact SUV electric vehicle offers customers the ultimate flexibility for getting around town in zero emission EV mode or road-tripping in hybrid mode with a range of 440 miles and 42 mile per gallon fuel economy.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.