Dear Grandmother,

What a holy witness of tender love and devotion you have shown me this afternoon. Your lovely letter is truly a sign of Jesus in action. It is indeed a great blessing that you are taking such an interest in your dear grandchild. As I myself am a grandmother I see in you the very best witness of support and desire to help in a situation that needs a compassionate touch. I believe that to teach a person to read is one of the most worthy of all tasks. Many, many years ago teaching a young person to plant a garden, bake a pie or build a barn were life skills that would ensure that the child would be able to grow into maturity with the necessary skills to do well however in our modern age it is reading that will be the differential for humans. To teach someone to read is indeed a corporal work of mercy and releases the person from a type of prison that has the potential to hinder them all their life.

I have a daughter with dyslexia and her reading ability was hindered until I was able to understand and work with my daughter's disability and not against it. There is a saying, that if we will teach to our child's strengths then those very strengths will compensate for and mend the weaknesses. I can tell you with all my heart that this is indeed true. My daughter has a love of cooking and in that we were able to find cookbooks etc. that she loved to read. I started out by subscribing to 2 cooking magazines in her name. The magazines would come in the mail and she would be reading them on her own the very day. SSR (sustained silent reading) is the place where we want our children reading. We want them to be at the level where they desire to devour a book and are captured by the written word. My daughter began exhibiting difficulty when she was in 2nd grade. Now she is a junior in highschool homeschool. She is confident and capable enough with her reading to take the ACT and is eager to enter college.

You are very wise to see that not being able to keep up with a classroom of children creates feelings of failure. Unfortunately all too often it does something far worse in that it creates labels. Children begin to think of the classmate as slow or unable. Children are very astute and sometimes it is a sort of pecking order that allows a challenged child to remain at the bottom of the pecking order. You are very fortunate in that you can spend the summer getting your dear grand daughter the help she needs. Praise God.

I would suggest that you order from CHC the reading workbooks and phonics workbooks that are on your grand daughter's grade level. You do not want to use materials that are obviously below her level as that will make her feel like a 'baby'. Work with these for one hour a day 3-4 days a week. I would highly recommend that you purchase Jim Trelease's excellent book Read Aloud Handbook. This book has been by my bedside from the beginning of homeschooling. His words of encouragement and doable advice are gold for the parent who is striving to help a struggling reader. I would recommend that you begin now teaching your lovely grand daughter to read by using those strengths that are surely obvious and endeared to you, her grandmother. Just as I was able to use Madeline's love of the kitchen and cooking. Finally I would recommend that you pray for the Holy Spirit to guide and direct your efforts. Jesus wants your dear grand daughter to read, for it is in reading that she will begin to discover the glory of the Lord. Purchase a book that will be to her liking and spend at least 30 minutes or more reading aloud to your grand daughter each day. I like to read from the lives of the saints however any wonderful series of books will be fantastic. Think along the lines of Boxcar children, Nancy Drew, or even Series of Unfortunate Events (just to name a few).

Last night a dear friend was over to visit. Many years ago I had her two sons in my remedial reading class at our homeschool cooperative. Tyler was a fourth grader with the reading ability of a 1st grader. We spent our hour together doing approximately 15-20 minutes of workbook work and then the remainder of the time was spent in my reading aloud to him. Eventually he wanted to know more or to read ahead of me. I allowed him to take the book home and read on his own. It wasn't long before he was reading aloud to me. I highly recommend that you get your grand daughter a library card and make a wonderful ritual of visiting the library each week.

I admire you greatly and will keep you close in prayer as you tend to this important work that the dear Lord has assigned to your care during this time in your life. Go forward into the work as you are called by the Lord to do. Remember that when the Lord calls us He empowers us as well. What a blessing that this dear child has a grandmother like you. Praise God for such a blessing.

Let us offer up our prayers and our labors in our gardens and yards this weekend for those dear children who are struggling with reading. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to send into their lives persons who will empower them and open doors with readings.

Sending out a prayer,

Rita Munn