As many of you know, I am a writer. I write stories and I write blog entries. If I’m not writing, I am reading.

My daughter on the other hand, is the complete opposite. Although last night she surprised me.

She came home with her report card. We both dread it when those come. Well, the new concern is her social studies. Seeing that she doesn’t bring homework home I have to investigate. I messaged her teacher to ask what they are studying, for the weeks ahead, so I can stay on top of her classes. Her teacher told me that they are leaning the thirteen colonies and the French and Indian war. What her teacher informed me was that for her tests it’s an open book. The problem is my daughter doesn’t go back and look for the answers in the paragraph, so she guesses.

So, in other words, she’s not reading. As I told her from her first grade card. If she doesn’t raise her grades, she will have homework with me every day and she will not be playing any sports.

To get the ball started, I went to our local Ollies store and found a fourth grade, reading, writing, math, science all in one book.

Each night we do one page of each section, and I make her read everything before she answers the questions. I then ask her if she understands the question and what it said in the paragraph. When she chooses and answer I have her answer as to why she chose that answer. Rather it be right or wrong, I want her explanation and also to see if she remembers the passage or go over it if she is wrong.

With my daughter, she can read the passage, but the comprehension and the retaining part gets to her. So, I work with her to get through it, asking those questions.

Oh, Did I mention that my daughter has ADHD, Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. You can imagine how creative I have to be to get her to enjoy the work and not dread it.
Through these studies I also caught a little of dyslexia when she reads, even her teacher also notices it as well, when I mentioned it. She likes to add an extra letter to some of her words or her ‘B’s and ‘D’s get mixed up.

Some days it’s challenging to get Haylee to read. I always get a groan here and there with an occasional eye roll on the side.

I have noticed that when I read it to her, she seems to understand it better. With my curiosity, I am thinking, she may be an auditory learner.

My next step was to go to the library and have her pick out a book that interested her and have her read from there. Then when I learned more about the Auditory, I turned to Libby and was able to find books that read to her as she followed along.

What I learned was that there are many different ways to learn. According to our family Doctor, with so many out there, the four main ones are perfect for her grade level. The ones he told me to focus on to best help my daughter. These four were:

• Visual
• Auditory
• Reading/ Writing
• Kinesthetic (learning through movement or a tactile approach)

Those are the four I grew up knowing about and Doc even agreed to giving it a try and see how she progresses through the years. To see if she needs to be adjusted or not.

So, tell me what type of learner is your child?

Does your child also despise reading like mine does?

If so, what are a few tricks that you do to get your child to read?

Let me know down below. I am always up for trying something new for my daughter to learn and grow.

Till then stay tuned.