I am unemployed, from a broken home and not well educated. My life would be described by most of your readers as “socially deprived” and I think they would be right.
My children were called “dyslexic”. They were really just not interested. Their children, now five and nine, have shown every sign of following in their footsteps. The nine-year-old hates school, “because she can’t get her spellings right”. The five-year-old likes school and was keen to learn to read, but is already showing frustration because his mother loses the school reading book he is given to take home, beneath piles of washing and other rubbish. She certainly hasn’t the time or knowledge necessary to read the book with him, so I already see the tell-tale signs.
I already see the tell-tale signs However, I believe I might just have found the answer. I look after my grandchildren after school three days a week. I can’t afford to pay for private tutoring for them but I approached a teacher friend for advice. She introduced me to the Teaching Handwriting Reading and Spelling Skills programme (THRASS).
It is like a gift from heaven. My friend gives me a weekly 10-minute lesson on THRASS. I pass the information I gain on to my two grandchildren. They have changed unbelievably in six weeks. The nine-year-old is breaking her spellings down into “graphemes” and is proudly using words like “graph” “digraph” and “phoneme” and the five-year-old is constantly badgering me to join him in games using the THRASSWORDS.
EVA CAWLEY 28 Mackie Road London SW2
