Inform yourself. Helpful websites include:
If you see your child has difficulty reading or suspect a disability, speak up. Insist on a private or school assessment. If it pinpoints specific learning disabilities, take steps to find:
Kids with reading challenges also need outlets like sports, creative activities, and other confidence-building uses of time. All children, regardless of their abilities, benefit from daily read-aloud sessions and, once they are understanding print, they need time devoted to reading aloud to caring grown-ups. All deserve frequent
reminders that they’re loved, not for what they can or cannot do, but just for being themselves. They become part of a family empowered to choose and to create a positive future.
Asset-rich books that illustrate “positive identity” and promise a good read:
Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson.
Tundra Books. 2000. (Ages 9 and up)
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis. Delacorte Press.1999. (Ages 8 and up)
Life on the Farm
by Heather Gardam. Penguin Books Canada. 2001.
Omar On Ice
by Maryann Kovalski. Fitzhenry & Whiteside.1999.
A Place to Grow
by Soyung Pak, illustrated by Marcelino Truong. Scholastic Press. 2002.
Scooter
by Vera B. Williams. Greenwillow Books. 1993.