Before I began to homeschool my own children I was a “real teacher” with a bachelor’s degree in Special Education and a master’s degree in Reading. In the years that I taught, I saw many students who were struggling in school, struggling with reading, with writing, with math. And I realized, that with my help, some of these students would make a little progress and some would make great progress. The difference lay, not only in the abilities and disabilities of the students, but also in how much the parents worked with the students outside of school.
When I had my own children and began homeschooling, I saw some of the same learning struggles that I had encountered in the kids at school in a couple of my own children. One of my children in on the autism spectrum and has dysgraphia. Another has ADHD. As we’ve homeschooled, I’ve noticed that many of the same techniques that worked for me as a special education teacher have helped my own kids. But the most important thing in helping them has really seemed to be the teaching/learning relationships that we have.
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I was very excited recently to have the opportunity to review a book- Helping Your Child with Language-Based Learning Disabilities: Strategies to Succeed in School & Life with Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, ADHD & Processing Disorders by Daniel Franklin, PhD. This book outlines some methods of helping your child with language-based disabilities to be successful academically. And, as I had discovered with first my students in school and then with my own kids, Dr. Franklin focuses on the relationships that parents have with their kids as a key element in helping kids to succeed. He also gives specific, practical suggestions for encouraging and helping your children.
Helping Your Child With Language-Based Learning Disabilities: About the Book
This book has specific information for parents whose children are in traditional schools. There is information about children being assessed and diagnosed through the school as well as specific information about learning plans that children with learning disabilities can receive. Parents are also given information about communicating with teachers.
But the book is also a great resource for homeschool parents as well. Because Dr. Franklin uses a relationship-based approach, the suggestions in the book are appropriate for a homeschool setting where you’re going to be working one-on-one with your child. And the chapters about helping your child succeed in school with the various learning disabilities are also applicable for you to use when helping your learning disabled child in any academic situation.
The book begins by outlining exactly what a language-based learning disability is. The book specifically addresses Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, ADHD and Executive Functioning delays, and Auditory and Visual Processing delays. The author also does a good job of demonstrating how these overlap, pointing out that, although schools have traditionally worked on these delays individually in isolation, a holistic approach may be more successful because of how often children have more than one of the disabilities.
There is a section about assessing your child to determine learning disabilities and information about how a school will create an educational plan for your child who has been diagnosed with learning disabilities and then the book introduces the idea of a relationship-based approach to helping kids with disabilities.
The author provides information about helping kids succeed in school, again focusing on your relationship with your child, and provides some practical steps for addressing the specific disabilities listed above. There’s specific information for helping your older student- eleventh and twelfth graders. And, in the final section of the book, the author provides some practical advice for helping kids succeed in life- not just in school.
More about Daniel Franklin, PhD and the Relationship-Based Approach to Helping Your Child with Learning Disabilities
The author of this book is Daniel Franklin, PhD. He holds a master’s degree in Reading, Language, and Learning Disabilities and a PhD in Education. He is also a Board Certified Educational Therapist who founded a Los Angeles-based company- Franklin Educational Services, Inc.-that provides school support services to students who have a variety of needs. His website- FranklinEd.com- outlines Dr. Franklin’s approach and details his consulting services and the services offered at Franklin Educational Services, Inc.
You can learn more about Daniel Franklin, PhD here. And you can contact him if you want to know more about his approach. He’s also featured in the acclaimed short documentary Unteachable, a look at his own educational struggles.
Daniel Franklin, PhD can be found on social media here:
Why You Need This Book if Your Child Has Learning Disabilities
There was one sentence that leapt out at me as I first paged through this book. It’s a heading in bold capitalized letters. “Your relationship with your child is more important than schoolwork.”
This is why I homeschool. This is why I’m so glad that I’ve had the opportunity to keep my children with learning disabilities at home instead of trusting them to teachers or a school that may be awesome…but may not be. This focus on relationships is what first grabbed me when I started reading this book. And it’s the reason that I think that, although there is good information here even if you do have a child in a traditional school, this book is also so applicable to and important for you as a homeschool mom.
The other thing I loved about this book and that I think makes it valuable is that it offers actual practical advice. It’s not just theoretical. It’s frustrating when an author will outline what sounds like a good philosophical approach but then never give the reader any practical, actionable advice. Dr. Franklin gives both in this book, making it a really great resource.
When You’re Ready to Purchase the Book…
You can learn more about the book on the website for Daniel Franklin, PhD. or on the FranklinEd.com site, and you can purchase it on Amazon.
You can also enter the giveaway below to win your own paperback copy of the book! (Five winners will receive a copy. Only US addresses can win.)
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