I think most of you know my second son, Joseph, struggles tremendously with spelling. He’s a very strong reader and tests very well on comprehension, but once he walks away from a book, he simply is a non-speller. We are trying to get better, little by little, and time helps as he conquers more and more words — even little words that, being able to spell, maybe you and I take for granted.
John and Joseph playing cowboys — or GI Joe, or whatever they were playing at the moment.
Yesterday while reading from Of Courage Undaunted: Across the Continent with Lewis and Clark by James Daugherty, Michaela and I read a passage that our Joseph just had to hear. We called for him and read it again, aloud.
“Meriwether took his studies seriously, as he had coon hunting. In the next few years, under one teacher and another, he studied the hodgepodge of subjects that made up the education of a Virginia gentleman of that day. He studied history, Latin, geography, and mathematics, with a little botany and good manners thrown in. His spelling always remained personal and imaginative. He would spell some words three or four different ways, all of them wrong. ”
We all savored that passage, thinking of the courageous Meriwether Lewis, and marveling at how much it sounded like Joseph.
Lynn
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
That is so exciting, I love moments like that (from great books.. to home) :O)
Happy Homeschooling!
~Deanna~
Beautiful!
I love it Lynn,
Personal and imaginative!!!!
I have a son who is mildly dyslexic and I went through some research on it…one thing that really helped me to “SEE” was this illustration…the resource said that dyslexics see things 3-D in their minds so if they are looking at a watch no matter which way they turn it, it is still a watch…but a b flipped around could be a d, q, p, etc…it made me realize how confusing it must be…now I am dyslexic too, but I don’t remember turning things around in my mind…
Have you ever read The Gift of Dyslexia?
Thanks for the post…I love it!
C~
Deanne, so true! The more I read and come across such things, the more I love to read.
Michelle, thanks! Good to see your lovely face!
Carrie, thank you. Yes, I loved reading The Gift of Dyslexia and there was so much in it that reminded me of Joseph. He is emotinonally very intuitive and has a fantastic memory for things read to him and said to him.
Lynn
Lynn,
I am always amazed at the serendipitous moments God provides!
What a wonderful passage and moment to savor.
God bless,
Diane
Diane, we felt it was very timely for Joseph who’s been feeling a bit unprepared for life because of his spelling abilities. I, of course, know he will be fine because of his attitude and his work ethic, but he’s not so sure. So it was a nice little reminder that there have been others who accomplished great things and still could not spell.
Lynn
What a great moment that will probably extend through a lifetime.
I am fascinated by this post. Our youngest is not reading yet but I have realized that he seems to see things from all sides at once – in 3-D as you said. I have been trying to glean as much information as I can. Lately I have been reading about visual-spatial learners and it seems to fit.
I wrote the title of Daughterty’s book down in my journal for the future.
Richele, thank you for your comment! Of all my children, Joseph is different in many ways. He’s academically behind, but he’s got the “most sense” in many ways. I’m not putting my other children down by any means, but Joseph has an emotional intuition and a grounding that the others don’t have. He’s been that way since he was tiny. It’s interesting. He would play by himself for the longest durations as a child.