Episode 22: Finding A Better Way

We were disturbed to learn how low the Australian Adult literacy levels. Far too many adults have less than functional literacy and many claim that they lost their way in their early learning. We clearly need to find a better way - one that moves beyond simply do more of what is hard hoping that eventually the skills they need will "sink in" or "click". We suggest that an individual approach, helping each child learn to read, write and spell in ways that respect their individual strengths and weaknesses and improve upon them is the way to go. This isn't a new idea, and reflects best practise in leading countries for literacy, but it is one that can't be left just to teachers- especially in our overloaded system. Together Speech Pathologist Lisa Hudson and Occupational Therapist Julia Eggles share a checklist of skills and abilities to that children need in order to read, write and spell confidently. If you have a child in your life who isn't progressing with literacy as well as you think they should, consider this list, and rather than doing more of what is hard and seeing children become increasingly frustrated, work out what's getting in the way and get some specific help to build those skills so that children can become the confident learners we all want them to be!