Your (dyslexic) child IS brilliant, they CAN learn, and they WILL be successful.

The Globe article started it… but it took on a whole life of it’s own.

The Boston Globe published, “‘The system is rigged’: How Massachusetts school districts fail dyslexic students and their families” on 1/11/24.

What started as a comment to the article became so long I had to separate myself from the comments section and write my thoughts here.

If you have a child with dyslexia, PLEASE read this (even just the first paragraph):

(And if you have a child with ANY disability, difference, or divergence from ‘typical society’ please read this and replace dyslexia with: dyscalculia, autism, transgender, sensitive, anxious, attention-deficit, or whatever other ‘label’ feels appropriate)

Your child IS brilliant; they CAN learn; they WILL be successful; AND (most importantly IMO) they SHOULD know those things to be very true (which results in their love for learning, love for life, and love for themselves to GROW!)

I’ve worked closely with kids with dyslexia (and disabilities that fell within all 10 categories… and those that don’t *yet* have a category…) for almost 2 decades. Some were diagnosed by the school system, some were diagnosed by a neuropsychological evaluation, and some had no formal diagnosis. Regardless, my approach has always been the same:

Prioritize their RELATIONSHIP with: learning, teachers, school, and (most importantly) themselves - their identity, self-awareness, and self-confidence. 

When I was teaching in public schools, this was frowned upon and downright forbidden. When I tried spending time building relationships, finding how their preferences and personalities could help me teach them, I was told: “Just follow their IEPs, spend time on their goals, and stop wasting time.”

And when I protested, “But they’ll learn more if they’re having fun! And if they trust me.”

“You don’t have to provide them a Cadillac, Heather, just a Ford,” responded the district’s Special Education Director.

Schools are only mandated to provide individualized education after a (very long, drawn out) process which includes evaluations, observations, questionnaires, and meetings. And even then, the goal is not to provide the ‘best,’ just the bare minimum required in order for them to ‘make progress.’

At Elements Academy, we provide individualized education to every student regardless of any diagnosis. Because it’s what every human deserves.

Most districts, schools, and educators focus first (or only) on systematic instruction. They are trained to follow ‘research-based’ programs with fidelity and measure progress.

At Elements Academy, our focus is based on a holistic, child-centered, and child-first approach. 

Because guess what?! This might surprise you (read :: sarcasm) their dyslexia isn’t about me. It’s about THEM. So we use our organization's core values of: connection, curiosity, and creativity to educate all students. 

What’s that like?

Connection: Building an authentic relationship with each human is a must. Connecting to each student is the first priority, the beginning of our relationship, and we continue deepening the connection every minute of every day. In this way, we not only build trust (and authentic relationships, which in and of itself is pretty awesome) we also find out more about them which helps us teach them (or, really, helps us set the stage for them to learn).

Through connection, students are able to trust us, but also learn to trust the learning process and learn to trust themselves.

Curiosity: The more curious we are, the more curious they are. We’re not only educators who are dedicated lifelong learners, but we are educators who remain curious about our students, our pedagogy, our practices, and our way of doing things. We continue to evolve as our students need us to, and we continue to use our curiosity to question everything - and teach them to do the same.

Every child is born curious - so if you’re finding your child ‘bored’ or ‘overwhelmed’ (sometimes also labeled: inattentive, lazy, challenging, depressed) your child isn’t broken, it’s just a mismatched education.

Creativity: Might a child need specialized instruction? Of course! And some specialized programs will work well. But they also need creativity in their learning so they can find their true brilliance; their inner genius. This allows them to increase their confidence, awareness, and motivation. It will then, in turn, increase their likelihood of a highly successful, higher quality life.

If they don’t want to read, and they are told they don’t know how to read (or told they need something entirely different than all their other peers), they are not likely to become better readers. And they are especially not likely to become lifelong learners.

Doesn’t this just make sense?

Do I wish you could get this anywhere? Hell, yeah. Of course I do. And I still hope that someday this will be the norm. I know teachers work their ass off every day, and I know administrators want (and desperately need) systemic change. 

Until then, we’re here for you.

And there are other microschools, homeschooling co-ops, unschooling pods, and worldschooling folks around the globe doing things differently. So don’t be afraid to find your people and take back your family.  

Every child deserves to love school.

Every child deserves to feel intelligent, brilliant, and valued.

And no system or society should be able to destroy that. 

I’d love to hear more about your child and help you discover (or remember) how brilliant they truly are. Email me anytime: heather@elementsacademy.org