Back to School With Your Dyslexic Kid!

It's that time of year again, back to school. And in today's episode, we're going to share with you what's on our mind as we head into this new school year.

It got me diagnosed when I was in third grade, and it was the most relieving day of my life because I finally had like kind of a place to hang my hat and say, see, I told you I'm not lazy, definitely not stupid. I just learned differently. Like, that's totally okay. We dyslexics, we were often, you know, just set up for failure because, you know, we were given books and tasks that really are not appropriate for the level that we were at.

So how do you expect anyone to be open to learning when their entire relationship with reading, with learning, is physical pain? Wish I had understood when I was younger that the fact that my brain worked differently than people meant that I would be good at things in ways that other kids were not going to be good at. I just assumed, I can't be dyslexic because letters don't jump up and down for me.

Dyslexia is not a disorder. It is not a disease. Once you sort of own it and embrace it, then you can have the power to deal with it. It's sort of empowering and also enriching to the whole community. To those who don't understand what dyslexia is, that it's not a negative, it's not a problem, it's like we keep saying superpower.

Hey everyone, we're Nick and Sonja and this is Dyslexia Journey. And as I said in that quick intro, we are thinking about the new school year. It's August and at least here in the United States, a lot of schools are heading back, you know, at the time that you're going to be seeing or listening to this, heading back to school for the fall, even though it's still kind of summer. So we just wanted to share with you this year, not so much like comprehensive tips, but rather just some topics that are on our mind that we've been thinking about and that you might want to consider.

Yeah, and before we jump into the specific content for today's episode, we wanted to make an announcement. So after more than two and a half years of doing this podcast and YouTube channel, we decided it's high time to move to season two of the show. And this seemed like a good time to do it with back to school happening in North America at least. And we're partly doing it right now because we decided to make a change to the podcast to make it a bi-weekly podcast rather than every week.

I think probably you won't notice so much difference because, you know, we were doing quite a few replays. There may still be occasional replays, but we're going to have it formally be that a new episode comes out every two weeks rather than every week. Yeah, and that's the main change for season two. Otherwise, it's the same. We'll follow the same structure more or less and make some interviews and our own topics.

We have some great guests lined up for Dyslexic Voices series, which I know many of you love hearing from dyslexic adults. So we're definitely going to keep that doing, keep that going. We have, we're going to have expert interviews as well, as well as our own experiences and opinions that we love to share. And as always, if you have a topic that you would like us to cover, or if you have any questions, you can either put that in the comments on YouTube or particularly if you're on the podcast, it's easier just to email.

So you can email us. Yes, it's ParentingDyslexiaJourney, all one word, ParentingDyslexiaJourney at gmail.com. Yeah, and we love, we love hearing from you. Some of our favorite episodes to do are where we're addressing your questions. And, you know, this year is also different for us because our dyslexic daughters started in college. So we'll have more in that vein. We started to do some, you know, college, as you start applying to college and that kind of thing last year.

We'll do some more of those kinds of things, but we're not going to neglect the younger kids either. We're going to try to make sure to have a range of ages represented as well. Okay, so what's on our mind? Just some, a few topics that are on our mind this year as people head back to school, as kids head back to school. And families too, really, right? Because we're all, we're all a part of it.

We're not there with them usually unless we're volunteering a lot, like in the classroom every day, but especially with dyslexic kids, but other kids in general too. Like we are very involved, you know, figuring out homework, schedules, like all kinds of aspects, socio-emotional things that happen. So these are just some of the topics that are on our mind this year. Okay, so one thing that's on our mind, I think perhaps more so than other years, because our daughter is starting a whole new journey of going to college this fall, but is that children change from year to year, obviously.

We all know that as parents. But it's really easy, I think, especially as parents of a dyslexic kid, to get stuck in the same way of thinking about your child's relationship to school and your family's relationship to school, just to keep thinking about that in the same way that we thought about it last year. When it's a new school, that's more of a demarcation. That's more of a, sort of forces us to think about things differently.

But if your child is, was in third grade last year and going into fourth grade at the same school, it's important to keep in mind that a year in a child's life at that age, eight or nine, makes a huge difference in so many areas. And so it's really, it's, I mean, obviously it's the same child as the year before, but there's going to be a lot of differences. And so just natural developmental differences, as well as different interests.

I mean, your child might have been fascinated by horses last year, and this year they're really into Star Wars. I mean, who knows, right? It's unique to everyone. And so that applies to school as well. So we can't assume really anything about how this school year is going to go. Right. And how, and also just in the sense of your child and how they're different, like how, what their reactions are going to be.

So it's kind of a balance here. Like I think we typically are emphasizing the other end of this, the other side of this balance, which is, you know, that you know your kid, like you're very familiar with them and really using that to your advantage and helping your kid and advocating for them. But it's also true. And so that's still true, right? I mean, kids still have their personalities that generally go with them as well.

But I think it's important not to get too locked into that. So having that flexibility for seeing that they might be changing in certain ways. Like maybe they're a kid who has been more, you know, more shy or something or less willing to take something on. And then they really seem like they maybe want to this year. So it's just worth keeping all of that in mind. You know, like taking that wonderful knowledge that you have of them that's so helpful.

And that's, you know, as a parent is such a huge role that you have to play or a caregiver. But just kind of always keeping that in the back of your mind. Like, oh, like maybe they are different this year. You know, I think especially that can happen, you know, when we're being protective about a certain thing or like trying to advocate in advance about something. Just considering like, okay, is this still true for this particular kid?

So that's our first thing that's on our mind for this year as we're going into the fall and into back to school. Yeah, and I guess I'll add also that the environment can affect things a lot. So if your child struggled with a particular subject last year, say math or something like that, if they have different teachers this year, which, you know, most kids will have new teachers in the new school year, or a different environment, a different classroom, different other students around.

I mean, all of that can affect things. So don't assume that, I mean, we can't assume that there will be no challenges, of course, but don't assume that the same challenges you had last year are going to be the ones that appear this year. All right, the next thing that was on our mind is just the importance of keeping your perspective on the year ahead. I mean, there's so much happening right at the beginning of the year, and it is such an important time.

But really, like, keep perspective on the journey ahead, you know, that there's so much time for things to evolve, to, like, learn more information, to figure more out. So keep the longer journey of the whole year is what I'm particularly talking about here, but even beyond, like, keep that in mind, even as we're, you know, you're at this place of this, like, big start and momentous, like, feeling time. Yeah, so if your child comes home on the first day and says, I hate my teacher, let's try not to get too alarmed by that, because, like, as Sonja said, there's the whole year.

There's many reasons that your child could be saying that. Often doesn't help to say that out loud to them, right? Well, no. They're venting at that time. Sure, sure. You know, sometimes we have to help them get that perspective very gently and not right in the moment when they're venting. Right, I mean, acknowledge their feelings, of course, and listen to them, as always, but keep in mind that they may say something specific, like, I hate my teacher, and really, there's a lot going on.

Maybe they're remembering some of the stress from last year. Maybe they don't want to be going back to school in general. There's lots of things that can change as the school year progresses. Yeah, and then the third thing that we're thinking about this year, in particular, as we head back into the back-to-school time period, this is related to that second point, too. It's that, think of this, so it's so important at the beginning of the year.

We talk about this a lot, right? That's why we often do have the tips, more like the actual strategic tips at the beginning of the year, and we can link a video we've done previously to this video, so you can see that. So, it's such an important time for sort of setting up the year and, like, wanting things to go well, and that is an important thing to keep in mind. But really remember that it is just really this one time point, this one point in time, and try to think of it as, yes, you're trying to set it up well, but really, the actual truth is that there's going to be lots of data points as things go along.

There's going to be all kinds of things that happen that, you know, some of them might be more challenging, right? But there's going to be, you really want to think of it more as setting up for all these points of looping back to seeing how things are going with accommodations, for example, or with the teacher, and checking in with your kid on how things are going. So, trying to think of it as setting things up, yes, but really, like, you're setting it up for the checking back in and further conversations and information and all of that that will happen ongoing throughout the year.

It's a process. It doesn't have to be perfect right now. Right, which hopefully takes pressure off, right, that you don't feel, like, as much pressure. Because there can be a lot of that feeling of pressure because you know that the beginning and setting it up is important. But I think, hopefully, you can feel less pressure knowing that the truth is really closer to it being more a checking-in process throughout the year.

Yeah, exactly. Okay, so our fourth and final point for today, or not exactly point, just sort of what's on our mind as we're thinking about the new school year, is I think it's really helpful to try to embrace the excitement of the change and the fresh start. I know that it's very difficult, especially for dyslexic kids who might have experienced various traumas in school in the past, which affects us as parents as well.

So it's sometimes hard for us to focus on the positive rather than what we're afraid of and the concerns about our child. But the new school year, the fresh start, it's just really, I think, helpful to try to acknowledge and embrace some of that newness and freshness, not in a fake way. I mean, you can't fake it if you're not feeling it, but try and let yourself feel some of that excitement.

Well, sometimes it can just help to think of some part of it that's exciting. There's going to be some part of the school year that's exciting, right? Like, even if it's not as academic, maybe there's another aspect or there's just a particular subject or a thing that you're excited for your kid to learn. And I think, I want to say, like, some of this, you know, could be that you're emphasizing some of this to your kids.

I think it's really more about yourself because, let's say, your kid isn't excited to go back. I think trying to get them to be excited isn't really the way to go there. Part of the way to go would be to just to, like, in yourself, because what we're thinking can come across if we're worried it comes across, to try to get that centering in ourselves and to allow ourselves to feel some of that goodness and those parts, you know, too, along with any worries we have.

We don't have to shove those aside, but just, like, kind of like doing a gratitude practice or something, right? Like, if you do it every day, even if you're having a hard day, it doesn't mean you're not, like, having a hard day and letting yourself have your hard day, but you're also just still doing your gratitude practice. So it's kind of similar in that way, like, just allow yourself to be more centered and more calm and more at ease and have those glimmers of that you're excited about something, and that will come across to your kid wherever they're at with everything.

So that was just our thoughts for today. We'd love to hear what you're thinking about if you want to put that in the comments. And as we said, you know, let us know if there's anything else you want to communicate to us at our email. Let's do that one more time. Oh, yeah, ParentingDyslexiaJourney at gmail.com. And we wish you a wonderful start to the new school year.