Sunday, September 14, 2014

Dyslexia Games for the Visual Thinker


I received a sample of Dyslexia Games to review.  I know so many families whose children struggle with reading or some sort of visual disability, that I thought a review of the program would be a great resource for parents.  Creating art to improve reading is a brilliant and fun concept, especially for children with Dyslexia.  According to experts, when children diagnosed with Dyslexia learn to read, brain scans show right brain activity. Consequently, traditional phonics-based programs may not work for struggling readers.  Simply put, most phonics programs are left-brain based and Dyslexic readers learn differently.  According to Dyslexia therapy experts, teaching a child with Dyslexia to read requires a parent or teacher to get creative with 3D images, art, logic, creative thinking games, manipulatives and other hands on techniques. When I asked LionHeart to give the worksheet a try he stomped over to his table with lips poked out.  Because the worksheets are fun and appeal to a right-brain learner's creative side, struggles quickly fade away.  Once he got started, he couldn't stop.


Learning to Read Right Brain Style


A mother's love and determination to help her own daughter is how Dyslexia Games was born.  Frustrated with her daughter's slow movement in reading, Sarah Brown began researching everything she could about Dyslexia, current therapies being used and brain development options.  Unable to afford costly therapy, like most trailblazing homeschool moms, she created her own program.  The program transformed her daughter in a matter of weeks, helping her improve in reading and handwriting.  In fact, Brown's daughter even illustrated a book, A Day Like Tomorrow.  Brown credits the program with helping her develop her artistic skills.


How Does It Work?



Dyslexia Games use visual art and puzzle exercises designed for children who think visually.  The workbooks start off with art, puzzle games and 3D drawings.  When the child is working on the games, the right brain is activated.  Gradually, the art and puzzle games become symbols, letters and numbers.  Finally, these games are transformed into reading exercises, and according to the website, over the course of 2-3 months, the child is now using the right brain to read. 





4 comments:

  1. Loved your review of this! I am using this right now with a 9 year old and we are just about 9 pages in at this point and he actually really enjoys it!!

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  2. Thank you. We start our morning warm ups this way. He's in a drawing class and this plays right into where his interests are right now.

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  3. Not sure if my other comment came up. Thanks for doing this review. I've seen this program before but was skeptical. There are so many who claim to help children with Dyslexia and they are expensive.
    I'm going to look into this for my daughter.

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  4. That's the reason I liked it -- affordable and fun. Also, it doesn't look like "work" when it shows up on Lion Heart's desk.

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