Last week, my daughter met with an Intervention Specialist from Redwood. Because our summer is all over the place with a family move and a lot going on at Redwood that needs my attention, I decided to get some help while I focus on running our summer programming and planning for the 22-23 school year. Come September, my daughter and I will start working together again and I will probably enroll her in one of Redwood’s Wilson Reading System® small groups. Why will I do both? Well, I know early intervention is absolutely key and first grade is a wonderful year to weave in as much intervention throughout my daughter’s schedule as possible without overwhelming her. Also, I know my daughter will love making friends with other students her age who are also working on b - bat - /b/. I’ve seen over and over the confidence-restoring effects of kids who know they are struggling with this reading thing meeting other cool and smart kids who are also struggling with this reading thing. Community normalizes the struggle and reminds them that they aren’t alone and that they can make progress. All while hanging out with their friends. Small group intervention is one of my favorite things that Redwood does.

For the first session via Zoom, my daughter was not thrilled. I totally had to bribe her with points and extra TV time.

In the second session via Zoom, my daughter was nervous and required another round of bribing.

After the third session via Zoom, she came outside to the porch where I was working right after it was over and whispered in my ear, “Hey mom, I can read now.” Her smile was ear to ear.

For the fourth session via Zoom, we had to cancel last minute and my daughter was not happy about it. She sulked in the corner for a full 10 minutes.

When the next session comes, I wouldn’t be surprised if she runs to the computer herself or if I have to use bribery to get her there. It could go either way.

Restoring confidence. Little by little. One session at a time. Some sessions will be amazing. Some sessions will not be. It takes time to build rapport between instructor and student. It takes time to build connections between students in a small group. It is impossible to eliminate all tech issues. Some lessons really click and energy is high and some lessons really get stuck and energy is low. It’s a complex dance involving social interaction and very nitty gritty remediation work that looks a little bit different every single time. I’ve probably taught the 1.3 WRS® substep content over 1,000 times at this point in my career, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a lesson that was identical to another one. I’ve had really amazing days as a teacher and really terrible days and I know my students would say the same of my classes.

Just like parenting. Some days, I feel so proud of how I parented. Some days, I feel like I am missing the mark. When working with or raising little humans, there are always unexpected twists and turns. Education, especially remediation-based education, is a wild ride for both educator and student. Reminding yourself of this is really important. Why? Well, you are your child’s primary support person and advocate along this journey. So understanding the ebb and flow of closing the gap and re-wiring neurons can help you support your child through those ups and downs. Adjusting your own expectations of what the journey will look like can set you up for success to be able to navigate the days when your child just doesn’t want to log on for a session or when they don’t pass an end-of-step assessment. Those days are just as much a part of the process as the days when they chart 15/15 and are beaming ear to ear declaring that they now know how to read.

WRS®, and other structured literacy programs, when delivered with fidelity and given lots of time, work. Not perfectly and not uniformly across learners. But they work. I’ve never seen a student not make measurable gains by some formal measure in their reading and spelling when working through WRS®. Not once in over a decade.

Also, if anyone ever tries to make you feel guilty for bribing your child, my recommendation is to smile, thank them for sharing their thoughts, and do what is best for you and your child. Bribing your kids to do things that are good for them is something I 100% endorse both as a parent and educator. You can help train their brains to make good choices for themselves by linking those choices to rewards that release dopamine which, when done over and over, can start to happen automatically when those same choices are made without the bribe. I’m sure there are super smart professionals who would disagree with me on this, which I welcome. But I had to put it in here. Along with dyslexia advocacy, I’m also very passionate about squashing parent shaming whenever possible. Parenting is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I believe we need to cheer each other on, not tear each other down.

So here’s to you, fellow parent! I bet you are doing great.

Until next time, cheers to you.

P.S. I know I promised we would talk about the Gort-5, and we will. Next time. But for today, this reminder felt more in line with what I am feeling myself this week. So thanks for reading and learning alongside me.