How We All Can Help Stop Poor Literacy / Numeracy

Everywhere I go I hear people talking about poor literacy.  Poor literacy / numeracy is the number one block to young people quitting school as well as being employment ready after leaving school.  Of course, it is now common knowledge that this trend is easy to change as more people are understanding how our fabulously talented visual children and adults operate.  

Roughly 50% of the world’s population spell and read well and visualize words / numbers.  They take these skills for granted and are amazed at the fact that not everybody has them.   The other 50% do not visualize words / numbers and range on a scale from minor problems with spelling to full-blown problems with literacy / numeracy such as dyslexia / dyscalculia when letters / numbers are running around when these people look at a page of text.  The harder these people try to correct this movement, the more dyslexic / dyscalculic they get, so they actually work much harder than the rest.

Poor literacy / numeracy / dyslexia / dyscalculia can be almost eradicated if:

• every child at 4 years of age is taught to see stable [=not moving] letters / words / numbers before s/he is taught phonics.  The first stage of learning phonics is to see / visualize letters.  If you can’t recall them, you’re lost!
• teachers ask about children’s experiences and help them change them if appropriate and necessary
• concrete nouns and colors are taught first to trigger visual memory and only when concrete nouns and colors have been mastered, abstract nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions,  conjunctions, and interjections are taught.
• we give children blank spaces on classroom walls suitable for visualizing as well as less cluttered classroom environment for greater concentration and grounding.
• we encourage children to keep looking up – out of their emotions and internal dialogue.  Looking down onto a table reinforces negative feelings.
• books and reading materials are propped up to be at a slanted angle to a table and children write on sheets of paper stuck to a wall until they get confident.  Looking up removes negative emotions and internal dialogue, and helps the brain process information visually instead of via feelings.

Contact me for more on how you can help stop poor literacy / numeracy.