Since I am on the computer....

I know that I have been ignoring this site, but I cannot explain how busy we have been.

Meredith has been falling behind in school... nothing new, the child hates anything that smells like homework, but she really isn't up to par with her reading skills. This has been a concern for me for the past two years but second grade is proving to be moving faster than her.

We literally spend hours doing homework (just her) each night. She does some homework in aftercare, which is bad b/c no one reviews it. She doesn't know to read the directions and will just answer incorrectly anything with reading assignments. Then, she comes home and has to correct it and finish. Plus, she must read each night... I don't understand how she cannot seem to 'get' the concept of the difference between a sentence and a question, but simple things like this baffle her.

Starting to think she is dyslexic, I have been meeting with her teacher and the guidance counselor at her school.

A friend of mine mentioned that she may need to have her eyes checked. Not that she cannot see the words but if the eyes are not in synch 100% she could be seeing double when reading.

Went to the doctor, who specializes in children with reading difficulties, and she was tested last week. He said that some children have a 'weak' muscle in one eye and that would cause a 'wobble' when she is trying to read. He said that most kids have a 'wobble' of 2-3 points and that Meredith's 'wobble' is 15 points.

He gave us a computer program to help strenthen her eye muscles and asked that she wear reading glasses (that would bring the words closer to her so she wouldn't have to struggle). Also, he said that this type of problem is hallmarked by the child's inability to look away from a page and find their place when they look back down.

I have to admit that that was one of the things that used to drive me crazy when reading with her. She would be distracted and when she would look back down she couldn't remember where she was on the page.

Well, believe it or not, the glasses have made a HUGE difference. She actually did her homework in school and IT WAS CORRECT!!!!!! Her reading speed has picked up too and although her confidence level is still low, she is moving along pretty good.

Very impressive.

I have 'lazy eye' and had corrective surgery to fix it as a child. The doctor told me that it is hereditary and that all of my children should be tested at the age of 4... so Olivia and Wade are going later this month.

Interesting... isn't it?