All articles by lizdunoon
7 Ways to motivate your students to succeed
If only 40% of a students’ academic achievement comes from intellect*, then where does the other 60% come from? Quite simply it comes from a student’s motivation to learn and to do well at school. How motivated are your students? Here are seven ways to inspire your students to get...
Continue reading...
Can you imagine a tutor that your child enjoys?
Can you imagine a tutor that your child can get to all by themselves? ? No driving… ? No traffic… No end of day or before school running them around? Can you imagine a day when your child takes control of their learning and improves all by themselves? Is that...
Continue reading...
Phew… I’m exhausted!!!
I was sitting here looking for inspiration when I realised… I’m exhausted. I’m Liz Dunoon. I’ve got three children, (one which I just dropped at footy training), two dogs (that need feeding), a husband, aging parents (one with dementia) and a full-time job, (which I love by the way). It...
Continue reading...
I feel so guilty. Why didn’t I pick this up earlier?”
When your child is diagnosed with a learning difficulty, your feelings and emotions will go into overdrive. These emotions will be influenced by the time it has taken to get the diagnosis and how the delay has impacted your child’s confidence and well-being. Here are 5 emotions you may feel...
Continue reading...
The READING SECRET I discovered in 2013 that changed my children’s lives forever
😮 If you have a child that is struggling at school with reading and spelling, then this may be the most important article you read all week. 😮 Here’s why… For many years my children struggle to learn to read and this never changed, even when I spent $1000’s and...
Continue reading...
13 Common test and exam accommodations for students with Specific Learning Difficulties
Learners with Specific Learning Difficulties are often eligible for reasonable adjustments and/or accommodations during exams in line with their learning difference. Firstly, what is an accommodation? An accommodation An accommodation refers to any assistance that enables your child to access the grade appropriate curriculum. Today we are going to focus...
Continue reading...
Another Education Myth Busted
How fast can you teach a child to read and to get their confidence back? 1 Week? 1 Month? 3 Months? 6 Months? 1 Year? I’m talking about the child who has lost motivation and is feeling dumb and stupid. (No?) This child won’t pick up a book unless you...
Continue reading...
The spelling hack every teacher should know
If 50% of English-speaking adults struggle with spelling, what does that say about our teaching? Is it that the English language is so difficult to learn or that our teaching methods are lacking? Spelling is an exact science, yet it seems that spellings of words are constantly changing. There’s the...
Continue reading...
How do you teach Spelling in Science?
Last weekend I ran into my sister at the gym. We did our 30-minute CX class to rein in our tummies and then stopped afterwards for a quick cup of tea and a chat. She told me that next week she would be attending a Professional Development Day on how...
Continue reading...
Cross-Domination survey results
This topic seemed to spark a great deal of interest amongst our audience. It appears that you don’t have to look far to find someone who is Mixed-handed or has Cross Domination. We wanted to know which of your eyes was dominant. I wonder if the results will surprise you?...
Continue reading...
7 Ways to increase your child’s resilience
Your child’s resilience is influenced by two things; the individual characteristics they were born with and the environmental influences around them. As a parent there are five areas to focus on when you’re building a child’s resilience, these are: Providing education about resilience. Building strong and supportive relationships. Working on...
Continue reading...
How dare you come up with the new way to teach reading and spelling.
Who Do You Think You Are? You’re not a reading Professor or even an academic for that matter! What makes you think what you’ve created… is going to work? Well it does work, and I’ve got plenty of evidence to prove it. I’m Liz Dunoon and I’ve got three children...
Continue reading...
What is Cross Domination and what does it mean for a struggling learner?
Most of us know someone who can use both hands to perform a task, like writing, playing an instrument or a sport. These people seem to have an amazing ability to do these tasks equally well with both hands. This is known as being ambidextrous and is quite rare. Imagine...
Continue reading...
5 signs to look for if you think your child may have a visual processing deficit
When your child is struggling to read, the best place to start is with a basic eye test. But… what do you do once you’ve seen the optometrist and you’ve been told that your child has perfect vision 20/20 vision and they don’t need glasses…..yet you know for a fact,...
Continue reading...
It’s really hard…
It’s really hard when your child comes home from school and explodes in frustration. They’re yelling and screaming… …and it’s directed at you. Where in the heck did that come from, you wonder in shock? “Don’t yell at me” …your scream back …and now you’re yelling too. What about the...
Continue reading...
How to find an inspirational superstar for your struggling learner
Jay Leno is an inspiration to many Source: af.mil When your child is struggling at school it can be overwhelming for parents. You’ll be constantly seeking help from teachers, trying to keep them positive and knowing exactly where to start is extremely difficult. There are remedial programs to consider, parent...
Continue reading...
Which learning style are you? – Your survey results
We asked you what your favourite learning style was and your responses told us; you either had more than one learning style preference or you really weren’t sure. These responses were split exactly 50:50. Not one of you said, you only had one learning style preference. This supports the idea...
Continue reading...
A New School Turning Traditional Education on its Head
Lindfield Learning Village Is this the future direction of education? Lindfield Learning Village is set to turn learning ‘on its head’ with a completely different approach to education. The Learning Village is situated on the Ku-ring-gai site of the old University of Technology in Sydney, NSW Australia. It has received...
Continue reading...
How to get your child reading without a teacher?
If your struggling learner came to you and told you that they had taught themselves to read, would you believe them? What if I told you I could do this for your child and that I’ve already helped over 5000 children to learn to read by themselves. Not only that…...
Continue reading...
What is your preferred learning style and… can it change?
Teaching is changing, with teachers using more technology and varying teaching styles to reach an ever-changing technologically advanced generation of learners. Ongoing research tells us we don’t all learn the same way. “Researchers have discovered there are 7 – 8 different learning styles and our education system can no longer...
Continue reading...
Your gift from Dyslexia Daily to celebrate the 2020 New Year
Click on the button links to claim your gifts. and Here’s to you and your child’s success!...
Continue reading...
Is it Desert or Dessert? Commonly confused words in the English Language
We all know how difficult the English language is to learn, particularly when it comes to spelling. There are those 26 letters and 46 sounds which together make over 1200 spelling combinations in words. Once you have learnt these, (if you ever do), you will then be faced with words...
Continue reading...
Back to school nightmare
This year, school will be different. You’re full of hope that reading and spelling is going to click for your child this time around. A new teacher, a new beginning! Isn’t that how it works? Surely there’s going to be some reprieve from the constant worry. BUT… It only lasts...
Continue reading...
What were your favourite years at school?
□ Was it Primary, Elementary or Junior School? □ Was it Secondary or Senior School? □ Was it your TAFE, College or University? □ It was none of these. I was homeschooled. □ It was none of these. I couldn’t wait to leave and get a job? Some people describe...
Continue reading...
Six DYS words you need to know explained simply
When specialists start to throw terms at us that we don’t understand, it adds to our stress. Not only do we have a child or student who is struggling to learn at school, now we have a whole series of new terms to decipher and remember. Below are six terms...
Continue reading...
Who was your favourite teacher and why? – Survey results
When I ask students and people about their favourite subject at school and why, it is usually the teacher that is the reason. “A great teacher can make even the most difficult subjects enjoyable, especially if they are fun and use innovative ways of teaching.” During my school years, I...
Continue reading...
What are the best books for struggling readers?
Let’s start with one of my favourites Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss. There is only a total of 50 words in this book used over and over again, yet it has a great storyline and is full of fun. Boys Rule and Girls Rock, written by Felice Arena,...
Continue reading...
Who owns the word ‘Dyslexia’?
Is it the American based International Dyslexia Association (IDA), the London based British Dyslexia Association (BDA), visual processing specialists, educational psychologists, optometrists, neurologists or educators? Does one organisation, country or state have the right to ownership of the term? In general, the word dyslexia means; ‘dys’ a difficulty and ‘lexia’...
Continue reading...
What is a Linguist?
If you truly want to understand how the English language works… … spend some time with a linguist(you say it “lingwist”). A linguist studies ‘Linguistics’. Yes, I know it all sounds rather confusing but bear with me for a little longer. Linguistics is the scientific study of language and its...
Continue reading...
Your child’s number one trick for getting through school – Survey results
One of my closest friends at teachers college was Liz P. We are still close friends to this day. A few years back she revealed to me for the first time that she had found learning at school really difficult. I was shocked. She went on to tell me how...
Continue reading...
Who was your favourite teacher and why?
Yesterday I gave you 19 instructions for your teacher. Today I want to know who is/was your favourite teacher and why? You see not all teachers are created equal. Some are just better at teaching kids who learn differently. Everyone has a favourite teacher. Mine was Mrs Grabowski. She was...
Continue reading...
19 Instructions for my teacher
“The one thing that comes across repeatedly in research on assisting children with school learning difficulties, is that the strategies that teachers employ to help struggling learners invariably benefit all students.” If you were to ask a struggling child for an instruction manual to create the perfect teacher, what would...
Continue reading...
Why is it that good readers sometimes can’t spell?
A FAQ from Christine answered by Liz Dunoon “Liz, why is it that some children can read fine but have a lot of trouble with spelling? And how can I help with this? A particular child who I am concerned about is a boy in grade 5. He is quite...
Continue reading...
How children with school learning difficulties compensate at school
They develop an excellent auditory memory and remember everything they hear. They have an excellent visual memory for whole words meaning they never need to decode to read and can visualise images and diagrams used in class. They ask other students to help them and explain things to them. They...
Continue reading...
26 letters, 46 sounds and the 1200+ ways to spell them
The English language is made up of the 26 letters, A-Z, with 46 sounds or phonemes. BUT…there is more than 1200 ways to spell them. While there are some logical aspects to the English language, if you take into account letter patterns and word origins; it is nowhere near an...
Continue reading...
Your Child’s 3+ Favourite Activities – Your Survey Results
From these results it looks as though your children will be busy having fun this holiday season. Thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy end of year schedule, to respond to our survey. It’s fabulous to see the wide variety of answers we received. A large number...
Continue reading...
46 sounds your child already knows
When we speak the English language, we use a combination of the many sounds the letters of the alphabet make. I use spoken language to help children to identify how to recognize these sounds in the words. “The English language has 26 letters A-Z, but these letters or combinations of...
Continue reading...
What is your child’s Super-Power? Your Survey Results
Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer the survey asking about your child’s Super-Power. It is clear from the results that while some children may struggle with some aspects of their learning, they do in fact have their own super-powers. While every child is different, it is...
Continue reading...
Phonemes – What they are and why do our kids need them
As we all know, there are 26 letters in the English language, A-Z. Each of these letters makes a different sound or sounds in words. When I teach the Speech to Spelling Code™, I say there are a total of 46 spoken sounds for these 26 letters. “Starting with speech...
Continue reading...
(Also, please let us know what your child’s strength is below.)
When your child is struggling to learn, people will often say to you as a parent, find their strengths and it will fix everything, but it doesn’t quite work that way, because first, you have to find them. “Your child’s strengths are a great place to start when you want...
Continue reading...
To Repeat or Not To Repeat? – YOUR FEEDBACK
Thank you to all the people who responded to the 4 questions I asked, about their children changing schools and repeating a year. These responses help me and my team understand your personal experiences surrounding your child repeating a school year or changing schools to access better levels of support....
Continue reading...
I hate homework!
Did you know it’s highly likely your child spends all day struggling through school, comes home mentally exhausted and is then faced with an hour or more of homework? It’s enough to make them cry. I can tell you without a doubt; tears can morph into massive meltdowns as the...
Continue reading...
To repeat or not to repeat?
This week we are asking parents all about their experiences and challenges when it comes to having a child who is struggling to learn at school and may need to repeat a school year. This may be because… You as the parent, think it is the right course of action...
Continue reading...
So What’s Good About Having a School Learning Difficulty?
Firstly we all need to be aware that having a school learning difficulty can and does provide advantages. That’s right I said ‘advantages’. There are skills that some struggling school learners excel in that many others do not. Maybe you can recognise some of these strengths in your own child...
Continue reading...
You Are Not Alone
Firstly, a big thank you to everyone who took the time to email or comment about your number one concern or worry regarding a child or a student with a school learning difficulty. Those who asked specific questions, I will answer those over the next few weeks as I cover...
Continue reading...
10 Reasons why many of the good teachers are leaving teaching in droves
This is a controversial subject! There has been quite a bit in the media lately, even current affairs program 60 Minutes did an exposé on this topic recently here in Australia. Let’s get something straight… Not all the good teachers are leaving. There are many amazing teachers still in our...
Continue reading...
Are you looking for a guaranteed way to help your child to catch up at school?
What is the Speech to Spelling Code™ and The Ten Minute Tutor™? Who created these methods of child-centred learning and why do they work for struggling learners? I did! I’m the smallest child in the photo above. So… let me tell you how it all began. I grew up in...
Continue reading...
7 Steps to get a shutdown learner reading again
Is your child a shutdown learner when it comes to reading? This is the child who has tried and tried to learn to read and has simply given up. These children have decided that it’s not for them and they don’t want to try anymore or feel embarrassed as a...
Continue reading...
3 Points to cover when you talk about anxiety with your kids
We all know that anxiety is an ever-present symptom in children with learning difficulties, disabilities or differences. Children who are struggling to learn at school are often overwhelmed and paralyzed by anxiety, so how can we explain to our children what anxiety is? The topic is complicated, but you can...
Continue reading...
What is the best program for older teens and adults who need fast, effective, literacy support?
This question comes up time and time again: What do I recommend for older teens and adults who need fast effective literacy support? Or sometimes the question is… “My child is about to start high school and is petrified. How can I help them to get ready and cope with...
Continue reading...
