Category: The Literate Child Podcast

In this episode of The Literate Child, Rebecca and Nanci talk with Nerida Mills about overcoming deeply ingrained default settings in order to consciously choose how you want to parent, who you want to be, and what your real priorities are. Nerida is a trained human behaviourist, NLP practitioner, and generally fabulous human being. A...

In this episode, Rebecca and Nanci chat with Careen Brash Elsner, about professionals listening to parents, the importance finding an empathetic community, and the struggles many families face in finding an accurate diagnosis for their child. Careen was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. Now, as an adult, she is the mother of a son...

This week, Nanci and Rebecca talk to positive dyslexic dad, Simon. Like many dyslexic adults, Simon faced significant challenges in school because of dyslexia but found opportunities to really flourish when given autonomy and a sense of the positive expectations of others. One of the key advantages he attributes for his success came from the...

This week, Rebecca’s mother, Stephanie Hewitt, joins The Literate Child to talk about how she was diagnosed with dyslexia in adulthood. Stephanie’s experience with diagnoses was positive, because it enabled her to understand her neuro-difference, and learn more about her own compensatory strategies. As a child, Stephanie found it difficult to learn at school. The...

This week, Nanci and Rebecca talk about how they use video games for literacy and learning. And particularly, how video games can benefit children with language or literacy difficulties. They cover a vast range of games and resources. We’ve done our best to link to those mentioned in our show notes below. Computer Games for...

Originally we titled this episode Incidental Literacy but we really broaden that reach to the many varied learning opportunities that are available in the world around us so I decided to call it Incidental Learning. This week, Nanci and Rebecca share their experiences with opportunities to read and learn that occur simply by living a...

This week we look at the advantages and disadvantages of using ebooks for children and developing readers. Parents and teachers can be resistant to what is considered “screen time” which can be a significant factor inhibiting experiences with eBooks for children. And yet the evidence indicates significant benefits to offering eBook reading opportunities to children....

This week, Nanci and Rebecca talk about dyslexia and music. We discuss the challenges dyslexics can face with working memory, processing speed, sheet music, and organisation. We also consider some of the natural strengths dyslexics may have with many having a natural instinct for rhythm and patterns. Some dyslexics may have an ear for music...