CHEO is grateful to Dianne for taking the time to share her heart for homeschool families, especially those working with special learning needs. We know that you will enjoy meeting Dianne in person at the Family Life and Discipleship Convention June 25-27 in Columbus, Ohio.
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Can you please tell us when you first began to have a heart to share what you have learned with other parents? How did you first begin?When I was homeschooling my son, I realized that he was a Right Brain Learner. I began to take many classes to learn how to teach him differently. It was such a blessing to see his learning just blossom, as I showed him how to use the “smart part of himself.”
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I also realized that he had some learning ‘glitches’. He was having to work too hard to learn because of these processing problems. I began to travel around taking classes on methods to get rid of these processing problems at home.
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After he was finished homeschooling, I went back to teaching in the public school. Since my master’s degree was in special education, I began to teach in Resource Rooms for children who were average and above average in IQ, but were struggling in some aspect of learning.
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I realized that there were only Four Learning Gates, and that when all of these learning gates were ‘wide open’, learning was easy for them. I learned how to identify these gates, and created programs to open these learning gates. Year after year many of my students were ‘staffed out’ of special education because of the progress these children had made. I found that by using a completely different method of teaching (the Right Brain method), and Brain Integration Therapy, that I could make a two year growth in reading every year with these struggling learners, many of whom had dyslexia and dysgraphia. I also found that by showing them how to use their photographic memory, that I could help them make a three year growth in spelling each year. By creating my own “Writing Without Curriculum” program, I found that I could get my students to write four page papers by the end of the year.
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Soon I was asked by the principal of my school to show these methods to the faculty, then by the superintendent to show these methods to the other schools in the district, then by colleges to create courses for teachers in their on-going educational courses.
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However, my heart has always been for the homeschooling mom of a struggling learner. So, I began creating DVD’s and manuals that moms could use at home to get the same results that I got when I was teaching at school. It is my great privilege to travel the country, speaking at homeschool conventions, passing on to these moms the techniques that I used. Easy, inexpensive and very effective techniques are now available for the homeschooling parent. They can become their child’s own, “Resource Room” teacher. There is no need to send them to a public school for any teaching services.
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What has been the biggest blessing in your parenting?
Enjoying my children become the wonderful adults that they have become. Their personalities are so unique, and their parenting styles so different!
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Enjoying my children become the wonderful adults that they have become. Their personalities are so unique, and their parenting styles so different!
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What has been the biggest struggle in your parenting?
As with all parents, knowing when to push, and when to back off, whether it is in academics, behavior, or making choices in careers.
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As with all parents, knowing when to push, and when to back off, whether it is in academics, behavior, or making choices in careers.
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What is your favorite Bible verse/passage/book that strengthens and encourages you?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and he will direct your paths.” (Prov.3:5-6)
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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and he will direct your paths.” (Prov.3:5-6)
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What is your favorite workshop to teach and why?
That is such a difficult question, because whenever I start a workshop I always say, “This is my favorite workshop.” And I mean that. I like them all because each one sets a child free in a unique way. The Biology of Behavior helps the child who is distracted, or whiny, or unhappy because his/her body chemistry is upset, maybe with something as innocuous as early antibiotics. A child with Sensory Processing problems who is bothered by noises, tags, socks, and foods, can be set free when parents learn how to apply very simple nutritional interventions.
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I love the Teaching the Right Brain Child workshops because I can help a child get in touch with the “smart part of himself” in just five minutes. When a child who struggles with spelling can spell a word forwards and backwards in a minute, he just beams, and feels so smart. When a child can read words in five minutes of work, showing him how to remember the words using Right Brain techniques, it is priceless. When mothers tell me that their child no longer hates Math, because we have made the processes so easy to remember, I am so excited.
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I also love to show moms who have children who are totally dyslexic (reading many grade levels behind) how to help their child cross the brain midline, so that words do not reverse when a child reads or writes. By using the Right Brain phonics method, these kids can finally decode words easily without having to learn rules, which are of no help to them.
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So, as you can see...I love them all, because so many children who are “my” children, identified as those for whom other methods and other curriculum hasn’t worked, respond so well to these simple to learn methods. It doesn’t have to be so hard...and it doesn’t have to be so expensive to turn a struggling learner around!
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That is such a difficult question, because whenever I start a workshop I always say, “This is my favorite workshop.” And I mean that. I like them all because each one sets a child free in a unique way. The Biology of Behavior helps the child who is distracted, or whiny, or unhappy because his/her body chemistry is upset, maybe with something as innocuous as early antibiotics. A child with Sensory Processing problems who is bothered by noises, tags, socks, and foods, can be set free when parents learn how to apply very simple nutritional interventions.
*
I love the Teaching the Right Brain Child workshops because I can help a child get in touch with the “smart part of himself” in just five minutes. When a child who struggles with spelling can spell a word forwards and backwards in a minute, he just beams, and feels so smart. When a child can read words in five minutes of work, showing him how to remember the words using Right Brain techniques, it is priceless. When mothers tell me that their child no longer hates Math, because we have made the processes so easy to remember, I am so excited.
*
I also love to show moms who have children who are totally dyslexic (reading many grade levels behind) how to help their child cross the brain midline, so that words do not reverse when a child reads or writes. By using the Right Brain phonics method, these kids can finally decode words easily without having to learn rules, which are of no help to them.
*
So, as you can see...I love them all, because so many children who are “my” children, identified as those for whom other methods and other curriculum hasn’t worked, respond so well to these simple to learn methods. It doesn’t have to be so hard...and it doesn’t have to be so expensive to turn a struggling learner around!
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What do you hope to impart to the families attending CHEO's 25th Annual Family Life and Discipleship Conference?
The message that I want the parents to hear is that, when working with a struggling learner at home, “It doesn’t have to be so hard, and it doesn’t have to be so expensive!” There are easy ways to get these children out of the place that they are in now...struggling with reading, writing or math. I can train parents to identify where their child’s learning glitch is, and how to help that child overcome these learning problems. There are ‘gradations’ of a learning problem. If a child has a ‘glitch’, he is working too hard to learn, but is not behind his grade/age level. If a child has a ‘dysfunction’, he is working harder, and usually is one year behind in grade/age level. If a child has to work much harder, and tests two years or behind in grade/age level, then he has a dyslexia (reading) or dysgraphia.
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When working with a struggling learner at home, the important ideas for Homeschool moms to wrap their minds around, are that:
1. Getting a child with dyslexia and dysgraphia to make a two year growth in reading and writing in one year is not only possible, but necessary
2. Homeschool moms can do it, using this same training that special education teachers receive (download these free lesson plans)
3. This process requires more intense effort in daily teaching than they likely have been doing in the past
4. Regular reading, writing and phonics programs, while good, work for ‘typical learners’, do not work well for children who have significant learning blocks.
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It would be good if these parents could read the articles on teaching, that I have on my website, http://www.diannecraft.org/. This will give them a good idea about how to teach your child.
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To learn how to identify and correct a child’s blocked learning gates, they can go to www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner. Scroll down on the page to the Four Learning Gates. There, you will find checklists to identify your child’s learning blocks, and various suggestions for home interventions.
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Dianne Craft, Master’s Degree in Special Education, Certified Natural Health Professional, President of CHILD DIAGNOSTICS, Inc., Denver, CO, www.diannecraft.org
The message that I want the parents to hear is that, when working with a struggling learner at home, “It doesn’t have to be so hard, and it doesn’t have to be so expensive!” There are easy ways to get these children out of the place that they are in now...struggling with reading, writing or math. I can train parents to identify where their child’s learning glitch is, and how to help that child overcome these learning problems. There are ‘gradations’ of a learning problem. If a child has a ‘glitch’, he is working too hard to learn, but is not behind his grade/age level. If a child has a ‘dysfunction’, he is working harder, and usually is one year behind in grade/age level. If a child has to work much harder, and tests two years or behind in grade/age level, then he has a dyslexia (reading) or dysgraphia.
*
When working with a struggling learner at home, the important ideas for Homeschool moms to wrap their minds around, are that:
1. Getting a child with dyslexia and dysgraphia to make a two year growth in reading and writing in one year is not only possible, but necessary
2. Homeschool moms can do it, using this same training that special education teachers receive (download these free lesson plans)
3. This process requires more intense effort in daily teaching than they likely have been doing in the past
4. Regular reading, writing and phonics programs, while good, work for ‘typical learners’, do not work well for children who have significant learning blocks.
*
It would be good if these parents could read the articles on teaching, that I have on my website, http://www.diannecraft.org/. This will give them a good idea about how to teach your child.
*
To learn how to identify and correct a child’s blocked learning gates, they can go to www.hslda.org/strugglinglearner. Scroll down on the page to the Four Learning Gates. There, you will find checklists to identify your child’s learning blocks, and various suggestions for home interventions.
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Dianne Craft, Master’s Degree in Special Education, Certified Natural Health Professional, President of CHILD DIAGNOSTICS, Inc., Denver, CO, www.diannecraft.org
Photo: Dianne with her husband and some of her grandchildren in Denver, Colorado.
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