In the past, most of the students referred to the Learning Center where I work were boys. It was thought that dyslexia was a disability that mostly boys had. Girls were very good at disguising their reading disability with neat handwriting and good behavior. Sitting quietly at the back of the classroom – while failing to learn to read. In the past, bad behavior was the first indicator that a student was struggling in school. And as we know, girls are taught to be good, to please the teacher, and not to misbehave…
Today, half my students at the center are girls. Now, I don’t have the stats about whether dyslexia is more prevalent in boys or not. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus on this issue. What we do know is that girls can be dyslexic too and we need to provide them with reading materials that will not only support and develop their reading, but that will appeal to, and empower them.
Like all struggling readers, girls need decodable books. Are there enough decodable books that will appeal to this audience?
Phonic Books have created decodable books for this audience exacly. When we created these series, we decided we wanted empowering, self-reliant, positive and strong female heroines to will capture the imagination of our girl readers.
Who are these heroines?
First is our heroine, Alba, from the ‘Alba Series’. She has a crucial mission. The last apple pip has been stolen from her dad’s lab. Her mission is to defy the baddies and deliver the pip safely to her father. Unfortunately, she is shrunk by a shrink ray. How will she manage to overcome all the obstacles in her way, now that she is tiny? This exciting story will engage girls but at the same time it will consolidate the phonics skills they already have and fill in the missing gaps that are preventing the students from making progress. This series covers adjacent consonants, consonant digraphs and vowel spellings. To see the progression click on the image below: https://www.phonicbooks.co.uk/product/alba-series-set-1/
Our second heroine is Erin in the ‘Rescue’ series. With a similar theme – Erin’s baby brother gets hold of this shrink ray and shrinks himself. Erin is on baby sitting duty and must find her baby brother before her mother gets home! This series assumes that the student has can read words with adjacent consonants and consonant digraphs. It begins with the introduction of alternative vowel spellings. Click on the image below to see the phonic progression in this series:
For more exciting stories with strong female characters checkout our other catch-up reading series. Most importantly, find a series that your girls enjoy reading AND that matches their reading level. Then their reading will take off!