Please complete the questionnaire on the home page menu bar if you haven't already done so.  

  

Did you tick 6 to 8 of the questions that describe your child? 

  Does your child have problems reading, writing or spelling?

 

If you have answered yes to both of these questions the Starjump Unlocking Literacy Program will help your child considerably.

 

 Unlocking Literacy - Building systems of thinking using cognitive strengths. 

Click on the link "Unlocking Literacy" above to view or print  the Unlocking Literacy Program flyer.

 

The dilema for visual spatial learners is, they think in pictures while literacy involves connecting with and understanding words.  If a child thinks in 3D colour moving imagery as many vsl children do, engaging with 2D black and white symbols causes  major problems for them.  It is pretty hard for a creative vsl child who has a wild and free imagination to get enthusiastic about 2D black and white symbols on a page, until, of course they are taught to translate words into the inner world of their imagination.

 

Silent Reading - Some VSL children find it difficult to read out loud and all they need to do is read silently. This makes translating words into a movie in their minds so much easier, faster and more enjoyable.  However, for a lot of VSL children the answer is not so simple.

 

Vision - Optical problems are common in vsl children.  It is extremely difficult for children with visual problems to develop the ability to run a movie in their mind as they are reading and so this is why we must do an assessment to ensure an optical problem does not exist.  Being tested by a standard optometrist is not enough,  as the problems associated with reading difficulties require specialist diagnosis. 

 

Sequencing - Reading, writing and spelling demands good visual, auditory and cognitive sequencing abilities however vsl children pay more attention to spatial relationships.   The unlocking literacy program is designed to strengthen sequencing abilities by specifically engaging visual spatial strengths and motor memory.

 

Emotions and Learning - Children who think in imagery can ignite their emotions by translating words into pictures when reading.   Emotions drive the intellect and are the source of motivation to learn.  It is therefore imperative that vsl children learn to engage emotionally with words by translating words into their picture thinking systems. 

 

Computer skills - Keyboarding is an extremely important tool for developing spelling and writing skills.  Motor memory and visual spatial memory are used to develop spelling skills in particular. 

 

Spelling - Teaching a vsl child to sound out words as they spell, sets them up to fail. Visualization of the whole word works for some but not for others.  Keyboarding, visualization, picture association and the ability to deconstruct whole words into their phonemic parts are used  to  teach vsl children to spell. Phonics is taught, only after the child has learnt the whole word and is able to deconstruct the image they have of the word.

 

Writing - Most VSL children avoid writing for a number of different reasons.  Many have handwriting problems which makes getting their ideas down on paper extremely difficult.   They avoid it  because they haven't been taught to translate their rich inner world of ideas into words.  Instead they try to think about what words to write and as a consequence produce one or two lines. The disparity between the richness of ideas and producing poor written expression of those ideas can be extremely frustrating and indeed humiliating for some children.  The understandable response is to avoid the task.

 

Handwriting - If a child has a handwriting difficulty,  it is best to alleviate the problem by teaching children as young as 6 or 7 to touch type.  Research has shown spelling improves significantly just by using the keyboard.  Keyboarding also allows ideas to be expressed rapidly.  One idea in the form of an image can take a split second however to translate that image into words takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.   Handwriting is physically painful for some children and so why would we make the task even more arduous by insisting on manual writing when a keyboard can be used with ease?

 

Electronic Mindmapping - It is important to teach VSL children to make use of electronic mind mapping tools that can help them organize their thinking.  The difficulties in sequencing ideas lies at the heart of why VSL children struggle with written work.  It takes great skill to transform complex non sequential ideas into verbal lineal text and so being proficient on the keyboard combined with using an electonic mind mapping tool, makes writing so much easier for vsl children. 

 

Confidence - Building confidence and developing writing skills requires the separation of skills development from content.  Gifted students however, need to have skills development embedded into their  learning activities and do not respond when skills are separated out.  Gifted VSL children with learning difficulties however, need to have both the opportunity to develop skills without having to think about  content initially but they must also have the opportunity to engage in really dynamic activities where development of and use of  literacy skills is embedded into the learning activity.    

 

Literacy Modules - The Unlocking Literacy Program provides the foundations on which many other VSL literacy learning strategies can be built.  Starjump modules that have a literacy focus specifically designed for visual spatial learners include:  mind mapping, scanning, comprehension, note taking and using genre templates.  These modules are  delivered one on one in our centres or in schools running the Starjump program.

 

The Unlocking Literacy Program must be run by a trained Starjump consultant.  Schools or individual consultants can apply for a package that includes training, a license and software.