Newsletter February 2025

Feb 7

February’s here already… snowdrops and snow … and as promised, we launched our Online Fundraising Auction February 1!

www.thewds.org/auction ... so now its time to get bidding ! We have so many generous donations.. full list HERE.

We will be adding to this list throughout February, so keep checking in! I know that when we bid we often hope for a bargain, at the same time, competitive overbidding ensures we can help even more individuals 😊with their program sponsorship.. thank you!

This Online Auction is running alongside the excitement of our documentary WHO KNEW Dyslexia is a Way of Thinking.

Laura noticed that we are actually mentioned on the IMDb (Internet Movie Database)!

It looks so official … I am somewhere between disbelief and laughter…but definitely so grateful for all those involved.

Our documentary will be showcased at various film festivals and exclusive screenings throughout 2025, with a general release scheduled this fall available for free on TELUS Optik™ TV On Demand, all made possible with the support of TELUS STORYHIVE Editions.

Sharon’s February 1 Come to the Dyslexic Table article on the Green School in Bali was so interesting. You can listen HERE.

We are gathering the key points from each of her dives into different forms of education. So far I love the sound of:

The curriculum linked to the nature, the environment, conservation, sustainability
Hands-on learning hiding core subjects, involving the local community and experts
A full circle model, the school creates, sends into the community, and reaps the benefit later on
Creating and nurturing a love of learning (what a thought) free from fear of failure (known as anxiety)
Results are huge... high levels of critical/independent thinking, problem solving, ability to reason.
Small classes, toxin free, a sense of love and belonging connecting to the outside world, joyful!

Here’s to the demise of the worksheet wilderness!

Here is Sharon’s article for Finland, coming up on March 1st:

Finland has one of the top ranking educational systems in the world. In fact, the World Economic Forum has ranked it first and Michael Moore agreed in his latest documentary, Where To Invade Next” when he focuses on it for 20 minutes. However, in recent years, it seems Finland has been dethroned by Denmark, and this may be coincidental, but at the time Finland lost its first place standing, there were severe budget cuts in their educational system.

Firstly, literacy is very important to the people of Finland. Even before a child is born, every mother gets a box (maternity package) from the Mother Care Center which consists of three books. a book for the mother, a book for the father, and a book for the baby.

Formal education does not really begin until the age of 7 and until then free daycare is available. You will find children ages 1 - 6 years playing and learning side by side. While children are further divided according to more specific age groups, they spend a lot of time together. This enables younger children to look up to and learn from their older counterparts, while it encourages older children to be more caring and compassionate. Individual teachers decide on curriculum. While some of it is structured, for the most part, children are encouraged to play freely and independently with their peers. Much of the exploring takes place outdoors and in nature. Often kids make their own toys using sticks and other things they find in nature, boosting their creativity and imagination. The focus for Kindergarten students is to "learn how to learn" and is strongly believed that when children develop learning to learn as a life skill and see the real life applications of the knowledge they gather, they will become lifelong learners.

Following an holistic approach, Early Education in Finland also strives to develop children's mental, physical, social, and emotional skills. This means little children are taught to use their five senses to understand the world around them and are guided on how to regulate the feelings triggered by their senses. For example, if a child is frightened by hearing thunder, he is encouraged to figure out what he could do. In Finnish Kindergartens, children discover effective and positive ways to balance their emotions and express themselves.

Teachers are revered and undergo a demanding, research-based five-year masters program. In general, parents do not participate in a child’s education. The system departs from the norm where external requirements like standardized testing and government control is prevalent. The curriculum is designed to engage children and foster their interest in the world around them. Class time is not divided into subjects as students are encouraged to explore their environment, making learning more relevant. Primary school has a 15 minute break every 45 minutes of instruction and children have the same teacher for the first 6 years. Cooperation is emphasized over competition. It is claimed that the gap between high and low performers is low and they try to capture weaker students early. They follow the belief that if you learn without joy, you will forget easily so experiential learning through play and movement is emphasized, again teaching how to learn rather than what to learn is emphasized.

While Finland boasts an excellency in literacy, dyslexia does exist. Formal reading instruction begins at age 7 but 40 per cent of students are able to read by that time. After a few months in school, most children can decode words and also pseudowords, via letter-by-letter decoding which is not hampered by rules and rules to break rules such as in English. Finnish is one of the most transparent languages in that there is a consistency of links between sounds or phonemes in speech and the graphic letters. Finnish children must learn to master the sounds of fewer than 30 letters/graphemes, and these can be relied upon to be perfectly consistent in their sound/written representation. The application of phonics in the Finnish language works.

Highlights:

formal education does not start until they reach 7 years of age
small class sizes
lots of breaks for primary grades
healthy lunches
lots of outdoor play / nature
looks at needs of whole child
emphasis on responsibility
learning to learn philosophy

Sharon Roberts is a Davis Dyslexia Facilitator based in Ontario. https://dyslexia.ca/

Maureen O’Sullivan (Davis Facilitator, Ontario) has been attending some of our WDS Board Meetings, and her sister-in-law, Ginny, has been SO kind and generous with her volunteer time. She has created a list of all the teacher training colleges/universities across Canada AND the Early Childhood Education Centres so that we can contact them and send them the documentary when we are able. This time-consuming research is so valuable to us, and we are so grateful!

We are also getting ready for our Annual General Meeting on Saturday February 22, 2025. We have had many successes in 2024 and more to come! All possible with the support of our volunteers, donors and community. Thank you!

Last year we were able to support an educator who wanted to take the 4 Day Gift of Dyslexia Workshop, which is the first part of the Davis Facilitator training. We just received this email:

"My name is Angela. I am a Learning Support Services Teacher. I took the 4 day Gift of Dyslexia Workshop and I was able to do my 30 hours of practice, one-on-one, in school with a grade 5 student. The student jumped from a mid-grade 2 reading level to a mid-grade 4 reading level. It was amazing to see the results and I'm looking forward to working with more students in the future!"

Following on from this, we will be presenting a Pro D to educators in her school and School District in April.

This leads us to dream that one day we can create four different paths for educators:

Davis Learning Strategies for Early Years (3-5 year olds) is still in the pilot stage
Davis Learning Strategies for K-3 teachers
Special Ed teachers working one-on-one with students having taken the Gift of Dyslexia Workshop

Coached by a Facilitator

Schools sending students to us when the family can afford a program.

Same Facilitator trains the EAs to provide follow up in school time

Calendar:

January 23: Sue visited the Nanaimo Alternative Learning Centre to speak with staff and students.

Youth Resilience Strategy

February 6: Sue meets with the Capilano University Early Childhood Education Centre

February 22: Annual General Meeting, 10am PST Online

March 1: Come to the Dyslexic Table… we are off to Finland !

April 1: Come to the Dyslexic Table …Eaton Arrowsmith Schools

April 17: Professional Development presentation for Dr Thomas A Swift Elementary

May 1: Come to the Dyslexic Table … Supported Home Schooling programs in BC

May: Gisa and Sue will be presenting to Big Sisters and Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, Langley and the Fraser Valley

June 1: Come to the Dyslexic Table… France, Japan and maybe Italy !

October 8: As a result of the presentation that Sue and Julie made at the Decoda Conference last October Sue has been invited to be a Keynote Speaker (her first Keynote!) at the Family Literacy Conference in Edmonton.

OUR CHARITY FUNDRAISING AUCTION ITEMS AS AT FEBRUARY 3, 2025

Visit our page HERE