Greetings from Toronto –

It's been a long time since I've had the impulse to write. But a number of people asked me what was happening these days, so I take computer in lap, and sit down to write.

The nutshell version of the last 8 months is this – in chronological order:
1 – Calcutta (not my favourite city in India), to which I was lured by an NGO that then deserted me (more on that another time). The positive piece is that I made a new and wonderful friendship with a woman from Texas.
2 – South Africa for the wedding of a dear friend who moved from Delhi to Cape Town.
3 – Toronto – upon my return I moved twice – not fun, but absolutely necessary.
4 – Like last year, it took about 2 months before I felt 'normal' again and able to think and do and feel 'here'. I realize that at 60, this is not a good use of time. So am rethinking going to India for such long periods.
5 – This is the most important thing I did. At the end of April I attended a pubic forum on Special Education. There I met a woman who trains teachers to work with a remedial reading method called Remediation Plus (www.remediationplus.com). She has developed a curriculum based on Orton Gillingham research and methodology that uses a multi-sensory approach to reading. I did the training and am now a licensed "Remediation Plus" teacher.

Two days after I finished the training, I attended a screening of Occupation 101 (www.occupation101.com), where I ran into a doctor friend who works at a clinic in a lower socio-economic area of Toronto. She was busy selling Zatoun olive oil (www.zatoun.com), so I very briefly said that I was now teaching remedial reading and if she ran into any kids who were having problems in this area, she could give them my number.

That was Sunday night, July 8. The next morning she called to tell me about a 7- year old girl, going into grade 3, whose report card indicated that reading was a problem. I met with her and her mom the next day. Testing showed she was a pre-reader and pre-speller, although the good news was that she could sound out the alphabet (thanks to her Special Education teacher), and her handwriting was legible.

I have been working with her ever since, and after 24 lessons, the retest showed she is now reading at a Grade 1.1 level, and spelling at Grade 1.2 level. This is really good news, because her dyslexia is severe, and we spend about 6 sessions on each lesson, moving in very small incremental steps.

This young girl falls into a small group of people who have this severe a form of dyslexia. Her cousin, whom I am also tutoring, is dyslexic, but much milder. I have one more student, an 8-year old boy whose reading is passable, but whose creative spelling leaves one scratching one's head.

This work is absolutely wonderful. Getting to know the kids in the context of helping them learn to crack a code that they know they must get is an experience that simultaneously gives and receives. It tries my patience, pushes me to find new approaches to teaching, and puts in my face the fact that these young beings are here on this earth to find their way in the maze of Life. It is the beginning of the fulfilment of Article 26 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to education." As I sit down with each of them, I must remember who and where they are, some of the obstacles they face, and that this will only work if there is mutual respect.

This new journey feels like coming home, a continuation of an inquiry I began when I first read A.S. Neill's Summerhill oh so many years ago. Where it will lead remains to be seen, but in my mind I keep returning to the wonderful work being done in Andhra Pradesh India at the Rishi Valley Education Centre (please see my entry from March 7).

Take good care, everyone.
Ellen