Year 5 classroom teacher Marisa Webster at Three Kings Primary School, Mt Eden, Auckland discusses children's literacy. The latest Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), shows that New Zealand 10 year-olds reading levels have dropped. / Video by Brett Phibbs
Word cards and one-to-one reading lessons have transformed 9-year-old Auckland Kaya Fischer-Soffe's life.
Kaya has what her mum Charlotte Fischer calls a "gifted" version of dyslexia.
"I could just see that her intellectual capacity was not matched with her literacy," Fischer said.
"Children with this type of dyslexia get very discouraged because they are highly intelligent but the nuts and bolts of learning to read is the problem."
The family, who were then living in Taranaki, found it difficult to get help.
"The school denied it, they felt that she didn't have any issues," Fischer said.
"But I could tell that she was mimicking. They would read a book at school and she would memorise it. She'd come home and supposedly read it to me, but if I closed it up she could still say the words."
Through a friend, the family heard about Speld, an agency that helps children with specific learning disabilities. Kaya was tested last year, and since the start of this year she has had weekly one-hour lessons with Speld teacher Mary Parker at Three Kings School.
Speld teacher Mary Parker tutoring 9 year-old Kaya Fischer-Soffe at Three Kings Primary School. Photo / Brett Phibbs
"It has really changed her confidence, that's the biggest help," Fischer said. "She has now become quite a passionate reader."
Kaya's older brother, who is now 11, also has dyslexia and has had Speld lessons since he was 7.
"He has become a really passionate reader as well," said Fischer. "I travel a lot with them, and I don;t allow them to take electronic devices with them, so they are both really avid readers."
