The best thing I did for my son . . .

I want to tell you about my youngest son. He is 8 years old and has dyslexia. The last few years of school have been a little rough for him. And because he is the youngest, my husband and I kept telling ourselves that yes he struggled to read, but he would catch up. It was finally a few months ago that we had him tested and we discovered the reason he struggles so much. It was so freeing (and devastating) to hear this news and start to learn what we can do to help him. One of the things we have done is to enroll him in a tutoring program. He loves it, and my husband and I have seen him go from never wanting to pick up a book (because he hated reading), to now voluntarily reading books (even if he needs some help).

What has this tutor done for my son? • She helps him see a different approach to reading. Not that there is anything wrong with the way he was being taught in school, but his brain needed to see it a little different for it to make sense. • She provides him with one-on-one attention. All of his school teachers have been phenomenal, but they have 25+ other students to care for. • She has given him tools that he uses to figure out what a word is - some of these tools his older siblings don't even know and you can imagine that makes him feel pretty awesome! • She also makes his sessions fun so he looks forward to them! She strikes a good balance of having him work and play so it is enjoyable for him. Sometimes she even incorporates learning into the play and he doesn't even notice ;). We are so grateful for this tutoring as I am not trained in how to help a child with a learning disability. She makes my life and my son's life so much easier. This is very similar to my job as a life coach. • I help people see things just a little differently. Differently than maybe others have in the past. • I am totally focused on helping my clients and hold space for them during my one-on-one coaching sessions. • In these sessions, I take thorough notes and spend time thinking about my client. I think about what tools will best help them with their current problem. • I follow-up with them between sessions to either nudge them in the direction they want to go or to just offer some support. • I make our sessions fun, where appropriate, and help my clients feel as comfortable as possible during our time together. Coaching is so fun for me and I think that is felt by my clients. I have seen the difference a tutor has made for my son, and I have also seen the difference having a life coach has made in my life. Sometimes it just takes that outside perspective to guide us to becoming a better version of ourselves.