We must understand

Every family should have the opportunity to learn. As a student, I often struggled in classes, particularly math but also when writing summaries or essays. I would swap words or numbers. Even as I got to college, I realized my problem-solving for math formulas was different. I’d never had individualized extra assistance in school, either due to lack of time or resources.

Unfortunately, I often hear parents and even educators say that’s still the case.

So now I work to provide other children ages 5-11 with what I didn’t have. Working with children in any setting, public or private, I want to provide one-on-one help with minimal distractions working on homework or other activities to stimulate the brain.

But my work isn’t just limited to students. Families often don’t realize how very, very important their interaction with their child is in developing skills like literacy, even before a child can read. Our state recently saw as much through multiple showings of the documentary “The Right to Read.”

So I work to teach parents or guardians. I also work to make sure families understand what their child might be going through in the classroom as that student works through a learning disability.

It’s so important for families to have access to resources like these, in and outside the classroom. Expanding those resources, and access to them, as the LEARNS Act has done, helps connect the policy with the parent or guardian to address the student’s needs.

It’s only through understanding our challenges that we can overcome them.

SARA YOUNG Pine Bluff