It is the time of year that all little first graders are learning how to subtract, how to read graphs of bunnies and boxes, and how to count by ones, fives, and tens to one hundred.

We just passed Dr. Seuss's birthday, so of course we read Cat In The Hat and, several other of his books. We made green eggs and ham for breakfast and of course my daughter asked for more when she got home.

Once again helping her learn her counting and her words, I find she transposes letters and numbers but only certain ones. She writes 3s backwards still and she often will write 16 as 61 or 15 as 51. Words that start with a T she has to stop and think about as well as ones that start with a W - or end with T or W.

So of course we are all wondering if we are dealing with dyslexia or just bad habits. We have been looking things up on the web to help define if we should have our daughter checked for dyslexia.

One of the web sites that help a parent to understand what dyslexia is and what the signs is Schwab Learning. This site has a list of areas to look for, if your child is having issues in school with reading, spelling, math, speaking, or listening. This site also offers thoughts on treatment.

"Dyslexia is a persistent life long condition. There is no cure for it but there are ways to approach learning and be successful."

Some of the things to look for in age appropriate behavior problems that might be associated with your child if they have dyslexia are:

Ages 6-11

Has difficulty pronouncing words, may reverse or substitute parts of words
Has difficulty carrying out a sequence of directions
Doesn't hear fine differences in words; e.g., writes "pin" for "pen"
Has problems stating thoughts in an organized way
Confuses the order of letters in words
Doesn't recognize words previously learned
Spells a word several different ways; doesn't recognize the correct version
Has poor reading comprehension

Ages 12-adult

Has difficulty remembering what he just read
Has difficulty concentrating when reading or writing
Is unable to tell important information from unimportant details
Spells poorly; misspelling is not phonetic
Has problems taking notes accurately
Has difficulty organizing and completing written projects

Because this is a Learning Disablility your child's school may be able to help you with getting your child in the right class setting and, one on one teaching skills that will help your child to succeed.

Write down the things your child is having trouble with and constant mistakes you have noticed your child making on work he/she brings home. Save the home work. This will help diagnose a pattern.

Meet with your child's teacher. Make her aware of your concerns. Have her help you to watch your child closely. The faster Dyslexia is diagnosed the sooner learning patterns can be taught to help over come the problems.

Your child could be very intelligent. Dyslexia is a neurological issue and should not be confused with your child just not doing the work. It is a disability and should be dealt with on that level.

Remember, it is normal for children to mix up letters and numbers from time to time, so do not be alarmed if you see a few mistakes here and there. Just be aware and watch for prolonged mistakes made that are reccurring.

My daughter is so much fun to read with and to teach numbers to. We often make it a song and sing them or put a rhyme or beat to whatever we are learning. Counting by fives is by far one of the silliest things we do together. It involves our hands and feet, and a special beat.