Mary Moran Dyslexia and Reading Tutor

13/10/2026

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13/10/2026

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They are not lazy. They are not trying less. They need explicit instruction, but what does explicit instruction actually mean? It means we don't leave learning to chance. We don't expect students to learn to read through osmosis, simply by being surrounded by books or exposed to print.

We teach the skills directly.

We explain and model. We provide guided practice. We check for understanding, give corrective feedback, and gradually move students toward independence. In reading, that means explicitly teaching how sounds connect to letters, how to blend sounds to read words, how spelling patterns work, and how words are structured.

And importantly, explicit instruction is not just for students with dyslexia. All students can benefit from clear, systematic teaching, and for many struggling readers, it is essential.

Exposure to print is important. Reading practice is important. Repeated reading helps build fluency. But exposure alone is not the same as instruction.

When a child struggles to read, the answer isn't always more motivation, more effort, or more time with a book.

Sometimes, what needs to change isn't how hard the child is trying. It's how we are teaching. Children shouldn't have to guess their way into literacy.

If you're an educator or parent, please share. We need to keep moving the conversation from motivation to instruction.

12/10/2026

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10/10/2026

In the last few weeks I have encountered 4 6th class boys in 4 different schools who could only read,with a struggle CVC words(3 letter words).
The schools were very confused and worried about these boys and rightly so.The information to me led me to believe that they had been working hard on these types of words for years and failed to progress. This I didn't understand as it would be rare.
After investing the situation I discovered that all 4 boys had received structured intervention in 1st / 2nd class and progressed.Progression was slow as they are all severely dyslexic, but nonetheless they improved. Then intervention with structure stopped, primarily because the SET teachers changed and the new teacher moved to a different approach, or in one case the boy improved enough to lose his set hours. These boys are now stuck where structured intervention stopped and were not addressed again until 6th class. Now we have parents and teachers panicking and stressed and boys mental health in decline due to the embarrassing and distressing situation they are in on the cusp of 2nd level.
We need parents involved in this journey from day 1. They need to be working with a structured programme at home so they can continue the progress with their child when the situation changes within the school. Until this happens I fear the pipeline from literacy problems into all social issues will continue to flow strongly and young lives changed or worse still destroyed.

06/10/2026

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03/10/2026

Currently at a dyslexia show in England.
My observations.
Most of the parents do not want something that requires a lot of work or an intervention that is not a quick fix. Comments include " He doesn't like phonics, "
" He did that at school and we had to stop it"
" It takes too long"
Comments from teachers were
" Oh not another phonics programme "
"Phonics are so boring, I hate teaching through phonics and all the boring drills"
"The kids hate phonics, they find it boring "
So we are ditching what works and what teaches kids to read because we live in a world of snap chat ,you tube, online games .
Do parents and teachers not have a duty of care to these kids?
Is it OK to allow them grow into teenagers with poor literacy skills because we didn't want them to be bored ?
Is this putting their best interest to the forefront ?"
Should we not ,instead, be teaching them that sometimes life requires boring hard work to build resilience?
How are we actually preparing them for this world if everything is fun and games?
Maybe it's my age so I would appreciate some thoughts on this subject outside of my own.

03/10/2026

03/10/2026

My favourite dyslexia infographic showing how dyslexia affects more than just reading.

Image: unknown