reading disability

Four Grade Levels in One Year: Former Foster Child Finds Success and Confidence with Dyslexia Games

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment
Dyslexia Games Series B

Written by Heather Vaught

Eight-year-old Kassidy faced significant challenges with reading and learning in the public school environment. Thanks to Dyslexia Games, she’s at grade level and bursting with newfound confidence.

“She was eight years old when she came into our family,” says Jill Cain, adoptive mother of former foster child Kassidy. “It was a night and day difference between her and my biological children. She didn’t know letter sounds, but she could read some sight words, which didn’t make sense to me. There were other things too; it was like a jumbled puzzle that didn’t add up.”

Jill homeschools her biological children, but because Kassidy was a foster child at the time, she had to be in public school. The school provided her with a personal aide for an hour each day, but it didn’t help. Jill suspected dyslexia, but the school didn’t agree and passed Kassidy to the next grade, even though she couldn’t read.

The Emotional Toll

“When it came time for school or homework, she was completely shut down. She would cross her arms and not even try,” remembers Jill. “And when she did try, it was tears.”

Jill finally convinced the school to test Kassidy, and a dyslexia diagnosis was confirmed. She also convinced the school to hold her back the next school year to give her more time to learn and catch up with her peers. In the meantime, Jill researched dyslexia resources online.

Making matters worse, Kassidy was bullied at school. “The experience in public school greatly affected her,” laments Jill. “Her self-confidence was so low and it affected our relationships. She was very isolated.”

Fighting for a Fair Chance

In Jill’s online research, she stumbled upon Dyslexia Games by Sarah Janisse Brown. It looked promising, but Jill wondered if it would help Kassidy learn. “I knew she was bright and capable as she excelled in so many other areas,” notes Jill. “But how do I even do this, if the public school can’t do it?”

She decided to shelve her doubts, but the next step was for Jill to get legal permission to homeschool Kassidy. “I went all the way to the top,” she says. It took time, but finally, they were granted permission, and their homeschooling journey began.

Jill initiated some “deschooling” time first to give Kassidy a chance to decompress and build confidence and security. Then, when she felt like Kassidy was ready, she started her on just one page a day in Dyslexia Games.

 “It really drained her,” notes Jill. “It was completely exhausting to do one page. There were days she just wanted to bail, and I was unsure whether this was the right way to proceed because we didn’t see any progress.”

Breakthrough! Four Grade Levels in One Year

Persistence paid off. After about three weeks, Jill observed the first signs of improvement. When she pointed out something that needed correction, Kassidy figured it out herself. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh! This is working!’” Jill exclaims.

That was just the encouragement they both needed to keep going. As they progressed through the program, Kassidy experienced several more breakthrough moments in letter recognition, reading skills, and math skills.

“She had about a six-month jump in math in six weeks, that I just can’t explain except for Dyslexia Games,” Jill adds.

Jill turned the reins over to Kassidy, who began doing several pages a day. By the end of Dyslexia Games, Series B, she was reading at a 4th-grade level, representing a jump of four grade levels in one year.

Kassidy’s confidence soared. “We’re a read-aloud family,” says Jill. “We go around the room and read aloud. Before, she would refuse. Now she will read an entire chapter!”

Click here to keep reading about Kassidy’s story, including some tips from Jill!

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Unlocking Potential: How Dyslexia Games Transformed Learning for a South African Family

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

Written by Heather Vaught

When traditional schooling failed her son and the pandemic forced shutdowns, Clerissa Kritzinger turned to homeschooling, which ignited a love of learning in her family.

“I was at my wit’s end,” Clerissa Kritzinger recalls. “We had tried everything the traditional system offered, but nothing seemed to work. The tension in our relationship was palpable.”

Clerissa’s journey began with her oldest son’s struggles in school. Despite various therapies and medications for his ADHD diagnosis, his situation didn’t improve. 

The Kritzingers moved Anthony to a tutoring center, hoping that a smaller environment with more one-on-one attention would make a difference. Then facing pandemic-related school closures, Clerissa found herself alone with her son’s reading difficulties.

A Turning Point: Discovering Dyslexia

Homeschooling was not common in South Africa, but with the pandemic, it became a widespread reality. Clerissa found herself with no other choice. She quickly discovered that teachers had been sugar-coating Anthony’s progress, and she was upset. She chose a different curriculum, hoping that would make a difference.

It wasn’t until her friend, Alene, suggested her son might be dyslexic that Clerissa found a new direction. After researching and finding Nessy, a free online dyslexia screening tool, she confirmed her son’s condition. 

“It was a moment of relief and clarity,” she shares. “Finally understanding the cause of my son’s struggles opened up a world of possibilities.”

Alene also recommended Fun-Schooling journals and Dyslexia Games by Sarah Janisse Brown, author and founder of Thinking Tree Books. 

Slow and Steady: The Impact of Dyslexia Games

“You’ve got to be kidding me. How is my kid going to learn to read by doing pictures?” says Clerissa of the moment she first looked through Dyslexia Games. “It did not make sense to me.”

Alene reminded her that her daughter began reading within three months of using Dyslexia Games. “Just trust the process,” she advised.

So Clerissa plowed ahead with assigning her son two pages a day. She was surprised to see him enjoying the games and asking for more pages. His concentration began to improve. 

Then, a month and a half in, Anthony started to pick out random words during daily activities like grocery shopping or playing a game. At three months, Clerissa introduced a phonics program and he took off with it.

“It was like night and day,” Clerissa explains. “He’s never been depressed since we started homeschooling and using Dyslexia Games. The meltdowns that used to happen every single day at school just stopped. Now, his favorite place is the library.”

“The Dyslexia Games approach is so different from traditional methods,” Clerissa notes. “It’s like it speaks directly to the dyslexic brain, creating new neural pathways for learning to read.”

Click here to continue with Clerissa’s story.

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Brand New Reading Resource (& Giveaway)

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

We are so excited to share the news that the new Reading Therapy is out!!! I’ve been working on this all year to create a new workbook to help kids who are struggling to sound out words to read fluently! I’m so excited about this. Take 20 minutes a day to work with your child to master 150 wonderful words! By the end of the book your child will be writing stories, poems and letters!

This book is created for the kids who are reading words like farm and cat, but want to read words like radiant and mighty!

Do you want to be part of our research study? Let me know at Sarah@BrownIdea.com

Get the PDF now to print at home for all your kids.

This book is the bridge between Dyslexia Therapy and grade level schoolwork. It’s the book I wish I had the year I failed 3rd grade.

Are you a 2nd or 3rd grade teacher with students who are struggling to read?

I’d love to give you this workbook as a gift to use in your classroom. Tag a teacher!

Giveaway!!!

Get the PDF version of our new book for Free!!! “150 Wonderful Words – Vocabulary, Spelling & Reading”

Coupon Code: 150WonderfulWords

Get it here: https://www.funschooling.com/product-page/pdf-150-wonderful-words-vocabulary-spelling-reading

Code expires December 17, 2024

See something else you need?

Here’s a “Buy One Get One Free” offer for any of our PDFs!

Coupon Code: FunSchoolBOGO2024

Expires December 31, 2024

After Dyslexia Games…What Next?

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

After using DyslexiaGames.com, what’s NEXT? Still struggling? Let’s talk about a program called Learn Reading from LearnReading.com:

1. Some kids are ready to jump right into a typical grade level curriculum after using one set of Dyslexia Games.

2. Some kids were so far behind that they need to move right on to Dyslexia Games Series B or C to get on grade level.

3. Some kids transition beautifully to a Core Curriculum Journal and Fun-Schooling Spelling Journal.

4. Some kids, because of a unique combination of challenges, need to continue serious therapy, but can’t afford an tutor or an expensive intensive therapy. And that’s what I want to talk about…

You have tried everything. Dyslexia Games helped your child make a lot of progress, but they still don’t grasp reading because they seem unable to comprehend phonics, and it isn’t coming naturally.

I’ve discovered a wonderful resource I’d like to share with you. I love it so much I partnered with the author to help her reach more kids!

I’d like to introduce you to an affordable AND enjoyable program called “Learn Reading” it’s a perfect next step after Dyslexia Games for kids with serious reading disorders who need extra help.

Learn More: https://thinkingtree–learnreading.thrivecart.com/learn-reading-membership-trial/

Dyslexia Games: The “Brass Tacks”

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 3 Comments

Three Series of Dyslexia Games

Anna was young when I created Dyslexia Games. Older kids with Dyslexia felt the games I’d created were too easy. I set to work at creating more advanced games. These were helpful both for Anna as she grew and for older children.

Series A is best for children ages 5-8. It can also be used by older children who are profoundly Dyslexic. This series is primarily art-based and introduces a bit of writing and spelling. 

Series B for children aged 8-12. The art-based games become more advanced and more reading skills are required. We also include spelling and copywork in this series.

Series C is for ages 10+. We continue with intricate art-based games, add in some math, and work on cursive writing skills. 

Not Only for Dyslexic Kids

Families began introducing their early readers to series A- regardless of if they showed signs of Dyslexia. Parents realized they made learning to read fun and engaging and that children thrived. Older kids saw Dyslexic siblings working on series B and C and wanted to try them out. It became apparent these games were not only helpful for Dyslexic kids. 

We’ve heard from thousands of families who share remarkable stories about the benefits of Dyslexia Games in their homes. Parents have used Dyslexia Games with:

  • ADHD/ADD kids to help them focus and relax
  • Asperger’s 
  • Autism 
  • Dysgraphia 
  • Dyspraxia 
  • Non-Verbal learning disabilities
  • Visual Processing Disorders
  • As “brain breaks” before working on a more focused/difficult task
  • To de-stress and relax a kid when they were frustrated
  • For relief from Brian Fog
  • To help develop executive functioning skills 
  • Memory support 
  • And more!! 


This was certainly not something I ever expected. At this point, we think we’ve had about as many non-Dyslexic kids use Dyslexia Games as those with Dyslexia. Especially series A for new readers. I began to incorporate pages from these games into some of our Fun-Schooling journals and students have loved having them there.

Click here to continue reading.

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All About Dyslexia Games!

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 6 Comments

“She’s almost 9, why can’t she read yet?” After yet another day of watching my daughter Anna struggle to read, I expressed my frustration to my husband. We would eventually come to discover she was Dyslexic. I watched the light go out of her eyes and her love of learning begin to die out. This was something I knew I couldn’t let happen. The journey to help my daughter with Dyslexia would end up helping thousands of adults and children. 

Dyslexia Statistics

Dyslexia is not a struggle unique to Anna. An estimated 20% of children are Dyslexic. The numbers seem to be growing. It’s hard to know if this is because of more awareness or another reason. Regardless, you know and interact with many people who have Dyslexia. Some children will “outgrow” Dyslexia while others will be lifelong Dyslexics.

Dyslexia Games Creation

My quest to help my daughter kept ending at dead ends. None of the products for Dyslexia worked for her or fit our family. I began to think about how Anna noticed b/d/p/q looked exactly the same. As I thought through ways to help her, I turned to her passion- art.

I was homeschooled myself and struggled in school. It’s likely I would have received an Asperger’s diagnosis myself. Awareness of Asperger’s was much lower when I was growing up than it is now so I was overlooked. One of the gifts of Asperger’s is the ability to think outside the box and be creative. Nobody knows their child better than their mother. I knew the answer to helping my daughter learn to read was one I could find.

One afternoon I sat down and started to draw. As I drew, I incorporated letters and words into my artwork. I wanted to see how Anna would respond to words and letters if they were presented as art instead of as a bunch of words on a page. I created puzzles for her to complete and pictures to copy. After I had a few done, I handed them over to her.

Anna loved them and eagerly completed them. But would they help her Dyslexia? After completing several more, she began to read! I made an entire set with different games and activities. Her reading ability increased and she was soon an avid reader who loved to read. Plus she no longer had any symptoms of Dyslexia.

We began selling the PDF version to print at home on our website DyslexiaGames.com and had physical copies printed and shipped by a local print shop at first. When we published Dyslexia Games Series C we switched from the local Print Shop to CreateSpace to drop-ship our books for us.  We also listed the books on Amazon as well. Thus, Dyslexia Games was born. 

Today Dyslexia Games have been used by thousands of children worldwide. We have families on every continent (except Antarctica!) and in dozens of countries. Dyslexia tutors, therapy centers, and schools are using the games with results unlike anything else out there. 

With this post, the journey began…

Happy Homeschooling

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / Leave a comment

(This series of blog posts is excerpted from Sarah’s book, Windows to Our World: Sarah’s Journal – Growing Up, Crossing Oceans, Finding Love & Giving Life to 10 Children)

My family and grandma Marian, I’m the littlest.

I really enjoyed fifth and sixth grades at my new school in Ohio. The old historic school buildings were in the center of beautiful Victorian neighborhoods. The classrooms were bright with high ceilings, wood trim and big windows. I could see the snow fall and the leaves change from my window. My little sister and I loved the walks to and from school, and often we would save our milk money for ice cream on the way home. I even had teachers who saw my artistic talent and encouraged me to add art to all my book reports and let me help decorate the classrooms.

School was no longer something I dreaded. One of my teachers started each day with a brain game or logic puzzle on the chalk board, and I was always so proud to be the first student to solve the puzzle, even though I had to wear my glasses to see the board. I had a friend or two and got into a fight or two—once a bully was making fun of my little sister and me, so I showed her my fist. She ran home crying with a bloody nose and decided to be my friend after that. For my seventh grade year, my sisters and I were moved to a new school district—one of the “better” schools by reputation. I had always gone to small town schools before, but this middle school was one of the big city schools, and it was frightening. The fact that it had no windows didn’t even compare to the behavior of rowdy boys and bullies. I was grabbed and teased. I walked into the “tattoo parlor” in the girl’s bathroom, supplied with razors and permanent marker.

While waiting in the lunch line, I was offered a “good” deal on any kind of drug I’d like to try. Four girls in my middle school were pregnant. And I’d often get lost in the maze of halls and stairways between classes. My report cards also suffered. There were no art classes or logic games on the blackboard, and I felt myself failing socially and academically. This may have been a normal educational experience for most American teens back in the early 90s, but it was a shocking change to me. That same year, my mom began homeschooling Heather for health reasons. That left me waiting at the bus stop alone each morning while Heather sat at the dining room table with a pile of workbooks, a big globe, and a pack of colored pencils. And popsicles. My mom rarely forgot to hand out the popsicles. Sometimes she even sat outside under the dogwood tree to do her schoolwork or played during school hours! Homeschooling was rare back then. I hadn’t heard of it before. I was jealous.

Mom started getting homeschooling magazines in the mail, and I looked through big piles of them with her, their covers adorned with families, most with a dozen or so children all in matching hand-sewn clothing. I didn’t know what that was all about—I didn’t want to wear homemade dresses to match my mom and sisters—but the situation was becoming harder to handle at school, and I wanted to come home and stay home. One day I came home after a very bad day at school and basically demanded to be homeschooled. I finally revealed to my parents exactly what was happening at school each day, and understandably, they were shocked. They quickly agreed that homeschooling would probably be a better option and arranged to take me out of school. So after Christmas break, I didn’t go back. (click here to continue reading)

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Sarah’s Mom Tips: Literacy Questions

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 2 Comments

Question: “How do you handle a very active 7-year-old who can’t sit still and always complains about writing. Could it be that he’s just not ready? How can I encourage my 10-year-old to do independent work, even though he can’t read? Is that even possible?”

A lot of times the younger children who can’t sit still and write should just play. Just let them play. They’re never going to get those carefree days of childhood back. If you have a child who is obviously not ready for writing, just give them time. In a year or two they’ll be ready. I’d definitely say for the active 7-year-old you are going to want to just give them tools to learn about their interests. Give them Fun-Schooling Level A books that don’t have a lot of writing in them, but they have a lot of activities that can be done by kids who are not strong readers yet. Same thing for the 10-year-old who isn’t reading much yet. It’s okay for these kids to use the Level A books because they are for kids who are still struggling with reading. There is a really wide age range that can use those. Don’t be too stressed. If you are worried about their ability, definitely do Dyslexia Games because it really helps them to develop the skills they need for literacy without the stress and too much effort on your part.

Question: How did you teach your kids with Dyslexia how to read?

I did not teach them to read. I tried and tried and just could not teach them to read. I tried all the books, all the methods, all the videos and all the tutoring. It had to get to the point where they wanted to read, and they taught themselves.

What we did was create the Dyslexia Games, and they are awesome for prepping their brains for reading. By the time my kids got through Dyslexia Games Series A and Series B, they were reading. The same thing has happened for thousands of other kids as well. They understand phonics, they have gotten down a lot of sight words and they move on to the Fun-Schooling spelling journals.

For my kids who don’t have Dyslexia, I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and Reading Eggs and Time4Learning, and after four or five months with those things, they’d started reading. With the Dyslexic kids, you can try all those methods for four years, and as long as you’re pushing phonics, these kids are going to struggle. You have to deal with what’s going on in the brain, and that’s why Dyslexia Games works well.

5 Tips-How to Help a Dyslexic Child Improve Reading Skills at Home

/ Sarah Janisse Brown / 1 Comment
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1. If you have a child that has been struggling with reading, writing and spelling it’s important to take a break from any schoolwork that is causing stress for 3 to 6 weeks to focus on therapy.

2. During this break from conventional schooling provide your child with creative learning tools like art supplies, cooking opportunities, audio books and games they enjoy. Don’t push them to do school at home.

3. Once the child is relaxed and enjoying games and creative activities introduce a gentle Dyslexia Therapy. The therapy is most effective when the child is not stressed out by his or her learning challenges. Turn on some classical music and provide the child with a peaceful place to focus.

4. Print out dyslexia therapy pages and provide the child with gel pens. Dyslexia Games is a therapy can be used at home, without professional help. The child will use 3 or 4 worksheets per day, no help is needed because the games focus on the child’s abilities, curiosity, creativity and logic. Find it at DyslexiaGames.com

5. Parents can relax while kids spend about 45 minutes playing games to overcome reading confusion. Dyslexia Games are easy for kids to use without help from a teacher, tutor or parent. Kids will be able to get ahead and improve reading skills without the stress!