The Voice of Experience → Teacher to Teacher || The Da Vinci Road

When I was little and struggled with dyslexia, Mom taught me to read using several creative, hands-on projects. Many of them have already been mentioned by others in this book. One of my favorites was Peanut Butter Play Dough. We would make the play dough together, and then sit down at the table with peanuts and raisins (sometimes M&M's) and cookie cutters. We made the alphabet by rolling out “dough noodles” to construct each letter with, and then decorated them with nuts and raisins. And last of all, we ate the play dough!

Peanut Butter Play Dough Recipe

1/3 part peanut butter

1/3 part powdered milk

1/3 part honey

Mix and knead until elastic and smooth. Keep in sealed container for up to a week.

Clear plastic tablecovers allowed us to study many subjects as a family. Pictures and posters of all types were laid out on the table under the clear tablecover for study. The tablecover preserved the posters from spills and heat. Sometimes it was body parts and organs on the colorful posters under the tablecover. Sometimes we studied maps or star charts.