Thursday, May 13, 2010

Dyslexic Specialist Corinna Shepherd Launches Her First Children's Book

My Dog Nick is the first of a new series of creative and interactive learning books aimed at inspiring young children with dyslexia to read and write.

Dyslexia, the hidden disability, affects at least 10% of the population, 4% severely. This equates to 6 million people in the UK, at least 1.2 million of them school children.

The author and creator of the Dancing Kites Creative Learning brand, Corinna Shepherd, has been assessing and working with dyslexic children and adults for several years. She was prompted to create Dancing Kites and to write My Dog Nick because, whilst many books currently exist that relate to the problem of dyslexia, it was evident that very few had been written to address the actual problem of helping children engage with and decode the written word, particularly as it affects young children.

Corinna’s response was to set up her own company, Dancing Kites Creative Learning, in order to create unique interactive learning programmes to identify and correct problems with dyslexia and other learning difficulties, in children particularly. My Dog Nick is the first in Step 1 of a series of books to be published.

Importantly, the Dancing Kites Creative Learning books are the only books available based on spelling ages, rather than reading ages, and designed to appeal to a broad age range. By concentrating on the child’s spelling age, problems related to dyslexia and other learning difficulties may be detected and corrected earlier and more effectively.

Corinna says “The books are designed to support and supplement school work. You do not need extra resources to help with the activities – a pen or pencil and a sense of humour are all that is required to help the child complete the activities! They have been developed to be used by specialists, classroom teachers, learning support staff, as well as by parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and carers at home – in fact anyone who wants to help children engage with the written word.”

Dancing Kites Creative Learning Books are structured in three Steps or levels that correlate to the nationally recognised and used Alpha to Omega scheme with its stages 1 to 3 in terms of language progression and spelling age bands. They are designed to appeal to the 5-15 age range.

The books can be purchased for £7.99 from the Dancing Kites website http://www.dancingkites.co.uk/ or from Amazon and all good booksellers ISBN 978-1-907706-00-4.

About Corinna Shepherd
Corinna Shepherd has worked with children and adults, who struggle with dyslexia, for several years. She has set up three Indirect Dyslexia Learning (IDL) Centres in Buckinghamshire, where she offers assessments and remedial help with reading and spelling. Corinna set up Dancing Kites Creative Learning in 2008 to make the written word accessible and fun to children with specific learning difficulties. She is passionate about helping unlock potential in people through learning and creativity.

About Dancing Kites
Dancing Kites Creative Learning books are designed to make the world of words and imagination accessible to these children by using words, illustrations and activities together in a unique and fun way to encourage and inspire children to read and write.

The content is a combination of illustrated poetry, puzzles and activities. The rhymes and rhythms of the poems help children remember what they have read and the illustrations, together with the supporting interactive activities, engage their attention and reinforce learning. Moreover, the illustrations are specifically designed to give clear visual clues to the reader about the related words. The books are designed and written so that the words and illustrations work closely together to create a memorable association and to be fun.

For more information about My Dog Nick and the other books in the series, please visit the Dancing Kites website http://www.dancingkites.co.uk/ or on LinkedIn http://uk.linkedin.com/in/corinnashepherd or contact the author, Corinna Shepherd direct at corinna@dancingkites.co.uk

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