Publish: 8.1.2020
Author: Pavel Vachalec
Online application Bee is a proven tool for improving the level of reading skills. It helps both the beginners with reading in general and also readers, who are, to some extent, having problems with reading. We know, from our experience, that the Bee application is a perfect assistant particularly for children with dyslexia and other diagnoses of specific learning disabilities. In this matter, the Bee application is an assistant not only for the students themselves, but also for their teachers, cooperating experts, and parents. The great advantage of this application is the possibility of shared supervision for a specific reader, which gives the possibility of connecting the student performance at school, at home, and also in the counseling center if needed.
Currently, more than 600 Czech schools use the Bee application in their regular practice lessons. These schools apply the Bee application for a class group practice of reading while including an interactive whiteboard. They also use it for class lessons on tablets, or as an individual trainer for individual students. Of all involved schools, we may mention as an example ZŠ (primary school) and MŠ (kindergarten) Benešov (Karlov), where they apply the Bee application on the children, who have been diagnosed with some learning disorder (mostly dyslexia and dysgraphia). These children practice with the Bee application during standard lessons as well as during the special pedagogical lessons, under the supervision of special education teacher Martina Králová.
Special teacher Králová states that this subject is attended by a stable number of children, whose age is between a third and fifth grade of primary school. In the framework of individual care, every pupil has its profile and a list of specifically tailored exercises matching their individual needs. Ms. Králová gives a specific example of one of the pupils from the class: “I have a pupil with a developt dysphasia, who does not control the composition of the sentence and the composition of the word. We start, for example, by reading three-syllable words in Bee. We record it, and then we play it. We use practice for the start of a lesson to become talkative – for example by using different pictures. We also practice writing here by using a combination of listening and practical training of writing in the application.”
When asked whether she can see an improvement in children who train with the Bee application, Ms. Králová responds approvingly: “The pupil previously mentioned is motivated by the application quite a lot. He can listen to his reading, and he tries harder thanks to it. It is a completely different experience for him than reading words in “Slabikář” (Slabikář is elementary school book for pupils who learn to read). He can also play games here, which he enjoys. When children play a snake, for example, they often do not even realize that by playing, they also practice something, which gives them trouble.”
The fact, that in the Bee application children see even more difficult exercises as a game proves, that application educates them in a fun way, and by this, helps them to perceive their reading difficulties in a more positive light.