The most important advise I can give to parents and teachers of dyslexic children is to be patient and encouraging and to be OK with going slow. Go at your child’s pace and don’t move on to new concepts until they feel comfortable where they are at. For some dyslexic children, especially profoundly dyslexic children, this will mean being years behind their peers. Don’t compare them with other kids. Do what you can to help them not compare themselves (though they will). LOVE them!! Comfort them!! Feed their interests outside basic reading, writing, and arithmetic; and don’t wait for those basic skills to develop to teach them science, history, art, technology, and any other interesting subject areas. Use documentaries, read to them, do projects together, get out the house and learn on the go, learn through experiences, learn skills through doing. Make everything outside of reading, writing, and math as fun as you can, because those basic skills will be drudgery for them. Show them the world is full of learning and that it is fun and interesting otherwise they will lose interest in learning long before they establish their basic academic skills.
It’s not easy but it’s essential with dyslexic children to take the long view. As hard as it is for you it’s ten times harder for your kids if you are frustrated with their pace. They are going to have to work ten times harder than their non-dyslexic peers to learn the basic academic skills. They are going to get discouraged and struggle to find the motivation to keep going, they are going to struggle with their self esteem; this is the hardships they face.
Their attitude about this struggle is going to make the biggest difference in their road to mastery over their dyslexia. If they can meet their challenges with cheerful determination they will have the power to unlock their strengths and come to peace with their differences. You can show them how to be cheerful and patient in the slow going, how to hold on and be calm, how to be at peace with the process. You show them how by doing it yourself. Telling them to be patient, to believe in themselves, and to be calm will mean very little if you aren't patient, if you don't believe, and if you don't remain calm. If you face the challenges of dyslexia with the belief that they will learn, they will progress, and that it’s perfectly OK to go about it slowly; you can be patient and cheerful in your teaching. You can be OK repeating things over and over as if that’s perfectly normal; after all, it is “normal” in your home.
The greatest enemy to this process is fear. Fear that you will fail, fear that they won’t learn. Kids can feel your fear and they will soak it into their bones… it is utterly toxic! Its fear that makes us impatient and frustrated with the process. I know how hard this is. I have fought the fear dragon for many years. I know that with each dyslexic child you are raising you are dealing not only with dyslexia but personality, aptitude, personal interest, character development and because of all these factors some children are going to struggle more than others. Some children will be more contrary and irascible, more despairing, less pliable, or less teachable. Hang in there! For love of them, and in the faith that people grow up and mature, continue setting your quiet yet powerful example, and be there to pick up the work again and again. Listen to me, a mom of grown-up dyslexics — a wife to a dyslexic — they will learn it, they will progress, they will not fail and you will not fail them so long as you don’t give up and you stay calm and carry on.
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| Find ways for your child to learn skills outside the classroom, ways for your child to learn from doing, experiencing learning through experience and exploration is critical for dyslexic kids. |
MY DYSLEXIC TOOLBOX & CURRICULUM RECOMENDATIONS:
EARLY INSTRUCTION FOR DYSLEXIC CHILDREN:
The experts in dyslexic research largely agree that early multi-sensory systematic instruction in language arts is ideal for giving a dyslexic learner the best chance at successful elementary education. The difficulty is in screening young children for dyslexia. Do you know that in the UK they use Orton-Gillingham based reading instruction for all students from the start. In Britain they recognize that English is a very difficult language and presents significant challenges for the 20% of the population that is dyslexic. They recognize that it’s difficult to screen for dyslexia in young children because all five and six year old's are still processing language on the right side of the brain. Only after 7 or 8 does the dyslexia come into full focus, and at this time the dyslexic child falls behind their peers rapidly as their peers accelerate into the automaticity of left-brained language processing. Therefore, schools in Britain use Orton-Gillingham instructional methods for everyone, and why not? It’s excellent reading and language instruction for every English speaker.
Orton-Gillingham is an instructional philosophy that was developed by Samuel Torrey Orton (1879–1948), a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist at Columbia University, studied children with language-processing difficulties such as dyslexia. Together with educator and psychologist Anna Gillingham (1878–1963), he created techniques to teach reading, which integrate kinesthetic (movement-based) and tactile (sensory-based) learning strategies with teaching of visual and auditory concepts.
My advise for parents who know there is a genetic probability their child could be dyslexic — because of known dyslexia in the family — or for parents who suspect dyslexia but aren’t yet sure because their child is young, is to use a quality Orton-Gillingham based curriculum. While this approach is most commonly associated with teaching individuals with dyslexia, it is highly effective for all individuals learning to read, spell, and write. You can rest assured that you have chosen a solid instructional program for your child whether or not they have a dyslexic brain.
A BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD READ!
If you were to read one book about dyslexia the one I would recommend is the one that was a game changer for me and my dyslexic son. This book is solid science and gives a complete understanding of dyslexic thinkers — their strengths and challenges and why — but most importantly it will help you understand your children and help your children understand their strengths and gifts, and view their challenges as worth the advantages that will come as they grown into their brains.
The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain
HERE ARE THE CURRICULUMS THAT HAVE WORKED BEST FOR MY HOMESCHOOL:
ELA:
All About Reading & All About Spelling
Handwriting Without Tears (for elementary ED)
WRITING:
Writing Skills by Diana Hanbury King — 30 year teacher at a private school for dyslexic students wrote this systematic incremental approach to developing competent technical writing skills. A fantastic program that transformed my son’s writing abilities in a couple years. My son is 13 now and writing good essays.
Writing Skills Books Set (5 Books) - Book A (Grades 2-4), Book 1 (Grades 5-6), Book 2, Book 3 and Teacher's Handbook https://a.co/d/9MbIwUI
TYPING
KAZ: For Dyslexia
MATH
The experts in dyslexic research largely agree that early multi-sensory systematic instruction in language arts is ideal for giving a dyslexic learner the best chance at successful elementary education. The difficulty is in screening young children for dyslexia. Do you know that in the UK they use Orton-Gillingham based reading instruction for all students from the start. In Britain they recognize that English is a very difficult language and presents significant challenges for the 20% of the population that is dyslexic. They recognize that it’s difficult to screen for dyslexia in young children because all five and six year old's are still processing language on the right side of the brain. Only after 7 or 8 does the dyslexia come into full focus, and at this time the dyslexic child falls behind their peers rapidly as their peers accelerate into the automaticity of left-brained language processing. Therefore, schools in Britain use Orton-Gillingham instructional methods for everyone, and why not? It’s excellent reading and language instruction for every English speaker.
Orton-Gillingham is an instructional philosophy that was developed by Samuel Torrey Orton (1879–1948), a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist at Columbia University, studied children with language-processing difficulties such as dyslexia. Together with educator and psychologist Anna Gillingham (1878–1963), he created techniques to teach reading, which integrate kinesthetic (movement-based) and tactile (sensory-based) learning strategies with teaching of visual and auditory concepts.
My advise for parents who know there is a genetic probability their child could be dyslexic — because of known dyslexia in the family — or for parents who suspect dyslexia but aren’t yet sure because their child is young, is to use a quality Orton-Gillingham based curriculum. While this approach is most commonly associated with teaching individuals with dyslexia, it is highly effective for all individuals learning to read, spell, and write. You can rest assured that you have chosen a solid instructional program for your child whether or not they have a dyslexic brain.
A BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD READ!
If you were to read one book about dyslexia the one I would recommend is the one that was a game changer for me and my dyslexic son. This book is solid science and gives a complete understanding of dyslexic thinkers — their strengths and challenges and why — but most importantly it will help you understand your children and help your children understand their strengths and gifts, and view their challenges as worth the advantages that will come as they grown into their brains.
The Dyslexic Advantage: Unlocking the Hidden Potential of the Dyslexic Brain
HERE ARE THE CURRICULUMS THAT HAVE WORKED BEST FOR MY HOMESCHOOL:
ELA:
All About Reading & All About Spelling
Handwriting Without Tears (for elementary ED)
The Good & the Beautiful Handwriting (if additional penmanship is needed past elementary)
Explode the code workbooks for extra phonics and handwriting practice.
Explode the code workbooks for extra phonics and handwriting practice.
Here is a reading tool I highly recommend to enhance guided reading. These highlight strips are very effective for dyslexia because the colored overlays improve reading tracking and reduce visual stress: https://a.co/d/gXTrqCZ
WRITING:
Writing Skills by Diana Hanbury King — 30 year teacher at a private school for dyslexic students wrote this systematic incremental approach to developing competent technical writing skills. A fantastic program that transformed my son’s writing abilities in a couple years. My son is 13 now and writing good essays.
Writing Skills Books Set (5 Books) - Book A (Grades 2-4), Book 1 (Grades 5-6), Book 2, Book 3 and Teacher's Handbook https://a.co/d/9MbIwUI
TYPING
KAZ: For Dyslexia
Typing.com
MATH
Early ED:
Discovery Methods, using math manipulatives. MathInspirations.com has fantastic training for parents teaching children through a discovery method.
School house rock multiplication songs helped my son memorize his facts.
Pet Bingo for math fact memorization.
Pet Bingo for math fact memorization.
Elementary, Middle & High School: (3rd grade and up)
Khan Academy Math
CTC Math
Teaching Textbooks
ELECTRONIC SUPPORT
Noteability
Voice-to-text dictation on Microsoft
Speechify to aid your child in reading text books.
Audio Books: LibriVox & Audible
FOR DYSLEXIC STUDENTS WHO ARE IN UPPER ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE BUT HAVE VERY LITTLE LANGUAGE FLUENCY:
I would suggest you use “All About Spelling” as your language curriculum. It teaches the same lessons the student learns in the AAR reading curriculum but without the little kiddie reading games. Pair this program with the writing road to reading, meaning you teach writing and enable your child in their writing development which leads to reading.
I highly recommend Writing Skills by Diana Hanbury King. If handwriting is a challenge, use voice to text (Microsoft has a great dictation assistant, or if you are using an Apple device the Notability app is useful as a digital writing notebook.) Your child will learn to read through development of their ability to edit their own writing.
Keep up on penmanship as an art, I used handwriting without tears books when my son was little, but I’ve had to keep him constantly working on a penmanship program, and now he does TG&TB handwriting books. I expect he will continue to work on penmanship this way through high school since his primary way of completing school work is through keyboarding and voice to text technology.
Finding interesting and engaging reading content for a older student who has significant reading delay is the most difficult part. With these kinds of dyslexic delays it’s the convergence of age appropriate content and reading level that causes the lack of interest. I’ve found some good books at this site:
https://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/dyslexic-reluctant-readers/
They specialize in finding interesting easy to read content for dyslexics which are struggling with their delayed fluency. In the end my son’s reading ability had to catch up with his literary interest before he began reading novels.
To aid the writing road to reading, get your child into a good typing program. I used: KAZ: For Dyslexia
https://kaz-type.com/products/dyslexia-edition
My profoundly dyslexic teen is reading Tolkien now and is a good writer. He has learned to read at at an advanced level through writing. — I must add that through the years I’ve fed his love of literature by having him listen to audio books. This has helped him develop as a writer, his vocabulary and sentence structure is mature because of his exposure to good literature.
ELECTRONIC SUPPORT
Noteability
Voice-to-text dictation on Microsoft
Speechify to aid your child in reading text books.
Audio Books: LibriVox & Audible
FOR DYSLEXIC STUDENTS WHO ARE IN UPPER ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE BUT HAVE VERY LITTLE LANGUAGE FLUENCY:
I would suggest you use “All About Spelling” as your language curriculum. It teaches the same lessons the student learns in the AAR reading curriculum but without the little kiddie reading games. Pair this program with the writing road to reading, meaning you teach writing and enable your child in their writing development which leads to reading.
I highly recommend Writing Skills by Diana Hanbury King. If handwriting is a challenge, use voice to text (Microsoft has a great dictation assistant, or if you are using an Apple device the Notability app is useful as a digital writing notebook.) Your child will learn to read through development of their ability to edit their own writing.
Keep up on penmanship as an art, I used handwriting without tears books when my son was little, but I’ve had to keep him constantly working on a penmanship program, and now he does TG&TB handwriting books. I expect he will continue to work on penmanship this way through high school since his primary way of completing school work is through keyboarding and voice to text technology.
Finding interesting and engaging reading content for a older student who has significant reading delay is the most difficult part. With these kinds of dyslexic delays it’s the convergence of age appropriate content and reading level that causes the lack of interest. I’ve found some good books at this site:
https://www.barringtonstoke.co.uk/dyslexic-reluctant-readers/
They specialize in finding interesting easy to read content for dyslexics which are struggling with their delayed fluency. In the end my son’s reading ability had to catch up with his literary interest before he began reading novels.
To aid the writing road to reading, get your child into a good typing program. I used: KAZ: For Dyslexia
https://kaz-type.com/products/dyslexia-edition
My profoundly dyslexic teen is reading Tolkien now and is a good writer. He has learned to read at at an advanced level through writing. — I must add that through the years I’ve fed his love of literature by having him listen to audio books. This has helped him develop as a writer, his vocabulary and sentence structure is mature because of his exposure to good literature.
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