HELPING THE DYSLEXIC CHILD AT HOME

The most important thing is to remember that the child will have had a hard day at school! S/he has had to put in twice the effort of the other pupils. The most important thing at home is to be able to consolidate the learning process but if this can be in a ‘fun’ and relaxed way it will be beneficial all round.

You can boost your child’s self-esteem straight away by discussing all the famous people who were or are dyslexic such as: Leonardo da Vinci, Richard Branson, Orlando Bloom, Einstein, Jamie Oliver and Keira Knightley to name just a few.

The activities suggested here are to help give you ideas, which you can then adapt to your child’s needs. It is important at the end of the day that you have both enjoyed the process and the child has a feeling of self-worth and self-esteem, which may not have been evident in the school day.

These suggestions cover a range of ages and stages. They do not have to be worked through in any particular order but are best ‘dipped into’ in order to help with issues you know are causing difficulty at the time or to consolidate or revise areas of work where you know problems keep recurring.

• Have an alphabet strip available or in a prominent place – even for the older dyslexic who can then use it for dictionary practise, word searching, crosswords – against the clock as proficiency develops.

• Listening and spelling activities can be undertaken with games such as “I-Spy” but the words must begin with the identified sound for the day: E.g. ‘st’ ‘ch’ ‘fl’ etc.

• Read poems. Identify rhymes and rhyme schemes. This establishes spelling patterns and helps with phonic awareness. This is certainly suitable for any age.

• Paired reading is a positive experience for the child and the parent. This can be approached in several ways. You can choose to read aloud together. You can read a paragraph or two in turn. You can decide in advance whether you will say the words which are stumbled over, or whether the child wants to attack them him/herself. Sometimes you can simply ask the child to tap your hand if s/he wants help. For some they prefer this as the reading does not stumble along and the comprehension of the reading material as a whole is better.

• Ask questions about what you have read to develop a better understanding.

• Read books with audio tapes. This keeps the pace of the story going and teaches the child to read at a realistic speed. Many are available on CD-ROM so that you can track the word as it is read as well as hear them.

• Consider downloading a computer program which will text read and write for your child.

• Encourage the child to learn touch-typing as part of your home working package of tasks.

• Give copying exercises. For young children this might be individual words, leading on to short sentences.

• Give tasks for following instructions. Initially these can be given orally. Later encourage the child to write down the instructions in the right sequence. Leading on from that get the child to give you instructions – follow them to the letter, so that if they have given them incorrectly they can see the problem in needing to be absolutely accurate!

• Following instructions can simply be drawing a circle with a square inside it. Or draw a line 10 centimetres long with another line above it 8 centimetres long and one underneath 12 centimetres long. Plenty of scope for activity here.

• Be aware of homework projects sent by school. Help organise the project, read through questions or source material with the child if necessary. Encourage the child to suggest the development of the work – you could put this on a tape recorder for future reference, it does not have to be written down, particularly if your child is an auditory learner.

• The school will often allow the parent to be an amanuensis for the child – reading questions and writing the dictated answer for the child. Freed of the constraints that spelling and reading put upon a dyslexic learner this is an opportunity to give developed answers or allow the imagination to roam.

• Experiment with coloured overlays. Some dyslexics perform much better reading with a coloured overlay (pinks and greens are most effective). For children who complain of the writing ‘moving about’ it stops this happening and also sharpens the ‘fuzzy’ images of which they complain.

• Word games are fun and a wonderful learning experience for improving spelling, reading and developing vocabulary. Most children enjoy “Scrabble” but there are plenty you may purchase or download.

• Computer spelling games can be fun too. Ones such as “Wordshark” and “Spellmate” have the added advantage that you can customise them with Welsh words. Most have a structured learning section supported by games.

• For words which don’t work well phonetically – the ‘sight’ words - place these around the rooms in your house and get the child to find them and read them to you. Or randomly select a few each day for the child to identify. A reward can be offered to make this more appealing!

• Another way to develop spelling and vocabulary is to make wordsearches or crosswords. These can support the school’s spelling programme or be designed around your own chosen programme of work. There are many programs available online for the production of wordsearches and crossword grids.

• For more difficult spellings use mnemonics such as:

  

Big Elephants Can Always Upset Small Elephants - because

Can Oliver Understand Long Division               - could

Older children can be encouraged to create their own, which they’ll enjoy and they will remember their own choices even better.

• To improve memory skills devise memory games. These may initially be how many words can s/he remember from the previous day, or what items did you have hidden in the bag the previous day.

• Association word games are good for developing lateral thinking. For example, tree – wood – axe – forest – wolf. Initially the child may stay too close to the original word: tree – bush – grass etc. Encourage wider ideas. You start the group the child says the next word, then you and so on. Depending on the age and maturity of the child the group may consist of 5 – 20 words.

• Learn new spellings using a multi-sensory approach: write words on a white board, in sand, in shaving foam or bath foam. The kinaesthetic approach is important, although all new learning should be consolidated with a multi-sensory approach. Find out what learning style your child has and then base your help methods on that style. Details can be found online or through Wales Dyslexia.

• Problems with telling the time can be helped by initially using a digital clock set to the 24 hour clock.

• For improvement in mathematics and removing the hardship of learning tables, often nearly impossible for the dyslexic, make sure your child can use a number square.

• Practise sequencing through activities such as:
  • writing or telling you the instructions for making something
  • letter, word or sentence sequencing
  • sequencing a story from cut out pictures presented in the wrong order but must be organised to make sense
  • play ‘the car number plate game’ when you’re out. Point out a car, say the letters and numbers and then ask the child to repeat them accurately
  • the phone number game: make up a number and ask the child to repeat it. Encourage the child to remember the number in short sequences built up to the longer sequences. For example, 01742918672 is much more easily remembered as: 017 429 186 72.

• Co-ordination can be improved by practising tying shoe laces or with games of ‘Turn left, turn right’. Also all kinds of ball games and balancing tricks.

• Keep a diary. This is good for all aspects of learning: From reading and writing to sequencing and organisation. Also for remembering days of the week, months of the year etc. You can have pictures imported initially, which are relevant to the day’s activities, with just a sentence or two added to develop the interest.

• For older dyslexics coping with essay writing help them to use spidergrams or webs for their ideas. Invest in a computer package, which gives examples of different ways of collecting information for topic writing and presentation.

• Studying for examinations: Write down the key points for revision and get the child to verbally develop the answers. (These can be recorded for reference later. Particularly useful if the child’s learning style is auditory). Learning to recognise the key points makes for much more effective learning.

• Always check homework diaries and help your child get organised both for the homework session: right books, quiet environment etc. and check the organisation for the next day’s work - that all materials, homework etc. have been returned to the bag which is going to school the next day!

Enjoy your experiences with your child and never let any session become stressful for either of you – this would be totally counter-productive.