How to homeschool a dyslexic child
Homeschooling a Child with Dyslexia
View Our Lesson Demos
Whether you were already homeschooling when you discovered your child had dyslexia, or began homeschooling because of the diagnosis, Time4Learning understands that information is power. Taking your child’s education into your own hands is responsibility enough without the additional concern of a learning difference.
Although certainly students with dyslexia have unique learning strengths, they also can have challenges in absorbing and retaining what they learn, particularly in subjects like:
- Reading and Phonics
- Spelling
- Writing
- Math
Keep in mind, however, that there is no better ratio for educational success than 1:1. Being able to customize an education to your child’s specific needs is what homeschooling is all about. Positive outcomes begin with having the right blend of teaching style, curriculum, and a keen understanding of how your child/teen learns best. For instance, you have complete control over the materials you teach with and can even choose targeted homeschool curriculum for dyslexia.
If you are exploring the option of homeschooling your child with dyslexia, the following information can help.
- How to Start Homeschooling a Student with Dyslexia
- Teaching Reading to Students with Dyslexia
- How To Help Dyslexic Students with Writing
- Teaching Grammar to Students with Dyslexia
- Teaching Math to Students with Dyslexia
- Best Homeschool Curriculum Options for Students with Dyslexia
- Time4Learning Online Homeschool for Dyslexia
How to Start Homeschooling a Student with Dyslexia
Ready to begin homeschooling a child or teen with a diagnosis of dyslexia? The first steps to take are:
- If possible, have a complete evaluation done by a reading specialist to get a clear picture of your student’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Research the resources available to you (some states give homeschoolers with learning disabilities access to special services).
- Comply with the specific homeschool laws in your state.
- Choose a blend of homeschool curriculum that will best meet your child’s learning needs.
- Start your homeschool adventure!
Strategies for Teaching Reading to Students with Dyslexia
Traditional methods for teaching a child to read dont always apply when homeschooling a dyslexic child. Instead, you want to capitalize on the specific strengths of your student and choose the type of curriculum that will work best for his/her learning disability. Start helping your child with dyslexia improve reading.
How to Help Dyslexic Students with Writing
When it comes to teaching writing to students with dyslexia, learning tools and assistive technology can make all the difference. Knowing what resources are available to you will help you customize a homeschool plan to your specific child. Start helping your child with dyslexia improve writing.
Teaching Grammar to Students with Dyslexia
Wondering how to teach a dyslexic child the finer points of capitalization, parts of speech, and other grammar and mechanics? It all comes down to using the techniques that best fit your students learning style.
Start helping your child with dyslexia improve grammar.
Teaching Math to Students with Dyslexia
Dyslexia doesnt affect only a students reading and writing; it can even make learning math challenging. But as with most subjects affected by dyslexia, curriculum choice can make a significant difference in math success. Learn how to teach math to your student with dyslexia.
Best Homeschool Curriculum Options for Students with Dyslexia
Because there is no single way that dyslexia affects learning, there is also no single best curriculum for dyslexia. However, by tuning in to your child or teen’s specific strengths and weaknesses, and personal preferences, you can customize the best homeschool curriculum options for your unique student.
Online courses, interactive videos, personal computers, laptops, and tablet devices provide exciting and engaging materials that children with dyslexia often thrive with. But all these new methods often confuse parents, especially those who are new homeschoolers.
Eventually, parents come to realize that mixing different tools and activities usually keeps their children stimulated and eager to learn. For more information, review How to Build the Best Homeschool Curriculum for PreK-12.
Time4Learning Online Homeschool for Dyslexia
Time4Learning has quickly become a popular homeschool curriculum for dyslexic students. Even though dyslexia is the most commonly diagnosed learning disability, it doesn’t mean that your child can or should be pigeonholed. Every child has individual educational needs, and Time4Learning’s customizable format has become a favorite for families homeschooling a child with dyslexia.
Parents and students appreciate that the Time4Learning curriculum:
- Proceeds at the student’s own pace
- Builds on existing reading, writing and math skills
- Allows placing the child at different levels for math and language arts, as needed
- Encourages kids to become active learners through exploration and discovery
- Introduces new learning opportunities in a safe, supportive environment
- Balances learning with fun!
View our lesson demos and discover why so many families are already using it!
Why Homeschool a Student with Dyslexia?
Share fhis:
`
For a downloadable PDF, click here.
Homeschooling has emerged as a viable choice for many families. Homeschooling may also be an option for a child with dyslexia. A student with dyslexia requires direct, systematic, and individual instruction in reading and spelling, and traditional schools do not always provide adequate levels of service. Moreover, services may be offered at the expense of subjects in which a child with learning disabilities may excel such as art, sports, or music.
As schools are increasingly required to follow mandates, less time is devoted to individual needs. For many parents, an independent specialized boarding or day school is not an option. Some people live in rural areas away from learning centers; long drives interfere with other family activities. In addition, many children need daily remedial lessons that learning centers and private tutors cannot provide. Homeschooling can provide solid remediation without the burden of travel and can allow parents to see directly the progress of their child.
Another option is home tutoring; the student attends his or her regular school but receives tutoring at home.
What are some of the challenges of homeschooling a child with dyslexia?
One challenge a parent may face is the relationship between the teacher-parent and the student-child. The student is required to reveal the disability at home, and the parent is required to maintain a supportive, yet disciplined approach.
Knowing what to teach, the sequence of instruction, and the use of valid instructional methods may require much research and specialized training. Even many reading courses at the college level tend to be too general and imprecise to offer adequate guidance to teach students with dyslexia. The parent needs to become highly trained in the areas of language and reading or find expert resources that can provide a framework for a systematic approach appropriate for the needs of the child.
Providing social activities for the student and parent may also create challenges.
However, none of these challenges is without solution.
What are some of the benefits of homeschooling?
The most obvious benefit is that homeschooling allows for the necessary individualization in all subject areas, including reading, spelling, composition, and comprehension. It allows a student to focus on areas of interest and allows parents to develop lessons based on those interests.
The homeschooled child is free from measuring progress and skills against peers without learning differences. A child can work at an individualized pace in a program that directly addresses unique needs. Homeschooling may provide an alternative to the premium on speed, conformity, and rigid scheduling and standardized testing that is required in many traditional educational settings.
Homeschooling for children with and without dyslexia allows for enriching experiences on a daily basis: cooking, music, field trips, and hands-on learning. In many locations, homeschooling parents have formed support groups so the homeschooling experience becomes socially rewarding for students and parents.
A skilled carpenter may, for example, offer carpentry lessons to children in exchange for Spanish lessons by a native speaker.
Many homeschoolers argue that traditional schooling in a room of twenty to thirty students and one or two adults can be more socially isolating for a child than a home education program that makes good use of local resources.
How do I get started?
First, do the necessary research to learn how your state and district deal with homeschooling. Make solid connections with other homeschoolers before withdrawing the child from regular school.
When planning instruction, start the same way any good teacher, tutor, or therapist would begin: with a thorough understanding of your child’s reading, spelling, writing, and comprehension abilities.
You may wish to consult an educational psychologist to get a complete evaluation that can diagnose dyslexia. It is important to ask the evaluator to provide very specific recommendations. The report should include descriptions of the child’s reading and spelling abilities and offer specific instructional recommendations.
Be aware that there is no magic bullet for dyslexia and that remediation is best achieved through direct, structured language instruction. Modern technology has enhanced the ability to find a variety of resources. State curricula are readily available and may provide accessible and useful information.
What are some examples of the kind of instruction I should provide?
Language remediation often requires daily spelling and oral reading practice. Spelling, even in the age of word processing, remains important because it provides important reinforcement of reading. During a single lesson, spelling should move systematically from phoneme (sound) to grapheme (letter or letters spelling a single phoneme) to syllable to word to phrase and sentence dictation. The lesson should include new words displaying a similar spelling pattern, as well as review words and recently taught unpredictable high frequency words. Techniques such as writing on a rough surface or in the air, clapping syllables, and concentration on mouth positions unique to specific speech sounds all provide a multisensory basis for learning.
The tablet computer, in particular, allows for a multisensory approach.
A student should read aloud on a daily basis from a book he or she can read with at least 95% accuracy (independent reading level). Before the student reads aloud, he or she should review the passage and ask for help with words that may cause difficulty. A parent should select challenging words from the passage and teach their pronunciation and meaning before the student reads aloud. A warm-up reading of words and phrases on flashcards or even a screen is often useful. Record reading errors to serve as a basis for planning future instruction.
There will be days…
There will be days when nothing seems to work right. The lesson goes slowly; the student is restless and perhaps bored. Education was not intended to take place in a single day. Give yourself and the student a break, and with the student, set meaningful goals for the next lesson. While no single form of education can meet the needs of every child, homeschooling is a viable and rewarding option for parents committed to securing an excellent education for their children.
The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) thanks Michael Minsky for his assistance in the preparation of this fact sheet.
© Copyright The International Dyslexia Association (IDA). For copyright information, please click here.
How to help a child with dyslexia at home
A child with dyslexia needs help not only at school, but also at home. If professionals do it at school, then the rest of the time the responsibility lies with the parents. We talk about simple ways to help that parents can adopt.
5 minutes 6699 Ivanov Roman0019
First of all, parents should remember that they are capable of many things.
They are also professionals in their field - they know the characteristics of the child more than anyone else, and they can provide support and speak about love better than others. Half of the success with dyslexia is an adequate self-esteem of the child, faith in one's own strengths. To cope with the other half, that is, the necessary skills, parents need to learn more about how to better organize the learning process. It is better to check this knowledge with a psychologist who constantly deals with the child.
How to help your child improve skills
Read
Make reading one of your favorite activities. Read for yourself so that the child takes an example from you. Read together to not only hone the skill, but also to get pleasant impressions. Start by reading aloud - first you, then the child, then you again. If it doesn’t work, connect audiobooks - let the child read along with the announcer. Do not be afraid to start with comics if your child likes them - there is less text and more favorite characters, which means more motivation.
NB : If your child often gets confused while reading, offer them a ruler. The child should put it under each line - this will help to concentrate.
Include play in learning
With play, lessons become easier, more emotions appear. Games are good to use for memory training: you can compose poems and songs to remember the daily routine or places for things and toys. Word games, for example, "Cities", "Contact", also train memory and develop speech.
Use multi-sensory experiences
Research shows that children with dyslexia need to use as many senses as possible to learn. For example, you can cut letters out of sandpaper. The child will not only see them, but run his finger over each letter and remember them better. You can also teach writing - write words not on paper, but with your finger in the sand, shaving cream, or even in the air.
Help organize the day
Discuss the daily routine with your child, compose it and hang it in a prominent place.
It is better to color the hours of lessons and sessions with a psychologist so that they can be seen at a glance. Also help get ready for school - pack your backpack and other school things in the evening and put them to the door.
NB : Another way to teach discipline is to agree on which shelf you will put your things for class, and always put them there immediately after class.
How to help your child with self-esteem
Support your child
Celebrate successes, even if they are small. Each page read is a reason for praise, and each book is for great joy. First of all, praise for achievements in your favorite things, sports, creativity. The child should be aware of his strengths - help him in this.
Learn how to deal with stress
Practice on yourself first. Notice what happens to you when you are tired - become short-tempered, absent-minded or anxious. Tell your child about this and ask him to observe himself. As your child becomes aware of his own states of stress, teach him relaxation techniques such as deep breathing.
Talk about what dyslexia is and how to live with it
The child has the right to know what is happening to him. Tell him about dyslexia in simple terms, explain that it is not his fault, that you will deal with it together.
Read biographies of famous people with dyslexia: Einstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Jackie Chan, Orlando Bloom, Salma Hayek. Explain that this did not prevent them from revealing their strengths, focusing on their talent.
Do's and Don'ts when communicating with a child with dyslexia
Compare with other children, even children with dyslexia
On the contrary, emphasize that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, their own pace of work, temperament and other characteristics. If the child doubts himself, make lists of strengths. For example, draw him in full growth and together with your child think about what is special and good about each part of his body.
Get angry if the child loses things, is late and cannot remember something
More precisely, you have every right to be angry.
But try not to show it to your child. Gradually, you will get used to and will relate to being late more easily. But the child can remember your negative attitude even the first time.
Trying harder than necessary
Sometimes, and maybe often, the studies will not lead to success. It's not about motivation, it's about lack of skills. Children with dyslexia want to learn to read and write. But they need a lot more time, conditions and love.
Diagnosis and correction of dyslexia at the Neuroflex center
methods of teaching children with dyslexia at school and at home
- Text Link
What is dyslexia
Dyslexia is a congenital disorder in which it is difficult for a person to read. He rearranges words, confuses endings, does not match letters with sounds.
Dyslexics process information while reading in other areas of the brain, use alternative mechanisms and develop non-standard thinking. Recent research shows that they do not read visual-spatial information locally, piece by piece, but all at once - holistically.
This allows people with dyslexia to understand the most complex mathematical principles, but at the same time they can make mistakes in elementary operations - addition and subtraction. That is why the methods of teaching children with dyslexia have their own nuances.
There are many creative people and scientists among dyslexics. Albert Einstein, Hans Christian Andersen, Marilyn Monroe, Vladimir Mayakovsky had difficulty reading. But not everyone succeeds in turning a disorder into a feature, because the school system is built on textbooks and text tasks. In such conditions, it is difficult for children to reveal their potential, they lag behind the program and learn the material worse.
How to understand that a child has dyslexia
You need to contact a specialist, first of all, a pediatrician. Here are a few symptoms worth getting tested for:
- The child cannot match letters to sounds.
- He reads with additions, deletions, substitutions and repetitions.
It seems that he does not pay attention to the sequence of letters and words. - The child can perform arithmetic operations, but not word problems. It can also confuse arithmetic signs.
- Reading speed is much lower than that of peers or mechanical reading, the child does not understand the meaning of what he read.
- He incorrectly uses cases, agrees on the gender, number of words.
- Cannot distinguish letters that are similar in spelling, or reads mirror images.
- He has difficulty learning basic writing skills.
- He categorically refuses to read books.
<
<
How to teach a child with dyslexia
A child with dyslexia is not stupid or naughty, he has the same intellectual abilities as other children. He just has a hard time reading. This must be taken into account when teaching a child at school, otherwise poor grades and ridicule from classmates can provoke depression and aggression.
Dyslexic needs parental attention and a special approach to learning at school.
Parents should work with psychologists, speech therapists and educators to find an individual program for their child. Dyslexic needs more time to complete tasks. In a traditional school, they cannot always provide such an approach. The transition to family education helps to individualize learning and develop those areas that are best given to dyslexics.
<
