Teaching a Child With Dyslexia

Do you need some tips for homeschooling children with dyslexia? Is your child struggling with reading? I know what it is like.

The Symptoms Are:

• Letter or word reversals
• Difficulty repeating what is said to them
• Difficulty comprehending directions
• Difficulty with right and left
• Difficulty understanding or remember what is said to them

Children can also have visual perceptual or auditory perceptual deficits. Yet they will do fine on a vision and hearing tests.

Homeschooling a Child With Dyslexia

You have probably heard that the best way to teach children with learning disabilities is to use a multisensory approach.

A mutlisensory approach uses as many of the five senses as possible. Look at the letter, say the sound and draw the letter at the same time. At first make large letters on the carpet or in the air.

Most of all make learning to read fun. When your child gets tired of writing the letters on the carpet have him trace the letters in rice or shaving cream. Also your children might like to sing a song. Look on the internet under phonic songs.

The computer can also make reading fun. There are games and interactive stories. Some of the stories can also be downloaded so you can read them off line.

One of the most important items in teaching reading is a good phonics program. We used 1 2 3 Read. We liked the phonic song that came with the program.

The program used "Bible Stories for Early Readers". The books are good because most of the words in the story use the rules of phonics. The first set uses the short vowels. The second set uses vowel blends and the silent e. Set three reinforces double vowels, consonant blends and r-controlled vowels. None of the books have many sight words.

We also used "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". It is another inexpensive book that can be successful in teaching reading.

Some people who have reading difficulties are helped with color overlays or glasses. Different colors help the brain process visual information. Colored overlays are helpful for those who complain about print moving on the page.

Other people that have tracking problems are helped with eye exercises. The exercises strengthen the muscles behind the eye. Special optometrists can teach your child and you how to do the exercises.

Children with dyslexia usually have problems with reversals. They confuse b, d, p, or q. They may also confuse whole words such as was and saw. The best way to help a child with reversals is to over teach the letters or words. I had letters with raised arrows for correct tracing that was helpful.

A good way to teach spelling is to use phonics and the dictionary. Sound out the word, trying to hear all of the sounds. Then look up the word in the dictionary to see if you spelled the word right. Using a computer program such as word is helpful because it can catch your spelling errors.

Social Implications of Being Dyslexic

Children with dyslexia can experience difficulty in social situations. Sometimes they have difficulty finding the right word to say. They may stutter. The child may have difficulty reading social cues.

As a parent how can you help? Teach your child about his disability. Let him know that most people with dyslexia have average or above average intelligence. Remind your child that they can still be a successful adult. Keep reminding them that they are a child of God.