Awesome Ways To Help A Child With Dyslexia

Last Updated on: 19th April 2023, 12:55 pm

When we found out that Tilly had severe dyslexia, I just wanted to cry. I had no idea how to help a child with dyslexia. I had seen Kim struggle with dyslexia at grammar school and you know what? She absolutely excelled. But she was at a grammar school, where it was important that all the kids passed their exams. They wanted to be the top school in Kent. Because of this, Kim was given all of the help that she needed.

Tilly’s school on the other hand is absolutely crap! Yes, I understand that there is a shortage of willing teachers and teaching assistants. There is not enough money for extra support but talking to the school is like talking to a brick wall. I have attended parents’ evenings and the teachers have been unaware of her dyslexia. Instead, they complain about her messy writing and lack of work being done on time. BUT that is part of her dyslexia. It’s like they just don’t want to listen and help a child with dyslexia.

How We Support Tilly At Home With Dyslexia

Tilly absolutely hates reading, because she struggles to read. But we have a red reading sheet to help her so she can read more comfortably. Tilly also has her older sister to support her in any home learning that she does. Through Covid, Kim was her primary teacher because she could teach her in ways that she understood. My girls did well.

We try and keep up with the subjects she is learning at school, so we know how to support her learning. This is actually made easier with learning packs from Oaka Books. You buy the packs that work side by side with your child’s subjects at school.

The packs are great for kids that have problems processing things that they learn. The packs are also designed for kids that find it has to move information from their short-term memory to their working memory.

Tilly finds the bold colours and red writing very easy to work with. There are also lots of images to help her to understand what word she is looking for. The layout of the books is also following the guidelines of the British Dyslexia Association. There is a topic book and a write-your-own-notes book in each topic set, as well as a small game or flashcards etc to help your child.

Know Your Child’s Reading Age

If your child has dyslexia, you will find that your child’s reading age is going to be lower than their friends. This is okay. Do not ever compare your child to another. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses in their educational journey. Tell your child that you are proud of them for managing their reading and writing. When we use Oaka Books topic packs, they tell you what suggested reading age they are. so even though we use KS3 packs, they are written for a child that is at reading level 10 and a half years old. This will help them to be able to read more confidently and give them support so that they can understand and read.

Break Down Work Into Manageable Sections

We all know when we are given things to read at work, it can be overwhelming if there is a lot to learn or read. So it is the same for our kids. Now imagine giving your child a book with all of the topics they are learning in year 8. It will be too much for them to even consider looking through. So you need to break it all down into manageable topics and sections. Giving one of these smaller topic books to your child makes them think that they can get it done in no time at all. Breaking their work down into manageable sections gives them the confidence to do the work and they will be happier and more enthusiastic to learn.

Multi-Sensory Learning To Help A Child With Dyslexia

Although multi-sensory learning helps all children to soak up the things that they learn, it is really important to help a child with dyslexia. Multi-sensory learning can be done in so many different ways. Multi-sensory learning helps a dyslexic child to soak up education and remember it. For younger kids that are learning the alphabet, give them alphabet blocks to play with whilst teaching them their letters. But also teach them the alphabet song to sing as you learn. This helps kids to retain educational information because they are using sight, touch, hearing and talking to help them learn and remember.

For older kids like Tilly’s age (13), you can help them by giving them the work on paper, showing them educational YouTube videos and actually going to visit a museum or place of interest so they can soak in the information more. This is why I travel so much with Tilly and visit as many different places as we can. She is learning all of the time then. It might not be the stuff she is learning at school at the time, but I am laying down the foundations.

The topic packs from Oaka Books are multi-sensory too. With each pack you get the topic book to read with your child. This ensures that the child is hearing the words from you. There is the ‘write your own notes’ book, where your child writes down what they have learned. Then there is an additional learning prop that your child will interact with. The topic packs come with a game that they can play. This helps them to retain the information that they have learned and they can use their new-found vocabulary to play and win.

Finding Their Strengths To Help A Child With Dyslexia

Tilly’s dyslexia was picked up in year 2 and she had faked it for 2 years at primary school. She had been memorising books when she read them through with teachers. So when she read them back, she was reading them perfectly. But when it came to doing the online tests for the books, she couldn’t understand the questions. The school was amazing and she spent the next few years working hard with the SEN and pulling her reading up to a level the same as some of her school friends. The primary school had found ways for her to manage her dyslexia and worked with her to support her. Then Covid struck and we lost that support.

We knew what her strengths were so we worked with them, but I wish we had more support to help us with her home-ed. If I had known that £7.97 would have made the difference between struggling with home-ed and giving her more support that she needed. I would have ordered some books years ago.

How You Can Order Oaka Books To Help A Child With Dyslexia

Ordering the educational packs from Oaka Books couldn’t be easier. You can order the parts of the pack separately at £2.97 each. But it is much better value to buy all of the parts in one topic pack for £7.97. You need to choose which key stage your child is at. Then look at the school subjects and choose which one would be ideal for your child. You do pay P & P on the books that you buy, but you pay per parcel and not per book. So ordering a few at a time saves on postage.