Helping Children with Dyslexia to Learn Reading and Writing

Many children have problems at school from time to time. Some are slower learners, others are just lazy but some children really have great difficulties with reading and writing. So how can you find out if your child suffers from dyslexia?

When children are just beginning to learn reading and writing, it is too early to tell for which reason some have more problems. However, if your child still has problems reading out loud when most of the other children start reading more fluently, you should pay closer attention.

Children with dyslexia often have issues with keeping apart similar-looking words. Sometimes, they even forget to read out syllables or whole words.

In writing, it is more difficult to recognize dyslexia. Many children compensate their weakness by memorizing words. They do not know why a word is written the way it is but learn its look by heart. Therefore, they have the greatest problems with unknown words. Sometimes, dyslexia is not recognized before children start to do writing tests with unknown texts because they simply learned the former texts by heart for the tests.

If you have the suspicion that your child suffers from dyslexia, do not hesitate to visit a doctor and have him check it. The earlier dyslexia is recognized, the earlier you can start helping your child to practice reading and writing. It can make a big difference to the child if it knows that it is not stupid but has a certain medical condition.

First of all, it is immensely important to show your child that affection and acceptance are not linked to success in any form. Children have to know that they are valuable and lovable no matter how good or bad they fare at school or at tests. This will take some pressure from them and can do a great deal to helping them. Not only children with dyslexia but all children tend to achieve worse results when they are under pressure.

Pick a fixed time every day to practice reading and writing. It should be no more than an hour a day, best to split into three intervals of twenty minutes each. You could spend one interval dictating new words (not too many). After that, correct the mistakes together with your child and patiently explain which mistakes they made. Praise every progress, even the smallest one. Always bear in mind: It is incomparably harder for your child to spell words correctly.

Another interval should be dedicated to reading. Choose a book your child likes and take turns reading aloud to each other. Be patient and wait for a sentence to be finished before you correct your child. Again, praise your child if it pronounces words (especially longer or difficult words) correctly or if it reads a sentence without forgetting a syllable or word.

The third interval could be spent with copying words. Even if memorizing difficult words does not help much towards understanding the rules behind the spelling, it does help the child with dyslexia to write them correctly the next time.