We have talked to you about how to identify dyslexia, and also what are the possible causes that originate it.
But what happens when we have a child with dyslexia? Is it solely the duty of the school that our son improves? The answer to this question is a resounding no. Since we must act with our child in a coordinated way with the professionals who care for him, both at school and outside of it.
That is why we want to guide you on how to help my child with dyslexia from home, giving you advice on how you should behave and explaining some of the exercises and activities you can do with him to enhance his learning.
Index
- What should be your attitude to help your child
- Tips for treating dyslexia
- Treating dyslexia in elementary school children
- Help your child academically
- When and how to treat dyslexia
- Activities for dyslexia
- Exercises for dyslexia
- Activities to work dyslexia
What should be your attitude to help your child
Learn about dyslexia, attend events about dyslexia. To help, you must first understand. Here you will find a series of articles about this disorder that can be of great help to try to better understand what happens to your child, examples of this are what are the types of dyslexia or how to know if my child has dyslexia.
Remember to have a positive attitude towards your child’s learning, think that it just requires different teaching. Their particular needs will be attended to by a professional, but try to coordinate with their teachings to be able to continue the same work at home with your child.
Tips for treating dyslexia
- Let your child dedicate himself to activities that he likes and that he can develop in them (sports, music, drawing…)
- Get together with other parents who are going through the same thing, who have children with dyslexia.
- If you have questions, do not hesitate to go to a professional for guidance on how to help your child with dyslexia from home.
- Support your child emotionally and socially. Make it clear to him that although he is regular at school, as long as we see his effort, we will be happy with him.
- Do not use threats, beg, or punish him to improve his performance with school homework. You will only get that it has negative effects on their self-esteem, their performance and that their confidence in you is affected.
- Likewise, it is good to praise the abilities and strengths that he shows, and above all, the effort and courage he shows to face his dyslexia on a day-to-day basis, without forgetting the psychological pain that it can cause him.
Treating dyslexia in elementary school children
When you help your child with homework, find a quiet, orderly, structured place. Make a “planning” if necessary, visually, organizing work times and rest times according to the needs of your child. Be clear about how you are going to help him, let him ask everything he needs and make sure he understands the instructions well.
Do not be angry if he takes longer to learn than other children in his class, do not compare him with a brother or sister who does not have problems, let him have his own learning process, respect if he gets tired and give him small breaks. Repeat the instructions as many times as necessary and make sure they understand everything.
Encourage him to read, select books or texts that are of interest to him, try to have enough illustrations and large print. Find a suitable time for your child to read the text to you. Once your child has finished reading, ask him questions to see how much he has understood about the reading. Show more interest in the text than in emphasizing the possible mistakes you have made while reading, the important thing is to have a conversation with your child. Make him understand that despite the difficulties he may have in reading, he is capable of overcoming himself.
Help your child academically
Coordinate with the school teachers and the professionals who care for your child. Communicate regularly with the school in order to detect possible difficulties and coordinate the strategies to follow. Do not get frustrated. Be hopeful and in a good mood, dyslexia are no reason to feel angry.
The daily planner is a good tool for organizing your child’s homework. Adopt an active attitude of support and accompaniment of your child in his educational process, keeping his interest, dedication, effort and enthusiasm for learning alive and very high, as well as his confidence and self-esteem.
When and how to treat dyslexia
Dyslexia must be treated as soon as possible, especially before the age of 9, for this reason, if we believe that our child may suffer from this disorder, although psychological tests and tests have not yet confirmed it, it is important to do activities to improve your reading and writing skills.
Whether dyslexia are confirmed or not, these exercises will be beneficial for him and to enhance his learning. Next, we will give you a series of exercises and activities that you can do with your child in order to improve their reading and writing skills.
Activities for dyslexia
Syllabic exercises
- Separate syllables: ask him to tell you the syllables that a word has. Example: conch= ca-ra-co-la = has 4 syllables.
- Skip syllables: Tell him to remove one of the syllables from the word. Example: remove the third syllable from caracola = the third syllable is co = the word carala would remain.
- Substitute syllables: Tell him to change a syllable of the word for another syllable that we give him. Example: substitute the third syllable of conch for the syllable ti = the third syllable is co =
- Find hidden syllables: Ask him to find the missing syllables in the words you say to him. Example: What is the missing syllable in the word tele-sión? = will have to answer vi.
- Identify the repeated syllable: What syllable is repeated in these two words? o What part sounds the same in these two words? Truck and roach =’ll have to answer ca .
- Chain words: Make a chain of words by joining the last syllable with the first of the next. Example: Cohe te, teta, tapa, potato, stool, earthquake, cough. chain
Exercises for dyslexia
Lexical exercises
- Word count: Ask him to count the number of words in a sentence. Example: How many words are there in “Today we will all have chicken for dinner”?=This sentence has 5 words.
- Skip words: Tell him to remove a word from the sentence. Example: Eliminate the 2nd word of the sentence “Today we will have chicken for dinner all together”=Today chicken all together.
- Substitute words: Tell him to substitute a word in a sentence for another that you propose. Example: Tell me the phrase today we will have chicken for dinner all together, changing the word chicken for the word pool = today we will have dinner for the pool all together.
- Separate the words: Tell him to separate the different words that make up a certain sentence. Example: Separate the following sentence with lines: hoycenaremospollotodosjuntos= today / will have dinner / chicken / all / together.
- Make up phrases: Make him write sentences following some proposed rules. Example: write a sentence of 5 words between which there must be carand sky = ” I have a sky-blue car”.
Activities to work dyslexia
Phonemic exercises
- Separate the phonemes: Ask him to tell you how many sounds a word has. Example: conch= conch = 8.
- Skip phonemes: Ask him to remove a sound from the word. Example: Take the 7th sound out of the shell or the sound “L” = shell.
- Substitute phonemes: Ask him to substitute one sound in the word for another. Example: Substitute the “L” sound for the “T” sound in the word conch =
- Find the hidden sound: Ask him to tell you what the missing sound is in a word. Example: What sound is missing from the word caraola= missing the sound of the “C” = / k /
- Identify the repeated sound: Ask him to tell you which sound is repeated between two words. Example: What sound is repeated between bull and leg? = the “T” sound.
This article is merely informative, we do not have the power to prescribe any medical treatment or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
