How to help my child with dyslexia read

We have talked to you about how to encourage children’s reading, and it is very important to create this habit of reading from when they are very young.Reading helps our children to foster reflective thinking and have imagination, among others. When you have a child with dyslexia, you also have to encourage this habit. Even if your child has difficulty reading, you have to help him read, because even if it costs him, he has to know that he is capable of doing it. That’s why we want to guide you on how to help my child with dyslexia to read.

Index

1. Games to encourage phonological awareness
2. Boost memory and vocabulary
3. In the lecture
4. Other tips to help your child read

Games to encourage phonological awareness

It is very important that in order for you to help your child you do so through play and never through punishments or reprimands. To do this, spend time with your child and do not criticize him when he does it wrong, and praise him when he does it well.

I propose some games to enhance your phonological awareness and thus help you to read through games:

• Choose the first letter of your child’s name or one at random, and during the day look for objects that start with that letter, and write it between the two in a notepad. At night, count all the words found.
• Make up fun rhymes.
• Play with the sound of the letters. For example, make the m sound to find the letter in a text, once you find it, read the whole word.
• Singsongs together that your child likes, clapping the syllables in time with the song.
• Play different traditional games such as: the I see–I see, what do you see? the chained words or the crazy telephone as a family.

Boost memory and vocabulary

To enhance memory and vocabulary through games at home, I suggest some tips:

• Remember names and surnames of people.
• Remember the professions of your friends’ moms and dads.
• Learn phone numbers and call to check that it is correct and have a phone conversation incidentally.
• To accompany you shopping and tell him what to take and to remember where to find it and to go to take it.
• Learn the days of the week and the months of the year.
• Play the seven differences with pictures or drawings.
• Put several objects on a table, let him look at them for a minute and then remove one or two objects so he can discover which one is missing.
• Play at the descriptions and guess what it is.
• Remember what you did the day before, what you ate or dined for, etc.

In the lecture

You can also help your child with reading with these tips:

Before reading:

• Talk to your child about what to read and why.
• Remember data that helps you understand the topic
• Look at the parts of the book that provide information about its structure such as the index.

During the lecture:

• When he reads a section, talk to him about what he has just read.
• Encourage him to ask you what he doesn’t understand.
• Give him solutions when he doesn’t understand something, like looking up an unfamiliar word in the dictionary with your help.

After reading:

• Talk to him about what he has read and ask him if he liked it or not.
• If it is a reading for school, you can write down your doubts to discuss them with the teacher in class.
• Remember the new vocabulary.
• Make a summary of one or two sentences to order the story or make a short outline.

Other tips to help your child read

Coordinate with the professionals at your child’s school and follow their guidance. It is very important that family and school always go on the same line.

Attribute the habit of reading to your child as something pleasant and not something imposed. Differentiate school reading as learning to read for leisure that you want to accustom him so that he can enhance his reflective ability and so that he improves in reading despite his difficulties.

Offer him books that interest him. Even if you think that a book will be better for him if you see that he is not interested in reading it, do not overwhelm him and let him choose what he wants to read. Remember that your goal is to help him improve in reading and strengthen the habit, not overwhelm him with what you think is best for him to read.

Be patient and be aware that each child has a different rate of learning.

Set an example and read too. Read with him, read two pauses. As you like, but read regularly and without being forced.

Show your child the usefulness of reading, watching subtitled movies, reading news in the newspaper, consulting catalogs, reading a cooking recipe and then making it, reading instructions to play a game, writing notes, leaving notes on the fridge, etc.

When you notice your child tired or that the situation becomes anxious, better leave it for another time.

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.