Dyslexia: How to Support your Child

AnneMarie Brosnan — Sun, 09 Jan 2022 16:49:54 +0000

3 Easy Ways to Support Your Child with Dyslexia

Did you know that dyslexia affects 10% of the population?

Indicators of dyslexia can vary from age to age but some of most common signs present as:

✅ difficulties with learning the connection between letters and sounds

✅ difficulty repeating multisyllabic words

✅ confusion with small words

✅ poor concentration

If your child has dyslexia, here are some ways that you can support them:

1. Read to your child. Children with dyslexia often develop a dislike of reading because they find it so challenging. Make the experience enjoyable by reading to them. This means that they get to experience the benefits of reading but none of the stress or anxiety that often goes with it.

2. Children with dyslexia often have low self-esteem because they recognise that they learn differently to their peers. Talk to your child about this in a positive way. Help them to develop their talents and focus on the things that they do well. Actively promote positive thinking by regularly using phrases such as “you can do it” or “you are good/smart enough”, “you are intelligent”.

3. Get familiar with assistive technology which can help your child achieve their full potential. Text-to-Speech software can be used to support academic learning while apps like Audible have hundreds of fiction and non-fiction books available to download at the click of a button.

Get an experienced tutor who has worked with children with dyslexia before. Children with dyslexia should be taught in a direct, explicit and multi-sensory way that is often quite different to traditional approaches.

"Children with dyslexia should be taught using direct, explicit and multi-sensory approaches" - AnneMarie

Specialist Dyslexia Tutors

If you’d like to learn more about our specialist dyslexia tutors, get in touch with us today.

Tuition is available to primary school pupils from Senior Infants to 6th Class live online through Zoom or at our tuition centre in Castletroy, Limerick.

Understanding Phonological Awareness and how best to support your child

AnneMarie Brosnan — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 16:00:27 +0000

What is phonological awareness?

Phonological awareness is the ability to recognise sounds in spoken language. It is the foundation to learning to read. Phonological awareness is an auditory skill – activities that develop phonological awareness can be practiced with your eyes closed.

Most children do not need to be taught phonological awareness skills. However, children who do not develop phonological awareness need direct, explicit instruction.

What about phonemic awareness?

Phonemic awareness is a subset of phonological awareness. It is the last skill to develop within phonological awareness. It is the ability to identify and manipulate the smallest units of sound (phonemes) in spoken words. For example, being able to hear /m/ and /a/ and /p/ in the word “map” requires phonemic awareness. Significantly, according to David Kilpatrick, 30-40% of children need to be taught this skill.

How can I develop my child’s phonological awareness skills at home?

The phonological awareness activities that you practice with your child should be appropriate for their level. They should gradually increase in complexity and at a pace suitable for them – you don’t want to overwhelm them!

Begin by exposing your child to songs and poems that rhyme. Recite your favourite nursery rhymes, watch rhyming songs on YouTube or sing and dance the Hokey Pokey with them. This is a fantastic way to help develop your child’s phonological awareness skills at home because it’s fun and enjoyable.

Progress by marching or clapping the words of a sentence (I – like – Ice – Cream) and then clapping or marching the syllables of a word (El – e – phant). As your child develops these skills, you can move onto more complex activities, such as:

Identifying rhyming words (“Do these words rhyme? / What word rhymes with ____?”)
Identifying the first, last and middle sound they hear in words, in that order
Blending individual sounds into words (“What does /m/ /a/ /p/ say?”)
Segmenting words into sounds

Once they have mastered these skills, the last step is learning to add, subtract, and substitute sounds to make new words.

If you have any questions about what you have just read, our would like more information about the type of literacy tuition that we provide, please contact us.

learning to read – Premier Tuition Centre