Last week we started the first part of the series with tips & tricks for teaching reading to children with dyslexia:
Dear Gaila,
After years of having trouble at school, my son has finally been diagnosed with dyslexia. Is there any chance he can ever learn English?
Anxious Mother
Dear A. M.,
Last week I discussed the importance of phonemic awareness. Another aspect dyslexic students have difficulty with is the "jumping" and "moving" of letters. Readers with dyslexia often feel that letters tend to move up and down. Just thinking about it can make you nauseous! Imagine what these readers must feel while we are encouraging them to 'try harder' and 'do a bit more'.
Here is a neat trick I learned years ago to cut down on the nausea and prevent those letter from moving. Simply place a plain white paper under the lines to be read, and thus cut out most of the print. If this is not enough then cut out a simple 'window' in the paper that allows only one line at a time to be seen. Some students might need even more limited print - so make the window smaller to fit a partial sentence or even just one word a time. Experiment to see what works best for your son.
Be on the lookout for next Wednesday's Dear Gaila column with even more tips for teaching reading to dyslexic children.
Gaila
Gaila has over 40 year of experience teaching and runs A.H.A.V.A., a non-profit to promote English literacy. Would you like to ask Gaila a question? Email us at ahava.org@gmail.com or send us a message. Look out for more Dear Gaila columns