How to Teach Kids With Dyslexia to Read Quick Watch Child Mind Institute

children who have difficulty learning to read are often diagnosed with learning disorder called dyslexia it's important to know that this doesn't mean they're not smart or that they can't learn to read what they need is specific kind of teaching called systematic phonics based instruction phonics is the process of matching letters to sounds and for children with dyslexia this is harder than it is for other kids they need to learn it in paced structured way teacher can help by starting with simple patterns of letters and sounds and gradually move to more complicated ones for example children might learn that an AI makes long sound and then practice recognizing that pattern in different words some reading instruction methods teach kids to rely on pictures or logic to guess at the meaning of words but this approach doesn't work for children with dyslexia they need to focus on learning phonics and getting lots of practice it's also important that they practice reading using books that contain mostly the letter sound patterns that they have learned to ensure that your child is getting phonics based instruction look at the words they're learning if they all have similar sounds like hat bat and Cat then it's likely phic based program in these programs children receive direct instruction and plenty of practice with specific skills they're not expected to pick up reading automatically just from being around books nor are they told to guess at the meanings of words if your child is being taught to guess or isn't assigned much practice it's not good phonic based program if you're unsure about your child's reading program website called what works Clearing House can help you find out more about it and if your child isn't learning phonics at school private tutor or reading specialist can help with the right support children with dyslexia can make significant progress and thrive in their reading abilities