Resources for the Dyslexic Child

This resource list has been prepared in conjunction with my talk Homeschooling the Dyslexic Child for the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. 

Throughout the talk I refer to various programs we have used, books I've read, and resources I recommend.  These links correspond to that talk.

Curriculum


We are using All About Spelling , which is an Orton Gillingham method designed specifically for dyslexics.  My dyslexic son is doing great with this program, and so is his non-dyslexic younger brother.

As for us, we took our time with levels 1 and 2, making sure to build a solid foundation.  My dyslexic son will be ready to start Level 3 during our next school year.  Virtually all of Level 1 and much of Level 2 was review, and thus very easy for him.  We could have possibly skipped book 1 or done the books more quickly.  I wanted to make sure, however, that he had a good grasp on all the rules and how they apply, and I wanted him to take time to learn both the weekly words as well as the words for extra practice.

It has been worthwhile starting at the beginning again to make sure we laid a solid foundation.  When he started learning to spell, much of it was confusing and he experienced weekly failure.  Starting slightly below his level was a real confidence boost for him, allowing him to experience spelling success for the first time.  He has shown good retention and understanding.  His reading level is much higher than his spelling level at this point, but he is making steady progress, and I couldn't be happier about that!


My children were already familiar with the phonograms, having previously learned them in another spelling program.   They really enjoy spelling new words with the colorful phonogram magnets, and I like the way the magnets are color coded to represent consonants, vowels, blends, etc.

The people behind All About Spelling (AAS) are releasing a new program called All About Reading (AAR).  This program will be geared specifically toward teaching reading to the dyslexic student.

Oh, how I wish it had been available a few years ago when we were struggling!  I can't wait to see it! One book in the series, Cobweb the Cat, has already been released.  The pictures are lovely and the stories are engaging.  Cobweb the Cat is Level 1 book 3 in the AAR series, and correlates with All About Spelling book 1.  After completing various chapters in AAS book 1, the child should be able to read certain chapters in Cobweb the Cat. Click the link below to get an All About Reading activity book for free!



Level 2, volumes 1 and 2 are complete and were just released for sale this week.  Level 2 volume 1 (What am I?)_correlates with AAS book 2, steps 1-14.  Also on sale this week is Level 2 volume 2 (Queen Bee), which correlates with AAS book 2, steps 15-25.  They are also working on a reading book just for preschoolers, to prepare them for reading and spelling.  They plan to make that book available in October.

As I said before, my son's reading level is considerably higher than his spelling ability, but I still ordered Queen Bee for him, which is commensurate with the spelling level he just finished.  I think it is good reinforcement for him to read stories using his spelling words, both as a visual reminder of how the words are spelled, and as a vocabulary builder (seeing his spelling words used in context). I hope in the future they will release some of the books before he completes the spelling level that they accompany, as this kind of reinforcement would be ideal to use while he is learning his new words.

We didn't have the benefit of a reading program tailor made to fit with our spelling program, so I've been using  the Pathway Readers by Rod and Staff.   We love this series, and I've been using them for over 10 years in my homeschool with all my children!  Although I plan to start my preschooler with the All About Reading series, I won't be leaving Pathway Readers behind.  My middle children love the books and I think they are a great fit for both our dyslexic son and our other children, too.

These graded readers worked great for my dyslexic son because they progress very gradually.  His reading ability has grown as he moved from one reader to the next.  Each reader introduces slightly more words per page, slightly smaller type, and new vocabulary.  We have never used the workbooks that accompany this series, but I plan to next year.  I was able to look at them recently and there are several activities for each chapter which check comprehension, reinforce grammar topics and teach vocabulary.  I don't intend to have my son do every worksheet, but the workbooks are very inexpensive and they will be a good supplement to the grammar the children are already doing.  After finishing the grade 3 Pathway reader, many children are ready to read a simple chapter book, such as something from the Childhood of Famous Americans series.  


Dyslexic children often reverse letters, writing b instead of d and so forth.  Our son did just that.  We switched him to Cursive First and the problem was immediately eliminated.  Cursive First is a handwriting program that teaches children how to write cursive.  It is intended to be used before they learn to print.

We love the clock face stamp (click link and page down), which helped our dyslexic son learn to form letters properly.  It is hard to write cursive backwards, and so it is a good choice for teaching dyslexics to write.  We laminated the letter cards that came with the program and our son traced over them with a dry erase marker before he started writing letters free-hand.  My 4th and 2nd graders have much better handwriting than our 8th grader, who learned to print before he learned cursive.  I think teaching cursive first is a must, and all my children will be learning that long before they learn to print.

Cursive First can be used with other phonics and reading programs, but it goes hand in hand with Spell to Write and Read (SWR).  SWR is not my favorite program, but it unlocked the door to reading for my dyslexic son.  We are not using it anymore, as I personally prefer All About Spelling.  SWR is not, in my opinion, the ideal spelling program for the dyslexic, though many dyslexics have successfully used it and it is better than some of the other programs out there. I found it difficult to teach, and the pace moved too quickly for my son to be successful with it as a long-term spelling program.  The approach was successful in helping him learn to read, however, and for that I am very grateful.  I think SWR has a lot of great things going for it, but AAS was written with the dyslexic in mind, and we have had much better success with it.

Most experts recommend teaching spelling to dyslexics using an Orton Gillingham method.  Spell to Write and Read is based loosely on OG methodology, but it is not strictly an OG method.  You can find helpful articles about teaching the dyslexic student, as well as information about OG, and links to some of OG methods, at Susan Barton's website Bright Solutions for Dyslexia, Inc.

We use All About Spelling for our daily dictation practice, but I also use Writing with Ease (WWE) for copywork and narration.  WWE is written by Susan Wise Bauer (author of the popular Your Story of the World and The Well Trained Mind books).  There are dictation sentences in the WWE book but many are too difficult, so we only do the other parts of the book.  I love this series, as it incorporates grammar lessons into the copywork, and the stories for narration practice are well-chosen.  We are almost done with Level 2.  My children absolutely love listening to the narration stories, and always beg to hear them in their entirety.  Many of these classic stories have been recorded as audio books, so we have found as many as are available for WWE 1 and WWE 2 and put them on our educational audio website My Audio School.  We plan to add what we can for  WWE Level 3 this summer. I have not found the teacher's manual necessary, so we have been using the workbooks only.  Photocopying is allowed for personal use, so I copy the necessary pages or have my sons use notebook paper so that the book will be non-consumable.

We also use the grammar series from Peace Hill Press, written by Susan Wise Bauer and her mother Jessie Wise.  When my dyslexic son was in 4th grade we did the book First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind (aimed at 1st and 2nd graders).  This book is meant to take two years but we were easily able to do it in one year.  Most of the lessons are oral, making it an ideal first grammar book for the dyslexic child.  We skipped most of the narration, copywork and dictation sections since we were already doing that work in Writing with Ease.  We could have done the copywork and dictation from this grammar book and skipped WWE, but I much prefer the copywork and narration selections in WWE.  They aren't as juvenile as the ones in First Language Lessons.

Towards the end of this school year we were able to start  Book 3 of this grammar series.  There are too many worksheets in this book to make photocopying practical, so it is preferable for each child to have their own workbook.  The teacher manual was recommended to me, as well, so I am using it for this grammar series.  This book can also be used with an older student who has not done First Language Lessons 1 and 2.  Be advised, levels 1 and 2 are combined within one volume.

All our children have used Math U See, so I've been with their program for the past 9 years.  This has been a good fit for our dyslexic son, as the hands on, manipulative approach appeals to him.  The curriculum includes a video for teachers, but my son watches it with me before we discuss the lesson.  He learns a lot through listening and watching the video.  There is an article on their website about using Math U See for students with special needs.

My son is not yet old enough for middle and high school science, but I definitely plan to use Apologia with him when he is.  My oldest son has used this excellent Christian, college-preparatory science curriculum.  It is great for dyslexics as they sell MP3 audio CDs for 6 of their courses so the child can listen to the textbook being read, or follow along as he reads.


Practical Helps

We purchase transparent reading overlays very inexpensively from Heads Up Now!  These overlays help my dyslexic son with his reading, making the black letters stand out more clearly from the white page.They offer overlays which show just one line of text, such as those in the picture above, as well as overlays showing two lines of text, a large rectangle of text or an entire page of text.

Pencil grips help our children learn where to place their fingers.  Stetro grips are the most recommended, and they are often used with older children who hold their pencils awkwardly. Heads up Now! sells Stetro grips for 50 cents apiece.

For spelling I purchased a very large magnetic dry-erase board at my local Wal-Mart for less than $10.  It is big enough to hold our All About Spelling magnets, with room in the middle for writing words and dictation sentences.

We keep lots of mechanical pencils on hand, as well as refill leads.  Mechanical pencils reinforce gentle pressure.  If the child presses too hard, the lead breaks.  It was hard to get used to these, but my childrens' writing has greatly improved.  My favorites are the Papermate Sharpwriter disposable mechanical pencils with the twist up lead, and the refillable Paper Mate Mega Lead with its twist up eraser.  Both of these pencils encourage gentle pressure without breaking SO often that the children (and mom!) become overly frustrated.

I really like the Peggy Kaye books, such as Games for Math and Games for Reading.  Sometimes when we get into a rut it's good to pull out one of these books and use a game to help teach the concept.  The photo above shows two of my boys playing Fast Track, one of their favorite games from Games for Math.

My son memorizes audio material easily.  Although this is not a necessity, he has really enjoyed the classic songs on Schoolhouse Rock.  This has been a worthwhile supplement for grammar.  The 30th anniversary edition is available for sale.  You can also watch some of the videos on You Tube for free.  The lyrics for all songs can be found here. 

I grew up on Schoolhouse Rock and still remember old favorites like Conjunction Junction to this day!





Online Resources:

Our son gets most of his history and literature content for both school and pleasure through audio books.  I developed the website My Audio School specifically to meet his needs as a dyslexic student.  One fourth of our content is unblocked for the public, or a subscription fee of $15 per year unlocks over 450 distinct audio resources.  Although I developed it for our dyslexic son, all of our children are using it every week.  I guess everyone loves a good audio book!

You can follow My Audio School as a fan on Facebook.  Every week I try to share a link or two of audio content relating to an event from "This week in history". 

Another source of audio material for children who have proper documentation proving they are dyslexic is Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic.   

We use Spelling City every week for practicing spelling words.  I can type my son’s spelling list into this free website and the program will read the words aloud to him and customize games and printable worksheets for that week’s list.

I've have posted several articles about dyslexia on this blog.  Look in the sidebar under The Dyslexic Child for posts about hands on spelling techniques, such as file folder spelling (pictured above), what to do if you suspect your child is dyslexic, and more.  In the days to come I plan to continue to add more posts to the list, including a recording of my talk Homeschooling the Dyslexic Child, so be watching for those.

You might also enjoy listening to my talk on The Homeschooler's Library, which details how I go about choosing books.  You can also find this talk in the sidebar of the blog (in a purple widget box), followed by a lengthy list of recommended titles on a variety of subjects.

The All About Spelling website is a treasure trove of helpful articles.   Here are a few good ones:

• Teaching spelling to special needs children
• What is Dyslexia?
• Dyslexia Symptoms
• How to Use Kinesthetic Spelling Activities

Resources for mom and dad:


Two books I have read which helped me understand more about dyslexia and how to work with my child are Ronald Davis' book The Gift of Dyslexia (read a short review of this book here) and Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz.

The Homeschool Legal Defense Association provides legal representation for homeschoolers.  It is advisable to have such representation if you are homeschooling a child with special needs.  They also provide many helps for parents who homeschool a special needs child.  Members have access to trained specialists who can encourage and advise.  Many resources have been made available to the public for free in the Homeschooling your Struggling Learner portion of the HSLDA website.

In addition to local homeschooling friends, it has been helpful to draw on the knowledge of others in similar situations.  I've enjoyed being part of the online yahoo group Heart of Reading.  This is a Christian group for homeschoolers of struggling students, specifically geared toward reading difficulties such as dyslexia, dysgraphia and auditory processing disorder.

We do standardized testing every year, even though it is not required by law in our state.  It is a good benchmark for me, to see how my children are progressing.  It is also a protection for us as we homeschool, as one more example that we are exercising due diligence as we educate our dyslexic son.  We use the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, which can be administered at home by a parent if you have a college degree.  I purchase them through BJU Press.  Students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia are eligible to receive accommodations when they take their standardized tests.  In a homeschool setting it is usually fairly easy to test your child in a room by himself.  Our child has most portions of the test read aloud to him, and most sections are not timed.  These two accommodations have made a world of difference in his scores.

Whew!  That is a long list of some of the curriculum, practical helps and resources for parents which we have found helpful as we homeschool our dyslexic son.  If you have favorite resources that you use with a dyslexic child, please leave me a comment.  I'd love to hear about it!

Disclosure:  I am an All About Spelling affiliate and will receive a commission on any purchases that result from following the links to their site that I provided in this post or elsewhere on this blog.