Home education with dyslexia and other labels can be a challenge. Often students with learning challenges such as dyslexia, ADHD, dyscalculalia or other challenges fail to thrive if they use school-like education programmes, that demand that they keep up with a pre-determined programme set by a curriculum- or distance education service provider.
We often hear from parents who are struggling with school-at-home programmes but are not sure what else to do. Here’s one such email and tips and advice for home education with dyslexia and other labels.
My son (11) has dyslexia and he is in Year 5. We are using [an online distance education programme]. For me it is unbelievably content heavy and after a morning of classes, I still have to teach him in the afternoons. Question: I’m looking into [a free online homeschool programme] but can I, for example, use their syllabus but then add a literature-based curriculum for history? Would that work?
Shirley’s reply:
Many new home educating parents start out with an all-in-one online school programme as you have, only to find, after some time, that it isn’t meeting their needs or doesn’t suit their child or their circumstances adequately. This is very, very common. Every home and every family is unique and these one-size-fits-all types of curricula or services just can’t accommodate that.
I believe that every child, but especially children with dyslexia or other learning challenges, do best if they have a customised learning programme. Children must be free to progress in every subject or skill at their own pace. You don’t need a grade-by-grade and Year-by-Year programme that insists that you work to their pre-determined schedule. It will undermine your child’s self-confidence and cause you much stress, if he can’t!
The best approach is to start at your child’s level of skill now and move at his pace. Instead of external tests and exams, you watch for daily progress and mastery, no matter how much or how little that might be in each subject or skill. You should also monitor your child’s sense of achievement and his degree of self-motivation. Your most important task is to help him to discover what he CAN do and what he is GOOD at. He already knows his weaknesses. To bring balance, you need to help your child determine his talents. Instead of always drilling the skills that are weak, you help him to find ways to manage those and you also focus on developing his strengths. You need to help him to heal his self-image.
In adult life, a child will be successful if he or she majors on their strengths and talents and avoids the things that are a challenge or finds other way to manage those things – like getting someone else to do them!
My husband is a dyslexic, who has learned to overcome many of its challenges. He uses a spell-checker on emails, gets me to do administrative tasks or he hires a professional, such as a lawyer or an accountant to look over important paperwork for him. Like many dyslexics, he is spatially gifted and excels in anything that is highly three-dimensional. He has been highly successful in commercial diving, building and many of the hands-on skills it requires, property speculating and a few entrepreneurial ventures that didn’t require too much reading and writing. He is just one example of someone who succeeded as an adult in spite of dyslexia (and a horrible experience at school!) There are PLENTY others – some famous millionaires too, such as Richard Branson to name just one!
Your challenge is to develop your son’s self-confidence. By the time he has reached adulthood, you want to be able to send a confident young person out into the world. You want him to know what he is good at and believe that he can succeed at whatever he chooses to pursue. Then he can hire people to do the things he is not good at.
In terms of choosing curriculum resources: I am not all that familiar with [the free online programme you mentioned], but I’d suggest that you start with a few subjects there for now, if that’s possible.
I always recommend reading aloud for social studies and science, so I wholly support your idea of using a literature-based social studies programme. Reading stories together with develop any child’s language skills enormously. There are so many short-term and long-term benefits of reading aloud to children of all ages, that social scientists now consider read-aloud time as one of the most important indicators of a child’s prospects in life. The earlier you start and the longer you continue reading aloud to your (teen) children (even when they can read alone) the better!
As you will do the reading, you will be able to expose him to language and ideas that are much more sophisticated than those at his own reading level. You will be able to share a fascinating story-driven journey that takes you to other places and times (that’s geography and history plus it develops cultural empathy!)
Other parents could also choose classic children’s stories or refer to lists of recommended books for his age group or simply find books and authors that you both enjoy, if you prefer.
Limit the subjects he struggles with to half an hour each per day, as long as he gives them his best effort and focused attention. Progress is progress, even if it is only a little!
The goal is to find out what he can do and what he LIKES to do and then insist on a little bit of what is a challenge to stretch him to grow and improve in those areas too.
Start out slowly with one programme at a time and see how it goes, before you add another curriculum resource.
Won’t my child get behind?
Your child won’t get “behind” because you are no longer on the same track as anybody else. You don’t have to keep up with his peers in school or anybody else. You are now taking a scenic route, giving your child a customised education and travelling at his pace. There is no pressure and no deadlines to meet. Your child does not have to reach Year 13 or any other milestone by any given time. You will know when he is equipped and ready for the next phase of his educational journey or his adult life and you won’t mess up his education by giving him a personalised pathway.
I always say, “We’re not raising children, we’re raising adults!“
Building a child’s self-confidence, developing character traits like perseverance and helping him to develop his talents and what motivates him is the goal – NOT stressing to keep up with the demands of a curriculum slave master! Not taking tests and jumping through hoops to please the administrators of a distance education system!
I recommend that you have a conversation in which you ask your child what he thinks he should study to become a successful, independent adult. He is likely to recognise why he needs to learn maths, writing and language skills. He would be wise to also spend some time learning to touch-type (using free online tutorials daily) as well as develop business and entrepreneurial skills. Choose resources to help him learn those things. Here is an article that lists world-class home education resources that I recommend for various age/grade/year levels: Starting Home Education – Curriculum Tips
Also, read this article about helping children to stand out from the crowd and perhaps discuss it with your family: Unlocked Learning at Home
Also read about Deschooling – “You’ve taken the child out of school, now take the school out of the child – AND YOU!”
To sum up home education with dyslexia (and other labels):
Your child needs:
1. Self-paced learning that allows mastery
2. Freedom to find out what he is good at, his strengths and talents
3. To (re-)build his self-confidence and heal any negative self-image
4. Daily reading aloud to improve his language and thinking skills
5. To find self-motivation for learning and have the freedom to follow his interests and passions
6. Courageous parents who will give him a customised education and who believe in his success, in spite of his challenges!
Here’s another inspirational story that demonstrates the importance of recognising and developing the talents of children who are wired ‘differently’:
What Parents Can Learn from Gillian Lynne (a millionaire ballerina with ADHD)