Home is where confidence is built or lost. The aim isn't to "fix" dyslexia — it's to make learning feel safe so your child keeps trying.
Reading
Helpful strategies:
- Read aloud to the child, well above their decoding level
- Audiobooks (no guilt — it's still reading)
- Text-to-speech tools
- Larger font, coloured overlays if helpful
- Short reading chunks
- Paired reading and re-reading familiar texts
- A reading ruler or window
- Books linked to your child's interests
- Praise effort, not speed
Don't: force public reading, shame slow reading, say "you know this word", or use reading as punishment.
Spelling
- Multisensory practice — sand trays, magnetic letters, air writing, rainbow writing
- Break words into syllables and sound chunks
- Use colours for tricky parts
- Word banks and personal dictionaries
- Spellcheck and speech-to-text
- Mnemonics
- A few spellings at a time, taught as patterns rather than random lists
Don't: cover work in red pen, demand endless rewrites, or judge intelligence by spelling.
Writing
Writing asks the brain to do many things at once. Make it easier by separating the steps.
- Talk ideas through first
- Mind maps, storyboards, writing frames, sentence starters
- Voice-record ideas before writing
- Speech-to-text or typing
- Scribe when appropriate
- Separate idea generation from spelling correction
- Praise content and ideas
Memory and organisation
- One instruction at a time
- Written and visual instructions
- Checklists, timers, visual schedules
- Colour-coded folders, one per subject
- Pack the bag the night before
- Phone reminders and a whiteboard
- Keep items in the same place
Confidence
A child who feels safe is a child who keeps trying. Use language that protects their identity:
Instead of "You're not trying" → "This is hard. Let's find a way that helps." Instead of "You know this word" → "Let's look at it together." Instead of "Hurry up" → "Take your time. We'll do one step first." Instead of "Your spelling is terrible" → "Your ideas are strong. Let's choose a few spellings to work on." Instead of "Everyone else can do it" → "Everyone learns differently. We'll use what works for you."
Helpful phrases to repeat often:
- "Your brain learns differently."
- "This is hard, but it doesn't mean you're not clever."
- "You have great ideas."
- "Spelling mistakes don't define your intelligence."
Activities to try
- Paired and echo reading
- Audiobook plus physical book
- Rhyming and word-family games
- Magnetic letters and sand-tray spelling
- Look-say-cover-write-check
- Storyboards and comic-strip writing
- Voice recording ideas
- Memory trays and sequencing cards
- A "things I'm good at" jar
- Researching famous dyslexic role models together
Technology that helps
Text-to-speech, speech-to-text, spellcheck, Grammarly-style writing support, audiobooks, dictation, scanning pens, mind-mapping software, calendar reminders, word prediction, coloured screen filters.
Introduce tools when your child is calm, not in the middle of a meltdown. Normalise them.
What parents can do
- Notice patterns and keep examples of work
- Speak to school early; ask for SENCO support and a dyslexia screener
- Track how long homework really takes
- Support confidence above all
- Encourage strengths — creativity, problem-solving, practical skills
- Celebrate progress, not perfection