I talk with a lot of parents who are increasingly frustrated with the quality of help their kids with dyslexia are receiving in the public schools. It’s not that teachers and administrators don’t care. Public schools are HUGE institutions that are faced with MANY kinds of special needs EVERY day.
It is virtually impossible to give a child with dyslexia the individualized instruction that he or she needs to continue to work at their intellectual level while remediating (building up) their weaknesses in reading and writing within the public school system. and keep their self confidence in tact.
After homeschooling our 7 kids with dyslexia for the past 20 years, I can confidently say that homeschooling works! While not always easy, it allows for our kids to learn and thrive without constantly being behind and being compared to the 80% of kids who learn relatively well by traditional methods.
Deciding to homeschool a child with dyslexia is a very personal decision. If you are considering homeschooling your child with dyslexia, this post is for you.
Benefits of Homeschooling a Child With Dyslexia
Allows for the necessary individualized instruction in all subject areas: reading, spelling, composition and comprehension. Through accommodation, (audio books, oral responses, etc) homeschooled kids with dyslexia can learn at their intellectual level while receiving effective remediation, individualized instruction in reading, spelling and writing.
Allows for kids to focus on areas of interest and for lessons to be planned around those interests. The nature of homeschooling is to be interest-led. For example, reading about and writing a paper on a topic of your choosing – of interest – is far more interesting and therefore a struggling reader and writer will be more motivated to work through their difficulties.
Allows for freedom from being measured against peers, day in and day out, with no learning difficulties. It is natural to compare ourselves to those around us. School kids know who the ‘smart’ kids are, who the popular kids are and those who are not. Try as they may to hide it, the weaknesses that dyslexic kids have in reading, writing and spelling become obvious within a classroom environment. Since most people don’t understand that dyslexia is a language processing difference, not an issue of intelligence, kids with dyslexia are often thought of as dumb and with time believe it themselves.
Allows for your child to work at their own pace using resources that work best with thier individual strengths. Teaching methods and curriculum used by large schools are designed in large part for organization. Keeping track of 30+ students is difficult! Not so with homeschooling. There are many methods and curricula that work especially well with dyslexic learners. Homeschooling allows parents to choose what works best with their unique child.
Homeschooling necessarily avoids the rigid scheduling and standardized testing {and the practice of teaching to the test} that is required in the public schools. Not much more to say here. I think we can all agree that the practice of teaching kids to pass a test all day long, is a surefire way to kill any desire to learn.
Get Help Homeschooling a Child With Dyslexia
When I began homeschooling our kids nearly 30 years ago, I knew nothing about dyslexia. We tried a lot of methods and curricula in our search for what works the best.
Because I am asked so often about getting started homeschooling a child with dyslexia, I created a few different getting started support packages. Click here or on the image below to learn more.
Thank you so much!
I would LOVE to read this resource since I have 2 boys that are flipping letters, handwriting is illegible, and now “8” is horizontal (!!!). Thanks for making this available!!
Thank you so much. My son is not coping in a regular school environment. We want to try homeschooling.
Thank you!!!
Our homeschool adventure is about to begin. I have2 dyslexic/ADHD grandchildren. We pulled them out of public school yesterday. I will be working with my son to home school them. I have been tutoring them this year, but it seemed more like school support. I was an elementary school teacher for 17 years, but this is a lot scarier! Did I fail to mention that they live in Colorado and I live in California? I’ve been teaching by Skype. We’re going to try an accredited online school which is self paced and not at all the usual school, in combination with specialized work with dad and nanny, We’ll see how that goes and evaluate it in a few months, Right now all of us need a little deschooling time. It has been a long struggle.
Thank you so much for sharing some of your story Dianna! Yes, there is no training for teachers about dyslexia or learning differences. Deschooling is super important. I’m going to be writing about that next week on the blog. Give them some time to remember their love for learning by reading fun and interesting books and visiting places that interest them. Remind them that they were created for a purpose and that they are not broken or faulty.
I would love to follow your story and progress I am raising my grandkids and my 7 yr old granddaughter has dyslexia I’m allowing her to finish the school yr and will pull her out in June when summer break starts, but will begin homeschooling immediately because she has a lot of catch up to do she’s going into 2nd grade but probably at a 4 k level because school didn’t appear to be helping and in wi teachers aren’t required to have dyslexia training. Absurd I’m scared to death however I’m not a teacher and don’t want to do more harm than good but I figure the 1-1 has to be better than what she’s getting now please email me to share any suggestions u may have kahowell54220@yahoo.com
Can u please share ur experience uptill now
My homeschooling is about to begin. I have a son who is dyslexic and wants to try homeshooling with him. Thank you so much marianne
You are very welcome! I am so excited for you!!
Hi Dianna,
What accredited program are using? Have been looking at the different options and it is very overwhelming . Any info would be appreciated.
Jen
There are no accredited curricula. Are you talking about a homeschool covering? Like a homeschool group or charter school?
hi my son is 11 and he has dyslexia he was due to start school today but i cant get him to go in he gets very embarrassed in front of other children and finds the work very hard i want to home school him but i feel like people from his school are trying to put me off home schooling him im scared i wont know how to home school him and that ill let him down and wont know what to teach him .i do believe its the best thing for my son but im really worried i wont know what or how to teach him .
Hi Teresa. You absolutely CAN homeschool your son! I sent you an email. 🙂
I am realizing that my son most likely has dyslexia. He is a twin and his twin doesn’t and they compare each other constantly! My dyslexic son is so creative and has things that he builds from his head that is just unbelievable (although he cannot follow directions even with pictures). So, I am trying to in homeschool to help him. He is in third grade ( but already nine because we held back), he still is reading on a beginning 2nd grade level. (I know I shouldn’t use grades, but that is the easiest way to explain where he is). One year behind isn’t bad, but he feels like he can’t keep up with the other twin. Any advice?
Hi Rachel,
Here is a post full of ideas for talking to kids about dyslexia. It is an ongoing conversation. They will need reminders and encouragment over the years.
https://homeschoolingwithdyslexia.com/how-talk-child-dyslexia/
Hi thank you so much for writing this post! My son is 13 yrs old and not doing well in public school, it’s been such a struggle for him for so long, that I’m now at the point where I need to pull him out of school and try home schooling him because it’s so true teachers don’t seem to fully understand or help our kids with dyslexia, instead they just automatically associate them as lazy and dumb! One teacher told my son that he was going to be a nobody or do anything with his life because of his disability, this infuriated me! A lot of teachers are disrespectful and consistently get upset for not being able to complete the work on time like other students. Having IEP seems to really mean nothing to them!.. I’m in California please help.. what are the best home schooling’s for him? He also suffers with insomnia and a slight ADHD so I need something that he can work at his pace not where he is required to be online straight for many hours
Thank you so much for all you do!
Best homeschool curriculum to choose for a second grader who struggles in reading and math? Currently in private school and wanting to make the switch!