The New School Year with the Dyslexic in Mind

August 8, 2024
A group of children are sitting on the floor in a classroom with their arms in the air.

Here we are again! Another school year. 

 

Maybe you have been diligently planning for the new year and you are excited about what you will be teaching. Maybe you’ll be teaching subjects that aren’t your favorite parts of school curriculum. Every year is different, and it’s up to you as the teacher to try to make things as exciting as possible. Excitement is contagious. In my 46 years of education experience, I know that if I’m excited about a subject, my students will be also (or at least more excited than they would have been if they knew how I really felt about a specific topic). I have come to realize that when I feel inadequate teaching a specific topic, it’s hard to be enthusiastic about teaching it. The solution is to learn all you can about the subject (time permitting) so that your confidence level grows in that area.

 

If you are a home school parent and have been struggling to get your children excited about learning, or if your children attend public or private school, here are some tips to bring a little excitement to the new year. These tips are a result of experience within my own family with a dyslexic daughter.

 

#1 Take your child school supply shopping. There is a 2 to 3 week window when supplies are very inexpensive ( if anything is inexpensive this year), depending on grade level. I would usually try to purchase enough to last the entire year if I could afford it, because the rest of the year the same supplies could cost 4 times as much.

 

My dyslexic daughter found that if she color-coded her supplies to match her classes (grades 7-12) it helped her stay organized. Each subject had its own color spiral notebook and folder.

 

#2 Let your child make their own choices, as appropriate, for things such as backpacks, lunch boxes, and other needed things that are optional on the supply list.

 

#3 Pick out new clothing, as needed, that will last longer than a couple of months. Make sure whatever is chosen is comfortable. Uncomfortable clothing is a distraction for many children and will hinder learning. Remember how we feel as adults when we wear something that doesn’t fit quite right. It can be miserable and our attention is focused on the misery.

 

#4 If you are a homeschool parent, consider making a rough schedule for teaching each subject. Many of you have probably already done this, but after talking to several homeschool parents, I have found that there seems to be the very organized ones, and then those who teach a subject in a haphazard way. Unfortunately, lack of meaningful structure makes it easy to fall behind.

 

My favorite way to structure a day when doing classroom teaching was to always put math first. Students seemed to grasp concepts easier the earlier in the day. We completed our morning with reading and other language arts. Afternoons were reserved for science, history, computers, and art.

 

I also tried to make sure that the lessons were a variety of hands-on learning methods and book learning. The goal is to use as many senses as possible so what is being taught sticks. Whenever possible, the homeschooling parent has the option of doing a field trip. This is a good incentive for completing other work on schedule so there is time to go on an adventure.

 

Remember: More learning takes place when a student is happy and enjoying what they are studying, so it’s important to get rid of any hinderances to learning that you can, and enjoy the day yourself.

Ten Things to Help Your Child Be Prepared to Learn

August 6, 2025
Do you remember the beginning of each school year when you were young? I do! I loved school, or at least elementary and junior high. High school was not as much fun because of all of the drama probably due to raging hormones. During the summers, as kids, we would play school. Actually, it was a good thing. It helped us remember our math skills, and kept us reading throughout the summer. I’m of the age that home computers did not exist yet, and you were lucky if you had a wall phone without a party-line (when you share your phone line with someone else because there weren’t enough lines to go around). Obviously, we didn’t have cell phones to distract us. We played some of the standard games of that time period like Monopoly and Scrabble, but mostly we made up our own games to play outside. But today is much different. Hopefully our children are still excited about a new school year, but our children today face challenges that did not exist when I was in school. We have technology in most classrooms that can either be a huge blessing or for some a curse. But regardless of how our classrooms are structured, either at school or at home (for homeschool families), one thing remains the same, our children are there to learn. We, as the adults in the room, need to bring structure and the cohesiveness needed for the best learning outcomes. So, here are 10 things that parents can do to help their children be prepared to learn? Make sure they have enough school clothes that fit so that they are not self-conscious about how they look. If you can only afford one week’s worth of clothes that’s okay. Laundry can be done on the weekend, and the order in which they wear their clothes or the way they pair shirts and pants can change for new combinations. Get the most important school supplies ahead of time and have them in their backpack. Other supplies can be purchased as needed. (In many places the two or three weeks before school starts, all school supplies are really cheap comparatively, so if you can afford it, it’s nice to stock up on what you know will be needed.) Have a plan for an easy, healthy, high-protein, low-sugar breakfast they can eat each morning. If they take lunch, it’s helpful to fix it the night before and put it in the refrigerator to eliminate a lot of morning stress. Make sure homework or anything else that needs to go to school the next day is in the backpack the night before. Arrive at school a little early, so they won’t feel embarrassed by walking in late. You want them to get off to a good calm start every day. In the evenings, talk about what your child learned that day. Ask appropriate questions about each subject. If they need help, it’s okay to help them. Children learn in all different ways. Sometimes they may need some input from you to be able to do the assignment. If you feel they are struggling in school in general, schedule an appointment to meet with the teacher right away. If it’s just one subject that’s hard for them, I would personally schedule an appointment to meet with the teacher. Most teachers want to know if there is a struggle, so they can meet that individual need. Be aware of what your child is learning in school. If you have questions, ask the teacher, but don’t be a “helicopter” parent. The best place to do homework for a younger child is the dining room table. It helps them stay on track, and it lets you know what they should be learning. Actually, in my home we all did homework at the dining room table all the way through high school. It eliminates isolation and provides immediate help when needed. Happy New School Year!
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