Best Free Homeschool Resources For Dyslexia
Homeschooling alone has its challenges, but what if your child needs some extra attention? A child with dyslexia may need that extra attention. Where would you go to get homeschool resources for children with dyslexia and for those who are on a tight budget, are there any out there for free?
Over the past two years, homeschooling has become more and more popular. The COVID pandemic first made it necessary, then, as things began to head back toward normal, many parents decided to keep their children at home to learn. Homeschooling alone has its challenges, but what if your child needs some extra attention? A child with dyslexia may need that extra attention. Where would you go to get homeschool resources for children with dyslexia and for those who are on a tight budget, are there any out there for free?
Orton-Gillingham For Dyslexia Homeschoolers
Many homeschool resources for kids with dyslexia are based on the Orton-Gillingham curriculum. While not all of them are free, they are often highly regarded. If you are unfamiliar with who those two are, they are Dr. Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham. Dr. Norton, a neuropsychiatrist, over a century ago spent time conducting research on children who had language processing troubles. His determination to help these children led him to Gillingham, who at the time was a teacher also determined to help her students read. Together, Orton and Gillingham developed a structured literacy approach that helped students overcome their reading deficiencies due to dyslexia.
Today, the Orton-Gillingham method is highly regarded as a method for homeschool with dyslexia. It is structured, completely step-by-step, repetitive, and multisensory in its approach toward dyslexia. What this means is that when using the Orton-Gillingham approach, the child will be learning to read, but will do so by learning each reading skill individually.
The Pride Reading Program offers a link to the free Orton-Gillingham Introduction Course. You can find that here. You can also see a sample of the Orton-Gillingham Introduction Course and how it might work for your homeschooler with dyslexia. In the video, the tutor teaches the lesson using multi-sensory activities.
Multisensory activities are when the student uses their sensory pathways – auditory, visual, and tactile. For example, if a student is learning the vowel “e”, they may first look at a picture of an Apple. They would then close their eyes and listen to the sound. While listening, they trace the letter in the air while speaking the vowel out loud. Combining the three – listening, looking, and moving – allows the student an impression of the vowel that will take hold and last.
While this Introduction Course video is a free resource for homeschooling kids with dyslexia, the remainder of the course does have a price tag. Nevertheless, it is one of the best programs available. Countless children have benefited from this program.
Best Homeschool Pay Programs For Dyslexia
The Orton-Gillingham curriculum isn’t the only program designed to help those with dyslexia. These next few are highly recommended, but they aren’t free for homeschoolers with dyslexia. They come with a price tag. Reading Horizons is one that will provide the homeschooler with software and direct instruction materials to help children learn to read.
While it also isn’t a free dyslexia homeschool program, another very beneficial resource is called the Reading Kingdom. This program is designed for children who have already been diagnosed with dyslexia. The system is set to teach children a range of skills vital to reading.
Time4Learning Online Curriculum is one more dyslexia homeschool program that will greatly benefit children with dyslexia. It isn’t a free homeschool course, but it is a great option. It is designed for students of all ages, from pre-K through high school, and features animated lessons and interactive activities. Its curriculum specifically addresses children with special learning needs.
Best FREE Homeschool Resources For Kids With Dyslexia
All those above dyslexia homeschool recommendations come with a price tag attached, so what are the best free homeschool resources? The first one is called Alphabet Letter Activity Sheets. These activity sheets will help your child memorize letters and sounds. To do so, each letter will have a phrase and image your child will see and hear. For supporting activities, click on the letter.
Another free dyslexia homeschool resource comes from the Proactive Parent. It is called Diagnose Dyslexia and it begins by providing resources to help you assess your child for dyslexia. This resource provides an informal assessment for spelling designed for primary and elementary students. It also has assessment tools for testing children in grades kindergarten through second grade. The site also explains why you, as a parent, should not wait to intervene if you think your child may be dyslexic.
Dyslexia Daily is another free resource for parents who are homeschooling a dyslexic child. The site is run by Liz Dunoon, and she has a lot of experience with children with dyslexia as her three children all have been diagnosed with it. She has since authored four books and offers numerous tips, ideas, resources, and programs to help your efforts in homeschooling.
Even More Resources
There are plenty of other resources available for those who wish to homeschool a child with dyslexia. The beauty of all of them is that there is so much information on how to best go about it, that you will immediately know you are not alone in your desire to help your child. Here is one more link to All About Learning Press that offers a few more free resources.
What Is Dyslexia Really?
The official definition from the Mayo Clinic says that “dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding).” This disorder affects a part of the brain that processes language.
Because it is considered a reading disorder, people tend to think it also affects intelligence. This is not true by a long way. People with dyslexia are of normal intelligence and have a normal vision as well. Most children, and adults for that matter, can succeed in school and life with tutoring or specialized help. So it makes sense that parents would want free homeschool resources for kids with dyslexia. It’s the best way to help your child.
You will not find a cure for dyslexia. What will help is recognizing it early on so assistance can be given. Oftentimes dyslexia will go undiagnosed, and it isn’t until adulthood that a person understands that they are dyslexic. Fear not, though, it is never too late to get assistance.
