Dyslexia Awareness Week: activities to support children who learn differently

It’s Dyslexia Awareness Week and here at The Treehouse Club we are proud to have our own team of SEN keyworkers who help support little ones who need a bit of extra help when it comes to their learning journey with us. But how can parents help support children with Dyslexia at home? Well, aside from seeking professional help where applicable, there are also lots of fun activities that you can try, the following of which are all designed with learning through play in mind…

Activities for helping with fine motor skills

Fine motor skills are necessary for the activities that involve smaller movements in wrists, hands and fingers, and something that some little ones with Dyslexia can struggle with, so how about trying;

Easy crafts activities using different materials including play dough, natural resources (leaves, twigs, etc), paper, cardboard, etc, and then help them whip up pictures, paintings, models or maybe even some conker spiders.
We love colouring books and whether your child uses crayons, pencils or paints, it’s all good practice when it comes to those fine motor skills.
Get busy open and closing jars or bottles, buttoning and zipping clothing and, that all important life skill, tying shoelaces.
Beading, sewing, knitting, weave boards… they’re all perfect tools for fine motor skills.

Activities for helping with phonics and word building

Start small and use short words – cat, mat, rat, etc – that are easy to pronounce, and up the fun ante by getting them to write the words in sand, dirt, foam or cutting letters out of cardboard or paper. Play dough is also good for making letters from – and counts towards fine motor skills too! Writing letters on Lego bricks, stones or bottle lids also works. By helping your child build simple words, you are also helping them to spell, learn how the letters look and become more aware of phonological awareness and pronunciation.

Activities for helping with working memory

Children with dyslexia can often have differences in the way their working memories are created, and it’s often hard for them to retain the image of letters, match them with sounds and correctly pronounce or read the word out loud. Activities to help with this include:

Riddles;
Crosswords;
Alphabet based jigsaw puzzles;
Simple word searches;
Playing board games;
Listening to and then repeating short stories;
Following instructions such as creating a particular play dough animal or building a certain coloured Lego tower.

Activities to help with being organised

School readiness is a big part of our curriculum here at The Treehouse Club, and being organised is a skill that we all need, grown ups and children alike. Get them involved in activities around the home such as;

Helping to sort the laundry;
Pairing socks (where DO all the odd socks go?!);
Helping to put away dishes;
Setting the table for dinner;
Organising their cuddly toys;
Organising their craft box into specific categories;
Learning to tell the time.
Helping to write a family schedule.

All the above will help not just children with Dyslexia, but all children, and, if you are worried that your child may have Dyslexia, let me tell you this. My 19-year-old son has Dyslexia and he just left college with three A-levels and is about to start the career he had his sights set on from when he was small. Of course there were moments where I worried, especially in those early days after his diagnosis, but, with the right support and guidance he’s not only done well, he’s done exceptionally well. It’s not stopped him doing anything he wanted to do, it just meant that sometimes he had to approach the task at hand in a different way. And different is ALWAYS okay. You’ve got this, parents, and your little ones have too, and if you are looking for a fully inclusive preschool setting in the Essex countryside, do get in touch today to find out more.