Dyslexia and Multisensory

Children with dyslexia can be misunderstood in the classroom. They are often thought to be unmotivated or unwilling to try. Children with dyslexia actually have strong visual skills and a well-developed imagination.

The problem lies in the fact that there is a mismatch between how they learn naturally and how they are being taught.

What is hard for them & why they struggle

Children with dyslexia struggle with learning for specific reasons. They don’t learn by listening to a teacher talking, so when they find themselves in a situation that requires learning by listening, they may tune out, act up or push back. They also find it difficult to learn steps to solving a math problem or dealing with sounds and letters (such as when sounding out words when reading). Unfortunately, all the things that are hard for them are the trademarks of traditional education.

The gifts of children with dyslexia & how they learn best

The best way to help a child with dyslexia is to help them understand their giftedness and to teach to their strengths. Children with dyslexia are brilliant visual thinkers and have the potential of imagining far more than they can put into words. Their primary means of learning are through visuals and tactile or kinesthetic activities.

• They learn most easily through hands-on work
• Demonstrations of how something is done (rather than explanations).
• They learn by observing, and they love visual aids.
• Children with dyslexia need to learn to read using a multi-sensory approach rich with visuals.
• They will successfully learn math if they can see and understand what is happening instead of memorizing rules for solving problems.
• They need manipulatives rather than relying on pencil and paper for doing math.
• Memorization is not their friend, but they can learn instantly by snapping a mental picture of content that is embedded in images or other visuals such as charts, graphs, organizers, and more

How we can help

Easy-For-Me™  Teaching Kit, Grades 0-1

Child1st learning resources are ideal for children with dyslexia. Letters, words and other symbols are embedded in visuals, math is hands-on and is designed to show the child what is happening, which is important for the child with dyslexia. Often they can just see a solution in their imagination once they understand the problem. Easy-for-Me™ Reading is fully multisensory – meaning all modalities are stimulated at one time. And our Children’s Readers fully prepare the child to succeed before they attempt to read each title.