DYSLEXIA FRIENDLY
PARENTING
Saturday 11th November 2006
The Playstation, Penrith
A workshop day for parents
and children (7 - 14 years) presented by the South, North and West
Cumbria Dyslexia Associations.
Parent often ask us for help
in supporting their dyslexic children. We hoped this day would provide
some valuable ideas to develop your child's literacy skills,
get through the homework battles and maintain a happy home life.
Workshops
involved children and parents working together, followed by feedback
sessions for parents whilst the children were entertained separately.
Guest speaker was Neil Mackay.
He is an independent consultant and trainer, and is the author of
the Dyslexia Friendly Schools Pack (downloadable from the British Dyslexia
Association website, www.bdadyslexia.org.uk)
From the WCDA, Doris Pearce, Beth Dell, Carol
Dixon and Anne Mackenzie attended the workshops and helped in running
the day.
Anne describes some of the points made during the workshops:
Neil Mackay gave parents and children
plenty to think about on Saturday. He
gave guidance on PAIRED READING with four principles:
- It should be the child’s choice
of book or magazine.
- Both read out loud at the same time.
- The stronger reader reads over
the gaps.
- No teaching, practising, correcting, just
reading for a purpose, or reading for pleasure.
He gave advice on COMPREHENSION ---
read the questions first. Use
colour to highlight as the brain likes colour.
For SPELLING he suggested using Scrabble
letters. Split
the words up and put them together again. Shuffle the letters and make
up the words. Play with the words.
In WRITING the aim is to use your
vocabulary whether you can spell it or not. Big words gain
more marks.
LEARN TO TOUCH TYPE. COMPUTERS
TRANSFORM LIFE FOR A DYSLEXIC CHILD.
There was, of course, much more to the day than that, and I am sure
parents must have felt it was helpful, even if it was hard work!
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