Should I get a dyslexia tutor for dd over the summer

[LEMmingaround]

She is 8 and will be going into year 5.

She has just had ed psych assessment paid for by the school and she has an a official diagnosis.

I dont really know how to help although she is making progress I don't want to lose momentum over the holidays.

Have booked her into a dyslexia "club" after school starting in September.

The trouble is im not sure we can really afford 1:1 at £35 an hour every week. Do you think she would benefit from fotnighy sessions and then maybe work with me on stuff ( typically whilst she is a good girl and will do anything for her teachers she is pretty stubborn and will resist doing stuff with me). Or would she not get the benefit of it only every other week?

SocialMediaAddict how did you find your tutor?

If you can possibly afford it, do it.

I am dyslexic and only reached a decent level thanks to plenty of late primary/early secondary level intervention.

The library reading challenge as suggested up thread won't be hugely useful. What your DD needs are strategies and practice with someone who knows how to help her.

+1 for short sessions. Likely your DD will tire easily so frequent and short is better.

Found some dyslexia friendly nooks at watersones today but they were aimed at teens. So thought id look for them on Amazon. Can I remember the publishers bloody name?? Of course not! ! It was sonething beginning with b and stokes....anyone heard of these?

Barrington Stoke?

Barrington Stoke have some great books.

You can get books aimed at their actual age and reading age so they aren't suffering with 'baby' books.

I'd suggest reading, reading and more reading. Read anything and everything so her brain can make those connections and she can foster a love of books.

Also, if she's wanting to read something a bit beyond her, I'd suggest doing alternate pages so you read one and she reads the next, just to keep the story flowing and the interest up.

Thats it!!! I am going to take her to watersones at the weekend so she can choose. If not ill look to amazon :)

No experience re dyslexia but maybe a friend could help if a tutor is too pricey... I know my children struggle to concentrate when its me getting them to do homework. However if I swap with a friend they are good as gold. And likewise for the friend's DC. Children often pay attention to any grown up except their parents

Good luck.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say no to the tutor.

I agree with lots of reading, that will help but I would wait on the tutor until a week or two before the new term. Things like organisational skills and learning strategies she needs to be at school to put in to practice what has been advised.

Some people don't like to read for reading's sake (I struggle to understand them, but I know it happens) if she is like this then books about doing things have their place, things like cook books or how to make something books.

Something like her baking a cake will test her reading and also stimulate other senses (there is some theoretical stuff but for me I know I learn better when I have more senses stimulated), she might think she is baking a cake with minimal supervision, you know she is reading, from the book, reading the scales / measurements reading the temp on the oven.

Sassh are you basing that on having dyslexia/a child with dyslexia?

My daughter is severely dyslexic, only discovered when she was 13 but I would advise letting your little girl have a break from structured learning during the holiday, she will have to work twice as hard all term to keep up especially if she has been I diagnosed til now, let the poor girl have a holiday. My daughter is very successful now as a 20year old and I never gave her extra tuition after school or during the holidays. She will keep her brain active without structured learning for 6 weeks, she is dyslexic that is something she will have to live with for ever, let her learn some coping strategies herself, and let the school do the teaching, leave teaching out of your precious relationship.

Happy - that is exactly how I have felt and the reason why I have never pushed any extra learning on to her. But I am worried that we haven't done enough. I am erring towards no tutor (partly due to lack of finances) but will do the reading thing at the library and see how that goes.

It may be worth discussing it all with the actual tutor and see what they think.

One of the most intelligent people I know is dyslexic and has no formal education but dies very well career wise.

NynaevesSister

Basing it on being dyslexic - which I know does not make me an expert.

I'm also a teacher and have a couple of friends who are dyslexic.

I have strategies I use myself which if I had heard someone mention it I'd think, 'good idea I'll try that' and then completely forget about it.

Eg one of my strategies is that I get my bag ready for work and I put my bag and anything I'm taking with me across the front door so I cannot physically get out of the door without picking them up. If it is something that I can't leave there, like something in the fridge then there is a post it note on the door.

Also I agree with happy let her have a break.

I would be careful of overload especially after school because dyslexics have to work so much harder than others at school and get very tired.
You can get a packet of 10 mixed colour overlays on the Internet (plain window reading rulers) to see if a particular colour helps. If school only tried blue it may just have been the wrong colour.
Try Oxford owl as a free resource for over 250 e books that have audio. Listening to the books while following along will help fluency.
Talk to school - they must have had quite a concern to get EP in. What interventions are they putting in place to support her? What do they suggest you do to support at home?
Check quals of any 'specialist' teacher you are thinking of using. They should have had additional specialist training.

Thanks Sashh. I do think it counts more if you have personal experience though - it is immensely helpful to hear the strategies other people use.

I am going to not do the tutor. We took dd to watersones yesterday and bought her a Barrington stoke book. She loves it. So am going to focus just on reading for pleasure (which is what I want for her more than anything). No pressure - the handwriting can wait. It needs to be fun. Then hopefully dyslexia club will work out well in the new term.