How do you help your dyslexic children to revise?

[ThumbTowers]

My son is in Yr8, so things are stepping up a gear in terms of frequency and duration of tests. He's choosing his gcse options now, so gcses are feeling closer. His dyslexia means that his ability to read through large volumes of information and distill them into notes/flashcards to revise from is limited. It's painfully slow. At the moment, I am having to revise with him and act as a scribe for the flashcards/notes. I can see this will need to continue. Are there any methods that can help him to revise as he moves towards gcses? Any resources that we can tap in to? The sheer volume of information to process and remember for science, for example, is huge and seems like an impossible mountain to climb.

Dc has dyslexia (is an adult now) things that helped pass GCSEs were watching films for english literature, history etc even if not 100% the same they helped dc picture the story. Also comic book strip books of english literature texts. Dc didnt ever read one of the english lit books (moved schools so was suppose to read it on own) but got better marks than many in class.
Watch you tube videos for maths, science etc (some teachers will recomended useful ones).
Find out how they learn best. Dc had teachers that insisted on flashcards which were useless, I had it written in to care plan that we used mind maps with pictures.
Use the next two years as learning how to revise/whats best/ask senco to trial things in exams so you can decide whats needed for gcses and put that into action so you have the relevant improvement

DS is very dyslexic and using visual methods of learning worked well for us. Like you, I had to provide a lot of support all the way to GCSE, but less so now he is at A-level. We used Seneca for science (which is free) and that was really helpful. It provides a very engaging format. We also did lots of 'ten minute' chunks to review information e.g. he/we would learn something over the weekend and then I would quiz him on it when we drove to school. I basically learned all of his English set works with him, and then helped him remember key points, helped him build up a paragraph and then helped him link the paragraphs together into an essay. It was hard work! Now using Uplearn for A levels, which we have had to pay for, but it gives him the chance to review material over and over again, which is helpful for him. There are lots of alternative options online, but these are the ones that worked for us.

You can make flash cards to help them remember facts.
https://quizlet.com/features/flashcards

You can also make flash cards and games on Wordwall, although you have to pay a monthly subscription. I believe it has a wider range of themes and games than Quizlet however, and you can try a few freebies first.
https://wordwall.net/

Thanks for your replies.

He's definitely a visual learner, and someone who learns by talking things through, so I think you tube videos etc would be good. I just need to find some good quality, reliable ones that cover his exam boards.

School have access to Seneca, so will definitely explore this more for science. Particularly if they present anything in video/visual format rather than having to read things. I've been helping him revise for a Science test this weekend and I dislike science anyway, so some of the physics concepts in particular go over my head and I fear I am confusing him rather than helping!

I'll explore the online flashcards, they might reduce my stress levels at least! I have bought some of the CPG revision flashcards already.

Dyslexic DS is doing his GCSEs this year. We've given up on flashcards, they do nothing for him. Cognito, Seneca, all those online tools work well for him. He learns a huge amount of the content via video and youtube. This app has been particularly helpful for science https://www.keycardsrevision.co.uk/

But tbh what's actually helping him most in this final year is doing past papers, the more questions he practices in their actual format the better he gets at them.

Worth adding that in Yr8 I had no idea how he would manage, but it is all coming together now slowly, so stick at it!

You should be able to access many ready-made flashcards on both Quizlet and Wordwall in your child’s subject if you’re short of time to make some.

Also, you could try mind mapping. Tony Buzan is a leader in this field and there are many second-hand copies of his books to be had on Amazon etc at very good prices. I suggest looking at his ‘Mindmaps for Kids’.

Does he find drawing mind maps or timelines help? Or even drawing pictures? Or as others have suggested BBC bite size.

What helps him learn how to spell words, as that might give you a clue to what type of learner he is?

Thanks again. I think videos etc are going to be helpful so I'll start digging out useful sources if I can find them (not 100% sure hiw reliable some of the YouTube content is!). I do have the mind maps book. I'm not sure how useful he finds them. He never naturally draws one of his volition and I can't quite get my own head around how they can help remember the details needed for something like a science topic, but that might be because my learning style differs.

With regard to spelling. There is no real way he seems to learn them, other than constant repetition. Then they are forgotten again after a few weeks of not going over them. I am finding this with maths even, he can't hold the concept of units of time or measurement or definitions of things as his memory for some things is so poor e.g he can't remember that there are 1000ms in a km or 52 weeks in a year. I think I will have to stick posters up to go over these regularly.

I'm absolutely dreading gcses and really envy my friends who have kids that don't need such support. Oh, the free time they must have!

Don't overthink spelling - even in English, spelling doesn't matter as much as ideas and vocab.

Get him to record the notes on his phone and then he can play it back and not have to stare at cards. He can record the term or whatever and then pause for a fews secs and then say the answer. He can pause after listening to the term and then try to recall the answer then listen to it. It's more effective if he can do with a friend and they record them for each other.

Dyslexia can make science particularly challenging, especially with the amount of reading and the way questions are worded.

What often helps is breaking content down into smaller steps, using visuals where possible, and focusing on understanding key ideas rather than relying heavily on written explanations.

It can also be useful to practise how to approach exam questions, as wording can be a big barrier even when the student understands the science.

I’m a Head of Science and I also run a small tuition setup supporting students who need more structured, tailored support—happy to share more if helpful.

@ThumbTowersyou are an amazing parent to give your child so much support. He is lucky to have you.

I drew cartoons. I can still picture some of them from.gcses 20 years later.