Reading and Literacy Strategies
- Phonics instruction.
Children with learning disabilities often have difficulty learning to read. The most effective way to teach reading to children with learning disabilities is through systematic phonics-based instruction and helping them to comprehend the meaning of what they read. Focusing on both phonics and comprehension gives children with disabilities the tools they need to decode new words and read independently
- Multi-sensory instruction.
Children with learning disabilities learn best when they use many of their senses to get information. Multi-sensory instruction allows the child to see, hear, touch, and act out words. For example, to learn letters children may read the printed letter, say the letter name, shape the letter out of clay, trace the letter onto paper, and form their bodies into the shape of the letter.
- Promote Learning At Home.
- Make reading fun — let your child pick things she wants to read.
- Read aloud to your child regularly. Read picture books, story books, poems, etc.
- Help your child pick books to look at or read alone. Ask his teacher for help in knowing your child's independent reading level.
- Play games and use activities to practice literacy skills, such as letter sound and rhymes. (Visit the PBS Parents Reading and Language site for more activity ideas.)
- Point out and use cues that your child sees every day, such as an envelope with your address on it, directions to a party, or the words and pictures on a cereal box.
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