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Children with dyslexia can learn to read, but they usually need reading instruction that is explicit, systematic, cumulative, and mastery-based. Start with phonemic awareness and letter sounds, teach phonics in a logical sequence, provide plenty of review, and give your child reading practice that matches the skills you have already taught.

How do I teach my child with dyslexia to read? Is it even possible?

Yes, it is! Children with dyslexia are absolutely capable of becoming successful readers, but many need to be taught differently than children who seem to pick up reading naturally.

If you’re the parent doing the teaching, you may understand that your child needs a different approach but still wonder, “What exactly am I supposed to do?”

That’s what we’re going to look at.

What Is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a language-based learning difference that primarily affects the development of accurate and fluent reading and spelling skills. Children with dyslexia often have difficulty connecting the sounds in spoken language with the letters and letter combinations that represent those sounds in print.

If you’d like to understand dyslexia in more depth, read our guide to what dyslexia is or learn more in A Parent’s Guide to the Neuroscience of Dyslexia. But you don’t need to become an expert on dyslexia before you begin to help your child learn to read.

What Are the Signs of Dyslexia?

Common signs of dyslexia include difficulty hearing and manipulating sounds in words, trouble with rhyming and sound patterns, difficulty connecting letters with sounds, and reading that remains slow and effortful despite consistent instruction.

If you’re wondering whether dyslexia may be contributing to your child’s struggles, see our full list of signs of dyslexia in kids or download our free symptoms of dyslexia checklist. Either way, keep reading. The teaching methods below are an excellent starting point for a struggling reader, whether your child has received a formal diagnosis.

Why Traditional Reading Methods May Not Work for a Dyslexic Reader

Some children notice reading patterns on their own. They remember words after seeing them a few times or intuitively figure out parts of the reading code. Children with dyslexia generally need much more direct instruction.

Approaches such as whole language, balanced literacy, guided reading, and strategies that encourage children to guess unfamiliar words from pictures or context typically do not provide the direct, systematic decoding instruction that struggling readers need. Sometimes even “extra reading help” provides more of the same kind of instruction that wasn’t working in the first place.

A child with dyslexia doesn’t simply need more reading practice. He needs the right kind of reading instruction.

The International Dyslexia Association recommends Structured Literacy for students with dyslexia. Structured Literacy directly teaches the structure of written language, including phonemic awareness, sound-symbol relationships, spelling patterns, and increasingly complex language skills. Just as important is how those skills are taught.

What Does Work? Four Things Every Reading Lesson Needs

Effective reading instruction for dyslexic students has four important characteristics.

1. Instruction Should Be Systematic

2. Instruction Should Be Explicit

3. Instruction Should Be Cumulative

4. Instruction Should Be Mastery-Based

What Does a Reading Lesson Actually Look Like?

This is where many parents get stuck. You know your child needs systematic phonics and plenty of review. But what do you actually do when you sit down together on Monday morning?

A reading lesson doesn’t need to be complicated. Short, consistent lessons are often more productive than occasional marathon sessions. Twenty focused minutes each day can be much more effective than an hour-long lesson that leaves everyone frustrated.

A simple lesson might look like this:

Start with Review

Spend a few minutes reviewing previously learned sounds, phonograms, and words. If your child struggles to remember something you’ve already taught, simply put it back into regular review.

Teach One New Concept

Introduce one new phonogram or phonics concept explicitly. For example, teach that ch represents the /ch/ sound in a word like chip. Show the letters, say the sound, have your child repeat it, and practice with a few words. Keep new teaching focused.

Build Words

Letter tiles allow your child to physically manipulate words while practicing sound-symbol relationships. For example, build map. Have your child touch each tile while saying its sound and then blend the sounds together. Change map to tap, then tap to cap. Your child begins to see that words aren’t arbitrary collections of letters. They contain predictable patterns that can be taken apart and put back together.

Practice Reading

Next, practice the skill in words, phrases, sentences, and eventually stories. Reading material should closely match what your child has already been taught. This is the purpose of decodable reading practice. If you’ve taught short a, don’t hand your child a book filled with unfamiliar phonics patterns that force him to guess. Give him opportunities to successfully decode words using the skills he knows.

High accuracy matters because children need successful reading practice to develop fluency. In other words, practice text should contain mostly words your child can decode using phonics skills that have already been taught. The goal isn’t for your child to read every word fluently before moving on, but to provide enough successful decoding practice that new skills become increasingly accurate and automatic.

Apply the Skill to Spelling

A small amount of spelling, or encoding, can help reinforce a new reading skill by having your child work with the same sound-symbol relationships in the opposite direction. For example, if your child is learning to read words with the short a sound, you might ask her to build a word such as map with letter tiles. You can make this easier by showing your child the word first. Have her say each sound as she pulls down the corresponding tiles and builds the word.

Another option is to provide the needed tiles in scrambled order, draw a blank for each sound, say the word, and have your child arrange the tiles to build it. The goal here is reinforcement, not spelling mastery. Reading and spelling develop at different rates, and spelling is often more difficult for children with dyslexia. Your child does not need to master the spelling of a pattern before moving forward in reading. A brief encoding activity simply gives her another way to practice connecting sounds with the letters that represent them.

What If the Lesson Goes Badly?

Stop and regroup. A difficult lesson doesn’t mean your child can’t learn the skill. Shorten the lesson, return to something he can do successfully, or put the lesson away and try again tomorrow. Consistency matters, but it is also important to protect your child’s confidence and willingness to keep trying.

Where Should You Start?

One of the most common mistakes parents make is starting where their child “should” be instead of where their child is.

Beginning reading skills generally develop in this order:

1. Phonemic awareness
2. Letter-sound relationships
3. Blending sounds into words
4. Short-vowel words
5. Common digraphs such as sh, ch, th, and ck
6. Increasingly complex phonics patterns

Phonemic awareness comes first because your child needs to hear and work with sounds in spoken words before connecting those sounds to print. Once your child knows some letter sounds, begin teaching her to blend those sounds into words.

If your child is older, don’t skip foundational skills because they seem too easy. An older child who cannot reliably blend three sounds needs blending instruction more than he needs grade-level reading material. Start where your child can experience success and build from there. If you’re unsure where that point is, our free reading placement test can help you find the right starting level.

Common Trouble Spots and What to Do About Them

Even with good instruction, dyslexic kids may encounter some predictable difficulties.

Letter Reversals

If your child confuses b, d, p, and q, focus on developing a strong memory for one letter at a time. Use a consistent verbal or visual cue and give your child hands-on practice forming the letter while saying its sound. Our guide to helping children overcome letter reversals includes additional techniques you can try.

Difficulty Blending

Some children can say each individual sound in a word but have difficulty blending those sounds together. Instead of asking your child to go directly from /m/-/ă/-/p/ to map, try cumulative blending. With this four-step procedure, your child says each sound individually, blends the first two sounds together (/mă/), starts again and blends all three sounds (/măp/), and then says the complete word, map, at a normal pace. This extra step between individual sounds and the whole word can make blending much easier, especially for children who have difficulty holding all the sounds in memory at once. For a demonstration and complete instructions, see Helping Kids Sound Out Words.

Slow Sound Recall

If your child knows a phonogram but must stop and think about its sound every time it appears, reading can become slow and tiring. Spend a few minutes regularly reviewing phonograms until the sounds become easier to recall automatically. For extra practice, see How to Teach Phonograms. You’ll find step-by-step instructions for teaching and reviewing phonograms, free printable games for extra practice, and the free Phonogram Sounds App so you and your child can hear the correct pronunciation of each phonogram.

Frustration and Avoidance

Sometimes the biggest problem isn’t phonics. It’s discouragement. Keep lessons short enough to avoid unnecessary frustration. Notice progress. Read wonderful books aloud so your child’s access to stories and information isn’t limited by decoding ability. And remind your child that struggling with reading has nothing to do with intelligence.

Why the Orton-Gillingham Approach Holds Up

Learn more in our complete guide to the Orton-Gillingham approach, or download our free Orton-Gillingham ebook.

What Reading Programs Are Best for Dyslexia?

You don’t need to become a reading specialist to teach your child successfully. A well-designed reading program can provide the lesson sequence, review, teaching instructions, and guidance for you.

Before choosing a reading program for a dyslexic child, ask these five questions:

1. Are practice words grouped according to phonics patterns? Your child should practice words containing the patterns he is learning rather than memorizing unrelated word lists.
2. Is the child encouraged to guess unfamiliar words from pictures or context? Pictures and context support comprehension, but they shouldn’t replace decoding.
3. Does the program follow a clear sequence? You should be able to see which sounds and patterns are taught first and how skills build on one another.
4. Is mastery checked before advancing, with plenty of previous material reviewed? Dyslexic students often need repeated practice before a skill becomes automatic.
5. Does the reading material match the phonics that has already been taught? Children should have opportunities to successfully apply what they have learned.

All About^® Reading and All About^® Spelling meet these criteria and provide a complete path from decoding into spelling. Both programs are lightly scripted, so parents don’t need specialized training. The teacher’s manual shows you what to teach, how to demonstrate the concept, and how to know when your child is ready to move on.

Learn more about our Orton-Gillingham-based reading program for children with dyslexia.

When Should You Get Outside Help?

Many parents successfully teach children with dyslexia to read at home, but some children benefit from additional support. Consider working with a qualified reading specialist or dyslexia tutor if your child is making very little progress despite consistent, appropriate instruction or if reading has become a source of significant frustration.

Ask potential tutors whether their instruction is explicit, systematic, cumulative, and mastery-based. They should also be able to explain how they monitor progress and decide when a student is ready to advance.

Frequently Asked Questions

You Can Teach Your Child to Read

Teaching a child with dyslexia to read may require more patience, repetition, and direct instruction, but you don’t have to figure it all out yourself.

Start where your child is. Teach one concept at a time. Review until it sticks. Give your child plenty of opportunities to successfully use what he has learned.

If you’re looking for an open-and-go approach that incorporates explicit, systematic, cumulative, and mastery-based instruction, learn more about our reading program for children with dyslexia.

Not sure which level your child needs? Use our free placement tests to determine the best place to begin.

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About the Author

Marianne Sunderland is an author, homeschool educator, and trained Orton-Gillingham practitioner with decades of experience teaching and supporting children with dyslexia and other learning differences. She combines professional training with extensive real-world experience helping parents understand how struggling learners learn best.

References

¹ International Dyslexia Association. (2020). “Effective Reading Instruction for Students with Dyslexia.” International Dyslexia Association.
² International Dyslexia Association. (2020). “Structured Literacy: Effective Instruction for Students with Dyslexia and Related Reading Difficulties.” International Dyslexia Association.
³ Foorman, B., et al. (2016, revised 2019). “Foundational Skills to Support Reading for Understanding in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade.” What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
⁴ Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. “What Is the Orton-Gillingham Approach?”