English at KS1 and dyslexia

The National Curriculum for English is statutory in all maintained, mainstream schools up to and including key stage 4. An appropriate version of the curriculum is used in maintained special schools. Key Stage 1 (KS1) covers years 1-2, children aged 5-7 years.

Begin by reading the information on challenges faced by dyslexic children across the curriculum and at all levels, plus the suggestions for inclusion. Additional issues they may face with literacy are:

• Difficulties in remembering the alphabet sequence
• Problems orientating symbols and distinguishing between similar letters such as p, d, b, q
• Difficulty in understanding text. The effort of reading is great and speed of reading is slow so it’s hard to remember what was at the beginning of a sentence
• Problems in remembering directions (left and right)
• Problems telling the time and judging time passed
• Problems processing certain wavelengths of light. This can cause visual perception problems

You can:

• A child with dyslexia will find it difficult to read out loud and it will be a stressful experience. If the child needs to read to the whole class, go through the text with them first, so they are prepared for any unfamiliar words. Read it to the child so they’ll understand the sense when it’s their turn. Support group reading sessions in the same way – try getting everyone to read a section of text together, and then let the dyslexic child have a go. 
• Asses reading level on a one-to-one basis with the child rather than from group reading, otherwise the child may panic and not do their best.
• For reinforcing letter sounds and names use the alphabet arc (letters laid out in rainbow shape from left to right, with m in the middle) to give the child an image of all the letters and gradually build their repertoire.
• Give lots of multisensory input to help them remember and retrieve information correctly. They will need to go over key facts a lot more times than a child without dyslexia. The child’s concentration may not be good, so teach key facts in short, focused sessions and revisit before moving on.
• Help them to invent mnemonics or rhymes to remember facts (‘There’s no hay in they! ‘Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants’ = because).
• Support writing using lined paper (or lined paper beneath plain paper which shows through). See if the child can cope better with paper of a different colour. Pale blue, green and cream or yellow is often much easier for a dyslexic child than white.
• Remind the child of the time they have left for a task, during an assessment and offer support for keeping on track.
• Support reading, with transparent coloured filters. Often children with dyslexia have a photoscopic sensitivity, also known as scotopic sensitivity. This means they are sensitive to certain wavelengths of light, which irritate the visual processing centre of the brain and make it harder to interpret what is seen, leading to issues with reading text, tables, charts and tracking along lines. Filters minimise this effect by blocking out the irritating wavelengths. Some optometrists are trained in assessing for this, so feedback any suspicions about the issue to parents.