Dyslexia is something I struggled with as a little girl. I found it hard to learn how to read and write. This made me fall behind in class. I remember not being able to spell my name until I was six years old.

My little girl is now struggling to learn how to read and write. Some children in her class could write stories at age 5, when in year 1. The difference between my own child's ability and these other children is huge. All children learn at a different pace. Yet it has affected my little girls confidence. She was not given a part in the school play this year, as part of the audition was to read a written line. Unable to read, the parts were given to children that could.

Learn New Words Dyslexia

School had been giving my little girl extra one to one help with teaching assistants, to help her catch-up. Yet I knew she needed to do more and I knew we had to get back to basics. Making sure that she could read, write and spell 2, 3, 4 letter words. If she could do this, we could build on these foundations.

We started by learning 3 letter words, from the "Rocky Foundations Card". I helped her learn by making sure she could hear, read and see the word. Learn more about how to do this see posts below, containing lots of handy tips.

• How To Teach A Dyslexic Child To Read & Write New Words
• How To Teach Dyslexic Child At Home, Step By Step Guide

Top Tips Learning at Home

The truth is, the first few times we practised at home. Some evenings it worked, others it was absolute chaos. It took a few tries to find out what worked for my little girl. Below are my top tips, from what I learned helping my child. All children are different, it may take a few tries to find out what works with your child.

Top Tips:

• Don't try to do too much. I started trying to do half an hour, every evening. My little girl was just too tired some evenings and would get angry, rip-up her work. Now we do just 10-20 mins, learning just 2-4 words every other evening.
• My youngest child would get jealous that I was spending extra time with my daughter. So would be very disruptive. Now I make sure someone else can play, or let her watch her favourite cartoons.
• We did not learn the 3 letter words on the list, in alphabetical order. Instead I choose words that I knew she would understand, such as "Dog, Tap". Leaving out words like "Act, Jag", that I knew would confuse her.
• Some words my little girl could already read and write. Such as "bag", "hat" and "fan". Other words she could read, then struggle to write.
• When writing the 3 letter words, my little girl would write mirrored letters. Many dyslexic children do this. I would still give her lots of praise for spelling the word correctly.
• Any words she really struggled to write, such as "Ear". I would ask her to rewrite a few times, using the "Practise Writing" Card. Then we would try the word again another evening.

These tips can be used to learn harder words. For more word lists see, "Word Lists".

Help a dyslexic child at home or in the classroom, use "Mooki Cards" below. Complete with 56 cards and storage wallet. Perfect for using at home or in the classroom. Order your "Mooki Cards" here!