The summer break will soon be upon us again. You might think that this is a great time for your child to kick back and take life easy. Here I have outlined 5 reasons why this summer break will be bad for your child and what you can do to ensure your child remains successful.
- Your child will not be able to read as well as they can now when they return to school in September.
Problem: If they have not read a word between leaving school in July and returning in September, then it is common sense that they won’t read as well as they did. This is true for all children, but for a dyslexic child, who takes longer to acquire these skills and loses them more quickly, it is especially true.
If your child is also learning how words are put together through a dyslexia programme, then they will forget all of this by the time they go back to school. This means they will have to go back over old ground rather than moving forward.
Solution: Put time aside each day for your child to read a book they want to, both with you for fun and to you for practice. You could also investigate dyslexia reading programmes which will keep up your child’s knowledge on how words go together ( there are fun programmes out there!). In September, this means they can continue going forward with this knowledge instead of regressing.
- Your child’s vocabulary will not improve.
Problem: If your child spends the holidays on their x-box instead of communicating with real people, then their vocabulary will not improve over the holidays. Vocabulary is an important indicator of how your child will do in exams, so ignore this at your peril.
Solution: Make time to chat with your child and take them out to places which will stimulate discussion and learning. For example, take them somewhere they will find interesting – this could be an historical airfield, local wildlife park or nature reserve. By going to different places, you will be using different language.
Your child could also listen to audio books if they struggle with their own reading skills. Audio books are an ideal way to increase your child’s vocabulary. A struggling reader who reads for 7 minutes per day will add 21,000 new words to their vocabulary according to research by Cunningham and Stanovich.
- Your child’s writing skills will be poorer.
Problem: Your child is unlikely to want to sit down and do any writing. In my experience, dyslexic children absolutely hate writing and will do anything to get out of this. However, if you widen your idea about what writing actually is then you should be able to find activities that your child will willingly engage in.
Solution: Writing is just speech written down but lots of fun activities will need your child to ‘write’ a script. For example, they may love filming so getting your child to make a film about a subject they love can be a way of developing the same skills they need for writing. They will have to think about what they want to say, select the right words to say it and they will have to vary how they start each new spoken sentence. Finally, they will need to make it clear what they are talking about.
If your child likes drawing, then they could make a mind map about a subject which uses a combination of pictures and words. This could be their writing practice. If you want to find out more about mind maps, then looking up Tony Buzan is the way to go.
- Your child may not be able to concentrate and focus on return to school.
Problem: Your child is free to choose how they spend their time. If they struggle with focus and concentration, they may flit between activities or they may only focus on activities they find highly engaging such as computer games.
In a classroom, they have to learn to focus on activities they don’t like doing, as well as on those they do.
Solution: There is a balance to be had between only doing high interest activities and doing those that will help your child. I don’t think you should be a kill joy!
However, as well as making sure they get reading time, you could play card or board games with them. These will also help to ensure your child doesn’t struggle to regain concentration skills when returning to school.
- Your child may lose any organisational and time management skills
Problem: The structure and routine of the day is lost during the school holidays, which is actually the nice bit for both you and your child! But,it can make it a real struggle for your dyslexic child to get back into organising themselves and getting ready on time for school.
Solution: Even if the days are fairly unstructured, you can still get your child to organise their clothes, shoes and bag for your outings rather than doing it for them. You can them aware of the time you are planning to leave the house and give them a ‘5’ minute countdown. The strict routine in September will not then come as a complete shock!
Summer can be bad for a dyslexic child, but with planning and ensuring lots of fun along the way, summer can also be a time for keeping skills up or even improving on them.
Debbie Abraham
Specialist Dyslexia Tutor and owner of Dyslexia Deb. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter
