How can I support my dyslexic child?

I’m often asked by parents how they can best support their child. It’s a tricky subject — and one I feel keenly myself as a parent supporting two children with dyslexia at home.

I believe support needs to be two-pronged. As parents, we need to acknowledge and support our children’s literacy difficulties so they feel understood and supported. But we also need to celebrate their strengths and successes, helping them experience achievement in areas of life that are not purely academic.

Something else that isn’t talked about enough is the impact dyslexia can have beyond reading and writing. Working memory and processing difficulties can affect everyday life in ways many people don’t realise. Anyone who has ever tried to get an eight-year-old with dyslexia ready for school in a rush will know exactly what I mean! That probably deserves a whole separate blog post.

Below are some of my favourite tips and strategies for supporting literacy skills at home.

Make Reading Enjoyable

Use audiobooks, paired reading (you read a paragraph or page and then they read a paragraph or page), or simply read to your child. Children with dyslexia can sometimes develop language and story skills more slowly because reading takes more effort, which can reduce their exposure to stories and vocabulary.

If your child is studying a particular text at school, it can also help to pre-read or watch adaptations together beforehand. This familiarity reduces cognitive load and builds confidence.

Don’t forget many libraries offer online audiobook loans for free!

Use Low-Pressure Word Games

Incorporate relaxed word games into everyday life — rhyming activities, I Spy, or Hangman can all help develop phonological awareness in a fun and supportive way. As your child grows other word puzzles and board games can help support reading and spelling - any game that incorporates some reading helps and provides more motivation for reading than a (often they don’t notice they’re reading!)

Be mindful of games such as Scrabble that use capital letters on tiles, as this can sometimes add confusion and increase cognitive load.

Make Reading and Writing Functional

Take the pressure away from “school-style” reading and writing by making literacy purposeful and motivating. Shopping lists, recipes, menus, comics, subtitles, and instructions all count as valuable literacy experiences.

At home, try not to overcorrect reading and writing errors. Sometimes errors do need correcting but in other moments, as long as your child is getting their message across, there is no need to point out errors.

Encourage Assistive Technology

Support your child to use alternative ways of recording ideas, such as voice notes, video recordings, or speech-to-text tools.

Teaching children practical skills — like using the dictate function on a tablet or laptop — not only supports literacy now, but also equips them with strategies they can carry forward into adulthood and the workplace.

At the heart of all of this is confidence. Children with dyslexia need opportunities to feel capable, successful, and understood. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s helping them develop the tools and self-belief they need to thrive.

Managing Homework Battles

Homework can often become one of the biggest sources of stress in families of children with dyslexia. Research suggests that parents of children with dyslexia spend significantly more time supporting homework than other families — often several extra hours each week.

It’s important to remember that homework should reinforce learning, not damage confidence or family relationships. If homework regularly leads to tears, frustration, or exhaustion, it may be a sign that the level or format is not appropriate for your child’s needs.

Try to keep communication with school open and collaborative. A clear, two-way dialogue helps teachers understand how long tasks are taking at home and whether adjustments may be needed. In many cases, small changes — reducing the amount of written work, allowing typed or dictated responses, or focusing on quality rather than quantity — can make a huge difference.

Where possible, break homework into manageable chunks and build in movement breaks. Some children also benefit from having a predictable homework routine or using timers to make tasks feel more achievable.

Most importantly, protect your relationship with your child. Not every homework task is worth an evening battle. Sometimes the most supportive thing we can do is recognise when our child has simply reached cognitive overload.