Dyslexia Tuition

Not all the children I tutor are aiming for independent schools or grammar schools, they just want to be helped to process words so that they can enjoy their time at school and to be able to sit down with a book and turn the pages because they can read the text like everyone else.

Maths

Having been trained to teach Dyslexic children and adults to read and spell and write more effectively it is perhaps odd that I find myself currently teaching mathematics to children and teenagers, as well. But this came about quite naturally as some children with Dyslexia have real difficulty recalling integral steps in mathematical problems. In 2009 I took the plunge and signed up for a Maths course at the Open University. The course was really good fun and fascinating in that it gave me a better understanding of the underlying structure of mathematics. My aim now when teaching pupils how to approach mathematical problems is to explain the underlying reasoning required to solve specific problems so that they fully understand what is happening so that the integral steps involved make sense. Pupils are often in a ‘brain fog’ in relation to computing numbers and slowly building their confidence in their own ability to work with numbers is key to their future success. Many children and young people struggle to learn the times tables and feel totally defeated by maths because the numbers involved are fundamental aspects of so many aspects of maths such as, lowest common denominators, algebraic equations and finding factors and so much more. So rather than avoiding this issue, I make it a key part of all maths sessions, and children are never more pleased than when they can recall the perennially awkward ones, such as: 7 x 8 and 9 x 6… which one’s 56? Which one’s 54? Tip: The answer that adds up to 9, 54, is 9 x 6.