Recognising Dyslexia in Children and Teenagers

If you are finding that your child is struggling at school or finding it hard to keep up with their classmates, there may be a few contributing factors- including dyslexia. As the signs and symptoms of dyslexia differ from person to person, it can sometimes be difficult to recognise. Here at Tutor Doctor we want to raise awareness of dyslexia as well as explain the symptoms in more detail so that you know what to look out for if you’re concerned. The sooner dyslexia is identified, the sooner your child can start getting the additional help they need and start learning in a way that best suits their needs.

What is dyslexia?
Put simply dyslexia is a learning disorder that makes it tricky for students to read, write, recognise words and symbols and interpret words.  It is one of the most common learning disorders, affecting around 80% of all students with learning disabilities.  

How can I recognise dyslexia?

Speech 
Delayed speech: If your child has delayed speech development compared to other children in their year group this may indicate they are suffering from dyslexia.
Pronunciation Problems: It is also common for dyslexic children to have difficulty pronouncing words or sounds especially the letters R, L, M and N. Jumbling phrases such as ‘heciloter’ or ‘beddy tear’ can also suggest your child is having trouble with pronunciation.  
Difficulty Talking Out loud: Children that have dyslexia can sometimes have problems expressing themselves out loud. For example they may not be able to remember the right word to use in a certain context or put sentences together correctly.

Writing
Trouble copying work: Some children that are dealing with dyslexia may have difficulty interpreting words and symbols or have issues copying work down correctly from the board or a textbook.
Muddled words and letters: Sometimes dyslexic suffers can have trouble learning letters and find it hard to understand the order that they appear in a word. This can often result in them mixing up the order of letters when writing out words.
Other things to look out for:

• Inconsistent/Unpredictable spelling
• Writing letters/figures the wrong way round
• Slow writing
• Poor handwriting

Reading
Trouble recognising words: If you are noticing that your child reads very slowly and has trouble recognising words, it may be worth keeping a close eye on their reading abilities.
Disparity between reading and learning: You may see that your child learns very quickly in areas such as practical based subjects but falls behind in lessons that are heavily text/reading related.
Visual Disturbances: It is very common for children with dyslexia to describe letters and words as seeming to move around the page or appear blurry and un-readable.
Other areas to look out for:

• Trouble learning the names and sounds of letters
• Making errors when reading aloud
• Reading slowly
• Difficulty recognising rhyming words

Maths
Maths problems: Dyslexia isn’t restricted to reading and writing. Maths can often be another subject where children with dyslexia have difficulty, as symbols and numbers can be just as difficult to read and understand as letters. If you are having concerns make sure you keep an eye on all of your child’s subjects that involve any text or numbers.
Other Areas 

• Some Dyslexic children don’t establish a dominant side until much later on in life.
• They may also struggle to tell the difference between left and right and can be clumsy.

Recognising in teens/adults
Dyslexia doesn’t only affect children; teenagers and adults may also be struggling with it too. Here are some signs that they may be suffering from this learning disability.

• Trouble planning and writing essays
• Problems revising for examinations
• Avoiding reading/writing
• Poor spelling
• Difficulties meeting deadlines
• Poorly organised written work with lack of expression

How can I help my child?
If you think that your child may have dyslexia or you are concerned about their progress/learning at school, it’s imperative that you talk to their teacher or tutor. They will be able to provide them with additional learning resources, one-on-one learning and in some cases extra time on assignments or exams.
If you find that teacher/tutors have ongoing concerns about your child’s dyslexia, it may be worth visiting your family GP just in case there are any other underlying problems that are affecting their learning abilities.

Easy ways to help your kids practice maths at home

At school maths can be a tricky subject for many kids to understand and practicing it at home is the last thing on their minds, especially when they’ve spent the afternoon learning algebra. Here at Tutor Doctor we know how important it is to practice learning outside of school, especially with topics that are a little bit more difficult to understand. We’ve come up with a whole bunch of easy ways that you can practice maths at home with your children and have some fun with numbers!

Estimate the cost of your weekly food shop
Get your kids involved in the weekly food shop by encouraging them to estimate the cost of your all of the items in your trolley. It is a really fun way to get your kids counting, adding up, but most importantly having some fun with maths! What’s great about this idea is that you can encourage your children to take part anywhere. If you’re going out for lunch- why not get them to estimate the bill, or if it’s time to give out their weekly lunch money- see if they can work out how much lunch allowance they will get for the whole month.

Baking/Cooking
Maths is hidden is so many different activities- even cooking and baking. Why not get your kids to weigh out and measure the ingredients next time you bake a batch of brownies or cook a roast dinner? It’s a super easy way to familiarise them with counting, different measurements and timings. We bet they won’t even realise they’re practicing maths because they’ll be having too much fun getting messy and waiting for the yummy results!

Real life problem solving using maths
There’s no better way for your kids to practice maths at home than by solving real life problems. Here are just a few ideas of problems you might want to encourage them to tackle.

• Work out how long your child will need to save their allowance in order to buy a particular item
• Determine the number of miles driven in X hours
• How long it will take to drive home going X mph?

Everyday activities
There are loads of easy everyday activities that you can practice with your kids on a daily basis.

• Practicing times tables – check with your child or their teacher/tutor which times tables you could help them with. There are quite a few fun times tables posters that are always a great addition to a bedroom wall!
• Telling the time using digital and analogue clocks
• Making and organising packed lunches, including equal sharing of fruit, biscuits, sandwiches and drinks.
• More helping at the supermarket! Get the kids to weigh out your fruit and veggies. You could even ask them to help you find and compare prices of items such as cereal or jam to help you pick the ones that are the best value for money!

Maths Apps
We know parents can get busy too, so if you don’t have a lot of free time, there are some wonderful apps that your children can use to help them practice their maths skills and have fun at the same time. Have a read of some of the learning apps we recommend here.

How can Tutor Doctor help?
If you find that your child is struggling with maths more than they should be, perhaps a private tutor would be beneficial.
Here at Tutor Doctor we offer an affordable, one-on-one home tutoring service that works around you. We provide all of our students with an education that is tailored to suit their academic abilities, learning style and personality. Our aim is to help your child reach their goals and beyond.

Ways to help your child go up a grade during the summer break

The summer holidays are the ideal time for students to take a break from studying and relax. However, with recent studies showing that up to two months’ worth of academic abilities can be lost during the summer, it’s vital to keep your kids brains active and learning. Here at Tutor Doctor we know how important it is that your children retain their academic gains, which is why we’ve put together some ways to help them stay ahead and maybe even move up a grade by the time the new school term arrives!

Dedicate just a few hours a week
Keeping your child’s grades up during the summer doesn’t mean they have to study every day. Dedicating just a couple of hours per week is more than enough time to retain their academic gains from the previous semester and even go up a grade! Do this by encouraging them to spend time completing homework and summer projects, doing practice tests or just reading over subject notes. There are also a wide range of apps that kids can play on and learn at the same time. See our top educational apps here.

Enjoy Learning
Schoolwork during the holidays doesn’t need to be boring. One of the most enjoyable ways to learn is by reading. Whether this is magazines, comics, books or blogs; it’s all great practice.  You could even get the kids to keep a summer journal, documenting their day-to-day activities, which will help keep up their writing skills. Alternatively, why not get your child to take part in the Tutor Doctor summer reading challenge? Find out more information on our website– they could even start the challenge with one of our four must-read books for teens this summer!

Get the whole family involved
Get the whole family involved in learning by planning an educational trip to a museum, zoo, historical site or somewhere where they can discover new information but have fun at the same time.  For some great ideas head over to the Visit England site and check out their family holidays section.

Get a Tutor!
A really easy way to keep your child’s brain working over the summer holidays is to invest in a private tutor for a couple of hours a week- it really can make all the difference.
Here at Tutor Doctor we offer an affordable, one-on-one home tutoring service that is tailored to suit your child’s abilities, learning style and personality. More importantly we aim to help students grow into independent learners as well as teach them key X-skills such as organisation and time management that will be sure to stay with them when they enter adulthood.  Find out more about our programmes here.

Use this Summer Holiday to Get Ahead of the Curriculum

The summer is a great time for students to take a rest from their busy schedules. And while this is good for them, their lack of learning over the summer leads to a phenomenon known as summer learning loss. The National Summer Learning Association at Johns Hopkins University in America found that students lose as much as two months of reading and maths ability they gained from the previous term over the summer holidays.

Not only do students lose skills over the summer, they also waste four to six weeks at the beginning of the new term trying to catch up. If your student utilises just a couple of hours a week to brush up on their maths and reading abilities, they will not only retain the academic gains they made over the previous term, they will also be able to move ahead. This is especially helpful for those students who are struggling to keep up.

Learning can be Fun

You don’t have to do serious schoolwork to keep their brains sharp over the summer. Get your student to read books they actually enjoy. Buy books, order them online or borrow them from the library. Encourage reading, no matter what form that takes. If your student is more interested in manga, anime, comics and magazines, that can be a good source of practice too.

You can also practice other kinds of reading like recipes or instructions for DIY projects or manuals for new equipment in the home.

Work with a tutor

This is a wonderful way to help your child to keep their brain working over the summer, but it can really help those who are struggling to fill in the missing building blocks. Students who want to go up a grade or improve their marks to get into college / university can also utilise this time to expand their knowledge.

At Tutor Doctor we can come to your home, at a time that is convenient to you, and help your child to learn in a fun and interesting way. Tutors should not only help with the curriculum work, but should also develop your child’s executive skills.

These are skills like organization, time management, task initiation and the ability to focus that will be invaluable in their academic careers. This will help them to be independent learners for life.

When student’s grades improve, their confidence does too and this means they are more likely to pay attention in class and participate in the classroom experience. They are more likely to try new things and allow their natural curiosity to find new ways for them to learn.

Four must-read books for teens this summer

The summer is fast approaching, which means it’s crucial for your teens to maintain their academic gains from the previous term. One of the easiest ways to do this is by encouraging reading as it’s great for helping students stay on top of their spelling, grammar and creative writing skills. Here at Tutor Doctor we know that there are way too many books to choose from and it’s difficult to know which ones are the best. That’s why we’ve narrowed it down to our four must-read books for teens this summer.

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
All the Bright Places follows the story of Finch and Violet, who are both dealing with different mental health issues. When the two meet on top of their school bell tower, they find themselves both considering jumping off, but somehow manage to save one another from doing so. When they then pair up for a project, they both find themselves feeling comfortable being their true selves around each other. However, as Violet’s world begins to grow, Finch’s starts to get darker. How far will Violet go to help save the boy she has grown to love? This novel is not only gripping but a powerful read about the effects of mental illness and how it impacts the people around those suffering.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
To Kill a Mockingbird is a truly fantastic read that is sure to have any teen hooked right from the word go! Harper Lee explores the radical tensions in a tired old town called Maycomb, Alabama across three years (1933–35). What’s really mesmerising about this tale is that it’s told thought the eyes of 6-year-old Scout Finch. Whilst her lawyer father, Atticus, defends a black man accused of rape, Scout learns about the unfair treatment of African-Americans alongside some fascinating secrets about their mysterious neighbour, Boo Radley. A timeless classic!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
This book follows the story of freshman Charlie, who is a ‘wallflower,’ which means he stands back timidly watching others live life, too scared to participate. Throughout the novel we watch Charlie really come out of his shell as he realises he can’t stay on the sidelines forever. He starts to make new friends, goes to parties and even falls in love. However along the way Charlie finds himself dealing with the confusions of sex and love, the temptations of drugs and the pain of losing loved ones.  A thought-provoking, coming-of-age story that many older teens will be able to identify with and learn from.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
This beautifully written book follows the life of mathematically gifted Christopher John Francis Boone. Christopher’s autism means that he has an overwhelming fear of interacting with others, meaning his day-to-day life can be challenging. When he discovers that his neighbor’s dog is mysteriously murdered, he starts to overcomes his fears and begins to investigate the murder, uncovering some surprising secrets about his mother on the way.

How to stay positive and motivated during your exams

Exam season is quickly approaching, which for many students means a growing revision schedule and a bundle of nerves. Here at Tutor Doctor we know how stressful busy revision timetables and a long list of exams can be. That’s why we’ve come up with some ways to help you stay positive and motivated during exam season as well as minimise your nerves and increase your confidence levels! If one things for sure it’s that a positive mindset is the easiest way to increase your chances of success.

Make your revision timetable clear to friends and family
There really isn’t anything worse than being in the middle of a revision session and getting interrupted by parents or asked to go out and do something fun with your friends. Making your family and friends aware of your revision schedule will help you avoid these interruptions and allow you to stay on track. It’s much easier to keep a positive mindset when you and everyone around you knows that you’re on top of your workload, focused and in control!

Know you’re not alone
Whenever you feel nervous or stressed about your next exam or annoyed that you have to spend so much time revising, remember you’re not alone! Everyone else is in the same boat as you and revision is only temporary. Before you know it your exams will be over, so it’s crucial that you put in as much effort as possible into the short time you do have to study and prepare.

Ask for help if you need it!
One of the main reasons for revision is to refresh your memory and fill in the gaps in your knowledge. If you ever feel like you need more information or you’re not as confident in a subject area as you would like, never be embarrassed to ask for help. Acknowledging that you have a support system and using it to your advantage is a smart move and will help you gain a better understanding and boost your confidence levels.

Remind yourself of the things you’re good at
Revision can sometimes be difficult, especially if you’re working on a subject that you particularly struggle with. If you’re finding something tricky and are feeling de-motivated or frustrated, remind yourself of all the subjects you thrive at. It’s completely normal to not be great at everything, so by focusing on what you’re good at will make you feel much more positive.

Enjoy revision
Even though this may seem a little silly, especially when your revising Shakespeare notes, trying to enjoy your revision and having a ‘Can do’ attitude will make it not seem so bad. By adopting a positive mindset, you will not only feel encouraged but it will help you to achieve the results you deserve.

Stress can be good
A little bit of stress can be surprisingly beneficial during exams. In fact, a healthy amount of pressure can be extremely motivational, meaning that you’re much more likely to push through and perform to the best of your ability.

Study tips that will help you achieve your goals

April 12th, 2016

Exam season is just around the corner, which means your evenings will soon be filled with revision sessions and practice test papers. Here at Tutor Doctor we want you to get a head start with revision by honing in on your study skills and revision methods now. That’s why we’ve put together some super helpful study tips that will help you achieve your goals and beyond!

1.Understand topics in your own words
In order to thrive in any exam you need to have a sound understanding of what you are writing about and the theory behind it.  It’s easy to sit and read out of a textbook or listen to a teacher, but one of the key study tips is to learn topics so that you understand them and are able to talk about them in your own words. Start by getting into the habit of writing study notes in a way that you can understand them. Copying notes word for word out a textbook or from the whiteboard, won’t be much use when you are trying to revise and need to understand the key points.
Once you have started practicing this, you could even test your knowledge by talking through a subject with parents or a family member, explaining everything you know about it. This way you will be talking about the topic in your own words and speaking without prompts or notes.

2.Test Yourself
Once you feel like you have mastered a subject, it’s crucial that you test yourself. Start by replicating exam conditions; turn off your phone, time yourself and don’t talk to anyone. You can then test yourself with a quiz, a practice paper or just write down everything you know about that particular subject. As long as you approach practice with the right mindset, it will give you an indication on how much you really know.

3.Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Never be afraid to ask questions if you don’t quite understand a topic or a theory. Teachers, tutors, parents, friends and family are all there to support you and help you achieve your goals, so make sure you soak up their knowledge. You never know, that one question might be the difference between a grade in your final exam. Remember there really is no such thing as a silly question!

4.Set goals and create a study plan
To be successful in your exams, you need to know what you want to achieve. Start by going through each subject and writing out on a piece of paper a realistic grade that you want to reach by the end of your exams. Stick this on your wall or fridge- ideally somewhere you will see it everyday.
Once you have some study goals in place you can now outline what you need to do to reach them. Remember your study plan needs to be realistic but flexible. This way if you need to cover a different topic one night because you’re not feeling as confident in a certain area as you would like to be, you need to allow for this. It’s also important during revision periods to be strict with yourself and stick to your revision plan as much as you can. If you ever find yourself de-motivated, think back to the goals you originally set yourself.

5.Get Creative with studying
Sitting with a book and a highlighter isn’t the only way you can study- there are loads of different techniques out there, you just need to be creative.  For example, flashcards are an easy and fun study method and are ideal for boosting your memory and helping you recall theory, definitions and dates. They are also the perfect tool if you only have time for a quick study session or if you need to refresh your memory just before an exam. Other effective ways to study include mind maps, mnemonics, video and audio resources, quizzes, practice exam papers, posters, getting family members to quiz you and re-writing notes. Remember, using revision techniques that work best for you will always get you the best results. This means choosing the methods that will ensure you retain as much information as possible and are dare we say it- are enjoyable!