Supporting Your Child's Learning at Home

Learning doesn't always look like homework

Parents often ask what they can do at home to support their child's Orton-Gillingham (OG) lessons. There are lots of ways to encourage literacy development outside of tutoring, but I also want to emphasize that more work isn't always better.

Many students who struggle with reading and writing spend a tremendous amount of energy getting through the school day. They may come home mentally exhausted, frustrated, or anxious about anything that feels like more schoolwork. For some children, pushing additional reading and spelling practice can create more stress and negative associations with learning.

We want children to develop their literacy skills, but we also want them to maintain their curiosity, confidence, and enjoyment of learning. Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is give your child a break.

If your child is tired or resistant, it is okay to step back. The goal is to build a positive, sustainable relationship with reading and writing, not to turn every evening into another lesson. In fact, I often recommend stepping away from home practice for children who are very resistant, when we start lessons. It can take some time to start building a new relationship with literacy and I want the child to start fresh.

Everyday activities that support literacy

There are many activities that can support the skills we work on in Orton-Gillingham lessons without feeling like homework. Choose things your child enjoys, keep expectations flexible, and let fun be the priority.

Phonological awareness games

Phonological awareness is our ability to hear and work with the sounds in spoken language. You can practice these skills casually while driving, cooking dinner, or going for a walk.

• Play rhyming games or think of silly rhyming words.

• Clap out the syllables in names, foods, or favourite characters.

• Take turns thinking of words that start or end with a particular sound.

• Play with sounds in words by changing, adding, or removing sounds.

• Sing songs, learn rhymes, or play word games together.

These activities help develop important foundations for reading and spelling without requiring your child to pick up a book or pencil.

Music and rhythm

Music can be a wonderful way to explore patterns, rhythm, listening, and sound. Music lessons, singing, drumming, and learning an instrument can all be enjoyable ways to engage with these skills. Your child doesn't need formal lessons for music to be valuable. The most important thing is finding something they enjoy.

Reading for enjoyment

Reading at home doesn't always need to mean tackling books at your child's instructional level. In fact, reading books that are easy for them can be incredibly valuable.

Encourage your child to read books they enjoy, even if they seem too easy for their age. Rereading favourite books, graphic novels, comics, joke books, and audiobooks can all help build positive associations with stories and language.

You can also read aloud to your child, take turns reading, or listen to an audiobook together. Reading should be an opportunity to enjoy a story, explore an interest, or spend time together, rather than another chance to measure how well your child is doing.

Writing without pressure

Writing doesn't have to mean worksheets, spelling lists, or formal assignments. Give your child opportunities to write for real reasons and personal enjoyment.

• Keep a journal or write about a favourite interest.

• Write notes, letters, cards, or messages to family members.

• Make up stories, comics, or funny captions.

• Write lists for a game, a collection, or a project.

• Draw pictures and add labels, speech bubbles, or a few sentences.

Don't worry about correcting every spelling mistake. If your child is writing voluntarily, the priority is to encourage their ideas and help them feel comfortable expressing themselves. There will be plenty of opportunities to work on spelling and writing conventions during structured instruction.

Drawing, building, and creative activities

Drawing, painting, building, crafting, and other hands-on activities give children opportunities to develop ideas, follow sequences, solve problems, and express themselves. These activities aren't a substitute for literacy instruction, but they are valuable in their own right and help children experience success outside of areas they may find difficult. Art skills also build fine motor skills and help with writing.

What about practicing OG skills at home?

If your child enjoys practicing a skill from their lessons, short and relaxed practice can be helpful. Repetition is an important part of developing automaticity in reading and spelling, but it doesn't need to involve long sessions or constant correction.

Follow your child's energy. Children who struggle with literacy often spend much of their day working harder than their peers just to keep up. They deserve time to rest, play, explore their interests, and enjoy being children.

You don't need to turn every activity into a learning opportunity, and you don't need to feel guilty if your child isn't doing extra literacy work at home. Building confidence, protecting their enjoyment of learning, and helping them see reading and writing as useful parts of everyday life are important goals too.

Our work in OG lessons provides explicit, structured literacy instruction. Home can be a place where those skills are supported naturally, without adding unnecessary pressure to a child's day. A few minutes of successful, positive practice can be more worthwhile than a longer session that ends in frustration.

If your child is consistently struggling with or resisting practice, please don't feel that you need to push through it. Let me know, and we can discuss whether home practice is appropriate and what might work better for your child.