Dyslexikit is a system of teaching and learning materials for adults to use with children aged 5 - 11 years who are finding reading, reading comprehension, spelling and handwriting difficult. Although written primarily for children who are dyslexic, all children learning literacy skills will benefit from Dyslexikit.
Children with dyslexia process information in a non-conventional way, and for this reason, conventional teaching has let them down. Their way of learning does not conform to the ordinary methods of teaching currently employed in schools.
For some children who have difficulty learning, it is the pace and style of the National Literacy Strategy that does not allow learning to take place. Sometimes even school learning support or special needs teaching does not seem to work. These children remain trapped behind a closed door. They cannot unlock the door, let alone open it.
Sound Familiar?
If this sounds at all familiar then take a look at Dyslexikit. The programme teaches dozens of skills and strategies combining reading, spelling and handwriting instruction and practice. Every skill and strategy has its own set of activities for the learner; every activity has its own page of instruction for the adult facilitator. There is so much detail that adults will feel secure in the knowledge that what they are teaching will move their child forward. Plenty of opportunity for practice and repetition throughout the kits provides the learner with opportunity for success and thereby gives them confidence in their new skills.
Our materials work because these children need a system that:
- is appropriate to their unconventional learning style
- is non-threatening and can go at their pace
- is bite-size and repetitive in approach
- presents a skill in many different ways
- is fun and simple, yet gently challenging
- alleviates frustration
- instills confidence and raises self-esteem
We are also acutely aware of parents’ and teachers’ anxiety, panic and frustration.
What they continually tell us is that they are looking for materials that:
- empower them as non-specialists
- direct them
- inform and educate both adult and child
- are non-conventional, because their children are failing through ordinary methods
- have a little and often approach
- entail little preparation
Look no further
We recommend that you start the Dyslexikit programme from the beginning and work through systematically – even if you feel that your child already has some literacy skills. The reasons for this are explained in the first Dyslexikit which you can order though the purchase page on this website.
Your child will enjoy making his/her own set of reading and spelling cards. S/he will learn sounds, letters and words in an achievable way, discover the secrets of spelling, as well as learn the easy way to join up writing. There will be puzzles to work out, games to play and much, much more.
Each activity worksheet for your child will also have accompanying, detailed instructions for you. As you learn the best way to help your child, s/he will come to believe that literacy is within her/his reach.
Experience tells us there really is no quick-fix solution for a child with dyslexia. We must begin by rebuilding the foundations of literacy, and this takes time. By following the Dyslexikit programme you will provide your child with the key that will unlock the door to literacy.
Give it a try.
What follows Dyslexikit 20?.....
Using Access Literacy as a ‘bolt-on’ programme to Dyslexikit
Dyslexikits 1 -20 are available through the website shop. There are no plans to produce more Dyslexikits. Many of our Dyslexikit customers, especially Primary Schools and Specialist Teachers, have invested in our Access Literacy programme by way of a ‘bolt-on’ to the Dyslexikit programme. This programme covers all the material from the Dyslexikit series, but is set out as 100 Units of work ( see the AL Series below). Access Literacy comes on one disc which offers 1,200+ pages of quality materials. Access Literacy covers everything from the full Dyslexikit series, and so continues on from Dyslexikit 20 .
The content of Access Literacy is the same as that in Dyslexikit, so too the format, but the graphics make it more accessible to a wider age group (10 years to adults) of low-level learners. Those who have bought the two programmes use Dyslexikit with younger children (5-10 years) who respond so well to the bright, clear, uncluttered images and content of the programme. They then introduce older children (usually 10 years +) to the Access Literacy programme. The older children respond very well to the more mature graphics of the Access Literacy programme, while teachers and support staff, being familiar with the format of Dyslexikit, have found Access Literacy easy to follow and a natural progression from Dyslexikit. Primary schools who have purchased Access Literacy for their older pupils, who spent their early years working through the Dyslexikit programme, tell us these children enjoy the new graphics and slightly more mature look of Access Literacy, while feeling secure in its familiar format.
What does Access Literacy include?
Here is the Access Literacy Series - Units
1-100
Feedback on Dyslexikit and Access Literacy
We have used the Dyslexikit programme for three years and are delighted with the results. Dyslexikits are so bright and colourful and engage young children brilliantly. We have recently moved several Year 5 children onto the Access Literacy programme as we felt they had outgrown the Dyslexikits. Access Literacy uses more mature graphics in muted tones but supports learners equally well in its content. The children have responded really well to the new programme - they love the graphics and are progressing well. We are very pleased with both programmes.
LC – SENCo (Leicester)
Access Literacy provides a new dimension to the work done on Dyslexikit by our older students. Access Literacy is an ideal companion programme for Dyslexikit….. Dyslexikit works well for our younger learners but it just wasn’t engaging the older children in the same way. Some of our older children have been supported by the Dyslexikit programme since they were in Year 1….. When we looked at what to use after Dyslexikit 20 it was suggested we try the Access Literacy programme. We are so pleased we took their advice; the children love it and have responded well to the programme. We have been able to revisit some of the earlier concepts and, while the format is familiar to the children and support staff who administer the programme, the new graphics make it a fresh experience.
AM-SENCo (Manchester)
