Special children, have special needs, so when it comes to special needs children, they learn a lot differently than other children.  When it comes to teaching them reading there are a few guidelines or steps you might want to consider to make both your time spent teaching as well as their time learning, really worth it.  These guidelines below can be used by both parents who are trying to keep kids on track at home, as well as by any private or public Top elementary school teacher in NJ. 

Be Direct

When it comes for any child that is trying to learn how to read, not just special needs children, it’s important that you be direct in what you are saying or trying to explain to them.  There shouldn’t be any kind of a struggle between learning how to read.  They shouldn’t have to struggle alone when it comes time to figuring out how to sound things out, figure out spelling patterns, or learn to read on their own.  If there is something specific you want them to do/learn, tell them what it is accordingly.

Incremental Lessons

When it comes to most special needs children, I think most people will agree that teaching reading works better in Incremental Lessons rather than trying to get them to learn everything in a few sessions.  Your very first lesson with a child that has special needs should start with VERY basic reading skills, problems and questions.  The next logical session should be the next hardest lesson and so on and so forth.  Don’t start with the really hard stuff first, it’s just going to lead to a sense of frustration for everyone involved including child and teacher.

Multi-Sensory Activities

Different people (not just kids, learn in different ways.  If you are teaching a class how to read, it’s a good idea to offer multi-sensory activities for everyone.  This will give kids a chance to see or hear or feel and use whatever sensory they feel most comfortable using as well as whatever sensory that helps them understand what you are trying to teach them in the easiest way possible.  People that are visual learners like to see what it is they are learning.  On the other hand people and kids that are auditory tend to like to hear things netter either orally or by listening to a tape, toy or another product that tells them how to read.  Hands on learners are the ones that like to touch objects to see how they can manipulate them.

Review Again and Again

It’s easy to forget what you learn sometimes, especially if it’s taught once or twice and never reviewed again.  In the same way that an adult may forget a word or statement in another language not their own, children can do the same thing when it comes to learning how to read, using certain guidelines, how to spell or sound words out, etc.  It’s only human nature and has nothing to do with special needs, but rather the learning curve of reading.  Make sure that if you are teaching special needs kids that you go over what they learned in the near future.  Continually reviewing rules, words, and guidelines will essentially help ingrain them into their brains.  Ingraining is super simple and only takes a few minutes per day to make it happen.  Not only should teachers make sure they are continuing the review over and over again once a child grasps something, but a parents or parents can also go over it with them daily until it gets ingrained into their brain.