Online tutoring for dyslexia: how a 1-on-1 reading and maths class is built for a dyslexic child, and what to look for in an online reading tutor

Online tutoring for dyslexia is a different job from ordinary tutoring, and a tutor who does not know that will do harm with the best intentions: correcting every word, asking the child to read aloud to the screen, sending a page of spellings for Friday, and explaining a maths method in six steps that the child cannot hold. This post describes how a 1-on-1 online class is built for a dyslexic child, for reading and for the school subjects that depend on reading, what an online reading tutor for dyslexia should and should not do, and how to judge whether a term has helped.

Reading: structured, short, never on demand

The reading part of the class is structured, which means it follows a sequence rather than the school's reading book: sounds and their spellings, then the common patterns, then syllables, then those patterns inside real words and short texts. Each class revisits what came before; nothing is taught once.

Reading aloud is the child's choice. A dyslexic child asked to read aloud to a screen is spending all their energy on not failing in front of someone; the decoding gets worse, not better. The tutor reads, the child follows on enlarged text with one line shown at a time, and the child reads the sentence they choose, when they choose. Most children choose to read more within a month, because nothing bad happens when they do.

Text is enlarged and worked line by line, with a coloured background if it helps that child, and the shared board makes this easy in a way a paper book does not.

Spelling is five words a day, the same five for a week, with the pattern named, not twenty words on Monday for a test on Friday. Friday spelling tests are where dyslexic children learn that they are bad at school.

Maths and science: fewer steps at once

Most dyslexic children are not behind in maths reasoning; they are behind in reading the question and holding a multi-step method. The class works on both. Word problems are read by the tutor first, then the child decides what is being asked before any numbers are touched. Methods are shown with the fewest possible steps on screen at once, the tutor's worked example stays visible while the child copies it, and the child tries alone only after copying one. The recording of the class is the child's textbook: the step can be re-watched without asking.

In science, the vocabulary is the barrier: photosynthesis, evaporation, denominator. Each new word is written, said, broken into parts and used three times in the class, and it goes on the recap sheet with a picture.

The format: what every class has

• One tutor, one child, the same tutor every week, who knows what worked last time.
• Camera on. The tutor sees the frown before the child gives up.
• One instruction at a time, said and written on the board.
• A recap sheet after every class: what we did, the three things to remember, the homework in ten-minute pieces, with the first piece done in class.
• A parent in the room or on the recording, always.
• Under 9, a 25-minute class; from 9, a 55-minute class built as two 25-minute blocks.

Exams: practise the access arrangements

A child with a dyslexia diagnosis is usually entitled to something in exams: extra time, a reader, a scribe or laptop, coloured paper. Ask the school exactly what, then tell the tutor, so mock papers in class are done under the same arrangements. A child who has never used a reader in practice does not use one well in the exam; a child who has practised with extra time learns to spend it on checking, which is where the marks are.

What a tutor should not do

• Correct every word as the child reads. (Correct one pattern per session; let the rest go.)
• Ask the child to read aloud on demand.
• Send a page of spellings for a Friday test.
• Explain a method in six steps, then ask the child to try.
• Change tutor every few weeks. (Every change costs a month.)
• Promise to fix dyslexia. (Nobody can; the goal is a fluent reader and a child who is not behind in the other subjects.)

How to judge a term

Reading speed on the same easy text at the start and end of the term, without correction, is the honest measure: a child who reads it in two minutes in September and ninety seconds in December has moved. Beyond that: does the child pick up a book without being asked; is the maths homework being done; can the child explain one method from the recap sheet. Marks at school move a term later than the reading does, and the reading moves a term later than the confidence. Judge in that order.

What we do

Our ADHD and dyslexia-friendly tutoring page describes the format in full. We are tutors, not clinicians: we teach reading, maths, science and English to a child who has a diagnosis or whose parents or school suspect one, in the format above, in English, Hindi or Punjabi, on the child's own school curriculum. For assessment, the school, a paediatrician or an educational psychologist is the right door. The first 30-minute class is free; bring what the school has said and the child's favourite book.

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →