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Homeschooling Community & Path Lesson and Curriculum Planning

As a homeschooling parent, you have the unique and powerful role of being the chief architect of your child’s education—you are their mapmaker. You are the one who creates the maps they will follow, guiding them along their way. This Mapmaking Shop is your dedicated workshop, filled with the tools and guidance you need to chart a personalized course for your child’s learning journey.

Below, you will find our guide to building dyslexia-friendly lesson plans, followed by our curated curriculum guides for each stage of the homeschool journey.

The Mapmaker's Craft: Building Your Lesson Plans

No matter which curricula you choose, a few key principles can help you create engaging and memorable lesson plans for your dyslexic learner. The video lesson below explains how to leverage your child’s unique strengths using the three core principles of Experience, Understanding, and Prediction. 

To help you put these concepts into practice, we have created our powerful TDMC AI Lesson Plan Generator. After you watch the video lesson to get an understanding of some key principles for lesson generation, in the next section we’ll show you how to put these concepts into practice and design custom lessons plans for any topic.

Video Lesson: How To Build Your Lesson Plans With Dyslexia In Mind

Read Full Lesson Text

Dyslexic students frequently show challenges in:

  • rote and automatic learning
  • learning through reading and text
  • expressing thoughts exclusively in words, and especially in highly linear sequential verbal abstractions
  • working memory overload
  • processing speed or speed of work

And dyslexic students frequently show strengths in;

  • learning from doing and experiencing using episodic memory and incidental learning
  • learning from charts, graphs, visuals, stories, enactments
  • non-verbal thinking using visual or tactile/motor imagery
  • divergent creativity
  • mental simulation (spatial, conceptual connections and systems, stories/events, predictions)

In the video Learning to Learn with Dyslexia we describe how this profile leads to three key learning principles that you can apply to all of your lesson plans. These principles are:

  1. Experience
  2. Understanding
  3. Prediction

For a background discussion we recommend going to that video. In the rest of this video we’ll focus on how these principles can be applied to developing lesson plans. Let’s look at them one at a time:

1. Experience: Turning your lessons into events that your student experiences in an active and participatory way instead of as a passive recipient of bare facts is crucial. The more lessons involve elements of surprise, novelty, personal relevance and interests, emotion, humor, fun, hands-on or whole-body activity, exploration, enactments, building, drawing, creating, discussing, debating, envisioning, etc., the more memorable they will be. One important sub-category of experience-based learning is worth special mention. It goes by the name multi-sensory learning, and it’s long been recognized as an important method of instruction for dyslexic students. While many reasons have been offered why multi-sensory instruction works, we believe one of the reasons it’s effective is that it engages students in multiple ways at the same time, creating a more experience-like setting that engages episodic rather than just semantic or implicit/automatic memory. The different senses that can be engaged are as follows, and remember that they work best when you find ways to combine them and engage multiple senses at once:

  • Visual: This includes using pictures, diagrams, charts, and flashcards to represent information. The colors and visuals help in reinforcing vocabulary and concepts visually. Remember to pull in the other senses by “talking through” the picture, touching or tracing it, physically imitating it, singing or creating a story or a rhyme about it, etc.
  • Auditory: Techniques here involve songs, rhymes, reading aloud, and discussions which aid in memorization and comprehension through sound.
  • Kinesthetic: Learning through movement, like jumping or clapping to correspond with letters or words, helps in reinforcing learning through physical activity.
  • Tactile: Engaging the sense of touch, this can involve activities like using textured letters, clay for shaping words, writing in sand, or tracing letters on sandpaper to help with letter recognition and memory.

2. Understanding: For a dyslexic learner, understanding means connecting new information to existing knowledge–something the student already knows–in a way that makes it fit in to a larger knowledge structure in a meaningful way. It means seeing information within a larger context, and appreciating its uses, and practical or aesthetic value. For most dyslexic students, the best way to accomplish this will be to tap into the mental simulation systems or MIND Strengths. Come up with a visual image or representation, an analogy or metaphor, a story or character that describes or represents the information. The accuracy of this simulation is then tested by the third principle.

3. Prediction: Making predictions also employs the dyslexic strength of mental simulation, and it can be used to test the accuracy of the student’s understanding, as well as to increase the stickiness of learning. If you understand how a particular principle works in math or in social science or geology, for example, you should be able to predict how things will work in various scenarios. Making such predictions has been shown to heighten engagement and pleasure in learning. Students are encouraged not just to consume information but to interact with it, testing hypotheses in various scenarios.

By tailoring you lesson plans to leverage dyslexic strengths through using these techniques you can create lesson plans that are more effective, engaging, and enjoyable for your students with dyslexia. In addition to creating your own plans independently, you can interact with others through our Homeschooling Community Forum and through our frequent Member Meetups to share your ideas and learn from others.

Your Mapmaking Tool: TDMC Lesson Plan Generator

Now that you understand the principles of building a great lesson, we’ll show you how you can partner with your TDMC Travel Guide to create great lesson plans for any topic, perfectly tailored to your child’s unique Learning Profile and using the key dyslexic learning principles outlined above. 

Just follow these simple steps to create the perfect “prompt” that will help your Travel Guide create the lesson:

Step 1: Gather Your “Ingredients”

  • Your child’s name and age.
  • The specific subject or topic for the lesson.
  • Your child’s strongest MIND Strength(s) (from their Learning Profile Report)
  • Your child’s best “Sticky Stuff” memory strengths:
    • Drawing/Art
    • Motor/Kinesthetic
    • Spatial/Spatial Visualization
    • Poetry/Rhymes
    • Songs/Raps
    • Stories
    • Plays/Enactments

 

Step 2: Create Your Prompt

Copy the template below, paste it into a text editor, then replace the bracketed [...] information with the “ingredients” you just gathered.

————————–START COPY AND PASTE—————————

Lesson Plan Generator Prompt: 

  • My Name is […].
  • My Age is […] years old.
  • The specific topic of my lesson is […].
  • The MIND Strength(s) I want to use is/are […] (specify one or two MIND Strength areas that is/are a special strength for you).
  • The Sticky Stuff strengths I want to use are […]. (specify one or two Sticky Stuff Strength areas that is/are a special strength for you).


—————————END COPY AND PASTE—————————-

Step 3: Copy and Paste Your Prompt into your TDMC Travel Guide

That’s all there is to it.

Your TDMC Travel Guide

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Curriculum Guides by Age

The following guides provide an overview of suggested subjects and links to specific, dyslexia-friendly resource materials for each stage of the homeschooling journey. Click on the guide that is most relevant to you right now.

Early Elementary (Grades 1-2): A detailed curriculum guide for students in the early elementary years (roughly ages 6-8), with resources for reading, math, science, and more.

Homeschool Curriculum:
Early Elementary

Introduction

On our curriculum pages we’ll present an outline of the suggested subject matter for the curriculum, and these outlines will contain links to specific suggestions for resource materials. 

On this page we’ll present a suggested curriculum for dyslexic homeschooling students in early elementary (roughly grades 1-2 and ages 6-8).

Of note, there are a number of services offering comprehensive homeschool curricula that can be modified to fit dyslexic students with the substitution of appropriate curricula for reading, writing, and math, and the use of dyslexia-friendly learning techniques that we’ve discussed in our videos and courses. These include Time4Learning, Calvert Homeschool, Homeschool Complete, and BookShark. There are also several complete homeschool programs that incorporate a Christian orientation such as Abeka and Sonlight

Early Elementary Homeschooling Curriculum

  1. Reading and Spelling: In the early grades this includes a range of activities such as structured literacy instruction, sight word recognition, reading fluency training, and comprehension training. Please see our videos in the Learning With Dyslexia section of our Library for a detailed discussion of reading instruction. In our Part I video series we explain the nature of structured literacy instruction, reading fluency, and reading comprehension training in general. In Part II we discuss specific resources that can be used in teaching these skills. Here is an overview of the key details.
  • Structured literacy instruction focuses on building the foundational skills of literacy (click the link for a more detailed discussion). In our videos we mention several popular systems for instruction such as Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and Barton (all three of which are based on the Orton-Gillingham method). Barton in particular is now offered in a user-friendly fashion where each lesson is laid out and scripted in a way that it can be administered without training or advanced preparation. Many homeschoolers also like several workbook-based systems like All About Reading or Logic of English, which can be purchased and administered without detailed training, and also have well-scripted lesson plans that make them easy for homeschoolers to use. All About Reading also offers a companion All About Spelling system. Most of these systems offer materials that train sight word recognition and Logic of English also provides resources for handwriting and grammar instruction.
  • Reading Fluency: Recent research suggests that it is important to begin reading fluency training earlier than many experts have previously recommended, not as a substitute for learning to decode but as a companion, and we would recommend beginning reading fluency practice on decodable readers as soon as your student has begun decoding cvc (consonant vowel consonant) words. You can watch our video on reading fluency for information on the recommended technique of guided repeated oral reading and on the use of practice systems such as BuddyBooks.  Generally, 15-30 minutes a day of guided reading practice is appropriate.
  • Comprehension Training: Exposing your student to a lot of written material is important in the early grades. Comprehension skills will gradually be addressed through most of the reading curricula we mentioned above. But before students learn to read themselves, it will be important for you to read to them, or to given them access to texts through recorded or text-to-speech sources like Bookshare.org, LearningAlly, Audible.com, Kindle, etc. During and after reading you can improve their comprehension by engaging in activities like summarizing, questioning, clarifying, visualizing, and predicting.

 

2. Other Language Arts:

  • Writing: Skills include handwriting, basic sentence structure, simple composition, and storytelling. Start by watching our video series on learning to write. Then drill down to particular topics. Useful sources of handwriting curricula include Handwriting Without Tears or Logic of English. Logic of English also has its own writing curriculum. Other writing curricula that can be good for students at this stage are Essentials in Writing, WriteShop Primary, or Institute for Excellence in Writing.
  • Grammar: Introduction to basic grammar rules, parts of speech, and writing mechanics like punctuation and capitalization. In the early grades 10-15 minutes a day will do. Logic of English provides instruction, and Other resources are listed on our Mastering Grammar and Syntax video. Useful programs include Winston Grammar and Easy Grammar. 
  • Vocabulary: Improving vocabulary will benefit many areas of learning. It  improves reading comprehension and facilitates knowledge and thinking in all areas. It can be accomplished through reading, word games, and direct instruction. The reading instruction programs listed above contain work in vocabulary, and additional training can be pursued with Wordly Wise.

3. Mathematics: Important skills include number sense (number recognition, counting, comparing numbers, place value), basic operations (addition, subtraction, introduction to multiplication and division), measurement (time, money, length, weight),  geometry (basic shapes, spatial sense, and simple patterns), problem solving (logical thinking, word problems). Good curricula include: 

  • Singapore Math: The  Primary Math or Dimensions math programs from Singapore Math are excellent programs for homeschooling families. Dimensions is a bit more complex, so Primary Math is probably sufficient for most families. It is very visual in orientation, and a good program for dyslexics.
  • ST Math: ST Math is an innovative online math curriculum that can be used either standalone or as a supplement to other math programs. It’s highly visual approach is very helpful for many dyslexic students. It works hard to build conceptual understanding rather than just rote learning. 
  • Touch Math: TouchMath uses numbers with “TouchPoints” for counting, providing a multisensory approach ideal for dyslexic students. This visual, tactile method helps in understanding number values, supporting visual and kinesthetic learning, structured teaching, and immediate feedback, making math more accessible and less abstract for young learners.
  • Math-U-See: Math-U-See uses a multisensory approach that includes the use of manipulatives, visual aids, and sequential teaching methods. Its structured system allows for ample practice and review, which is crucial for dyslexic students.
     

4. Science: Important subject areas and concepts include life science (basics of plants, animals, and human body), physical science (physics concepts like force, motion, and states of matter), earth science (weather, seasons, basic geography, and introduction to environmental science), and scientific inquiry (simple experiments to foster curiosity and understanding of the scientific method). In addition to the general curricula listed at the start of this page, the following science programs can be used:

  • Science Unlocked by Home Science Tools: An all-in-one curriculum that includes everything needed for a year of science, from lessons to supplies. It’s tailored for hands-on learning and has won awards for its immersive experience, making science both fun and educational.
  • Real Science-4-Kids (RS4K): This curriculum breaks down concepts into manageable pieces, suitable for elementary students. It offers a balance of reading, lab work, and activities, ensuring students grasp key science concepts without feeling overwhelmed. RS4K is available in different formats, including leveled courses for different grades.
  • Elemental Science: It’s designed to make teaching science easy with its comprehensive plans that include tools for reading, doing experiments, and recording observations. It’s particularly noted for its classical approach, which can appeal to those interested in a more structured learning path.
  • Apologia’s Exploring Creation Series (Young Explorer Books): This curriculum is known for its Charlotte Mason-style teaching, providing a narrative approach to science education. It encourages notebooking, hands-on activities, and exploration of God’s creation from a Christian worldview. The series includes topics like zoology, botany, and astronomy, making learning both fun and educational.

5. Social Studies: Important subject areas include geography (basic map skills, understanding of local, national, and global geography), history (local history, national history, and an introduction to world history through stories or simple timelines), civics (concepts of community, citizenship, basic government functions), culture (exposure to different cultures, holidays, and traditions). In addition to the general curricula listed at the start of this page, the following science programs can be used:

  • Elementary Social Studies from Miacademy: This online curriculum provides interactive lessons on history, geography, civics, and more, tailored for early elementary students. It includes videos, games, and activities that make learning about the world fun and engaging. Miacademy’s curriculum is adaptable, allowing parents to add personal experiences or state-specific history.
  • Story of the World: This series by Susan Wise Bauer, known from “The Well-Trained Mind,” a Christian curriculum, offers a comprehensive look at world history that progresses in reading level as students move through the volumes. It’s well-suited for young learners with its engaging storytelling, making history accessible and interesting.
  • Evan-Moor’s Daily Social Studies: While more traditional, this workbook series can be adapted for dyslexic learners by focusing on the hands-on activities and discussions rather than the text. It provides daily lessons on various social studies topics, including history, geography, and civics, with an emphasis on visual aids and project-based learning.

6. Art: Important subject areas include visual Arts (drawing, painting, sculpting, collage-making), music (listening, singing, basic rhythm, and perhaps an introduction to an instrument) and crafts (simple projects that also teach fine motor skills). This area lends itself less well to off the rack curricula, but parents should explore a child’s individual interests with either online, print, or local resources.

7. Technology: Important topics include basic computer skills (like using a mouse, typing, and simple software and assistive technologies for educational purposes). We’ve discussed Bookshare.org and Learning Ally. A good typing curriculum is also an important part of early training. Here are two:

  • Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS): This program is specifically designed for individuals with dyslexia. It uses a multi-sensory approach based on the Orton-Gillingham method, focusing on word families and spelling patterns while teaching typing. TTRS is recommended because it integrates reading and spelling practice with typing, which can significantly benefit dyslexic learners. It starts with accuracy over speed, which is crucial for building confidence and proficiency.
  • Nessy Fingers: This is another program designed with dyslexia in mind, particularly for children aged 7-12. It personalizes goals based on the student’s baseline, offering a fun and engaging way to learn typing that also supports reading and spelling skills. The use of humor and games can keep dyslexic children motivated to practice.

Conclusion:

This is an overview of the topics that should be contained in an early elementary homeschool curriculum, and links to some useful resources that can help you put together your own program for your student. In later lessons we’ll discuss in more detail some important principles you should use in forming your lesson plans from these curricula.

Homeschool Curriculum:
Upper Elementary

Introduction

On this page we’ll present a suggested curriculum for dyslexic homeschooling students in upper elementary (roughly grades 3-5 and ages 9-11).

As with the earlier grades, there are a number of services offering comprehensive homeschool curricula that can be modified to fit dyslexic students with the substitution of appropriate curricula for reading, writing, and math, and the use of dyslexia-friendly learning techniques that we’ve discussed in our videos and courses. These include Time4Learning, Calvert Homeschool, Homeschool Complete, and BookShark. There are also several complete homeschool programs that incorporate a Christian orientation such as Abeka and Sonlight.

Upper Elementary Homeschooling Curriculum

  1. Reading and Spelling: In the upper elementary grades, reading instruction is generally a continuation of the kind of work done during the early elementary grades. Most of the same resources can be used, and the skills focused on continue to be structured literacy, sight word recognition, reading fluency, and comprehension, although depending upon when a student is identified and begins structured literacy instruction and how quickly they progress, the precise part of the curriculum they engage with can vary greatly. If you are new to such instruction with your student, please see our videos in the Learning With Dyslexia section of our Library for a detailed discussion of reading instruction. In our Part I video series we explain the nature of structured literacy instruction, reading fluency, and reading comprehension training in general. In Part II we discuss specific resources that can be used in teaching these skills. Here is an overview of the key details.
  • Structured literacy instruction focuses on building the foundational skills of literacy (click the link for a more detailed discussion). In our videos we mention several popular systems for instruction such as Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and Barton (all three of which are based on the Orton-Gillingham method). Barton in particular is now offered in a user-friendly fashion where each lesson is laid out and scripted in a way that it can be administered without training or advanced preparation. Many homeschoolers also like several workbook-based systems like All About Reading or Logic of English, which can be purchased and administered without detailed training, and also have well-scripted lesson plans that make them easy for homeschoolers to use. All About Reading also offers a companion All About Spelling system. Most of these systems offer materials that train sight word recognition and Logic of English also provides resources for handwriting and grammar instruction.
  • Reading Fluency: Reading fluency practice becomes progressively more important as students develop their low level decoding and sight word recognition skills.  You can watch our video on reading fluency for information on the recommended technique of guided repeated oral reading and on the use of practice systems such as BuddyBooks.  Generally, 15-30 minutes a day of guided reading practice is appropriate.As students grow in their reading abilities reading can be simply supervised and corrections offered as needed rather than in the repeat read format, but daily oral reading practice is still valuable.
  • Comprehension Training: Comprehension building becomes progressively more important as students progress through school. Most will still be in a formal reading curriculum at this stage, and most of those will offer curriculum training. But reading along with or supervising your student’s reading will also be useful, and good resources for books will continue to be Bookshare.org, LearningAlly, Audible.com, Kindle, along with local libraries. With whatever reading you do, and also with watching movies and TV shows, you can improve their comprehension by having them in activities like summarizing, questioning, clarifying, visualizing, and predicting. This is an excellent way to improve their expressive language skills, and can be done as a form of “table talk” where they can be asked to respond to statements of yours using the same kind of approach.

2. Other Language Arts:

  • Writing: As in the earlier grades, skills include handwriting, basic sentence structure, simple composition, and storytelling. For those who have not done so before, or are coming to our site for the first time with an older student, start by watching our video series on learning to write. Then drill down to particular topics. Generally at this age formal handwriting instruction is not needed, but if it is still an issue then useful sources of handwriting curricula include Handwriting Without Tears or Logic of English. For written composition for students not using Logic of English, other good writing programs include the Structure and Style series from IEW, the Essentials in Writing program, or WriteShop Junior.
  • Grammar: Introduction to basic grammar rules, parts of speech, and writing mechanics like punctuation and capitalization. In the early grades 10-15 minutes a day will do. Logic of English provides instruction, and Other resources are listed on our Mastering Grammar and Syntax video. Useful programs include Winston Grammar and Easy Grammar. 
  • Vocabulary: Improving vocabulary will benefit many areas of learning. It  improves reading comprehension and facilitates knowledge and thinking in all areas. It can be accomplished through reading, word games, and direct instruction. This is an area of instruction that is often neglected, but it has enormous payoffs when seriously pursued. The reading instruction programs listed above contain work in vocabulary, and additional training can be pursued with Wordly Wise.

3. Mathematics: The chief math topics for grades 4-6 include Number Sense and Operations (operations with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), Algebraic Thinking (solving equations, understanding patterns), Geometry (shapes, angles, volume), Measurement (conversions, area and volume), and Data Analysis & Probability (graphs, mean, basic probability). Good curricula include: 

  • Singapore Math: The Primary Math or Dimensions math programs from Singapore Math are excellent programs for homeschooling families. Dimensions is a bit more complex, so Primary Math is probably sufficient for most families. It is very visual in orientation, and a good program for dyslexics.
  • ST Math: ST Math is an innovative online math curriculum that can be used either standalone or as a supplement to other math programs. It’s highly visual approach is very helpful for many dyslexic students. It works hard to build conceptual understanding rather than just rote learning. 
  • Hands-On Equations from Borenson Math. It benefits dyslexic students by providing a visual and kinesthetic learning method that uses manipulatives like pawns and cubes on a balance scale to demystify algebra, enhancing understanding through tangible interaction rather than abstract memorization.
  • Teaching Textbooks app-based math program is an easy to use program that does not require lesson planning or preparation with lessons presented through videos and immedicate feedback provided for incorrect answers. 

4. Science: The chief topics for a grades 3-5 homeschool science curriculum include Life Science (plant and animal adaptations, ecosystems), Earth Science (water cycle, basic geology), Physical Science (states of matter, simple machines), and Space Science (solar system, phases of the moon). In addition to the general curricula listed at the start of this page, the following science programs can be used:

  • Science Unlocked by Home Science Tools: An all-in-one curriculum that includes everything needed for a year of science, from lessons to supplies. It’s tailored for hands-on learning and has won awards for its immersive experience, making science both fun and educational.
  • Real Science-4-Kids (RS4K): Known for its hands-on approach, this curriculum offers grade-level kits and unit studies that align well with the middle school years, making it adaptable for grades 4-6. It focuses on practical experiments and less on heavy reading, which can be advantageous for students with dyslexia..
  • Elemental Science: It’s designed to make teaching science easy with its comprehensive plans that include tools for reading, doing experiments, and recording observations. It’s particularly noted for its classical approach, which can appeal to those interested in a more structured learning path.
  • Apologia’s Exploring Creation Series (Young Explorer Books): This curriculum is known for its Charlotte Mason-style teaching, providing a narrative approach to science education. It encourages notebooking, hands-on activities, and exploration of God’s creation from a Christian worldview. The series includes topics like zoology, botany, and astronomy, making learning both fun and educational.

5. Social Studies: The chief topics for a grades 3-5 homeschool social studies curriculum include Geography (map skills, major landforms), History (American history, ancient civilizations), Civics (government basics, rights and responsibilities), and Economics (basic economic concepts, understanding resources), all integrated to foster a holistic understanding of the world. In addition to the general curricula listed at the start of this page, the following science programs can be used:

  • Elementary Social Studies from Miacademy: This online curriculum provides interactive lessons on history, geography, civics, and more, tailored for early elementary students. It includes videos, games, and activities that make learning about the world fun and engaging. Miacademy’s curriculum is adaptable, allowing parents to add personal experiences or state-specific history.
  • Story of the World: This series by Susan Wise Bauer, known from “The Well-Trained Mind,” a Christian curriculum, offers a comprehensive look at world history that progresses in reading level as students move through the volumes. It’s well-suited for young learners with its engaging storytelling, making history accessible and interesting.
  • Evan-Moor’s Daily Social Studies: While more traditional, this workbook series can be adapted for dyslexic learners by focusing on the hands-on activities and discussions rather than the text. It provides daily lessons on various social studies topics, including history, geography, and civics, with an emphasis on visual aids and project-based learning.

6. Art: Important subject areas include art elements and principles (color theory, balance), art history (e.g., Renaissance, Impressionism), art techniques (watercolor, sculpting), and cultural arts (folk art, traditional crafts), fostering creativity and cultural appreciation through hands-on practice and exploration, music (listening, singing, basic rhythm, and perhaps an introduction to an instrument) crafts (simple projects that also teach fine motor skills).. This area lends itself less well to off the rack curricula, but parents should explore a child’s individual interests with either online, print, or local resources.

7. Technology: Important topics include basic computer skills (like using a mouse, typing, and simple software and assistive technologies for educational purposes). Technology is advancing too fast in this area to keep updating in a section such as this, so we’ll keep up to date in our Digital Dyslexic section in the Library, and in our Homeschooling Community Forum. We’ve discussed Bookshare.org and Learning Ally. For those who have not yet learned to type a good typing curriculum is also an important part of early training. Here are two:

  • Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS): This program is specifically designed for individuals with dyslexia. It uses a multi-sensory approach based on the Orton-Gillingham method, focusing on word families and spelling patterns while teaching typing. TTRS is recommended because it integrates reading and spelling practice with typing, which can significantly benefit dyslexic learners. It starts with accuracy over speed, which is crucial for building confidence and proficiency.
  • Nessy Fingers: This is another program designed with dyslexia in mind, particularly for children aged 7-12. It personalizes goals based on the student’s baseline, offering a fun and engaging way to learn typing that also supports reading and spelling skills. The use of humor and games can keep dyslexic children motivated to practice.

 

Conclusion:

This is an overview of the topics that should be contained in an upper elementary homeschool curriculum, and links to some useful resources that can help you put together your own program for your student. In later lessons we’ll discuss in more detail some important principles you should use in forming your lesson plans from these curricula.

Homeschool Curriculum:
Middle School

Introduction

On this page we’ll present a suggested curriculum for dyslexic homeschooling students in middle school (roughly grades 6-8 and ages roughly 12-14).

As with the earlier grades, there are a number of services offering comprehensive homeschool curricula that can be modified to fit dyslexic students with the substitution of appropriate curricula for reading, writing, and math, and the use of dyslexia-friendly learning techniques that we’ve discussed in our videos and courses. These include Time4Learning, Calvert Homeschool, Homeschool Complete, and BookShark. There are also several complete homeschool programs that incorporate a Christian orientation such as Abeka and Sonlight.

Middle School Homeschooling Curriculum

  1. Reading and Spelling: In the middle school grades, reading instruction is generally a continuation of the kind of work done during the elementary grades. For students who have completed training in structured literacy, the shift continues to a heightened focus on comprehension and fluency, if those have not been mastered, and to the use of assistive technologies for reading to take in longer texts when reading fluency has not been achieved. For students who have just been identified as dyslexic, or who have not yet mastered the full structured literacy program, most of the same resources can be used that were recommended for students in the earlier grades. If you are new to such instruction with your student, please see our videos in the Learning With Dyslexia section of our Library for a detailed discussion of reading instruction. In our Part I video series we explain the nature of structured literacy instruction, reading fluency, and reading comprehension training in general. In Part II we discuss specific resources that can be used in teaching these skills. Here is an overview of the key details.
  • Structured literacy instruction focuses on building the foundational skills of literacy (click the link for a more detailed discussion). For middle school dyslexic students who are not newly diagnosed the work focuses on more complex phonics patterns and spelling rules. In our videos we mention several popular systems for instruction such as Orton-Gillingham, Wilson, and Barton (all three of which are based on the Orton-Gillingham method). Barton in particular is now offered in a user-friendly fashion where each lesson is laid out and scripted in a way that it can be administered without training or advanced preparation. Many homeschoolers also like several workbook-based systems like All About Reading or Logic of English, which can be purchased and administered without detailed training, and also have well-scripted lesson plans that make them easy for homeschoolers to use. All About Reading also offers a companion All About Spelling system. Most of these systems offer materials that train sight word recognition and Logic of English also provides resources for handwriting and grammar instruction. One additional program that can be used for students age 10 and over is the Reading Horizons Elevate program. This program uses techniques for learning that are more appropriate for older students, and they have a very user friendly online format that is convenient. It also emphasizes approaches that help with fluency and spelling. It is a good “consolidation” program for students who have made progress earlier with other approaches, but still need to pick up speed and automaticity.
  • Reading Fluency: Reading fluency practice becomes progressively more important as students develop their low level decoding and sight word recognition skills.  You can watch our video on reading fluency for information on the recommended technique of guided repeated oral reading and on the use of practice systems such as BuddyBooks.  Generally, 15-30 minutes a day of guided reading practice is appropriate.As students grow in their reading abilities, reading can be simply supervised and corrections offered as needed rather than in the repeat read format, but daily oral reading practice is still valuable. See also Reading Horizons Elevate as described above.
  • Comprehension Training: Comprehension building becomes progressively more important as students progress through school. Most will still be in a formal reading curriculum at this stage, and most of those will offer curriculum training. But more complex books reading materials including materials that especially appeal to a student’s interest are also important. Reading along with or supervising your student’s reading will also be useful, and good resources for books will continue to be Bookshare.org, LearningAlly, Audible.com, Kindle, along with local libraries. With whatever reading you do, and also with watching movies and TV shows, you can improve their comprehension by having them in activities like summarizing, questioning, clarifying, visualizing, and predicting. This is an excellent way to improve their expressive language skills, and can be done as a form of “table talk” where they can be asked to respond to statements of yours using the same kind of approach. Reading comprehension can also be improved using the Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking by Lindamood-Bell. This program helps students create mental images from what they read, enhancing comprehension through the development of imagery and language. This program can be very helpful for some students with dyslexia, and especially those with a strong visual imagery and non-verbal thinking profile. Parents can also attend periodic workshops to learn how to train in this technique.

2. Other Language Arts:

  • Writing: Expand writing skills to include different formats like essays, narratives, and reports. Also, work on organizational skills for writing by using outlines and graphic organizers. For those who have not done so before, or are coming to our site for the first time with an older student, start by watching our video series on learning to write. Then drill down to particular topics. For written composition for students not using Logic of English, other good writing programs include the Structure and Style series from IEW or the Essentials in Writing program. 
  • Grammar: Introduction to basic grammar rules, parts of speech, and writing mechanics like punctuation and capitalization. In the early grades 10-15 minutes a day will do. Logic of English provides instruction, and Other resources are listed on our Mastering Grammar and Syntax video. Useful programs include Winston Grammar and Easy Grammar. 
  • Vocabulary: Improving vocabulary will benefit many areas of learning. It  improves reading comprehension and facilitates knowledge and thinking in all areas. It can be accomplished through reading, word games, and direct instruction. This is an area of instruction that is often neglected, but it has enormous payoffs when seriously pursued. The reading instruction programs listed above contain work in vocabulary, and additional training can be pursued with Wordly Wise.

3. Mathematics: In the middle school years math should cover foundational arithmetic and pre-algebra concepts (such as basic operations with integers and rational numbers), algebra (including equations and inequalities), geometry (focusing on shapes, angles, and basic theorems), statistics and probability (to introduce data analysis and chance), and real-world problem-solving (to integrate these mathematical principles in practical scenarios). Good curricula include: 

  • Singapore Math: The Primary Math or Dimensions math programs from Singapore Math are excellent programs for homeschooling families. Dimensions is a bit more complex, so Primary Math is probably sufficient for most families. It is very visual in orientation, and a good program for dyslexics.
  • ST Math: ST Math is an innovative online math curriculum that can be used either standalone or as a supplement to other math programs. It’s highly visual approach is very helpful for many dyslexic students. It works hard to build conceptual understanding rather than just rote learning. 
  • Hands-On Equations from Borenson Math. Available for up to grade 8. It benefits dyslexic students by providing a visual and kinesthetic learning method that uses manipulatives like pawns and cubes on a balance scale to demystify algebra, enhancing understanding through tangible interaction rather than abstract memorization. App-based programs also available.
  • Teaching Textbooks app-based math program is an easy to use program that does not require lesson planning or preparation with lessons presented through videos and immedicate feedback provided for incorrect answers. 

4. Science: The chief topics for a grades 6-8 homeschool science curriculum include Earth and Space Sciences (climate, geology, astronomy), Life Sciences (ecosystems, genetics, human biology, evolution), Physical Sciences (chemistry, physics), Environmental Science (sustainability, ecology), Scientific Method and Experimentation (inquiry, data analysis), Technology and Engineering (STEM projects, engineering design), and Health and Nutrition (personal health, disease prevention). The following science programs can be used:

  • Science Unlocked by Home Science Tools: An all-in-one curriculum that includes everything needed for a year of science, from lessons to supplies. It’s tailored for hands-on learning and has won awards for its immersive experience, making science both fun and educational.
  • Real Science-4-Kids (RS4K): Known for its hands-on approach, this curriculum offers grade-level kits and unit studies that align well with the middle school years, making it adaptable for grades 4-6. It focuses on practical experiments and less on heavy reading, which can be advantageous for students with dyslexia..
  • Elemental Science: It’s designed to make teaching science easy with its comprehensive plans that include tools for reading, doing experiments, and recording observations. It’s particularly noted for its classical approach, which can appeal to those interested in a more structured learning path.
  • Apologia’s Exploring Creation Series (Young Explorer Books): This curriculum is known for its Charlotte Mason-style teaching, providing a narrative approach to science education. It encourages notebooking, hands-on activities, and exploration of God’s creation from a Christian worldview. The series includes topics like zoology, botany, and astronomy, making learning both fun and educational.

5. Social Studies and History: For grades 6-8, a homeschool social studies curriculum should encompass World History (ancient, medieval, modern), U.S. History (colonial to contemporary), Geography (physical, human), Civics/Government (U.S. structure, local governance, civic duty), Economics (principles, financial literacy), Sociology/Psychology (societal norms, individual behavior), Current Events (news analysis, critical thinking), and Cultural Studies (diverse cultures, global religions, citizenship).The following science programs can be used:

  • Elementary Social Studies from Miacademy: This online curriculum provides interactive lessons on history, geography, civics, and more, tailored for early elementary students. It includes videos, games, and activities that make learning about the world fun and engaging. Miacademy’s curriculum is adaptable, allowing parents to add personal experiences or state-specific history.
  • Story of the World: This series by Susan Wise Bauer, known from “The Well-Trained Mind,” a Christian curriculum, offers a comprehensive look at world history that progresses in reading level as students move through the volumes. It’s well-suited for young learners with its engaging storytelling, making history accessible and interesting.
  • Evan-Moor’s Daily Social Studies: While more traditional, this workbook series can be adapted for dyslexic learners by focusing on the hands-on activities and discussions rather than the text. It provides daily lessons on various social studies topics, including history, geography, and civics, with an emphasis on visual aids and project-based learning.

6. Art: An arts curriculum for students in grades 6-8 should cover the visual arts, music, and drama. This area lends itself less well to off the rack curricula, but parents should explore a child’s individual interests with either online, print, or local resources.

7. Technology: Important topics include basic computer skills (like using a mouse, typing, and simple software and assistive technologies for educational purposes). Technology is advancing too fast in this area to keep updating in a section such as this, so we’ll keep up to date in our Digital Dyslexic section in the Library, and in our Homeschooling Community Forum. We’ve discussed Bookshare.org and Learning Ally. For those who have not yet learned to type a good typing curriculum is also an important part of early training. Here are two:

  • Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS): This program is specifically designed for individuals with dyslexia. It uses a multi-sensory approach based on the Orton-Gillingham method, focusing on word families and spelling patterns while teaching typing. TTRS is recommended because it integrates reading and spelling practice with typing, which can significantly benefit dyslexic learners. It starts with accuracy over speed, which is crucial for building confidence and proficiency.
  • Nessy Fingers: This is another program designed with dyslexia in mind, particularly for children aged 7-12. It personalizes goals based on the student’s baseline, offering a fun and engaging way to learn typing that also supports reading and spelling skills. The use of humor and games can keep dyslexic children motivated to practice.

Conclusion:

This is an overview of the topics that should be contained in an middle school homeschool curriculum, and links to some useful resources that can help you put together your own program for your student. In later lessons we’ll discuss in more detail some important principles you should use in forming your lesson plans from these curricula.

Homeschool Curriculum:
High School

Introduction

On this page we’ll present some suggestions for planning educational curricula for dyslexic homeschooling students in high school (roughly grades 9-12 and ages 15-18).

For the earlier grades we focused on developing a single general curriculum for each level that would be applicable for most students irrespective of future goals. In the high school years, by contrast, students should begin to have their curriculum modified in order to help them prepare for their “next step”, or life after high school. 

To help you develop an appropriate high school curriculum for your high schooler, we would strongly recommend that if you have a homeschooling high school student you should join our Prep for the Step Community. There you’ll have access to a wealth of resources that will help your student make the transition from high school to life beyond. Two of the key components in that section are our Career Finder and our Routes module, which considers the different pathways students can follow to reach their futures. Having your student complete these sections before putting together their high school curriculum will help you tremendously in deciding which subjects to include, and at what depth to pursue them.

There will be so many variations on the general or core curriculum that what we provide here can only be a starting point. We will consider in other lessons some of the special considerations for curriculum formation that might be undertaken for students who know that they wish to pursue vocational training or go straight into the job market after high school, or for students that know they want to go on to higher education. So what we list below can be seen used in bits and pieces for those pursuing a modified curriculum, or in can be used for those students who have not yet formed a clear picture of what kind of career they might wish to pursue.

As with the earlier grades, there are a number of services offering comprehensive homeschool curricula for high school students, and that can be modified to fit dyslexic students using the dyslexia-friendly learning techniques that we’ve discussed in our videos and courses. These include some that we’ve discussed for earlier ages like Time4Learning, Calvert Homeschool, Homeschool Complete, and BookShark, and also K12, and Power Homeschool, which offers some more vocationally oriented courses, as well. There are also several complete homeschool programs that incorporate a Christian orientation such as Forest Trail Academy and Liberty University.

High School Homeschooling Core Curriculum

  1. Reading and Spelling: 
  • By the high school years most dyslexic students who have received structured literacy instruction in the earlier grades will not need additional instruction in decoding (though they may still work on spelling). Instead, their language arts instruction will focus primarily on studying literature and writing. To access print material, many dyslexic students will choose to use assistive technologies like text-to-speech for much of their reading. Good resources for recorded or digital ebooks include Bookshare.org, LearningAlly, Audible.com, Kindle, or digital resources from local libraries. 
  • However for students who are newly identified as dyslexic during their high school years, programs such as Barton or Reading Horizons Elevate should be used to each basic reading skills. The latter program in particular uses techniques for learning that are more appropriate for older students, and they have a very user friendly online format that is convenient. It also emphasizes approaches that help with fluency and spelling. It is a good “consolidation” program for students who have made progress earlier with other approaches, but still need to pick up speed and automaticity. If your high school student is newly diagnosed with dyslexia and you are just learning about structured literacy instruction, please see our videos in the Learning With Dyslexia section of our Library for a detailed discussion of reading instruction. In our Part I video series we explain the nature of structured literacy instruction, reading fluency, and reading comprehension training in general. In Part II we discuss specific resources that can be used in teaching these skills. 
  • Reading Fluency: Although for many dyslexic students assistive technologies will be important for accessing information in print, reading fluency can still be practiced during the high school years. If it can be developed, fluent reading becomes increasingly valuable at the higher levels of education. You can watch our video on reading fluency for information. Oral reading practice is an important component in building accuracy, though reading along with a cursor on an ebook or a book read aloud can be helpful for generating speed. Generally, 15-30 minutes a day of guided reading practice is appropriate. For most older students oral reading can be simply supervised and corrections offered as needed rather than in the repeat read format, but daily oral reading practice is still valuable.
  • Comprehension and Literary Analysis: Comprehension and literary analysis are generally the central literacy skills that will be focused on during high school. Useful high school curricula include Essentials in Literature from EIW, or for families using Christian materials Illuminating Literature.

2. Other Language Arts:

  • Writing: For those coming to our site for the first time with an older student, start by watching our video series on learning to write. For high school good instructional materials can be obtained from IEW or the Essentials in Writing program.
  • Grammar and Vocabulary: By high school these should generally be taught through context and practical application rather than treated as a direct area of study. Additional vocabulary can be learned via SAT/ACT test prep. 

3. Mathematics:

A comprehensive grades 9-12 homeschool math curriculum should cover Algebra I (equations, functions), Geometry (congruence, trigonometry basics), Algebra II (quadratics, matrices, conic sections), and Pre-Calculus (trigonometric functions, calculus introduction, statistics). Good curricula include: 

  • ST Math: ST Math is an innovative online math curriculum that can be used either standalone or as a supplement to other math programs. It’s highly visual approach is very helpful for many dyslexic students. It works hard to build conceptual understanding rather than just rote learning. 
  • Teaching Textbooks app-based math program is an easy to use program that does not require lesson planning or preparation with lessons presented through videos and immediate feedback provided for incorrect answers. 
  • Thinkwell: Particularly for high school math, Thinkwell’s multimedia instructional videos are focused and distraction-free, which can be beneficial for students with attention challenges associated with dyslexia. It offers courses like Algebra, Geometry, and PreCalculus, with automatic grading and detailed explanations.

4. Science:

A high school grades 9-12 homeschool science curriculum should cover Biology (cell biology, ecology), Chemistry (atomic structure, chemical reactions), Physics (mechanics, electricity), and Earth Science (geology, meteorology, astronomy).. In addition to the general curricula listed at the start of this page, the following science programs can be used:

  • Science Unlocked by Home Science Tools: An all-in-one curriculum that includes everything needed for a year of science, from lessons to supplies. It’s tailored for hands-on learning and has won awards for its immersive experience, making science both fun and educational.
  • Time4Learning: Suitable for high school, this online program includes up to four courses in its membership. It’s appreciated for its balance of video instruction and interactive content, which means less independent reading is required. However, it does not include labs, so you might need to supplement with hands-on activities.
  • Apologia’s Exploring Creation Series (Young Explorer Books): This curriculum is known for its Christian worldview but is highly praised for its comprehensive coverage. It offers an MP3 recording of the text for free to students with documented learning disabilities like dyslexia, allowing auditory learning. The curriculum includes lab activities, which can be beneficial for kinesthetic learners.

 

5. Social Studies: 

A high school grades 9-12 homeschool social studies/history curriculum should cover World History (ancient civilizations, modern global issues), U.S. History (colonial period, civil rights movements), Geography (physical, cultural), and Government/Civics (political systems, citizenship). In addition to the general curricula listed at the start of this page, the following science programs can be used:

  • Time4Learning: This online program offers social studies courses for high school students that include video instruction, interactive exercises, and multimedia content. Its approach can be particularly helpful for students who learn better through visual and auditory means rather than extensive reading. The curriculum covers U.S. History, World History, Government, and Economics, with the flexibility to adjust pacing to suit individual learning needs.
  • Sonlight: While more reading-intensive, Sonlight’s literature-rich approach can be adapted by using audio versions of the books or focusing on the discussion questions and activities rather than the reading itself. Their high school courses delve into World and U.S. History with a Christian worldview, and they offer resources like Instructor’s Guides that can ease the teaching load for parents. 

Conclusion:

This is an overview of the topics that should be contained in a core high school homeschool curriculum, and links to some useful resources that can help you put together your own program for your student. In later lessons we’ll discuss in more detail some important principles you should use in forming your lesson plans from these curricula. For high school students, we also have additional lessons on special factors for students pursuing a vocational track, and students who definitely plan on attending a four year college or university.

You are the Mapmaker!

Remember, you have the unique power to chart a course that is perfectly tailored to your child’s amazing mind. This shop is your dedicated resource for that mission. Use these tools with confidence, embrace the journey of discovery, and enjoy the adventure of creating a truly personalized and joyful education.

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