Teaching a Dyslexic Child
Posted: 10 May 2021, 10:00
Hi folks,
I am fairly new to piano teaching and have encountered a slight problem this week. One of my students is 10 years old and is dyslexic. He went to a different piano teacher before he came to me, and completed his Initial Exam with her, but upon investigation he seemed to learn his pieces entirely by depending on finger numbers and muscle memory. He had no sight reading ability whatsoever. I took him back to basics and he was getting on well, but then the pandemic hit and there was a bit of regression. He has been doing okay, and learning songs from his music book, and is working out what the notes are on the page while in his lesson, but is still depending on memory and ear - which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but the issue is that when he goes home, his mum complains that he forgets mostly everything he has done and he struggles with having the patience to work out the notes on the page without support. I’m wondering if anyone else has encountered something like this and if there are tips or strategies for how I can help him? Thanks!
I am fairly new to piano teaching and have encountered a slight problem this week. One of my students is 10 years old and is dyslexic. He went to a different piano teacher before he came to me, and completed his Initial Exam with her, but upon investigation he seemed to learn his pieces entirely by depending on finger numbers and muscle memory. He had no sight reading ability whatsoever. I took him back to basics and he was getting on well, but then the pandemic hit and there was a bit of regression. He has been doing okay, and learning songs from his music book, and is working out what the notes are on the page while in his lesson, but is still depending on memory and ear - which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but the issue is that when he goes home, his mum complains that he forgets mostly everything he has done and he struggles with having the patience to work out the notes on the page without support. I’m wondering if anyone else has encountered something like this and if there are tips or strategies for how I can help him? Thanks!