Starting a new school year can be challenging for any child, but students with learning disabilities may face additional obstacles as they adjust to new teachers, routines, and academic expectations. Children who struggle with reading, writing, math, or executive functioning may feel particularly anxious about keeping up with their classmates and meeting new academic demands.
As a parent, you can help make this transition smoother. By establishing consistent routines, identifying needed academic support, and communicating regularly with teachers, you can help your child feel more organized, confident, and prepared for the year ahead.
For families in Orlando, Boca Raton, and throughout Florida, the start of a new school year can also be an ideal time to gauge whether your child needs additional academic support.
8 Back-to-School Tips for Students with Learning Disabilities
1. Establish Consistent Routines Early
Children with learning disabilities typically benefit from structured routines and predictability. By establishing routines at the beginning of the school year, you can help minimize stress and make your child’s daily tasks feel more manageable.
Help your child set consistent times for waking up, getting ready for school, completing their homework, eating dinner, organizing their materials, and going to bed. You may want to also set up a designated homework area where they will complete their homework on a regular basis, stocked with pencils, paper, and other supplies they may need.
If your child struggles with organization or executive functioning, you may want to create a visual checklist for morning and evening routines. Rather than repeatedly reminding your child about what they need to do next, encourage them to look at to the checklist and ultimately become more independent when completing tasks.
Learn more about strategies for building stronger organizational skills in students with ADHD at How to Improve Organizational Skills for Students with ADHD - Knowledge Plus Tutoring.
2. Review Your Child’s IEP or 504 Plan
If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan, review it at the beginning of the school year and share it with their teachers and any other service providers.
Make sure your child’s teachers and service providers understand their learning needs, accommodations, and overall profile. Your child may qualify for accommodations such as extended time, preferential seating, reduced-distraction testing, assistive technology, or other academic support, depending on their needs.
While accommodations can help provide access to learning, some children also need more targeted instruction to strengthen their core academic skills.
3. Communicate With Your Child’s Teacher
Communication is key! Don’t wait until the first report card to set up communication with your child’s teacher.
Early in the school year, you may want to reach out to your child’s teacher and share an overview of your child’s strengths, weaknesses, and strategies that have worked for them in the past. For example, you might explain that your child responds well to visual directions, needs assignments broken down into smaller steps, or benefits from multi-sensory teaching.
You can also set up a plan for maintaining communication throughout the year to help identify difficulties before they become larger challenges.
4. Break Homework into Manageable Steps
For students with learning disabilities, assignments and projects that seem relatively simple can sometimes feel overwhelming.
Help your child make larger assignments more manageable by breaking them into smaller, clearly defined steps. For example, instead of simply saying, “Finish your science project,” work with your child to identify each step involved and create a plan for completing them one at a time.
Breaking larger tasks into smaller steps can make assignments feel less intimidating and easier to tackle. At the same time, this approach helps your child strengthen important planning, organization, time management, and executive functioning skills that can support them throughout the school year.
5. Watch for Early Academic Red Flags
With so much going on at the start of a new school year, it can be tempting to take a “wait and see” approach to academic challenges, giving children several months to settle in before taking action. However, the earlier difficulties are identified, the sooner you can provide support and prevent small learning gaps from developing into larger challenges.
Pay attention if your child consistently:
- Avoids reading or writing assignments
- Takes much longer than expected to complete homework
- Struggles to remember and retain recently learned information
- Has difficulty following multi-step directions
- Frequently loses assignments, school materials, or personal belongings
- Has trouble starting or completing tasks independently
- Becomes significantly frustrated during homework or other academic tasks
- Struggles with decoding or reading fluency
- Shows a noticeable lack of confidence in their academic abilities
Struggling with an occasional assignment or receiving a poor grade does not necessarily indicate a deeper learning challenge. However, if you begin to notice a consistent pattern of difficulties, it may be a sign that your child could benefit from additional academic support. Identifying and addressing these challenges early can help your child build the skills and confidence they need for a successful school year.
6. Focus on Your Child’s Strengths
Students with learning disabilities sometimes struggle with self-esteem, particularly when so much attention is placed on the areas that are challenging for them. However, it is equally important to recognize their strengths.
A child who struggles with reading, for example, may be a talented artist, athlete, musician, public speaker, or a wonderful friend. Another child may find writing difficult, but may have an exceptional imagination, strong verbal skills, or an impressive ability to solve problems.
Give your child plenty of opportunities to discover and develop their strengths. Experiencing success in areas where they excel can help build self-confidence that may carry over into more challenging academic areas.
7. Encourage Self-Advocacy
As your child gets older, it becomes increasingly important for them to learn how to communicate their needs and advocate for themselves.
Encourage your child to ask their teacher for clarification when they don’t understand directions and to speak up when they need additional support. As students get older, they should gradually take more responsibility for communicating directly with their teachers about accommodations, missed assignments, upcoming tests and projects, and areas where they may need extra help.
Developing strong self-advocacy skills can help your child become more confident and independent as they progress through school. Learning to recognize what they need, communicate those needs effectively, and seek help when necessary are valuable skills that can benefit them well beyond the classroom.
8. Provide Targeted Academic Support
Many students with learning disabilities need more than just homework help. They often benefit from explicit, systematic, multi-sensory instruction that directly targets the specific skills that are challenging for them.
For example, a child with dyslexia may benefit from structured, multi-sensory reading instruction, such as the Orton Gillingham approach, to strengthen their decoding, reading fluency, and spelling skills. A student who struggles with writing or has dysgraphia may need explicit instruction in areas such as sentence structure, paragraph development, organization, and editing. Students with executive functioning challenges may benefit from learning concrete strategies for organization, time management, planning, task initiation, and completing assignments independently.
By providing targeted instruction based on a student’s individual needs, you can help them develop the underlying skills they need to become more confident and independent learners.
Learn more about the signs that your child may benefit from working with a reading tutor at When Should a Child Get a Reading Tutor? Orlando & Boca Raton Guide.
Learning Disability Tutoring in Orlando, FL
For families seeking learning disability tutoring in Orlando, finding a tutor who understands your child’s specific learning needs can make a significant difference. Students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, executive functioning difficulties, and other learning challenges often benefit from individualized instruction that targets the specific skills that are difficult for them.
Knowledge Plus Tutoring provides one-on-one tutoring to students in grades prek–12 throughout the Orlando area. Depending on each child’s needs, instruction may focus on reading, spelling, writing, math, study skills, or executive functioning. Students with dyslexia and other reading difficulties can also receive structured, multi-sensory Orton Gillingham tutoring designed to strengthen foundational reading and spelling skills.
Our individualized approach allows instruction to be customized to each student’s strengths, challenges, learning style, and academic goals.
Learn more about choosing the right reading tutor in Orlando for your child at Best Reading Tutors in Orlando: A Parent’s Guide to Choosing the Right Tutor - Knowledge Plus Tutoring.
Dyslexia and Learning Disability Tutoring in Boca Raton, FL
Students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities often need specialized instruction that goes beyond traditional homework help. Knowledge Plus Tutoring provides individualized, one-on-one tutoring in Boca Raton to students with dyslexia, ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, executive functioning challenges, and other learning needs.
For students who struggle with reading and spelling, we provide structured, systematic, multisensory Orton Gillingham instruction. Lessons are tailored to each child’s individual skill levels and can target areas such as phonemic awareness, decoding, spelling, reading fluency, and comprehension.
Knowledge Plus Tutoring also provides individualized support in writing, math, study skills, and executive functioning skills. Students who struggle with organization, planning, time management, or task initiation can learn concrete strategies for becoming more independent and successful at school.
For Boca Raton families who notice their child struggling academically at the beginning of the school year, seeking specialized support early can help address skill gaps before they become more significant.
Learn more about finding an Orton-Gillingham tutor in Boca Raton at Best Orton Gillingham Tutors in Boca Raton for Dyslexia & Reading Support.
Using Step Up For Students Scholarships for Tutoring in Florida
Many Florida families may have access to educational funding through Step Up For Students scholarships.
While it depends on the specific scholarship and your child’s eligibility, you may be able to use these scholarship funds to pay for approved educational services, including one-on-one tutoring. This can make individualized academic support more accessible for families who are seeking additional help for a child with a learning disability, ADHD, or other academic challenges.
Knowledge Plus Tutoring is a Step Up-approved tutoring provider that accepts Step Up For Students scholarship funding for tutoring services. Because scholarship rules, approved expenses, and eligibility requirements can vary, you should always review the current guidelines for your child’s specific scholarship before starting with a tutoring program.
If your child receives Step Up For Students funding, contact Knowledge Plus Tutoring to learn more about our tutoring program and how eligible scholarship funds may be used to help your child.
Learn how to find an approved Step Up tutoring provider in Florida at How to Find an Approved Step Up Tutoring Provider in Florida - Knowledge Plus Tutoring.
How Knowledge Plus Tutoring Can Help
At Knowledge Plus Tutoring, we individualize all instruction to the specific needs of each student.
We specialize in providing one-on-one, research-based tutoring to students in grades prek-12, including instruction in reading, spelling, writing, math, and executive functioning skills. We also provide Orton Gillingham instruction to students with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.
If your child has dyslexia, ADHD, executive functioning difficulties, or another learning challenge, starting appropriate support early in the school year can help them develop a stronger foundation for academic success.
Start the School Year with the Right Support
A new school year doesn’t have to mean more struggles! Setting predictable routines, communicating with your child’s teachers, monitoring academic progress, and providing individualized instruction can help your child with learning disabilities adjust to the new school year more successfully.
Don’t wait for your child to fall significantly behind before seeking help. When children receive effective support early, they can build stronger skills, develop greater independence, and show improved confidence in their abilities.
Knowledge Plus Tutoring provides individualized one-on-one tutoring in Orlando and Boca Raton to students with learning disabilities, ADHD, executive functioning challenges, and other academic difficulties. Eligible Florida families may also be able to use Step Up For Students scholarship funds for tutoring services. Contact Knowledge Plus Tutoring to learn more about how we can help your child thrive academically.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I help my child with a learning disability adjust to a new school year?
You can help your child with a learning disability adjust to the new school year by establishing consistent routines, helping them organize their school materials, reviewing their IEP or 504 Plan with their teachers, communicating with teachers, and identifying any additional academic support they may need.
When should I consider tutoring for my child?
You may want to consider additional support for your child if they consistently struggle with academic skills, spend excessive amounts of time completing their homework, become easily frustrated with schoolwork, fall behind academically, or start to lose self-confidence.
What type of tutoring is best for students with learning disabilities?
For students with learning disabilities, individualized instruction that addresses your child’s specific areas of weakness using research-based, multi-sensory techniques is key. While it depends on your child’s needs, this instruction might include Orton Gillingham reading tutoring, multi-sensory writing or math instruction, or executive functioning coaching.
Does Knowledge Plus Tutoring offer tutoring in Orlando?
Yes! Knowledge Plus Tutoring provides individualized one-on-one tutoring to students in the Orlando area, including support for reading, spelling, writing, math, and executive functioning skills. We have particular expertise in helping students with dyslexia, ADHD, and other learning challenges.
Does Knowledge Plus Tutoring offer tutoring in Boca Raton?
Yes! Knowledge Plus Tutoring provides one-on-one tutoring to students in grades prek-12 in the Boca Raton area, including specialized academic instruction and support for students with learning disabilities.
Can Step Up For Students funding be used for tutoring?
While it depends on specific scholarship and current program requirements, eligible Step Up For Students funds may be used for approved tutoring and educational services. Knowledge Plus Tutoring is a Step Up-approved tutoring provider and accepts Step Up For Students scholarship funding. You should check the current guidelines for your child’s specific scholarship.
Dr. Emily Levy is the executive director of Knowledge Plus Tutoring and a special education expert. She holds her Doctorate Degree in Education and her Master’s Degree in Special Education, and has helped thousands of students with learning disabilities develop their academic and executive functioning skills over the past twenty years. She frequently speaks at national educational conferences and appears as an ADHD expert on podcasts. Dr. Levy is the author of the Strategies for Study Success, Flags and Stars Orton Gillingham, and Flags and Stars Multi-Sensory Math student workbook programs, all of which are used by students and schools nationwide. She has been featured in publications including Newsweek, Epoch Times, Autism Advocate Parenting Magazine, and Macaroni Kids.
