Getting Prepared for Preparing

[glperky]

I have a 9 yo that will be starting Preparing, Lord willing, in the fall. He will really need to pick up on his reading before then if he has to read by himself. He reads out loud to me each day but is very reluctant to read on his own. He just doesn't have the confidence to do so saying, he won't know the words. Also, when we read out loud he will read two paragraphs and then I will read one. I told him on the next book he has to read three and I'll read one. What can I do to help him learn to read on his own? Thank you for any insight you can give.

[Mumkins]

What books is he reading on his own now? My 9yo is reading the ER books. I'm hopeful she'll be able to read Preparing, but, I plan on having her read aloud.

[psreit]

I have an 11yo who does not do much reading independently yet. It is mostly due to dyslexia/visual perception problems. But, I am seeing her showing a little more interest in reading for pleasure, as long as they are books that are not too hard. Maybe you could give him easy books to read on his own just for fun. He could read out loud to you while you are doing something else. That may help build his confidence. Practice, practice, practice is the key. It will come.

[glperky]

Pam,
He finished reading the ER books probably a year ago. Should I have him go back and read some of those since he knows he can?

[Gwenny]

Has he done Bigger? Does he place in Preparing on the placement chart? I agree that he just needs to practice practice. When he did the ERs a year ago, did he read them all or did you do the switching off like you are doing now? Is he tired out after just a little bit of reading, or do you do that just to appease him and keep him reading? If he is tired out, have you had his eyes checked?

Just some thoughts and questions to possibly help.

[Nealewill]

Unless he can't, one thing I would start doing is no longer helping him in his reading. Sometimes it is hard to gently push your kids when they don't exactly want to be pushed. For example, my son hates the vocab in the Bigger guide. I don't know why but he hates it! He had to do vocabulary 2 days ago and he begged and begged for me to not do it. We go to the table to sit down to do it and that poor boy had tears running down his face. Guess what? We still did vocab. He can do it, he just doesn't want to. I don't know why he doesn't want to but he just doesn't. And it isn't tourcher, he is always done in about 10 minutes. He is completely focused and gets it done quickly. The one thing I do with him though to help is actually help him with his sentence. I think he is going to be a bit frustrated next year with Preparing when he has 5 words instead of 3 but I am not telling it is coming. He will just magically find out on day 2 or 3 of the first unit next year.

It is hard sometimes when we can see that our kids are having a struggle. But I have found such blessing when I just let the child work through something at their pace and I don't step in all the time to help. Another example of this is I hear parents tell me all the time that their kids can't write things down. I know sometimes kids actually have difficulty but many parents I know also struggle with just making the kids do it. There is on particular 6th grader who is so smart and who I know has no issues with writing other than she takes longer than her mom prefers or she just complains. So her mom is always jumping in and letting her daughter dictate to her. Uhm.......if it were me, I would just be patient and wait for her to finish up her own writing or even refuse to be dictated too.

Maybe I am mean and insensitive. But honestly, it has worked out okay for us My oldest has mild dyslexia and she reads very well. Practice, practice, practice. My son has auditory processing disorder. He is getting better and better. He has his own set of challenges. But God gave me these kids to raise and grow and stretch and I know God will give me the wisdom on when to push and when to back off.

For us and reading, my constant mission is to keep interesting books in the house all the time! I go to the library regularly and I keep a laundry basket full of books at all times. Many of the books are picture books and my kids love them. Even my oldest will get them out and read them. They are great stories. The vocabulary in the stories is solid too. So my kids are growing and learning this way. We also have adopted the rule that my kids get no screen time during the week. My kids will be so bored that they come up with things to do on their own, like reading, because they have nothing else to do. Please don't think I am implying that you use the TV to pacify your kids - I don't mean it like that all. I have no idea if you let your kids watch TV or get on the computer at all. I am just sharing that it seems like once the TV went away, my kids now love books. They want to be entertained and this is how they get their entertainment. In addition, for my son, I make him read approximately 30 minutes a day. We used to break it up into three 10 minutes sessions. Now he can read much longer. But some of the books for Preparing are going to be challenging. I remember my oldest absolutely loving them. So I am sure my son will fall in love with them too and that will be what presses him forward with wanting to read the material. But I genuinely and non-judgmentally think you may need to come to place where you give your son a gentle push that might actually hurt.

Please be encouraged and not discouraged. And feel free to blow my advice off if this isn't for you. I am just sharing what I have done with my kids. The first week is the toughest but after that, the waters usually calm and everything seems like it works itself out for the better.

[Mumkins]

What about reading the level 2 books from DITHOR? I plan on having my DD read them, no DITHOR, when she finishes ER, straight through the summer so she doesn't get out of practice. We'lol start DITHOR in the fall.

[glperky]

Daneale and Mumkins, I am not sure how I missed both of your post but thank you so much for you suggestions and encouraging words. We are going to do some DITHOR Level 2 books and see if that helps. Thank you to everyone who responded.

[psreit]

I've not been on much lately. Sorry I didn't reply to your question for me. Are you doing DITHOR level 2 books without the guide? If that is what I understand you are doing, I would suggest getting Carrie's book list if you don't already have it. That would give you more choices in the level that you desire. I got it and it is very helpful. I don't know when we will begin DITHOR, because I need to let my daughter just practice reading for a while. She is reading some books that have questions after each chapter, so we do those for comprehension. She still makes mistakes like a typical dyslexic, but her reading has improved so much. I would like to see her do more independent reading before we get into DITHOR, so I am just having her read books on the level I feel she can handle without becoming frustrated. I think you made a good decision.