Reading struggles...advice needed

[scampbell2003]

Okay

So I was using TRL and it did not go well. My 6 yr old son can blend and read a lot of words but he does not like having to focus on each word. Sometimes he looks at the word and just guesses or he says the last sound first and adds letters that are not even in the word to make a word. Then every once in a while he does really well and I think he is getting it. But then we go back to painful reading time. I am so confused. I am at a loss with what is gonna work or click with him. He will be 7 in May.

My mom has been trying to help and having him read her old 1st grade Dick and Jane books. She is a retired 1st grade teacher so she makes it fun and he seems to do well for her. But she is not able to be here everyday. Not to mention I want to teach him to read. Plus I want him to love reading not think it is painful. I haven't been pushing him and I try to keep it at about 15 minutes. I have given him time off thinking maybe he will mature or desire to know how to read. I had his vision checked.

I just don't know what to do. Praying God will give me wisdom concerning this child. He marches to a different drummer and is so fun loving and sensitive. He focuses well for legos so I know he is capable of focus. Do I need a hands on program? All other aspects of school go well.

Thank you in advance!

[glperky]

Oh Samantha, I can't wait for you to get some answers for I am right there with you with my DS that turned 7 in Dec.

Two things that I have found to help are 1. Read fun books when it's not "school time" and I read the left side and he "helps" me read the right. He loves to think that he is helping mom. 2. Lol, I just forgot # 2.
If I think of it, I'll be back.

[scampbell2003]

Glad to know I'm not alone glperky. Hoping some moms have advice for us.

[glperky]

I never did remember #2. So I am not much help!

[Mommamo]

I was right there with you with my oldest, and am there right now with my current just turned 7 yo.

With my oldest, what worked was time. Yup. Just time. I had to just work with her slowly until she was ready. I kept our reading lessons positive and brief, read great children's literature with her, played lots of reading games, eventually taking a break of several weeks during the summer. During our break, one day she came in from the library, picked up an Encyclopedia Brown book that I was going to read to her later, and just read it. Cover to cover. And previously all she'd been reading were CVC words. So her little brain just had to be ready to read, but all of the reading lessons we'd done had been soaking in, just waiting for the right time for her for them to click. And click they did! At just barely 9, she reads really whatever she wants to, including the original Little Women and other more challenging books, and she wasn't reading fluently until 7.

With my little guy, I am doing the same thing I did with my oldest. Playing tons of games, reading tons of books, going slow and steady through The Reading Lesson (book only) and lots of reading file folder games. In fact, his actually TRL lessons are probably shorter than mine were with my oldest--usually 5 minutes at a time, 2-3 times a day. Reading is finally (finally!) starting to click. He is by no means a reader yet, but he does now understand what the process is, so I think we're probably getting closer to that breakthrough for him, too. (He came to me a week or so ago and said, "Mommy! I DO know how to read. It is just sounding out the letters and putting them together!" ) And there is my almost 5 yo who is doing reading along with him, and it's coming very easily for her. I think all of our kids (especially our wiggly little boys or kiddos with ADHD like my oldest) just have to learn at the pace that is right for them. So rest assured, he'll get there. It may take longer than you anticipated, but he'll get there.

[scampbell2003]

Mommamo
What games did you play with your kids while you were using TRL?

[my3sons]

Hugs to you first! I know this can be so hard, especially if it seems like things are clicking better with your dear mom. But, more than likely, he is just memorizing Dick and Jane, and though this can be a part of reading, it's not necessarily reading per se. You are doing a super job with ds! You are staying encouraging, keeping it to 15 minutes, and you've chosen a great phonics program. Dc really do learn to read at all different times, and so many times it is honestly time itself that helps it to click.

A few things that helped our dc...
Doing "Little Hands to Heaven" - it taught them a sound and an action for every letter. The fingerplays, flashcards, and letter activities are wonderful!

Watching "Leap Frog" DVD's. They are inexpensive, 30 minutes long, and available everywhere. They teach letter sounds and blending well.

Giving rewards, just little ones, for small gains at first. For example, I might have a jar and every time ds reads a word properly for the day, he gets a mini marshmallow or chocolate chip or skittle or whatever. He may get 10 if he reads 10 properly. Maybe every 10, he would get a sucker too. Or, if you don't believe in this type of reward, you can give a sticker for each, and when he receives 10, let him do something special with or on his own (i.e. build a lego tower or watch a short video). Rewards really did make a difference early on in our sons' reading progress, and we found after awhile, we could just drop them, and then reading itself was the reward.

Always putting my finger under the sound being read and not sliding it to the next sound until it is read right. Then later, always putting my finger under the word being read and not moving it on until the word is read right. Then still later, always putting my finger at the start of the line and not moving it on to the next start of the line until the sentence is read right. It is an easy visual cueing system.

Using a black dry erase marker and markerboard when dc are having difficulty sounding out a word. I view this as me partnering with the child to help. I simply set the manual or book aside. Pull out the markerboard and jot the word he's struggling with one sound/chunk at a time, having him say them for me. For example, if the word was "glass", I'd write...

gl (pause for him to say it) a (pause) ss (pause)

Then, I slide my finger under the whole word to signify it's time to blend it all together. He loves this, and it works like a charm! The other day I forgot the markerboard, and he came to a word he was stuck on, after a few tries, he said, "MOM - where's the markerboard? I'm waiting." toe-tapping, arms crossed on chest. Wow, is that what I do?!? Anyway, it's easy, it works, and he needs it only occasionally.

For some of our dc, having some time on their own to sound out each word without me next to them helped. It gave them a chance to "practice" without me watching, and helped them not to feel so put on the spot. If ds is not sure about reading from the book, you could really just write each word on a markerboard one at a time and do your lesson like that, with you referring to the manual just for your own information. One word on a markerboard is much less intimidating than a page. It also doesn't seem like a page is being repeated, even if it is a repeat of what was done yesterday.

Another trick is to pronounce the first sound the loudest. Teaching this tip usually helps with sounding out words.

One more idea that worked for our dc was to use a rubberband to stretch as we were saying each sound and then snap it back when we blended it.

Have you heard of the BOB books? They are inexpensive, funny, and excellent for beginning readers. We went through these as we did our phonics, starting about in the middle of our phonics, when I knew he would be successful with them. The first set begins with CVC words in a pattern. These books are inexpensive and available at most books stores.

I hope some of these ideas help, but keep pressing on! It WILL click, and though it takes time, it is so worth the time and effort to get there!

In Christ,
Julie

[scampbell2003]

Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions Julie! I really want him to learn to read well and I didn't want to spend money on another curriculum. I will be implementing a lot of the suggestions and see how things go. I was not having him repeat any pages. Should I have him do this?

[my3sons]

I'm so glad to be of any help, and I wanted to give ideas that didn't cost a bunch of money and let you use the already great phonics program you have! I did have each of my dc repeat pages in their phonics program if they struggled with them the day before. Usually, I just chose a portion to repeat via the markerboard, spending maybe 5 minutes on it and letting the dc know this was a quick review time. If they had done very well with the lesson the day before, we just moved on. This worked well for us, but you can try it out and see how it goes!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Samantha,

Aren't the ladies wonderful! They are full of such helpful advice.

I had a couple of thoughts that may be of help as far as The Reading Lesson goes. We are currently using it with our little 6 year old, and we did have to slow down to a page a day after going quite quickly through the first half of the program. I wasn't sure how many pages you were trying to tackle each day from The Reading Lesson?

I also do make sure that my son places his finger under each letter and slides it along saying each sound, then he must reslide his finger under the whole word as he says the whole word. This really helps cement the blending and the word in the mind. When reading a sentence, he does this for each word in the sentence and then must go back and read the whole sentence (much more quickly). This helps the child "get" the meaning of the sentence they have just sounded out. Otherwise, it just feels like gobblety-gook!

Another thing that is helpful is to repeat the lessons from the book with the matching lesson on The Reading Lesson computer CD. It is such a helpful reinforcement for the kiddos, and the Giggle Bunny is very motivating.

One other thought I had is if your child has a birthday or any presents coming his way anytime soon, we've found the LeapFrog pen and sets of accompanying reading books to be great. The child can use the pen to run across each word (and the pen can say the letter sounds in the word or the whole word) as the child reads. The pen also can read the entire book. Eventually, the child realizes he/she can read the book on his/her own. My little one has read his Leap books over and over and over. They have a short vowel set of books, a long vowel set, and sets for blends and digraphs (all of which little ones who have had some phonics can read). It is so empowering to them to realize they can read, and the stories are fun. While this is is no way a replacement for a phonics program, it is a good free time option similar to what you're desiring from your mom's Dick and Jane sessions.

Last, I'd suggest just steadily moving forward with The Reading Lesson, even if you have to slow down to half of a page a day. To make reading word lists more interesting, you could do the words one at a time on a markerboard instead. Just write one word from the lesson, have your son run his finger under it, read it, and erase it. Then, you could write the next word and repeat the process.

Be encouraged that sometimes little ones learn to read in fits and starts, but it will come over time. I will mention that if you haven't had his eyes tested, you may want to do that (just to rule out that possible barrier).

Blessings,
Carrie

[scampbell2003]

Thanks again! Julie the mini chocolate chips worked like a charm! He reviewed one page and read the next one carefully blending and then saying each word! We did an explode the code work page and he read a short vowel story for me. He doesn't enjoy the giggle bunny game. I don't know why. He is loving LHFHG! Should I be telling him the rules as we go through TRL? Trying to understand how it teaches phonics. We are on lesson 5.