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C is reading really well all of a sudden, which is fabulous. However, I'm noticing she reads in an interesting sort of way. We just finished reading Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express, if that helps some to know where we are in the ERs. We taught her using RME and now supplementing with some of the later ETC books, but she doesn't really read by sounding out. She reads as if I taught her in a whole word/sight word type of method. She pretty much looks at words and figures out what they should be by context and what they look like, sort of look how adults read I guess.

I'm not really worried about that too much as she is capable of sounding words out, she just doesn't as she reads. But what I have noticed is that she switches the order of the words, and then gets some wrong because the right word wouldn't make sense in the new context. She'll also add some words to make it make sense grammatically. So one of the sentences was "Bill stood tall and said, 'I want to join the Pony Express.' " She said, "Bill said as he stood tall, 'The Pony Express is what I would join.' " She doesn't do this for every sentence, but about one every few pages. She can even point at the words and this is what she gets! It is so interesting to me.

I was describing it to Dh and he asked if it was dyslexia (which we do have in quite a few members in the family) and I'm pretty sure it's not that since she's not mixing up the letters, just the order of the words, so I'm just wondering what it is. I know she reads very, very well in her head with great comprehension both in her head and out loud. So maybe she just has already read it in her head, and it gets jumbled coming out? That's kind of what I'm thinking, but thought I'd post on here since you ladies have more experience with newer readers than I do.

FWIW, she can pretty much pick up anything now, read it in her head (she was reading an encyclopedia the other day), and then narrate back to me what she read. So I'm not concerned at all about her reading ability, just wondering if this was something common with newer readers.

I don't think it is dyslexia or she would have had trouble learning to read thus far.

I think what happens is that when they get into these latter Emergent Readers, it is hard for their mouths to catch up with their brains. I would simply slow her down and emphasize that she is reading to you as her intended audience. So, it is important enough that she read expressively enough and fluently enough that you can understand what is being read. It is not a race. She really does need to be making an effort at reading word for word.

So, I would work on building fluency.

I agree with pp. I think her mouth needs to catch up with her brain. When my ds had some difficulty with reading things exactly as they are written within the Emerging Readers, I had him practice it on his own first. Then, he read it aloud to me, and I had him track under the words as he read with his finger. If he made errors, I would stop him, and read it how he read it, tracking my finger under the words, and I'd have him try to point out the mistake and reread that portion. He became a much more careful reader then. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks for the replies!!

She's very funny to me as she can trace her finger underneath and still read the words in the wrong order (sometimes it sounds like Yoda ) but I think she is improving. I listened very hard to her today and really most of her errors were just things like saying "Bill said" instead of "said Bill," which to be honest I find myself doing occasionally too.

I have to say, doing the ER series with her has been so much fun! Also, it's encouraging her to branch out to harder books (like the encyclopedia she read the other day). We pulled out Prairie School today and I thought she would balk at it (we always pull it out the day before we start a new book so she can look at the pictures and get a feel for it before we start reading it) and she said that it looked great and she couldn't wait to start reading it tomorrow. Woo hoo! That is a major victory.