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I'm looking towards the future and at this point plan on using HOD all the way through, unless the Lord has other plans. My ds is dyslexic, and we have to use an explicit phonics program for dyslexia. I'm just wondering how to make this work as he gets older and is required to do more reading.


I don't really for see any issues until we get to Bigger. He might be able to read the emerging readers by that time, but I'm just not sure. Our phonics program suggests that we use their controlled reading books, because dyslexics have a bad habit at guessing at words. It's just really a bad cycle for him to get into, and it could also cause more frustration with an already struggling reader. If you have a child with dyslexia, did you read the emerging readers to them? Did you sit down with them and have them read what they could, and then help them with words that they haven't learned the rules to.


Just looking ahead.

Thanks,
Tracy

Hi,
My ds was diagnosed with severe dyslexia last fall. We had struggled through the emerging readers. I was shocked at how low his actual reading level was when he was tested. He basically did not have an independent reading level at all. He will be 10 in July. We have been using a phonics program like the one you described. He reads very little to nothing outside of the controlled readers used with the program. He's dying to read "real" books, but I know he would slip right back into his awful coping skill of guessing. That is a very hard habit to break. We are using Preparing this year. I read everything to him. For the Independent History section, I tape-record the book so he has some "independent" time. It makes it a much more teacher-intensive. I'm sort of dreading next year when I'll have to spend much more time each day with his younger sister.
Laura

Both my boys are dyslexic. Fortunately, we caught it very early in them both, so they didn't develop habits that were too horrible. The older one didn't do the emerging readers, but the younger one has done about half of them. Honestly, he's stuck about halfway through and just not ready to move on yet. He does try to guess, so I don't have him read hardly anything silently--everything is read aloud to Mama while he sits beside me (or lays on the counter while I'm cooking ).

My older son did Preparing with extensions in 5th grade. He didn't read almost anything at all until the summer after 2nd grade, but by 5th grade he did fantastically well with Preparing with extensions (most of the younger extensions, but a few of the older ones). At this point, praise God, he's a voracious reader and reads almost as well as I do.

I would encourage you to just keep plodding along. Maybe by the time you get to Bigger, he will be ready for the emerging readers. If not, you can re-evaluate and decide what's best for him then.

Laura--said a prayer that your son makes huge strides this year in his reading so that your time next year will be less teacher intensive!

Thank you ladies. I was wondering how this was going to work. I guess if he isn't reading by then, some of the books on tape would be a good idea, so he could have some independent time.

If he isn't ready for the emerging readers, should I just skip them and have him read the controlled readers that come with our phonics program. Is he going to miss something if we don't do the emerging readers or are they just for reading practice?


It's nice to know I'm not alone on this journey. Thanks again!



Tracy

I would just shelve the emerging readers for later. I'll have my ds go back to them when he's ready. I would just stick to the controlled readers for now. Even easy readers contain words that dyslexic children don't have word-attack skills to handle them. The emerging readers are just for reading practice.
hth,
Laura

Nope, you won't miss a thing if you don't use the emerging readers, as long as you are doing a reading program appropriate to your kiddo.

I listen to my youngest son read sometimes, and he will guess at a word, and I will ask him--where on earth did you get that word? Those letters don't even exist in that word, goof. And he will say to me, "Well, it made sense in the sentence, didn't it?"

Oh, good grief.

Just another note on whether to do the emerging readers or wait.....my son, 9, is also a struggling reader. We are finishing up Bigger this year and are just starting the emerging readers set. We will start Preparing in the fall (with his older brother, 11) and we will just keep working through the emerging readers at that time. I also read a lot to him or have his older brother do it.
Kristen

Tracy,

The ladies are giving great advice. For kiddos with dyslexia, there are many ways to approach the learning issues, and there are varying levels of severity in dyslexia. However, if you are using a phonics program specific for dyslexics and have been instructed not to have your child do reading outside of the program's controlled readers, I would stick to that. Dyslexics often learn to cope with their reading issues, but the coping can take on varying levels of success. So, I'd definitely do what the program requests to get the full benefit out of that method.

For now, I'd put the Emerging Readers aside, and still work through the rest of the skills in the HOD guide as closely as possible to what is written. Make sure to give your learner plenty of grace.

For those kiddos who are dyslexic, who are not using a dyslexia-specific program, you can continue to work through the Emerging Reader's Set, as long as you're thinking that your child has many of the needed phonetic skills and is benefitting by the slow and steady practice.

Blessings,
Carrie