Failing reading :(

[Juniper]

My husband found one of ours twins progress reports in the "to be burned" paper box for our woodstove this morning. It wasn't pretty. This in turn caused us to ask the other twin where his report is. Supposedly, it is lost somewhere. Suffice it to say, both twins have an "E" (F). Their grade is also slipping in Writing "C-". 

They already sit for an 1hr in the evening for free reading, are not allowed access to the x-box until the weekend and are regularly taken to the library where they do actually check out age appropriate books. 

Right on my son's progress report his teacher wrote that he would need to do extra credit and needed to ask her for help when he doesn't understand something. But, when I told him he needed to ask for help and extra credit he said she would not give it. I asked if he had read what she wrote and he said he had. I kinda lost it at that point and brought to his attention that she wrote right on it to ask her about both. ;(

They have already been held back once. So, what would you recommend I use with them in the evenings to help bring up their comprehension and fluency? They are 5th graders. 

[Ellie]

Is it that their actual reading ability--phonics--is not up to par? That would be my first go-to: something to remediate phonics. If their phonics knowledge is not where it should be for their age, all the free reading in the world will not necessarily help.

[OneStepAtATime]

I agree with Ellie.  If they actually have issues with phonics, tons of free reading without proper instruction (NOT whole word instruction like most schools currently use) or being held back again will NOT help them and they will continue to struggle.  You need answers for where the actual disconnect is.  Most teachers are not trained in how to recognize and remmediate language and learning issues, especially in an older child.  

 

Have you ever had them evaluated through a neuropsychologist or educational psychologist or CALT specialist (this is not an evaluation for mental health but for learning differences)?  I failed to see the warning signs in my own very bright, very articulate kids and did not get an evaluation until my daughter was in 5th grade.  It was a colossal mistake.  She became more and more demoralized and fell further behind with each passing year.  Once we had the evaluation and finally understood the real issues AND her tremendous strengths (which were being masked by her issues) I was able to switch her to a program that turned her reading, writing and spelling around in 8 months compared to 7 years of wasted time forcing her through the system the school was using.

[SKL]

Can you ask the teacher what type of skills they are having trouble with?  For example, are they not finishing their assigned reading (decoding speed/fluency)?  Not comprehending at grade level?  That could help you narrow down what will help them.  Have they always had trouble with reading, or is this fairly recent?  Are other kids in the class having similar problems?

 

I don't know if it's true where you are, but here, they are making a lot of changes in what they expect of kids in terms of "comprehension," sometimes with very poor results.  Even very good readers are doing poorly on some tests.  So I'd do some investigating before changing anything at home.

[Lecka]

I think you need to find out info from the teacher.  They could just be missing work and need to keep up with it and get it turned in.  It might be more about "doing school" than their reading levels. 

 

If their reading levels are low, I would work with them to get them caught up, and just not care about school if the teacher will not work with that.  If they are behind, they need to get caught up by learning skills and stuff, maybe not by doing the work that the teacher is having the whole class do. 

 

I have had a good experience with this, the teacher worked with me and let my son do a reading program at home at a lower level, instead of "book bags" she sent for the rest of the class, that were not appropriate for him. 

 

But there are a lot of kids who get a bad grade while knowing the material fine, and it is b/c -- they didn't know what the assignment was, they forgot, it got lost, they didn't find it in their backpack, they left it in their backpack, etc etc.  I think you have to talk to the teacher to find out.  If it is this, then there are some options, but they all probably involve coordinating more with the teacher. 

 

I have done things like -- e-mail with the teacher, my son has to talk to the teacher about some thing he doesn't want to talk to her about, but he knows I have sent her the e-mail so he has to do it, or she will e-mail me back that he didn't talk to her. 

 

But if this is going on ---- there might be some problem, too, we found out my son needs to be in OT and it has helped a lot. 

 

But it may be that you can be pleased with how they are doing, maybe something is "off" with how the grades are done. 

 

I do vote for talking to the teacher, too.  If she is difficult ---- you will know why your kids say they won't talk to her!  If not ---- you can encourage them to talk to her, and possibly talk to the teacher about the best times for them to talk to her, or give her a heads-up that they are very nervous to talk to her, etc. 

[Arcadia]

An 'E' would trigger a parent-teacher conference here, initiated by the teacher.  You do need to clarify with the teacher what exactly is expected. Then come up come with an action plan you and the teacher can agree upon. 

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

Our local PS also requires parents to "request" testing for any Learning Disability.  They will not offer it otherwise. 

 

 The longer you wait to do any remedial work, the harder it will be to fill in gaps or a proper foundation.

 

 

[Julie of KY]

Figure out what the problem actually is. Are they not doing the work? Not turning it in?

Are they having trouble with reading? Can they read-aloud to you? Are they fluent? Do they comprehend what they read? If they are having reading trouble, I'd investigate further - might need explicit phonics instruction. It might be helpful to evaluate for learning difficulties. If having trouble reading (even just tiring out from reading), I'd get their eyes checked by a developmental optometrist.

[Juniper]

We got a bit more info from their teacher yesterday. Just for background both twins have qualified for Title 1 reading every time they have attended ps. In their previous school I did push for learning disability assessment, because of my concerns regarding dyslexia but nothing was found....other than the fact that they both have ADHD, which we already knew. 

I have also done some remedial programs geared towards dyslexics here at home. I cannot remember their exact reading level from the last parent teacher conference (this school uses a different method the one I was more familiar with), but they were both on the low end of the scale for their grade. Presently, one of the twins has once again qualified for Title 1, but the other one (the one that actually struggles a bit more) did not qualify. I guess they tested him on a good day. 

I would say this is not a phonics issue, but more a comprehension and vocabulary issue. The boys also have a weird quirk that I am having a rough time helping them work through. They are what I would consider very "justice" oriented. What I mean is that if they do not hear, comprehend or are in some direct fashion are made completely aware of their teachers expectations regarding every. specific. assignment., they simply won't do or will barely make an effort to do the assignment. Then when they get a bad grade they are genuinely baffled and frustrated, because they insist "she didn't SAY to do that." This in turn feeds their insecurities and they are scared to try and complete future assignments. 
 

Their teacher is saying that the grade is due to assignments not being turned in or being turned in poorly. They have also had the opportunity to redo assignments and have not done that. When asked why they did not redo the assignment they were both completely clueless and didn't understand that because she said it was something they "could do, but did not have to" that they should take the time to do it. They are not lazy in anyway, but they don't understand why if it was something they should have done she didn't just say so. It is difficult to describe this without making them sound lazy or entitled, but that isn't their issue. They don't infer well and they almost feel tricked when these things happen. 

I did take one of them to the Ped today to discuss a better option for adhd meds and he gave me some good ideas, but mainly he just had a gentle but firm talk with my son about the fact that reading is not optional. 

They do have basically straight A's in everything else accept one has a C in Writing. 

You know, as I think about it, the inference thing is really a big deal. I am thinking this is one of the things affecting their vocabulary and comprehension. They struggle with inferring meaning or even identifying roots. They struggle with understanding written instructions on worksheets. They can read the instructions, but they do not how to take what they read, look at the paper they are working on and turn what they read into action. Make sense?

[Juniper]

An 'E' would trigger a parent-teacher conference here, initiated by the teacher.  You do need to clarify with the teacher what exactly is expected. Then come up come with an action plan you and the teacher can agree upon. 

I wish it had. :(

[Arcadia]

. What I mean is that if they do not hear, comprehend or are in some direct fashion are made completely aware of their teachers expectations regarding every. specific. assignment., they simply won't do or will barely make an effort to do the assignment. Then when they get a bad grade they are genuinely baffled and frustrated, because they insist "she didn't SAY to do that." This in turn feeds their insecurities and they are scared to try and complete future assignments. 

 

....

 When asked why they did not redo the assignment they were both completely clueless and didn't understand that because she said it was something they "could do, but did not have to" that they should take the time to do it. They are not lazy in anyway, but they don't understand why if it was something they should have done she didn't just say so

 

I get that in that my younger brother has similar issues.  It is kind of being freeze into inaction by the confusion. 

 

What helped my younger brother was that teachers would give him short, clear instructions.  Like "do this page and give it back to me tomorrow" or "bring this book to class tomorrow".   Words like "optional" or "do in your own time/own pace" is just confusing to my brother.  It is kind of like I have to speak to him in "computer programming code", if he doesn't understand he just do nothing.

 

Would the teacher be open to either emailing you or writing in their daily notebook what they need to do, or even just stick a post it note on the assignment?

[kiwik]

Ds6 has the same problems. His teacher asked me if I could do something at home because he hadn't done it in class. Ds said the teacher said he "could" do it not that he "had to". When I spoken to the teacher she said she was just asking nicely. Some kids are just too literal for that.

 

It sounds to me though like maybe her expectations aren't very clear. Some written instruction about what is expected, what to do when a redo is suggested etc might help. You could make some sort of check list for them and help them check before handing it in. Let me know if you come up with a solution to the papers that disappear between the bag and the teacher (and ice versa) though because I don't get it.

[zoobie]

With ADHD, they should have a 504 plan. Being disorganized is one of the hallmarks, and the kids often have to be taught explicitly how to do things like write down assignments in an assignment book. With the 504, one of the teacher helps could be checking their assignment book to make sure they have it down correctly. Then at home, you check it against what they have done on a nightly basis so that assignments don't snowball. You can also request more frequent feedback from the teacher.

 

If they have problems comprehending and inferring, how are they doing as well as they are in history and other subjects? If these skills aren't required in history in 5th grade, they will be soon. Middle school is a big jump.

 

If you can swing full testing privately, I would go that route. There seems to be something else happening besides ADHD (maybe processing issue?). Also, pediatricians are not skilled at handling meds. You may need someone who specializes in that. Testing relating to ADHD may be covered by insurance as a medical issue, so that could be worth pursuing. There's also a behavioral component to ADHD which can be helped via therapy to complement (or perhaps reduce or eliminate) meds.

 

Good luck!