*Update in 27*Need help teaching dd to read

[Changed]

I'm trying to teach my K'er dd to read, and I'm failing miserably. I need to know how to help her, and which program to use. Here are the problems we're running into:

She says /d/ for /g/ and also can't say the /c/ sound, although I can't think of what she says in its place.

She can not put sounds together to form a word. I'll say, /d/ /o/ /g/ and she can't figure out I'm saying dog.

she can only sometimes hear sounds in words. I'll say which word has the /I/ sound, Jim or tom, and she gets it right 50% of the time.

She also suddenly writes mirror image of her name or words that asks me to spell. But I'm guessing that's an age thing.

So, how can I help her read??

Eta: also, she'll sound out each letter of a word like dog, like this: /d/ /o/ /g/ dragon.

Edited December 20, 2015 by vcoots

[Storygirl]

I know this is really hard! I'm sympathizing with you, because DD10 was the same way. She has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia.

 

In your signature, your child's age is listed as 4, but you say they are kindergarten. Is your signature outdated, or is the child working ahead?

 

From anyone you ask in the general public, there are likely to be two kinds of responses to your questions.

 

Response One is that the child is young and is just not ready yet. I got this A LOT. To such an extent that the first time someone said to me that they thought DD10 was dyslexic, I felt relief that it was possible to have someone else agree that there was an issue. (We even took her to a free reading screening at a dyslexia school when she was in second grade and were told that they didn't see cause for concern :huh: ). It was frustrating.

 

Response Two is that you are seeing warning signs of a reading disability, and that it is better to address it sooner rather than later. I'm not sure what the best course of action is for a 4 or 5 year old. They may be too young to go through professional evaluations, and the public schools most likely would not want to test a kindergartner,saying that they have not yet had enough instruction to be able to determine a disability.

 

I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone! :grouphug:

[Changed]

I know this is really hard! I'm sympathizing with you, because DD10 was the same way. She has recently been diagnosed with dyslexia.

 

In your signature, your child's age is listed as 4, but you say they are kindergarten. Is your signature outdated, or is the child working ahead?

 

From anyone you ask in the general public, there are likely to be two kinds of responses to your questions.

 

Response One is that the child is young and is just not ready yet. I got this A LOT. To such an extent that the first time someone said to me that they thought DD10 was dyslexic, I felt relief that it was possible to have someone else agree that there was an issue. (We even took her to a free reading screening at a dyslexia school when she was in second grade and were told that they didn't see cause for concern :huh: ). It was frustrating.

 

Response Two is that you are seeing warning signs of a reading disability, and that it is better to address it sooner rather than later. I'm not sure what the best course of action is for a 4 or 5 year old. They may be too young to go through professional evaluations, and the public schools most likely would not want to test a kindergartner,saying that they have not yet had enough instruction to be able to determine a disability.

 

I'm sure others will chime in with their thoughts. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone! :grouphug:

I'm always on my phone and don't see my signature, so it must be outdated. She is 5, and will be 6 in January.

 

When I google her "problems", dyslexia does come up, but she has no problems with rhyming, and that always seems to be a symptom of dyslexia. ?? Any thoughts on that?

[Storygirl]

DD10 could not rhyme. I think trouble with rhyming is a warning sign, but not a diagnostic criteria for dyslexia. I don't think our neuropsychological report diagnosing dyslexia mentions rhyming at all.

[merry gardens]

What program or method are you using now?

 

Guessing "dragon" for "dog" shows she's catching the first sounds of words and also the /g/ and /o/ sound in dragon, but she's guessing and not reading. You wrote she says /d/ for /g/--is that in all her speech? or is that an example of how she approaches a word like "dog" with her trying to read right to left instead of left to right?

 

I have a child with dyslexia and I'm alert for warning signs of it. But I'm also not a fan of pushing a child to read early before various skills are in place. I grew up in an era where five year olds who read were the exception, not the rule.

 

Work with helping her to identify the first sounds in words. After having used a very strong dyslexia program, (Barton and LiPS) I'm back to trying to teach my own five year old to read using just "normal" grade-level phonics materials. She turns six this fall and we're using a first grade phonics books that is simply working on the first sound in words right now. Have you tried something like that with your daughter? 

 

Please, please, please, don't feel like you are "failing miserably" at this stage!!! If there are problems with her speech, get that evaluated. Speech problems can be an early warning sign of dyslexia, so I'd ask the speech therapist who evaluates her to also look at her phonological awareness and determine where she falls in line with her same aged peers.  

 

[J-rap]

I've heard great things about Jolly Phonics.  It started in England, but is slowly making its way here.  It's used for both typical learners and more special needs learners.

 

Here's the main website, although there are places you can buy it in the U.S. as well.

 

http://jollylearning.co.uk/overview-about-jolly-phonics/

 

 

[HS Mom in NC]

Most 5 year olds are not ready to learn to read.

 

My middle daughter wasn't ready to learn to read until she was almost 8.  She could read like an adult by 11.  She started college at 15. My oldest was ready at 4.  She could read like an adult at 5. My youngest was ready at 6.  She's 10 and can't quite read like an adult yet.

[Changed]

What program or method are you using now?

 

Guessing "dragon" for "dog" shows she's catching the first sounds of words and also the /g/ and /o/ sound in dragon, but she's guessing and not reading. You wrote she says /d/ for /g/--is that in all her speech? or is that an example of how she approaches a word like "dog" with her trying to read right to left instead of left to right?

 

I have a child with dyslexia and I'm alert for warning signs of it. But I'm also not a fan of pushing a child to read early before various skills are in place. I grew up in an era where five year olds who read were the exception, not the rule.

 

Work with helping her to identify the first sounds in words. After having used a very strong dyslexia program, (Barton and LiPS) I'm back to trying to teach my own five year old to read using just "normal" grade-level phonics materials. She turns six this fall and we're using a first grade phonics books that is simply working on the first sound in words right now. Have you tried something like that with your daughter?

 

Please, please, please, don't feel like you are "failing miserably" at this stage!!! If there are problems with her speech, get that evaluated. Speech problems can be an early warning sign of dyslexia, so I'd ask the speech therapist who evaluates her to also look at her phonological awareness and determine where she falls in line with her same aged peers.

When I said she guesses dragon for dog, that was just a word *I* came up with as an example. After sounding out m a t, she'll say tab. Or after sounding out b I b, she's said bat.

 

She always mispronounces her g and c sounds. She also says f instead of a th.

 

I know she's still young, but she's SO SMART! She's loves learning, remembers everything, and loves books. I thought reading would come naturally. Lol. We've used OPGTR, LoE, and I just started A Beka because someone gave it to me. But it doesn't seem to matter what I use, she can't get past sounding out a CVC word, or guessing the end sound of a word, or knowing what vowel is in the middle of a word. Or blending. And that seems to be what I'm supposed to be having her do.

[merry gardens]

When I said she guesses dragon for dog, that was just a word *I* came up with as an example. After sounding out m a t, she'll say tab. Or after sounding out b I b, she's said bat.

 

She always mispronounces her g and c sounds. She also says f instead of a th.

 

I know she's still young, but she's SO SMART! She's loves learning, remembers everything, and loves books. I thought reading would come naturally. Lol. We've used OPGTR, LoE, and I just started A Beka because someone gave it to me. But it doesn't seem to matter what I use, she can't get past sounding out a CVC word, or guessing the end sound of a word, or knowing what vowel is in the middle of a word. Or blending. And that seems to be what I'm supposed to be having her do.

 

I'd strongly suggest you have her evaluated by a speech therapist. Start with getting help for her speech. Expecting her to read when there are still a number of sounds she cannot yet correctly say practically sets you both up for failure. 

 

And please--she's smart and loves learning, so don't take that away from her by trying to push something too early that she's not ready for yet. Take a step back. Look at what other children in the "real world" are expected to do. A five year old going on six in January would just be at most a few weeks of kindergarten for children in public schools.

 

Here's a student screen from Barton Reading and Spelling. https://bartonreading.com/students/#ss (You'll need to take a tutor screen first before administering it.)The first level of Barton works at just hearing sounds in words, but some don't even detect them well enough to start with Barton. The methods used in that program teach ways to teaching a struggling reader to blend sounds far beyond what most programs use; however, the program wasn't developed for five year olds. If you look at the student screen before trying to administer it, you'll see that distinguishing the /f/ and /th/ sounds and saying the /k/ sound is part of that student screen.

 

It really seems to me that speech is the first place to start, and then take things from there with baby steps. She enjoys learning, so keep learning enjoyable for her. Read to her. Explore with her. Build things and do art work. Let her enjoy school (and enjoy it with her) without expecting her to perform tasks that are beyond her current age and grade level. Saying the /k/ sound correctly is something that is expected by age five, but reading isn't.

 

Here's a link to speech chart that might be helpful:

http://www.bisd.us/sharp/English_Developmental_Sound_Chart%5b1%5d.pdf

[PeterPan]

Yup, she sounds like she needs a speech eval.  APD (auditory processing disorder) is another explanation.  They can't do a full APD test till she's 7, but you can take her to a place that does a full booth APD test and have them do the normal, regular hearing eval and talk it through with them.  When I took my ds at 6 they were able to run *some* things and discuss it with me, even though it wasn't the full gig.

 

And yes, you're correct that the discrepancy between IQ and achievement *is* an issue.  It's time to get evals.  The SLP can run an APD screening tool, though it won't diagnose anything.  The one our SLP ran was have phonological processing, so of course ds, as a dyslexic, failed that half.  He doesn't have APD but he does have terrible EF issues that affect his speech and what he catches when he listens to things (the grammar bits).  That's the kind of testing the SLP can dig in on.  Doesn't have to be just articulation.  Also a neuropsych can run that testing.  Our neuropsych ran the CELF5.  The SLP ran other things.  In your case, I'd be getting both.  Since she's so close to 6, call now, get an appt, and schedule that neuropsych eval for right as she turns 6 in January.  That way they can run the tests that they need to roll over to 6 to run.  

[kbutton]

While I would say you definitely have time to work things out at her age, I agree that inconsistency between what you think she's capable of and what she's doing, especially with speech stuff too, is worth an evaluation. Many of us here have kids that were ready to learn at an early age and had problems that were diagnostically significant. It's not just about a label (though they can help), but about identifying and working on the real problem in the correct way.

 

 

[Changed]

I'd strongly suggest you have her evaluated by a speech therapist. Start with getting help for her speech. Expecting her to read when there are still a number of sounds she cannot yet correctly say practically sets you both up for failure. 

 

And please--she's smart and loves learning, so don't take that away from her by trying to push something too early that she's not ready for yet. Take a step back. Look at what other children in the "real world" are expected to do. A five year old going on six in January would just be at most a few weeks of kindergarten for children in public schools.

 

Here's a student screen from Barton Reading and Spelling. https://bartonreading.com/students/#ss (You'll need to take a tutor screen first before administering it.)The first level of Barton works at just hearing sounds in words, but some don't even detect them well enough to start with Barton. The methods used in that program teach ways to teaching a struggling reader to blend sounds far beyond what most programs use; however, the program wasn't developed for five year olds. If you look at the student screen before trying to administer it, you'll see that distinguishing the /f/ and /th/ sounds and saying the /k/ sound is part of that student screen.

 

It really seems to me that speech is the first place to start, and then take things from there with baby steps. She enjoys learning, so keep learning enjoyable for her. Read to her. Explore with her. Build things and do art work. Let her enjoy school (and enjoy it with her) without expecting her to perform tasks that are beyond her current age and grade level. Saying the /k/ sound correctly is something that is expected by age five, but reading isn't.

 

Here's a link to speech chart that might be helpful:

http://www.bisd.us/sharp/English_Developmental_Sound_Chart%5b1%5d.pdf

 

I did the Barton screening with dd. She past parts A and B, and barely passed C. It looks like quite a bit of money for the program, though. :ohmy:

 

 

Yup, she sounds like she needs a speech eval.  APD (auditory processing disorder) is another explanation.  They can't do a full APD test till she's 7, but you can take her to a place that does a full booth APD test and have them do the normal, regular hearing eval and talk it through with them.  When I took my ds at 6 they were able to run *some* things and discuss it with me, even though it wasn't the full gig.

 

And yes, you're correct that the discrepancy between IQ and achievement *is* an issue.  It's time to get evals.  The SLP can run an APD screening tool, though it won't diagnose anything.  The one our SLP ran was have phonological processing, so of course ds, as a dyslexic, failed that half.  He doesn't have APD but he does have terrible EF issues that affect his speech and what he catches when he listens to things (the grammar bits).  That's the kind of testing the SLP can dig in on.  Doesn't have to be just articulation.  Also a neuropsych can run that testing.  Our neuropsych ran the CELF5.  The SLP ran other things.  In your case, I'd be getting both.  Since she's so close to 6, call now, get an appt, and schedule that neuropsych eval for right as she turns 6 in January.  That way they can run the tests that they need to roll over to 6 to run.  

 

 

While I would say you definitely have time to work things out at her age, I agree that inconsistency between what you think she's capable of and what she's doing, especially with speech stuff too, is worth an evaluation. Many of us here have kids that were ready to learn at an early age and had problems that were diagnostically significant. It's not just about a label (though they can help), but about identifying and working on the real problem in the correct way.

 

So do I start with my insurance company, or do I just say, "Hey, SLP Susie, I need an eval done on dd"? SLP Susie comes to my house weekly to work with ds. She's a private practice, but is working with ds getting paid through First Steps.

[Storygirl]

When my son needed speech therapy, I did get a written referral from our pediatrician, but as it turns out, our insurance did not require it. Our insurance covers a certain number of speech sessions per year with just a minimal co-pay. I'm sure you could call your insurance company and find out what they cover, but I'd also go ahead and ask your current speech therapist what she thinks. There should be someone in her organization that handles insurance issues and billing; if you get his or her contact information, you can ask them what the private pay billing would be and if they accept your insurance.

[PeterPan]

Vcoots-, talk with the First Steps people, but if she has aged out of their program she will go through the ps for evals.  Yes, if you have private insurance you can go through them.  If you go through the ps, ask for a CTOPP as well.

[Changed]

Vcoots-, talk with the First Steps people, but if she has aged out of their program she will go through the ps for evals. Yes, if you have private insurance you can go through them. If you go through the ps, ask for a CTOPP as well.

I called my insurance and they don't cover anything until after my $2000 deductible! I didn't realize I can go through the public schools. Does that mean free? What is a CTOPP?

[Changed]

I called my insurance and they don't cover anything until after my $2000 deductible! I didn't realize I can go through the public schools. Does that mean free? What is a CTOPP?

I was able to get info on CTOPP through Google. 😊 I called the ps and they said they'd have the slp contact me from the school in my school district. I'm also going to talk with my ds slp tonight when she gets here. Thank you guys so much!

[PeterPan]

There is a CTOPP normed down to age 4.  I don't know how aggressive your ps will be willing to be, but the sooner you get the dyslexia (if it is) diagnosed and addressed, the better.  She definitely needs LIPS, but doing it will delay the diagnosis a bit by making it less glaringly obvious.  The other explanation *can* be APD.  In general though, a 5 yo should be passing that Barton screening.  I'm just saying go ahead and be aggressive.  A neuropsych diagnosed my ds as dyslexic at newly 6.  I don't know whether he would have done that at 5, but they are a *lot* more aggressive now that they have normed tools.  The right intervention sooner can make a BIG difference.  No reason to let her dither wondering till 8 or something.  

 

Fwiw, I also took my ds in to get his hearing checked at a university, just to make sure hearing didn't explain the issues.  It costs $35 here, so for us it was worth doing.  We were able to talk through the whole APD vs. dyslexia thing.  APD will *typically* involve issues with background noise, where the dc seems deaf and can't understand what is being said when there is background noise.  Hearing loss can also cause similar symptoms (speech, lack of phonemic awareness).  So it's just one of those things you can do to sort out what's going on.  But really, in general, when you've tested for those, what's left is back to SLD reading (dyslexia).  

 

I would think either the ps psych or SLP would run that CTOPP.  You'll sign a form saying what you authorize them to eval, so you can just get a little pushy and say you want it sorted out.  ;)

[Changed]

There is a CTOPP normed down to age 4. I don't know how aggressive your ps will be willing to be, but the sooner you get the dyslexia (if it is) diagnosed and addressed, the better. She definitely needs LIPS, but doing it will delay the diagnosis a bit by making it less glaringly obvious. The other explanation *can* be APD. In general though, a 5 yo should be passing that Barton screening. I'm just saying go ahead and be aggressive. A neuropsych diagnosed my ds as dyslexic at newly 6. I don't know whether he would have done that at 5, but they are a *lot* more aggressive now that they have normed tools. The right intervention sooner can make a BIG difference. No reason to let her dither wondering till 8 or something.

 

Fwiw, I also took my ds in to get his hearing checked at a university, just to make sure hearing didn't explain the issues. It costs $35 here, so for us it was worth doing. We were able to talk through the whole APD vs. dyslexia thing. APD will *typically* involve issues with background noise, where the dc seems deaf and can't understand what is being said when there is background noise. Hearing loss can also cause similar symptoms (speech, lack of phonemic awareness). So it's just one of those things you can do to sort out what's going on. But really, in general, when you've tested for those, what's left is back to SLD reading (dyslexia).

 

I would think either the ps psych or SLP would run that CTOPP. You'll sign a form saying what you authorize them to eval, so you can just get a little pushy and say you want it sorted out. ;)

I did the Barton screening last night, and she barely passed part C. Does passing it mean they don't have problems/dyslexia? I was a little confused on that.

 

When I've googled her symptoms, APD does pop up, but she doesn't seem to have any issues with background noise or hearing. To test for that I have to go to an audiologist, right?

[merry gardens]

I did the Barton screening last night, and she barely passed part C. Does passing it mean they don't have problems/dyslexia? I was a little confused on that.

 

When I've googled her symptoms, APD does pop up, but she doesn't seem to have any issues with background noise or hearing. To test for that I have to go to an audiologist, right?

 

Barton Reading and Spelling is a program developed specifically for people with dyslexia. The pre-screen is not a screen for dyslexia. Passing the screen, especially barely passing it, doesn't mean they don't have dyslexia.  It means that the problems aren't so severe that they have to do additional remediation before beginning Barton. My son failed part C and needed a different program before starting Barton.

 

APD often goes with dyslexia, but there are various forms of auditory processing problems. And yes, it is an audiologist that tests for that and from what I remember, the child needs to be around 8 or older before doing APD testing.

[SailorMom]

Is your K'er 4? I am not advocating against anything anyone is saying here... but my recommendation is to take a break for a while.  Some kids are simply not ready until they are closer to 6 or 7 - look into how Waldorf schools handle it. 

I'd just do a lot of reading aloud and playing - make it fun - with letters.  Just - exposure without any pressure or goals. 

The big thing is to keep it fun.  If she gets frustrated now it will only make it harder later.

My dyslexic son could barely read until 3rd grade and now he is an avid reader and reads multiple books a week.  He loves it.  I know a lot of people whose kids were behind in reading until 2nd or 3rd grade and then shot up all of the sudden because their brains were finally ready.

 

[Storygirl]

SailorMom, I both agree and disagree with you. I agree that some kids are developmentally ready for reading at a slightly older age. I also agree that doing games and activities with young children is beneficial, especially if they focus on phonological skills. But a truly dyslexic child will not have a brain change that will make them suddenly ready to read without remediation.

 

DD10 can read and comprehend on grade level now (though a close observer will see that she is not doing as well as she seems) after a huge struggle learning to read. But she is still dyslexic, and her underlying problems remain. Our NP said that he would consider her moderately dyslexic based on her overall reading skills but severely dyslexic based on phonological ability. There is a disconnect between how well she can read via context clues and her actual decoding skills.

 

So yes, around age eight, her three to four years of phonics instruction (not dyslexia specific curriculum) enabled her to "read" finally. But it didn't fix the dyslexia. Now we are having to backtrack to remediate that, which is harder at this age.

 

OP, I suggest early intervention, but keep it fun.

[Changed]

Is your K'er 4? I am not advocating against anything anyone is saying here... but my recommendation is to take a break for a while. Some kids are simply not ready until they are closer to 6 or 7 - look into how Waldorf schools handle it.

I'd just do a lot of reading aloud and playing - make it fun - with letters. Just - exposure without any pressure or goals.

The big thing is to keep it fun. If she gets frustrated now it will only make it harder later.

My dyslexic son could barely read until 3rd grade and now he is an avid reader and reads multiple books a week. He loves it. I know a lot of people whose kids were behind in reading until 2nd or 3rd grade and then shot up all of the sudden because their brains were finally ready.

She is 5, will be 6 in January.

 

I'm really thinking dd's problems are more auditory than visual. She also has the articulation issues which I'm now in the process of getting speech started for her. My ds's slp was here the other day and said she definitely needs speech, and she wouldn't be surprised if she had APD.

 

So, until I can get all that straightened out, and get any diagnosis that there may be...what can I do with her to keep moving along with phonics instruction? Games we can play? Activities to work on her working memory?

[merry gardens]

She is 5, will be 6 in January.

 

I'm really thinking dd's problems are more auditory than visual. She also has the articulation issues which I'm now in the process of getting speech started for her. My ds's slp was here the other day and said she definitely needs speech, and she wouldn't be surprised if she had APD.

 

So, until I can get all that straightened out, and get any diagnosis that there may be...what can I do with her to keep moving along with phonics instruction? Games we can play? Activities to work on her working memory?

 

Many traditional children's games and songs help build and develop working memory. Singing "Old McDonald" requires keeping track of the order the animals are named--that's working memory. There's a game that goes, "We went on a picnic and brought...(go through the alphabet and name things that begin those letters like, first person says "apples", next person says "apples and bread", next "apples, bread, corn" etc.) That games works with both working memory and phonics.  There are tons of games and songs like that, often found played by kids at camp or in scouts. Card games are usually great for the memory! For instance, place several pairs of cards face down, then flipped two at a time to find a pair.

 

As far as phonics, I'm using a first grade phonics book and the first quarter or so of it is devoted just to consonants making the first sound in words. No blends yet, no ending sounds, no vowel sounds--just single consonants at the start of words, one sound per day with an occasional review of just the sounds already covered. That's not a phonics book developed for dyslexics. If you want to work phonics with her while you get all this speech and hearing stuff figured out, maybe keep it to just the first sounds in words--and only one sound per day at most.

 

How is she with the alphabet? Are you doing any handwriting or printing with her? Again, my daughter's first grade book starts slow. First with just strokes, and now letters, one letter at a time with some practice writing words that start with that letter. Beyond writing with pencil on paper, there's all kinds of ways for five year olds to play with letters: salt boxes or writing with sticks and fingers in the sand, sidewalk chalk, stamps and ink pads, play dough, glitter glue, etc. 

 

Art with glue and scissors can be lots of fun for five year olds. You can go through magazines with her and look for pictures that made a certain letter sound. I suggest sticking with letters she can say and for now avoid letters that make more than one sound and sounds that can be made by different letters. Cut out pictures and glue them to a big piece of paper in the big shape of that starting letter. Keep it fun! :)

 

And read to her! Read, read, read to her!

[PeterPan]

Did you decide on LIPS?  It would be a fabulous way to bust through that sound barrier.  That's pretty telling if the SLP thinks there might be APD going on.   Around here, some of the clinics that do APD have a 6-12 month wait.  You might go ahead and get a regular hearing eval scheduled with them and start talking it through, getting on their waiting list for the full APD eval.  They ran some of the screening on my ds at newly 6.  He wasn't old enough for the full thing, but since he could sit and do it they went ahead and did.  I'm not saying they'll do that for you, but I'm just saying it might not be entirely worthless to head on in.  Then you'd know whether you needed to be on that wait list for later.  Around here they'll run a full APD eval at newly 7, and with a waitlist of a year for the university, that means getting on at 6.  :)

[elizahelen]

Just wanted to share my story. I have a K'er turning 6 in December. 

 

I have been teaching phonics for a year-- these are the things I learned (right and wrong)

 

Wrong:

1. Modeling sounds saying "buh" "duh" "guh" for "b" "d" "g". 

2. Using primers

3. Making lessons too long

4. Doing lessons sitting down

5. Not using prizes and incentives

 

Right (for my child)

1. Clipped consonant sounds

2. Reading games

     a. Mexican jumping bean. Draw word endings in chalk on the ground -- ab, ad, eb, etc. In groups of three. Cut cardboard into squares and write consonants, as many as you want to practice. Label the different group of three areas imaginative names (" This is the dry desert. This is the marshy bog. Where do you want to travel to?") .  Hand child a cut out cardboard square with a consonant ("R").  Tell her/him the word (Rat). Child jumps to appropriate word ending. Give clues, as many as needed, including reading the word, until they get very familiar with it. 

     b. Toss in a cup. Same strategy with word endings, groups of three to choose. Set a timer (30 seconds). Same format as above. Child toss a bean into the right cup. 

      c. Cooking up a word. Pretend to order pies/cakes cookies. Have letters to choose from. Start easy words, move on to bigger. Child "bakes" cake/ etc. with the right combination of letters. Can get as creative with props and variations as works with specific child.

     d. Draw words in shaving cream while sounding out. 

     e. Race car. As the car races under the word, the child says the sound faster. Can make bridging the blending suddenly click. 

 

3. Limit time. Stop while child is enthusiastic. Make it a privilege to do letters and sounds. 

4. Stand up and use creativity. 

5. I use beans for prizes in the games. I vary the amount of beans. Each bean is 5c. Sometimes 2 beans for a correct word. We go to the dollar store. She has been decorating our front door for Halloween with the earnings. 

 

Good luck. Hope to hear how it goes. 

 

 

[displace]

I'm late to chime in, but I would also recommend evaluations. Some schools will test homeschoolers. Some will not.

 

My biggest concern you mention is that she is bright but struggling to read. That alone would prompt an Eval. I would start working with some "official" child reading program of your choosing that is at least phonetic based or geared toward dyslexics. I would work phonemic awareness skills into your reading 3 times per week or more. I would encourage reading games (logic of English foundations has a lot incorporated) vs just reading.

[Changed]

I wasn't getting notifications of anyone's replies, so it took me awhile to see these responses. We have (just this past two weeks) been very consistent with doing our reading "lessons". I can definitely see some improvements with her blending. We have been using LOE Foundations A starting with Lesson 20, and she is doing great! However, I have noticed the things she struggles with. When I ask her to spell a word (either with tiles or writing them) she always spells an 'r' for an 'o'. For example, the words cop and top become "crp" and "trp". When I pointed this out to her, she said, "/o/' and /r/ sound the same!" The other thing she almost always gets wrong is spelling words that end in g. For example, dog and log are usually spelled "dod" and "lod". 

 

So I'm thinking this all stems from her speech problems of not saying/hearing /c/ and /g/ correctly. She is blending words a lot better, as long as they don't have those sounds. So does this still sound like it could be related to dyslexia or APD, or can I simply work with her speech here at home?

 

I did put a call into the local schools to call me about an eval, but no one returned my call. :-\

[BooksandBoys]

My understanding is that you'll need to put those eval requests into writing in order to legally compel them to do the evaluations. Someone who knows more than me can certainly correct me if I'm wrong. Good luck!

[kbutton]

My understanding is that you'll need to put those eval requests into writing in order to legally compel them to do the evaluations. Someone who knows more than me can certainly correct me if I'm wrong. Good luck!

 

Yes, you must request in writing that they evaluate your child. Besides being in writing, it must be a request for evaluations, not just "what can you do to help my child?" They are required to test homeschoolers.

 

You probably won't get an auditory processing evaluation from the school. They might do a very basic hearing test. 

 

One of the first steps in the evaluation process is to have a meeting to plan what will be tested (ETR planning meeting). Take them up on everything if you are not going with private evaluations. Don't assume that they will recommend all the tests needed (they might or might not--depends on the district). It's not a situation where they will look at one thing at a time and then go back and test more--if you don't ask for all the tests up front, you just won't get them.

[PeterPan]

I would get her in for a hearing test.  Not a ped or school test, but an actual audiology exam with an audiologist.  We can get one at our local university for $35.  Although an SLP (private or ps) will have an APD screening tool, the best one (the SCAN3) isn't really done until age 7.  So by going to an audiologist you can make sure there isn't a more basic explanation, discuss any APD symptoms you're seeing, and have that relationship to go back and get the SCAN3 done when she turns 7 if she needs it.

 

Obviously you want the ps to run a CTOPP.  No one is in now, which is why they didn't call you back.  You'll need to make a request, in writing, stating that you suspect learning disabilities and request an evaluation.  Date, copy, and hand to the person at the school desk.  Once you've done that, the law kicks in on how long they have to get back to you and get started on that (30 days).  But I can't guarantee anyone is in right now.  

Edited December 20, 2015 by OhElizabeth