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Reluctant reader...tempted by RLTL...


Linz1084
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My 6yo DS is not a reader.  Super mathy kid, but reading frustrates him and he is a perfectionist, so he doesn't like that he has to slow down.  We have been doing AAR 1 at a snails pace.  This is mostly my fault (I have a 2 month old... so between pregnancy and newborn fog we haven't done much more than 1-2 lessons a week), but honestly I feel like he wouldn't like it much faster.  We are only on lesson 23 and he is resistant.  I'm not sure if it is difficult for him? Or if he developmentally isn't ready? Or is it the curriculum? He doesn't like the fluency sheets or the games too much.  This is a kid who would listen to audio books for 5 hours a day if I let him.  He just wants to read the stories.  So I'm looking at RLTL, using stories to teach reading without all the bells and whistles, but I hesitate. Because AAR has such rave reviews, I wonder if I just need to give it more time and tweak it so it works better for us.  I also worry that RLTL is too different, would it be confusing?  I personally like the scope and sequence of RLTL better than AAR.  The order of introducing phonograms seems like it makes it difficult for him to begin reading the early readers he would like to read.  I'm not sure this would change much with RLTL.  But I'm desperate for this kid to be confident enough to go and pick up a level 1 reader and give it a try.  AAR hasn't done that yet, but - again - this season has caused us to slow down anyway.  I REALLY need something that is open and go.  AAR is for the most part, but again - I personally don't like all the moving parts.  But I'm willing to deal with it.  Hah.

 

Just looking for feedback on these two programs mostly.  As well as advice as how to proceed.  

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My 6yo DS is not a reader.  Super mathy kid, but reading frustrates him and he is a perfectionist, so he doesn't like that he has to slow down.  We have been doing AAR 1 at a snails pace.  This is mostly my fault (I have a 2 month old... so between pregnancy and newborn fog we haven't done much more than 1-2 lessons a week), but honestly I feel like he wouldn't like it much faster.  We are only on lesson 23 and he is resistant.  I'm not sure if it is difficult for him? Or if he developmentally isn't ready? Or is it the curriculum? He doesn't like the fluency sheets or the games too much.  This is a kid who would listen to audio books for 5 hours a day if I let him.  He just wants to read the stories.  So I'm looking at RLTL, using stories to teach reading without all the bells and whistles, but I hesitate. Because AAR has such rave reviews, I wonder if I just need to give it more time and tweak it so it works better for us.  I also worry that RLTL is too different, would it be confusing?  I personally like the scope and sequence of RLTL better than AAR.  The order of introducing phonograms seems like it makes it difficult for him to begin reading the early readers he would like to read.  I'm not sure this would change much with RLTL.  But I'm desperate for this kid to be confident enough to go and pick up a level 1 reader and give it a try.  AAR hasn't done that yet, but - again - this season has caused us to slow down anyway.  I REALLY need something that is open and go.  AAR is for the most part, but again - I personally don't like all the moving parts.  But I'm willing to deal with it.  Hah.

 

Just looking for feedback on these two programs mostly.  As well as advice as how to proceed.  

 

For the record, I cannot get worked up over a six-year-old child who is "not a reader." I would expect most six-year-old children to not be readers.

 

It doesn't matter how many rave reviews there are if *you* don't like a product. You're the one who has to teach it.

 

Personally, AAR (and AAS) have way too many moving parts for me. It is why I like Spalding. :-) I saw some of RLTL (someone sent me a link to a sample? something like that), and I don't remember being very impressed with it.

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You certainly can tweak AAR to work for you if you want to (I'm always in favor of using what I have over buying something else if I can! But I know sometimes something just doesn't work). When you say you have only done 1-2 lessons a week--does that mean you only work on reading 1-2 times a week? If so, I really wouldn't expect him to make much progress until you are able to work on lessons daily. I understand toddler years can be tough though! I wonder if you're trying to do too much at once and if that makes you not want to do it some days? You really only have to work on reading for 15-20 minutes a day and just pick up wherever you left off previously. 

 

For the fluency sheets, sometimes a simple fix like letting the child highlight words he read or putting a sticker after each line can give a sense of accomplishment while getting that practice in. This article has other ideas for the fluency pages, but those two are the most "no-nonsense" ones. 

 

The word cards let you track what he's reading fluently and what still needs work, so use those if he's not reading words fluently. You can also have him re-read the stories if he prefers that for practice (and that can help a student work on reading with expression as well). If he doesn't need practice with the activity sheets and doesn't enjoy that part, you could try skipping those or just doing ones that interest him. For some kids, they provide important motivation, while others don't need them as much. 

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We have had a mixed experience with RLTL.  The short of it is, I love phonograms and still use them but found the program hard to implement.  I haven't used AAR, though, so I'm not sure what you're hoping for in RLTL.  It is a good program, I think, but we had to tweak it a bit.  Have you looked at the Logic of English?  They were my other choice and have a very pretty program, also based on phonograms.

 

The other thing I'll say is my 6-almost-7 year old son also doesn't love to read, but LOVES to listen to read-alouds (me/family and librivox).  We worked on reading all year (he was in first grade, and first year of homeschool) and he is just beginning to gain confidence.  One thing we did when he was really frustrated was drop back to easier readers while teaching / reviewing phonograms - this let him feel more successful.  (Have to thank my awesome mother-in-law for that bit of wisdom!)

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I wrote this last night too late probably and should have added more detail. Haha.

 

I also don't think he should be reading fluently at 6, but when I say he isn't a reader, I mean, he says he really WANTS to read but gets incredibly frustrated by the process of learning. So I'm trying to figure out what exactly is frustrating. If he needs time or something new, etc...

 

When I say 1-2 lessons, I mean the lessons in AAR. We probably do it 3-4 days a week and I have been trying to increase it. But it will take us 2 or more days to actually get through a lesson. That is because I really need to do short lessons with this kid, so I set a timer for 20 minutes and don't make him work beyond that unless it is his choice.

 

It is funny because he "masters" a word quickly but has a terribly time reading it in the context of a story. And he gets really frustrated, especially with the fluency sheets. I need to start covering up what we aren't working on. That's a good idea.

 

I'm not sure if RLTL is exactly what I was looking for. Less moving parts and story based.

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I wrote this last night too late probably and should have added more detail. Haha.

 

I also don't think he should be reading fluently at 6, but when I say he isn't a reader, I mean, he says he really WANTS to read but gets incredibly frustrated by the process of learning. So I'm trying to figure out what exactly is frustrating. If he needs time or something new, etc...

 

When I say 1-2 lessons, I mean the lessons in AAR. We probably do it 3-4 days a week and I have been trying to increase it. But it will take us 2 or more days to actually get through a lesson. That is because I really need to do short lessons with this kid, so I set a timer for 20 minutes and don't make him work beyond that unless it is his choice.

 

It is funny because he "masters" a word quickly but has a terribly time reading it in the context of a story. And he gets really frustrated, especially with the fluency sheets. I need to start covering up what we aren't working on. That's a good idea.

 

I'm not sure if RLTL is exactly what I was looking for. Less moving parts and story based.

 

He sounds like a normal six-year-old, not a "reluctant" reader. :-) Thinking about him as a "reluctant" reader colors the way you decide what to teach and how to teach and all that.

 

It's hard to know if it's the method or his age. You could take a break, and just read to him for enjoyment, and pick it up in a few months. Since you already have AAR, you could just use that.

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If that is what you are looking for, have you considered just using incremental readers. I See Sam and Progressive Phonics readers are available for free online.

 

My almost 6 year old simply does 2-3 pages from Explode the Code and then reads me a story.

 

Wendy

Those progressive phonics books look just like what he needs!! Thanks for that!

 

I think I need to find ways to make it fun for him actually. More reading practice with books he CAN read to build confidence and joy in it. Maybe then he'll be more motivated to work at his lessons.

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I have been using AAR. It definitely requires a good amount of uninterrupted time to accomplish for us. For one, the fluency sheet is SO overwhelming that I have to write each word onto the white board. The font in the books (and fluency sheet) is too small, in my opinion, for an emerging reader--I have to enlarge them on a copier for my son who has Down syndrome, but my six year old benefits, too. I have had RLTL in download form on my desktop for a while, and on Mother's day I received an iPad, so I transferred it. I have been using RLTL now for a couple weeks instead of AAR. Since it is on the iPad, I just swipe through the phonograms (kids love that), and then we use the spelling lists. I am a big, big fan of sounding out words to spell them to support reading growth, because it is working for my son who has Down syndrome to teach the skill of sounding out, and chunking words. I have HLTL as well, and we use the printing sheets to support our phonics learning. We had to go back to the beginning to teach all the sounds, as AAR only teaches one sound initially, but you are not far in the program, so this will not be a big issue. Now, this is what I will say about RLTL: There are certainly no bells and whistles (I happen to like that), and my sons seem to enjoy it better than white board, tiles, fluency sheets, and the silly little games. I think this is because they feel more successful. Reading the Elson Readers does not happen until much later in the program, but one can easily write some silly little stories or use BOB books or other incrementally leveled readers in the mean time, if the child is dying to read (BOB books are my favorite for this--appropriate font size, the stories are silly, the kids like them). My kids found the AAR stories overwhelming. I thought it was too much too soon. The other thing I think about RLTL is, it is absolutely something that can happen while sitting on the couch with a nursing baby. I don't have that situation, but what I am liking about this program right now is, I can grab my iPad, grab their spelling journal and HLTL page (which I was just thinking might live very happily in a binder together), and head to the couch with my child. We go through the phonograms on the iPad, introduce new ones, do the HLTL sheet, read through the spelling words, then sound out 5 more together, and we are done. It takes 10 minutes. Then I let the kids go play Starfall or other computer reading game, so I can do the same routine with the next brother. It gets done, it is painless, there are VERY few moving parts, and the kids are less frustrated. I've decided to stick with it, rather than go on to level 2 of AAR. 

Edited by coastalfam
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That is because I really need to do short lessons with this kid, so I set a timer for 20 minutes and don't make him work beyond that unless it is his choice.

 

I can't help you with curricula, but my immediate reaction to this was, 20 minutes is NOT short!!! Not with a 6 year old. Not for reading lessons.

 

That sounds like a long lesson to me.

 

I start with a timer set to 5 minutes, and any games or activities go somewhere else in the day. Some things that my kids would find intolerable during lesson time are enjoyable on the way to swim class or around the dinner table or while waiting for an older sibling's activity to end. Any program that requires 20 minutes on a lesson, not split up over the course of a day, would be one I couldn't get to daily, either.

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I can't help you with curricula, but my immediate reaction to this was, 20 minutes is NOT short!!! Not with a 6 year old. Not for reading lessons.

 

That sounds like a long lesson to me.

 

I start with a timer set to 5 minutes, and any games or activities go somewhere else in the day. Some things that my kids would find intolerable during lesson time are enjoyable on the way to swim class or around the dinner table or while waiting for an older sibling's activity to end. Any program that requires 20 minutes on a lesson, not split up over the course of a day, would be one I couldn't get to daily, either.

 

Really??  Thank you for saying this.  I was already thinking in my mind that I would try to split it into two 10-minute sessions.  I did 20 minutes because, honestly, I thought that was a "short" lesson compared to what others do AND that is what the curriculum says to do.  I'm going to scale back to 5-10 minutes for now and only do longer if he wants to.  Thanks for that insight.  

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He sounds like a normal six-year-old, not a "reluctant" reader. :-) Thinking about him as a "reluctant" reader colors the way you decide what to teach and how to teach and all that.

 

I TOTALLY agree with this.  This is true for all areas of parenting (still trying to stop thinking of him as a "difficult kid" even though he takes far more of my energy than my other two boys....)  But when he complains and fusses and scribbles on the fluency sheets when he sees them, it's hard to get excited about doing it.  I do know that this boy in particular is having a more difficult time with the transition to having a new baby in the house.  Maybe setting it aside and just reading together to connect would be more beneficial.  

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Thanks to all of you for your feedback so far.  I find it difficult at times in this postpartum exhaustion to feel like anything school-wise is going well.  It is a season, I know.  But I agree with what a lot of you said in so many words.  Slow down.  Look at the needs of my kid and make it work for me.  I still have LOTS of tweaking I can do with AAR before I call it a failure.  I still have lots of other books we can read together to grow his confidence and make him excited about it.  And yes - he is just a 6 year old boy.  Thanks for scaling back my expectations.  :-) 

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I TOTALLY agree with this.  This is true for all areas of parenting (still trying to stop thinking of him as a "difficult kid" even though he takes far more of my energy than my other two boys....)  But when he complains and fusses and scribbles on the fluency sheets when he sees them, it's hard to get excited about doing it.  I do know that this boy in particular is having a more difficult time with the transition to having a new baby in the house.  Maybe setting it aside and just reading together to connect would be more beneficial.  

 

Then I would toss AAR (if that's where the "fluency sheets" come from) and use something else completely.

 

Here's an excellent list of books you can read aloud. Just do that for awhile (with the others, as well, if they'll sit and listen) and love on him some.

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I really liked RLTL.  DS6 HATED it.  He liked the HLTL pages.  And I know he benefited from the phonics drills. But, he cried every time before we finished the oral or written quizzes by the end.  It was a LOT. We were spending 30+ minutes everyday on drilling.  I tried dividing up the list and drilling just part.  By that time he was just DONE.  

 

We are on a long break for him and I am waiting to get TG&TB K for him to start this summer. I will be a lot less rigid on the phonograms this time!

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