Jump to content

Menu

Easy read system? Smart kid is constantly guessing (or just completely making up her own sentences)


Recommended Posts

So I've never heard of this reading program, and I'm pretty skeptical by nature, so I wanted to see if anyone else has heard of it or has an opinion of it? It passed through my FB feed today and I usually just brush right past these advertisements about how your kid needs (blank) lessons, but it played a bit of the video- and I couldn't help but pause and watch the rest because I feel like he just described my second child to a T. Bright but gets by by memorizing a lot. Some days she reads medium level nonfiction about aircrafts and others she struggles to read a Level 1 Sofia the First Disney Jr book with 5 words per page, you know? She's constantly missing the shortest and most simple words. I hate the idea of spending more money to outsource her reading, but it's really lost its joy for her. She loves to listen to audiobooks like Matilda and Secret Garden and Little Princess and Ella Enchanted and the Ramona series (over and over and over again....), but just won't bother if she has to read anything herself. She spends hours looking at picture books and asking me to read to her. I do, because I know she won't always want me to read with her and I enjoy spending the time with her (and all my other kiddos). I think she'd LOVE reading if I could just get her more fluent, but it's like pulling teeth to even get 2 minutes of focused reading out of her. She's only in 1st grade, but I'm at a loss as to what's going on, when she's bright enough (she learned to read music over a year ago and has taught herself piano), but says reading is so hard, despite an obvious love of books.

 

ETA Totally forgot to attach the link!
https://www.facebook.com/easyreadsystem/videos/10213336104627362/?hc_ref=ARRi33D2IprOcgwj_sAnDSFmK8kUPkk8xnKu2Ys1vsvyNGsTfVh2QS6aXQEZYeoKly8&fref=nf

Edited by 4kookiekids
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Research dyslexia.... this was how my son was. He could read books on astronomy, and he could even read easy books fairly ok. But, would miss small words. Come up with words that start with the same syllable, but was wrong. Didn't catch suffixes. And couldn't spell the simplest words. He was 8 before I suspected because he was reading.

 

Didn't look up the link for the specific program you linked....

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How old is your dd?  

 

My ds tended to guess, and spending five minutes a day with ElizabethB's nonsense word game totally fixed that.  I allowed him to look at the constructed word as long as he wanted, but he had to pronounce it right on the first try- that was worth one point.  If the word was also a real word, that was worth another point.  :-)  He played against me, so I won most times until his reading accuracy made it more of a game of chance because the winner was really determined by who stumbled upon the most real words.  Good times.  :-) 

 

I found it easier to just print the word beginnings on one color and the word endings on another color card stock.  I then laminated for durability.  I just had us draw a card from each pile, put them together into a word, and read it.  It makes the game go faster and the kids sees/reads a lot more "words" that way.  

 

I agree with the above suggestions to check dyslexia as well.  

 

ETA:  All that was to say, I have not heard of the program you mentioned, but I would NOT spend money on yet another reading program if your child has understood the basic concept of reading and has just developed a bat habit of guessing.  Just use the game above.  You can also use an index card to uncover a word one syllable at a time to help with breaking a guessing habit.  What you need to determine then is IF this is a bad habit or IF this is an indication that the child is not correctly processing what they are seeing (possible dyslexia for example).  

Edited by Monica_in_Switzerland
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How old is your dd?  

 

My ds tended to guess, and spending five minutes a day with ElizabethB's nonsense word game totally fixed that.  I allowed him to look at the constructed word as long as he wanted, but he had to pronounce it right on the first try- that was worth one point.  If the word was also a real word, that was worth another point.  :-)  He played against me, so I won most times until his reading accuracy made it more of a game of chance because the winner was really determined by who stumbled upon the most real words.  Good times.  :-) 

 

 

She's almost 7. I know that's still young, but it's odd to me that she's plateaued for so long. Her reading level has been mostly the same since she was 4, despite working through Spalding together. She can spell far better than she can read, which seems totally strange to me. After trying a variety of programs with my oldest (100 EZ, HOP, Bob, etc.), finding Spalding was like hitting a jackpot, because he started reading well in 3 months and chapter books in 6 months around age 6. I guess I thought so highly of the program that it never occured to me that it might not be as brilliant for my other kids (especially because I understand the system tons better the second time around!).

 

I'll check out the nonsense word game! Thanks!

 

Research dyslexia.... this was how my son was. He could read books on astronomy, and he could even read easy books fairly ok. But, would miss small words. Come up with words that start with the same syllable, but was wrong. Didn't catch suffixes. And couldn't spell the simplest words. He was 8 before I suspected because he was reading.

 

 

I'll look into it... It's something I never would've considered because she *can* read sometimes... But your description here sounds exactly like this child too, except that she can actually spell when we do her Spalding lessons... But, now that I think about it, she still looks at me blankly for a lot of words and requires me to indicate if the phonogram is "ee" vs "ea" vs "e _ e" in most situations (and similarly with other sounds that could be made my a variety of phonograms).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I cross posted this on the LC board, but do you have any thoughts on how to interpret this?

I took the dynaread dyslexia screening with her, and it gave us the following results *when compared with other struggling 6 year old readers*: 38 %ile in working memory, for common English words she had 71 %ile in accuracy and 77 %ile in fluency, for nonsense words she had 40 %ile accuracy and 60 %ile fluency.

 

 

ETA I also just had her do the lexercise dyslexia screening, and on the z-screener score it said she reads simple syllables with less than 5% accuracy, but on the San Diego quick Assessment it said she was on target for words (real words, but simple ones) that a K'er should be reading. It's like she's memorized bunches of common words but can't sound out "zac" or "af."

Edited by 4kookiekids
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

My son could spell better and faster than he could read, as could many of my remedial boy students.  Many of them are not well served by Spalding, it is too much for their brain to process at once with all the choices.  They need a straightforward phonics approach that is incremental without choices.  I would work through my syllables program first, then all of Blend Phonics without any readers, then go through Blend Phonics again and you can use the little Blend Phonics books on Don Potter's website.  Then, go through several other phonics programs, doing a bit of work with Webster's Speller every day, mainly for reading but spell a few of the words as well.  Depending on MWIA scores and speed and accuracy of nonsense words compared to the norms, you may also need to do daily nonsense word work.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/syllablesspellsu.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd have to disagree with him early on, when he said that the "rules" of phonics are not consistent. Those of us who know Spalding know that this is not true. That there is more than one way to spell a sound does not mean that the "rules" are not consistent. The children he describes sound like children who have not been taught with a good phonics method. (I understand that some children do have reading disabilities. This is not about them.), and I say that because he really sounds as if he does not understand phonics well (because if he did, he would not have said that the rules are inconsistent). Also, he starts using "decoding," as if that's somehow different from...I don't know what, because we use that word to describe how children, using their phonics knowledge, figure out what they're reading.

 

Some children naturally learn to read. Most children will benefit from direct instruction with a good phonics method.  This has been proven repeatedly in the U.S. with the failed sight-reading methods that the public schools keep trying to roll out. "Why Johnny Can't Read" and "Why Johnny Still Can't Read" explain this well.

 

ETA: Here's the same video directly from YouTube. I have trouble on my ancient computer watching videos, so I'm adding this link in case anyone else has the same problem. :-)

Edited by Ellie
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm using Easy Read with my 8.5 year old. We've only been at it for 24 lessons. Our background is similar to what you described. My son learned CVC words at 4 years old, we worked through The Reading Lesson, Logic of English Foundations, Dancing Bears and Barton 1-3. Through all of these programs ds could read the words by applying the rules but it was halting, never fluent. I couldn't get him to read anything beyond Norah Gaydos level 2 readers. He really struggled with the vowel teams. He hasn't struggled with guessing, but I think that's because he's on the autism spectrum and has anxiety so he's more likely to refuse to try to read at all than to guess.

 

A friend of ours was having success with Easy Read so I decided to give it a try. The visual method works really well for my son. He has low working memory but he's very strong with visual skills so using the trainer text he's been able to decode words and build confidence. Within 10 lessons he began reading level 2 books like Frog and Toad, Amelia Bedeila, Blueberries for Sal with confidence and increased fluency. I honestly can't say if the break through is from Easy Read because it happened so quickly. I can say that it truly is quick and easy. It has given my son confidence and I see how the trainer text makes sense for this kind of kid.

 

Have you tried the 10 day free trial yet? It can give you a pretty good idea of how the program might work for you. I think for those situations where the child has become discouraged with their lack of progress it can be a great change of pace. It's a very expensive program and I definitely don't think it's necessary for overcoming guessing or lack of fluency but I was thrilled to find something that my son is happy and willing to do so the cost is worth it for us. I plan to continue for a couple more months to make sure his reading success outside of the lessons continues.

 

Also, I did find that the Spalding method and others that front load all of the phonogram sounds from the get go did overwhelm my son with low working memory. The Easy Read program only has 42 sounds to learn and they're paired to memorable visuals so that makes a big difference. The classic approach to phonics mentioned above will also work for this purpose as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I cross posted this on the LC board, but do you have any thoughts on how to interpret this?

I took the dynaread dyslexia screening with her, and it gave us the following results *when compared with other struggling 6 year old readers*: 38 %ile in working memory, for common English words she had 71 %ile in accuracy and 77 %ile in fluency, for nonsense words she had 40 %ile accuracy and 60 %ile fluency.

 

 

ETA I also just had her do the lexercise dyslexia screening, and on the z-screener score it said she reads simple syllables with less than 5% accuracy, but on the San Diego quick Assessment it said she was on target for words (real words, but simple ones) that a K'er should be reading. It's like she's memorized bunches of common words but can't sound out "zac" or "af."

 

Relatively low working memory and trouble decoding nonsense words are common signs of dyslexia.  

 

Edited by EKS
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I've never heard of this reading program, and I'm pretty skeptical by nature, so I wanted to see if anyone else has heard of it or has an opinion of it? It passed through my FB feed today and I usually just brush right past these advertisements about how your kid needs (blank) lessons, but it played a bit of the video- and I couldn't help but pause and watch the rest because I feel like he just described my second child to a T. Bright but gets by by memorizing a lot. Some days she reads medium level nonfiction about aircrafts and others she struggles to read a Level 1 Sofia the First Disney Jr book with 5 words per page, you know? She's constantly missing the shortest and most simple words. I hate the idea of spending more money to outsource her reading, but it's really lost its joy for her. She loves to listen to audiobooks like Matilda and Secret Garden and Little Princess and Ella Enchanted and the Ramona series (over and over and over again....), but just won't bother if she has to read anything herself. She spends hours looking at picture books and asking me to read to her. I do, because I know she won't always want me to read with her and I enjoy spending the time with her (and all my other kiddos). I think she'd LOVE reading if I could just get her more fluent, but it's like pulling teeth to even get 2 minutes of focused reading out of her. She's only in 1st grade, but I'm at a loss as to what's going on, when she's bright enough (she learned to read music over a year ago and has taught herself piano), but says reading is so hard, despite an obvious love of books.

 

ETA Totally forgot to attach the link!

https://www.facebook.com/easyreadsystem/videos/10213336104627362/?hc_ref=ARRi33D2IprOcgwj_sAnDSFmK8kUPkk8xnKu2Ys1vsvyNGsTfVh2QS6aXQEZYeoKly8&fref=nf

Normally I would say six is young, don't worry.

 

But what you are describing is not typical. What she can and cannot read doesn't make sense. She sounds like an incredibly bright child who is able to compensate at a remarkable speed. I think others are right and you should have her evaluated before investing in another program.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I cross posted this on the LC board, but do you have any thoughts on how to interpret this?

I took the dynaread dyslexia screening with her, and it gave us the following results *when compared with other struggling 6 year old readers*: 38 %ile in working memory, for common English words she had 71 %ile in accuracy and 77 %ile in fluency, for nonsense words she had 40 %ile accuracy and 60 %ile fluency.

 

 

ETA I also just had her do the lexercise dyslexia screening, and on the z-screener score it said she reads simple syllables with less than 5% accuracy, but on the San Diego quick Assessment it said she was on target for words (real words, but simple ones) that a K'er should be reading. It's like she's memorized bunches of common words but can't sound out "zac" or "af."

I would not decide based on an online test. Smart kids can compensate for a shocking amount of deficiencies. With teaching herself to read plus piano plus loving words doesn't jive with the guessing and substitution. It would be different if she just weren't into it.

 

I think you should consider a professional evaluation.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks folks. We did have an a valuation, but it doesn’t seem like they actually tested for dyslexia. They gave her some of the reading subtest of the Woodcock Johnson, but not the nonsense words are other ones that seem like they would be really telling for dyslexia. I’m looking to have someone else give a more specific test for dyslexia. In the meantime we did find out that her working memory was a full 40 percentile points below any of her other scores.

 

We also did find out that she has vision issues with both convergence and tracking. So the optometrist is going to prescribe some sort of bifocal to address the convergence issues, and give her two months to get used to wearing them and see how her reading is at that point. Then we’ll go back in, and double check some things and see if she needs vision therapy as well.

 

So we might be closer to figuring out what’s going on, but we might not. :-) Who knows? But I feel like we’re making progress. We did switch to Elizabeth bees syllables L program and have started the nonsense word game so hopefully between all these different things, wwe’ll see improvement soon!

Edited by 4kookiekids
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Instead of glasses she may have better long term results with vision therapy to address and correct the underlying issues but you would probably need to do that through a COVD trained in those techniques.

 

Yes, I read that it's quite controversial if you should fix this with VT vs glasses. I know the doc wanted to try glasses first but see us back in 8 weeks to see if we should do VT instead or in addition to the glasses. I'd love to fix it permanently, if VT could do that, and not have her be stuck in bifocals for life... lol.

Edited by 4kookiekids
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vision therapy made a huge, life changing difference for my nephews.....as in they gained years of ability in just a few months.

 

I also like the I See Sam program for reading. www.iseesam.com or www.3rsplus.com as it teaches a very systematic phonics but on very unique progression. Also, the stories are engaging and cute but the kids can not read the pictures.

 

You.can find the first 2 sets of books as free PDF files to print.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Research dyslexia.... this was how my son was. He could read books on astronomy, and he could even read easy books fairly ok. But, would miss small words. Come up with words that start with the same syllable, but was wrong. Didn't catch suffixes. And couldn't spell the simplest words. He was 8 before I suspected because he was reading.

 

Didn't look up the link for the specific program you linked....

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

 

Bright child who memorizes readily and easily and depends on it?  I'd be thinking dyslexia plus dysgraphic.  More studies are coming out about this unique brain.  

 

Yup, do the research. My second is like this.  It's unique to teach but the payoffs at the end of homeschooling are amazing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...