Jump to content

Menu

talk with me about summer speed reading classes


Recommended Posts

Hi everyone,

I have a rising 8th grader who is a really really slow reader.

 

He has a great grasp of phonics. If he reads aloud, he pronounces every word well and uses good phrasing (he was reading "Tale of Two Cities" aloud to me in the car last week). He can comprehend a lot (but not all) of that book. So I'm sure he doesn't need some sort of remedial phonics lessons.

 

I'm looking into some sort of class to speed up his reading. I've seen one offered for middle schoolers through the local university. Have you done anything to help your kid read faster? I feel like he will eventually get really bogged down by required reading if he doesn't speed up. Hubby has suggested I give him choice about whether he does something or not (apparently my hubby was once a really slow reader and he resents his mom harping on him about it all the time. But he is fairly fast now. And, he did take a class to speed up his reading which he now resents.) Hubby thinks he'll eventually get faster. I worry.

 

Emily

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If it’s the company I’m thinking about, I wouldn’t recommend it. Very expensive for what you get, and no real proven outcomes. If you google the provider, you’ll see there is very little info out there about them. The class is likely offered on the local university’s campus but otherwise unaffiliated with them.

 

Feel free to PM me for more info.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tale of Two Cities is really meaty--he's doing well! I think I'd rather try to get him hooked on a series so he'll want to just read a lot this summer. Pick something on the easier side that's high interest to him to really help boost his speed and recognition of more common words. Or even some of the easier classics could be good (but again, choose high interest ones and not the ones that are kind of like medicine--"everyone should take some of this..." type books!) My mom kept me reading good quality books for the summers during high school and for the most part I enjoyed it. There's nothing like just reading to gradually increase someone's speed, and I think it's a better fit for a lot of people. I'm not convinced speed-reading is for everyone. I suspect a better use of time with regard to that is teaching him (in high school) how to scan when he has a lot of text reading to do. Also, I've seen my kids' reading speed increase over time (my dd's increased a lot this fall as a Freshman in college--something that took her over an hour to read last summer is now taking her 30-40 minutes instead--and I always had my kids read a lot every year.) I think I'd go with your husband's gut on this one. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, thanks everyone. That's really encouraging.

 

I'm a super-fast reader myself (I think I tested in at 500 words per minute) and so I am even more frustrated by slow readers than most people. I am able to slow down when needed, but I highly value my skill! 

I do think one of his "problems" is that he gravitates to harder books, which means he has a difficult time learning to read fast. But he did go through some easier series a few summers ago that really helped him gain fluency. I'll look for a similar one for this summer. Cheaper, easier, and more fun than a speed reading class of any sort.

Emily

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

RAN/RAS (rapid naming) work would be free and could increase his reading speed. It's pretty fun, not arduous, and you'd see results pretty quickly. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4rcl6f0uo70esmv/AAAaGAHw3_YTMEQZSw_WI-t_a?dl=0  Here's a link to my dropbox file of RAN/RAS pages. There's software for it, but really the pages are just the cost of ink. To use them, print, put in page protectors, and practice reading them 3-4 times a day. I rotate the page so I get three ways of use. Like read it aloud one way, then rotate 90 degrees and read it again, then turn it on point and read it aloud a 3rd time. You can also read to a metronome, etc.

 

Yes, just flat reading more (and reading easy material!) will boost his fluency. People who go to grad school typically improve their reading speed. You could try bulking up his reading requirements with material that isn't too hard, just to force the issue. Like assign that he has to read 3 books a week and they have to be a minimum 200 pages and they have to be done by Saturday or he is stuck inside finishing. So you're not making him read harder, just bulking him up to get that fluency.

Edited by PeterPan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had to train several of my kids to read faster bc otherwise they would never have tested well on standardized tests. We do this simple approach and it has helped them.

 

They start of reading as fast as they can for 1 minute and then retell what they have read. (The point being speed without comprehension is pointless. They have to read AND comprehend what they have read.) They do that 10 times in a row daily until their speed and comprehension has increased. (They need to record avg word count per minute.) They they do the same process for 3 mins 3x daily, 5 mins 2x, and we stop at 10 mins.

 

My 10th grader has been doing this since the beginning of the school yr. She now just speed reads for 10 mins every single day. She has commented that her reading speed has dramatically increased in general bc she has just become used to reading faster.

  • Like 2
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...