This is what I was going to recommend. These also give a student's independent, instructional and frustrational reading level for decoding and comprehension.

Co-Writer is a word prediction program to help with typing. You type the first letter and then it gives you options, so writing isn't as laborious to type. I like Kurzweil - You can pre-read the material and add "sticky" notes. So, while they read, the notes can help guide them to key points. They also make reading pens, similar to the talking dictionary, but you just scan the word with the "pen" and it reads it. Kind of like the Tag system, but it can work on regular books.

I am a middle school teacher (I afterschool my DD). We teach many of these strategies in our 6th grade Reading curriculum. So, I think that you could introduce them and build on them as you go.

Long-term success - I am a successful Dyslexic. I struggled with ps and ended up in a private school for students with learning disabilities for 7th and 8th grade. They used an Orton-Gillingham approach. I ended up struggling through high school, but got into a state college. I struggled my first year and a half, and finally something clicked. I graduate on time and ended up going to grad school. I am now a special education teacher (I after-school my DD - that is why I am on this forum). I teach middle school students who struggle with reading. I am using a program called Corrective Reading, which was created by Siegfried Englemann (TYCTR100).

I had my DD testing last year. I chose the group because I had read many of their reports and knew that they were thorough (I am a special education teacher and we often get private assessments to review - I afterschool my DD). Initially, I called and expressed my interest in getting her tested. It was a rather quick process, I don't think that I had to wait too long, maybe a few weeks for the next step. I was scheduled for an "in-take" conference over the phone. I spoke with this women for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. She asked a series of questions. I told her about my concerns and DD's strengths and weaknesses. Then we were scheduled for the testing. DD was 4yo at the time and we scheduled two dates, both morning sessions. The first few minutes I went back with her, to make sure she was comfortable. The sessions lasted about 3 hours and there was a break, where we had a snack and played a little. Then a week after the testing, we had a "parent conference" with the psychologist to talk about results and answer any questions that he might have had prior to writing the report. Then about a month later we got the full right-up (this was the longest process, we had to reschedule our parent conference and then it was over Christmas and that just pushed everything back). Some practices have multiple people who could test at the same time. The one we used, had a lot of psychologists and those doing educational assessments. They might recommend a different one for a different child based on history and/or age. Then you could have them tested at the same time. If not, I would probably go one at a time. I think that I would start with the child with the most needs or the most questions that you have. You also might want to consider who would do best first. If you have a child that is nervous and worried, you might want to start with a different child, so then you could prepare the "worrier" - You could say "see Johnny did so well, you will be fine"- if that makes any sense. I am planning on have my youngest tested at the end of this year (before she starts Kindergarten). I will probably go with the same group. I was very pleased with the experience and information gained.

My DD really liked the I See Sam series.

I was a little sad when I got my DDs school supply list - 1 plastic folder. That was it. I have been looking forward to school supply shopping for years, and I get the list and it was 1 thing. :o So, I have been done shopping since the day after kindergarten orientation, when we got the list.

:lurk5:

One strategy we use is "Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?" I think that if used correctly it can be a valuable reading strategy. I imagine that he was taught something like this.

We get a lot of use out of the Kumon workbooks - Mazes, Folding and Cutting. Also, sticker books. Costco has a good selection. Also Castle Logix is a great game.

We had my DD tested. We are afterschooling her, and she will start ps kindergarten in the fall. I struggled learning to read and was eventually diagnosed with a learning disability, so we wanted to be proactive and assess her to determine the proper school, if she did indeed have a learning disability. We'll probably do the same with DD#2. I probably wouldn't have tested her, if it were not due to our family history.

In the public schools where I am, we have a seperate Reading curriculum and English curriculum (I am a teacher and afterschool my girls). Reading consists of learning how to read and learning organizational strategies (main idea, problem solution, compare/contrast, etc.), drawing inferences/conclusions, knowing the difference between expository and narrative text, knowing text structures, making connections, those kinds of things. English (which I would put in the literature category) is reading novels/poems, learning about figurative language, know the plot structure of narrative texts, looking how characters interact with each other, how they interact with the setting.

I remember in a college elementary education math course, learning different bases. It was years ago and I can't remember the name of the text. It might be worth looking into something like that.

Sorry to hijack... Have you checked out Lexia? They have a online reading program that might work. They have a Family Home Version. I have used it when working with middle school students who have learning disabilities.

My DD (just turned 5) has done fine in preschool. She is reading around a first grade level and doing math around the same. She enjoys it and they don't "teach" too much, so it isn't like she is learning things over and over. They work on letters (which she has known for years) - what words start with a given letter. Everything else is pretty play based, they do science and read lots of stories and LOTS of art activities. The teaching that occurs is hands-on (not a bunch of worksheets) so even if she already knows it, it is fun and entertaining. She has a group of friends which she loves. My youngest has a few sight words and can read predictable text. She loves school. I don't think that she will have a problem going through the next two years. I think it really is a matter of finding the right program.