My son adores the Children's Encyclopedia of World History. Our copy is also ripping at the spine. I will tape it soon and that should be fine here. We have a dinosaur book from the library... maybe Children's Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs? It is a reference book type. He is almost 7, and these books are awesome for him. He likes non-fiction a lot better than fiction. He is too young for the DK Eyewitness books and a little too old for the similar DK series for younger kids (and that is more busy imo). I don't read him every page -- he looks at a picture, and might ask me to read him the whole page, or he might ask me to read headings and then pick one. He might pick just captions. The captions are very good I think -- I am happy to read him captions and the occassional heading if that is his mood, or whole pages. I have a book out of the library right now -- about teaching non-fiction reading strategies to kids my son's age. It is all about telling them about reading captions and headings, and just giving them a structure to read this general type of content. My impression is -- it is fine to read captions first, then headings, then read the text. This is apparently a good strategy for reading for information (I am not that far into the book, lol). My son is a struggling reader (and language student) in some ways and this is right up his alley. He does not have awesome listening comprehension of age-appropriate fiction -- so it is frustrating for him sometimes to listen to stories. There are some he likes. But I so love having these books, in general, and especially when he has finished listening to a fiction series, and not liking books I have for him, and getting all "I don't like reading." I am SO happy to have found these books so appropriate for him, and with illustrations he really likes, and good vocabulary without being too hard. He didn't really care for the Children's Atlas from the library (he liked it fine, but nothing special), and I got him the Ancient Civilizations book -- he likes it but not on the same level as the other two. He is not that into the Time Traveller book, either. I mean -- we have read most of the Time Traveller book, and many pages of the Ancient Civilizations book, but he likes the other two books are extreme favorites. My daughter really likes 1001 Fairy Things to Spot. It is a really sweet book and I have hopes that at some point we use it to talk about numbers and counting (it tells the number of each item to found). She really likes the illustrations and making up stories to the pictures. She is 3.

I like that!

I read and talk with my son at bedtime. He has gotten very interested in non-fiction lately. He likes Usborne books a lot. He is interested in dinosaurs right now and there is a chance (small but growing) that we will go on a trip to Utah this summer to see some dinosaur museums there. It is 13 hours but we could stay with relatives who are about 8 hours from us and 6 hours from Utah. Really just that read-aloud and talking time is what we do -- he can find out about and talk about some interests. I have tried adding in some netflix on the same subjects -- but he likes the books better.

I think it just takes time. It is really good she is starting to sound out. It is hard, though, and can be a long stage. I get really down after a bad day, too, but a bad day once in a while is really okay. Even a reward system won't prevent a bad day once in a while. But could still be worth doing! I try to stick to a routine. I do think you are doing the right things, though, especially if there is any small progress. My son had zero progress and only frustration while I tried programs that didn't work -- so on one hand, I don't think too much frustration is good at all, but I think they can handle more if they see they are getting it. Lips might not end up being the best thing -- but if she is making any progress, that is good! My son spent a long time on just cvc words with no progress made with consonant blends. It was hard for me -- but he did get it eventually. It just took a long time and a lot of effort, and really just lots of little times of repetition. He also spent a long time sounding out every cvc word before he said it. But at least he was sounding out words! It is good she knows a lot of sight words and is starting to sound out words. I think -- maybe ask her to do an amount you really *know* she can and will do at that moment -- so that you can say "good job" and then have another short session. That might work better. My son can easily cry if he thinks I am asking him to do too much at one time, or just get spacy. But at the same time -- I try to keep him on task. There is a middle ground where we both think it is a good amount to do without a break, and he won't be upset by being kept on task then. I will also go to just reading at the same time, or me reading first, if I think he is really struggling, or if his attention is just not there. For a while I almost always did this -- but his skill is better now. Reading at the same time is fine to do, I think. It is a recommended reading strategy. If she is practicing sounding out words at other times -- then you know she is working on that, too. But my son's confidence was not good, too, and that was part of the reason we used to do that more. I will still do it if something is hard for him, though.

Are you already doing things like -- if she is getting distracted -- just pointing at the place she should read and say "here." I can catch myself being sucked into a conversation sometimes, and I need to go back to calm, quiet, not saying much. I might read the first word or make the first letter sound in that word. At a certain point I take a break. Or, I offer to read some amount and let him read after me. He sees that as a good deal and will cooperate. I don't think my son has any attention problems. I think he just gets frustrated some, and tries to get out of work some. I also have kind-of reward places to do his reading if he cooperates, works hard, and has a good attitude. I will hold up his book while he is in the bath, let him rock in the rocking chair, and things like that, while his attitude is good. When his attitude is not good he will have to sit on the couch (then I let him lay on the couch after just a little good attitude). If she is showing *any* progress with her phonemic awareness and Lips I would see that as good news. It is really hard work. If it doesn't seem like it is working or that she is not making progress at all -- that would be different. But for my son at least -- now he is making good progress. He was so, so, so slow in his progress earlier. I don't really have any comment on writing.... my son narrates to me for his little homework things. His writing is not very good. He does dictation at school with spelling words, and is supposed to use capital letters and punctuation. He is not there -- but there is progress since the beginning of the year. It is what it is. He is working hard and there is progress. edit -- my son was never a sight word reader prior to getting better at phonemic awareness. so he was basically not able to read at all before he got through it. does she have good reading strategies considering she is in lips and has weak phonemic awareness? I don't know about reading for the sake of reading, if she is not sounding out words. at the same time -- of course it is good to know some words. my son just didn't know very many words at all at that level so I don't know much about it. maybe your daughter will be one of the kids who makes a big gain after she gets through lips, b/c she does already know a lot of sight words! Who knows -- but that is the kind of thing that is motivating to me. I think it might be too soon to know how bad her APD (or not) is. Which is so frustrating -- but I think you are doing the right things, and that counts for a lot.

I think this is easy in my house, b/c my son takes after my husband. My husband didn't have the special teaching my son has benefited from, so he can tell my son it was harder for him, etc. I think we don't sugar coat -- yes, it's harder than for other kids. I say a lot, that with practice, it will get easier. That I have things hard for me and I have to practice. I am not a great cook so that is an area where I can be a role model, lol. But I don't let it be too hard for him -- no good comes of that (he will shut down). However -- when he is making progress and not too frustrated with his own personal progress, he is not too bothered. He is still young though -- I worry about this in the future. I am also in favor of trying to find something that will work for her, vs. letting her struggle. She might make more even progress in a curriculum aimed at struggling readers -- that is the case here. (And testing if things tried are not much improvement.)

http://todaycms.s3.amazonaws.com/alabacus/f6/baaf0519f9287f5a0f533776df1e27/RightStart-Level-A-Sampler.pdf This is about rightstart -- if you scroll down, she talks about how in other languages the numbers 11-20 are regular, instead of eleven, twelve, thirteen, not following any pattern. I feel like -- my son's 11-20 issues are all caused by those names. That is the hang-up. It is not conceptual, it is not that he can't count that high..... it is just hard to memorize those words and come up with them. I think MUS also uses some other words for 11-20 that are easier to work with. When I was considering homeschooling -- MUS and righstart were both ones that I thought would play to his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. His school program is doing that also. But with a lot of programs he would not be doing well. I do think that memorizing the skip-counting might be more of a language/verbal problem than a math problem. It is just memorizing a string of numbers. I don't see a problem with letting a number line be available and letting him use it to answer "what comes next" questions. It is a lower level of learning than to answer without the numberline, but it is more foundational, and it is what my son does, lol.

My son is about the same age. I really just after-school him in reading. He is doing well in math. However -- he had serious struggles with the teens. I would not use the numbers that you know he confuses orally. There can be a visual prompt and/or manipulatives... he gets that at school. He can skip count, but I know it takes him much, much, much longer than other kids to learn these. They do them as chants, though. They do the chants every day (I think the teacher points at a number line, or points at groups of dots, something) and eventually he does get it. They go over "doubles" and "numbers that add up to 10" and "evens and odds" and he does know them... after many months of his teacher going over it every day. So anyway -- I would not give up on skip counting if he has to look at a number line.... that is still skip counting. His school curriculum is Math in Focus and it is going good for him. It is supposed to be good for children who are not as good with language or who are ESL learners. He had a big problem with the geometry unit -- he had trouble learning the words cube, sphere, pyramid, etc. They are just tricky words. But -- his teacher said this is a first exposure for him and I should keep working on this with him at home. But at the same time -- he did fine with most of that unit, b/c it had pictures and he would answer questions about the pictures. Last year his K math really highlighted his speech and language problems, and his bad handwriting and letter/number formation. This year it is just not as much of an issue (though it is still an issue). I don't think he has ADD or ADHD, though. I think there are other math programs that use a lot of pictures and are not so wordy... that is just the one at his school. It is really supposed to be good for not holding back kids who are not as good at reading or English... but so are other programs. I am planning to do RS math games this summer -- it looks like a great program for my son, but I am happy with what he has at school, so just supplementing. During the year all his focus is on reading, and his teacher has asked that I only work with him on reading at home, b/c of his math level being higher than his reading level. Also -- my son is one who was really helped by speech therapy! I hope it will work with your son! Th/f were not really a problem for him, so thirty and forty were okay, but I have *been there* with him just not knowing eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen well into 1st grade. He is not perfect with thinking of these number names or saying them quickly, but it is not holding him back in math at this point. I have seen people using "three ten" for thirty and "ten three" for thirteen but I didn't do it...I have heard it is good, though.

I don't think it is fair to assume he is selling his WIC formula on ebay. It takes a little time to get on WIC. He might need to take off work to go to the appointment, etc., or just not know about it. I would see if the daycare could pay for formula and add it to his bill, but let him know and give him information for WIC. I think I would want a doctor's note if not giving formula. It is a medical issue and not personal preference. But yeah -- I do think you need to say something. Daycares are really considered experts by a lot of young parents! I think there is a very good chance of them welcoming advice from someone they see as an expert.

I have a friend who has a behavior specialist visit her home once a week. Through county EI. She has the kids on a point system, and comes and gives the rewards if they have good behavior to earn points. What is good about it -- it has really taken away one son's focus on his mom, having bad behavior aimed at her. Now -- she is seen as enforcing the behavior specialist's rules. All the kids (4 in the family... a school friend of my son's) love the behavioral specialist. This is not the only way it is done, just the system they decided on. I have a good impression, though. This mom was not doing anything wrong or bad, btw. She is a good, active, engaged mom from everything I have seen.

I am not the age of your child -- but just commenting, my son is about to turn 7, in public school 1st grade. They use Math in Focus. Separately they do math fact sheets. He *only* does them with a number line. This is considered very acceptable for his age and level. In class -- they focus on memorizing "doubles" and numbers that add up to 10. He has got those memorized. They do games for those and chants. He also does chants for counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s, and I think they have just started counting by 3s. It takes him months and months to get these chants down. It took him a very long time to learn the "teen" numbers. A lot of the numbers and things are like tongue-twisters to him -- just hard. I will be doing math games a lot this summer... during the year we have to focus on reading. Anyway -- he is considered a good math student. I don't know what will happen in the future -- but the core of his math program is conceptual and he can do concepts. His speech issues are getting better and he is getting better about that "frozen" look... I just prompt him when he has it. The thing of knowing 2 + 3 but not 3 + 2.... with my son, if he did that, I would get a sense that he was frozen -- and for the best way to deal with this is low-key, prompt the answer, show how I got it, and make a note to come back to it. I am not sure if this is helpful... his issues are really with language. But in general I am in favor of bypassing the math facts. For multiplication -- they will chant the sequences for 3 numbers each year through 3rd grade, and that will get them to being able to say a chant while counting on their fingers, for multiplication facts. (Like, holding up a finger as you say 3,6,9,12 and with 4 fingers you have 3 times 4.) This is Very Good for my son -- b/c they do these all year, and while many kids know them cold after a couple of weeks, he is one who needs almost the whole school year. I would look at some chants like this, maybe, if they might be helpful. At least multiplication through the 9s might be a little easier when the time comes. (And in the mean time skip counting is good anyways.)

I have seen some brainstorming templates that are non-linear. I have seen this website but it is not the one I have heard of people using... but you can see the way the templates look. http://www.inspiration.com/ I don't know the name of the one I have heard of people using -- can't think of it.

My son couldn't have progressed in reading without his speech therapy. I think he is an exception? He had trouble learning letters and letter sounds -- his articulation was that bad. He had a language evaluation right when he turned 6, and his articulation percent was "lower than 10th percentile" and his age equivalent was 2 years 11 months. Here is the thing -- th substitution (f for th) was not an issue for him. He could see "th" and say "f" and it was just not an issue for his reading. His r and l and some y substitutions were not issues. He heard the sound right but was just saying it wrong -- he really did know the sounds. Other substitutions and "speech sounds" (he worked on in speech) were huge issues. Huge, huge issues. g/d k/t s/sh/ch are the first that come to mind -- maybe another set of letters, too. They were extreme problems. (A lot of consonants he would confuse at the end of words -- harder to hear than when they are at the beginning.) He had a lot of problems with phonemic awareness also. (He could not blend or segment, and he missed rhymes on the Dibels screening b/c they were hard rhymes -- not just fat and mat, and he could not tell the first sound in a word, etc.) My son is in public school -- he got referred to a university speech clinic though after making no progress in school speech in K. He also failed the Dibels screening all through K. The Dibels screening I think is pretty decent. They have got benchmarks for some skills. For K -- it is stuff like naming letters and letter sounds -- but has to be done quickly, not slowly. Naming the first sound in a cvc word. Segmenting a cvc or ccvc or cvcc word. For that they give points if they say f rog or fr og -- that would get partial credit. Then they have nonsense words. Each section is 1 minute long and there are 3 sections at every screening. I have heard a lot of criticism of this test -- but it was helpful to me. I would not have known my son was too slow with his letter sounds without it, and wouldn't have known to start looking at things. It is mentioned as an endorsed screening in Overcoming Dyslexia, too. My son didn't have any of the helicopter - hecilopter things where he switched syllables. Just straight poor articulation. But with some of it, he could tell the sounds apart and learn them (prior to private speech -- my husband's insurance paid b/c he tested so low), and with some he couldn't. I am not sure what early signs were, either, unfortunately. He couldn't name the alphabet quickly enough for the Dibels screening ever in Kindergarten, despite 2 years of pre-school and a semester of Kindergarten. That is one thing that might be a clue. But I don't know -- I was not really aware of this going on until I observed him in speech therapy with a stack of word cards starting with either s or sh and not being able to sort them into two piles without missing over half. A book called "The Shell" or something was a nightmare for him in I See Sam and I realized when I observed him in speech -- that book had "sell" and "shell" in it a lot. I had known that was hard in I See Sam but I hadn't realized to what extent he had trouble with s/sh. The screening is something that might give more information, though, and it is easy to see what the screening is on the Dibels website, and it is only 3 minutes long. If you know you have instructed a skill they have as a few months into K -- that is a warning sign also (if your child is about the right age) b/c it assumes some kids will have little prior knowledge before starting K. I don't think he could have done the popular O-G programs that are NOT for a struggling child. He really needs and needed to go slow and it is hard to make curriculums fit (for me -- other people I think have an easier time adjusting curriculums). His public-school K had phonemic awareness exercises that are supposed to be age-appropriate for a 5-year-old but it was all too hard for him. They did what I do think is a good program but they would not provide much intervention like he needed -- though he did have an aide work with him on letters and letter sounds after Christmas of K. I have to say I am glad b/c I had worked with him a huge amount on letter names and sounds with little result and felt really bad at the time. He got the referral to the speech clinic about that time and started in June of last year -- he just exited about two weeks ago (and still has school speech therapy).

Maybe Gordan Korman. I look at Amazon author pages -- they will have a little list of similar authors! I poke around on them. http://www.amazon.com/Lynne-Reid-Banks/e/B000AQ3WNQ/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1334361072&sr=1-1

http://iseesam.com/downloads/LB_scope_sequence.pdf This says early second grade, but they are not levelled like readers that are used in a lot of schools -- just a different levelling system, I think. My son went through BRI 3, and I think it got him to a middle-of-1st-grade level in a lot of ways. In a way -- they are harder than his school readers, b/c there are not picture clues, and similar words are put in the same stories. In a way -- they are easier, b/c they introduce the new phonics in a controlled way. I have been on the beginning-reading-instruction yahoo group -- people there would know if more people don't answer here.

Abecedarian has a placement test. http://www.abcdrp.com/samples/ABCDassessment.pdf I am doing Level B with my son right now and I like it. It has some combined levels for students who are older and need to consolidate skills. There are no manipulatives, though. For letter sounds and phonemic awareness my son needed letter tiles. With reading about dyslexia -- a lot of kids will know sight words and be reading from context, but still need to go all the way back to letter sounds and phonemic awareness. From my understanding -- there are 3 things that can check this. These are the three things on the Dibels screening my son used to fail but now passes. 1) Quickly name a letter and/or make the letter sound when they see the letter. 2) Segment a word. The more sounds the harder it is. 3) Read a nonsense word. This just tests decoding. If these are problems -- I would probably want to make sure and use a program with manipulatives. If these are fine, and there are gaps, I think Abecedarian is worth looking at. I have not gotten as far as working on fluency and multi-syllable words. My son right now is working on "advanced code" and starting to work on fluency. Once you have worked with her you will have an idea... but I do think it is worth it to go back to knowing letter sounds, and segmenting, and nonsense words. The abecedarian test has letter sounds and it has nonsense words, to see what they are like, if you are not familiar (I was not, lol). B/c she needs a good foundation in those things.

I would try to sell the old levels and buy the next ones used. I have heard people mention that. My son is doing Abecedarian Level B right now... he has a lot easier time now that he is through phonemic awareness. He is in public school, so I want something that follows the public school order more (aka the vowel-consonant-e pattern). I don't think they have to do it, but I would look at re-selling before I looked at changing programs. There is a lot to be said for an all-in-one program for reading and spelling. And, there is a lot to be said for following one program so there are not gaps and repetitions. I think Abecedarian is an easier program and my son is doing well with it -- he responds well to how it works. There is no spelling or reading part, though. It is just a way to learn the "advanced code" (all the vowel teams and things like ea, ay, ai, ei, ough). I have used AAS 1 with him but it kind-of goes too fast for him, and it is hard for me to make it fit him. I love AAS but I am not using it right now. Really, I love AAS.

I looked at the fcrr just now and it looks really good. I have a hard time with their website but I search for the fcrr reports on different reading programs on google (just the program name and fcrr) fairly often. It is a lot things that were done in my son's public school K class, but he couldn't do it. He had trouble with his letter sounds and so everything in school was just a little too hard and fast. Anyway -- my son had a particularly hard time with the letter sounds and with being in speech therapy, and I think he needed the really, really basic and slow approach, even more basic and more slow, if that makes sense. But if the fcrr games will work, I would try them and do them!!!!! I just mean -- if a lot of kids can start with a certain level of games, that is great, if some kids don't need it at all, that is great, but if there is a problem even with those games -- there are still options. There are still kids who have trouble with the regular K phonemic awareness games, even with the really good programs, and they are supposed to be then pulled out for some extra help -- I think that is the group my son would be in.

I think then start with the smallest things. Does she know the letter sounds? If so -- this is good! I did a lot of modeling for my son to copy. He did not memorize words well at all, so I could use at, am, up, it, if, in, those kinds of words. If your daughter memorizes easily (which is good!) you use pretend words like ut, ik, ag, things like that. Starting with VC (vowel consonant). Pull down the letter and say aaa, pull down the letter m and say mmm. Can she do that? Then say aaaaammmmm and pull down the a while saying aaaa, and the m when switching to mmm. Can she do that? If not -- you can have her feel her chin move. This is a good way to get started It is NOT bad if she can just know "o" in boat from feeling (or seeing with a mirror) her mouth change. This is good, this is multisensory. Seeing and feeling make it multisensory. If that works, that is a start. If she can copy you saying aaaaammmmm, you can point out her mouth closing for mmmm, her chin moving, etc. The Phonics A-Z book has a game where kids make a karate chop when there is the change from aaaa to mmm, saying aaaammmm. Can she do that? (In the book -- some kids practice this way for weeks in Kindergarten, so it is not bad if this is a developing skill.) If she can do that with VC words, you could go to CVC words, or do VC words with letter tiles, and sliding them as the sound changes. Easier consonants to start with can be held: like mmmm, ffff, ssss. Harder consonants are b, t, k, d, g, type consonants, that cannot be held. edit: this is the kind of thing that is good -- just asking for things that are harder skills, oral only, is fine for kids who already can do the basic concept but need more practice, but doesn't teach it. stuff like this teaches it. I think this is the kind of thing to look for -- there are different programs that have this kind of instruction.

http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/pa/pa_skills.php This is not a bad link.

The book Reading Reflex is a good resource, too, but use some good letter tiles of some kind, not the little pieces of paper. Or, laminate them. I used just the scraps of paper and that does not work well. A book available at my public library that has a lot of game ideas and suggestions is Phonics A -Z by Wiley Blevins. It is -- more a book to check for in the library than to buy. I really like it, though. For segmenting I like having letter tiles or letter manipulatives of some kind (I used the AAS magnetic tiles) and use them for segmenting activities -- oral only gets recommended a lot, but if it is not going well -- letter tiles are a great choice. Some people use colored tiles or colored counters (or coins) instead of using letters -- if they think the kids get hung up on the letters. But I like letters. I used a lot of programs and bits and pieces of programs, b/c my son did really struggle. But I think these are good starting places. I agree about the games from the files on Heart of Reading. https://dibels.uoregon.edu/resources/big_ideas/phonemic_awareness.php I used this website, b/c my son is in public school and was failing this screening. I disagree a little -- rhyming can be skipped. Blending and segmenting are very important. The phoneme deletion activities are not necessary. Blending and segmenting (imo) are the real skills needed for beginning reading, and the other skills can be picked up over time. (Not so much to skip rhyming -- but if it is a hang-up, I think blending and segmenting are much more deserving of focus. My son continues to struggle somewhat with rhyming -- but he can blend and segment.)

http://www.amazon.com/Week-Phonics-Activities-Intermediate-Grades/dp/0439465893/ref=pd_sim_b_3#_ He is not there yet -- but I am looking at this book for my son. I have not bought it yet, just looked at the amazon sample, but it appears to just have kids memorize syllable chunks. I think that would be a good approach for him. Start with having him memorize some syllable chunks and then teach him about the other things -- I think it might be a little easier for him. Right now he is in Abecedarian Level B, and Level C is multisyllable words. Rewards is really highly recommended a lot -- but I haven't seen a copy of it, either. edit: I mean, I might work through the first 20 or 50 syllable chunks to memorize (depending on how fast he picks them up... but in theory they are one-syllable and maybe he will pick them up, lol). Then use another program to generalize. That is just what I'm thinking right now. He is still working on one -syllable words and fluency right now, lol.

Is there anything special about the overlay you use? Is it something I could buy at the office supply store or copy shop? That is what I have thought they are -- but not sure if they are a special product.

http://www.3rsplus.com/documents/Getting_Started_With_READ_BRI1_000.pdf This talks about the notched card technique -- just a card you use to uncover letters, going from left to right. I See Sam and Dancing Bears both use it. I didn't find it to be "the best thing ever!!!!" but a useful thing, definitely. But I think tiles are better. Just to explain what "the notched card" technique is, and it is the same principle with tiles if you build a word one tile at a time, I think.

I have read very briefly about this irlen syndrome or scotopic sensitivity ---- colored paper helps it. Certain colors I guess, or laying a color transparency over pages in a book. My impression is that it is real but not very common. But more popular a few years ago. I read one time the Orlando Bloom uses tinted paper to study his scripts. It is easy to try and I think I will try it with my son and see if he likes it, lol.