Yes, I think I am going to give it a try this weekend, and see how it goes. If I feel like I need some help, I may meet with his teacher again, to see what she suggests, and then go from there. Kathy, Jump In looks like a resource I could work with, but I don't think he is ready for it yet.

Working on Sunday is not a problem for him, he is used to putting in a half hour or so before he can get on the computer. If we have a busy day planned we skip it. School is in English, which is our first language, so that is not an issue. I met with his teacher and was able to read the essay he wrote. He scored low on every part of the rubric except Word Usage. The prompt was fine for him (involving robots). His teacher gave me a few of the graphic organizers they have used, I guess I won't really know where it falls apart for him until I go through the process with him. It is just unknown territory for me, and I don't know if I will be able to help him, so I was wondering what resources are out there that will help us through this.

I have been doing extra math with my son since the summer after kindergarten. We started Life of Fred then, and finished it by the end of 1st grade (I read it to him, a chapter a night, and he solved the problems out loud or on scrap paper). We started Beast Academy in second grade, which he did on non-school days only. He has just finished Grade 3 of BA today, just as we are coming to the end of third grade. It has been a great supplement to what he is getting in school (Everyday Math), he does well in school and on tests, and is very confident in his math skills. We are going to take a break from math for now, and work on writing. He took a writing test at school that was scored externally, and he did very poorly (10th percentile). They give this test yearly, with the scores going on their permanent record (an issue because we live internationally, are transient, and must apply to private international schools when we move). I therefore want to work with him to improve his writing skills. The test is given over two days, the students are given a prompt for a narrative, have 20 minutes to plan and write a draft the first day, and 20 minutes the next day to produce a final draft. I am very comfortable with math, and enjoyed working through BA with him, but am less confident with writing. As we only do extra work on weekends, should I just give him a prompt on Saturday, have him work for 20 minutes, go over it with him. Then have him do the final draft on Sunday, which I then correct for mechanics, grammar and spelling, discuss the narrative and have him write it out neatly (bad handwriting is part of the problem). Or is there a program out there that will help me do this? Because for some reason the thought of doing this really stresses me out.

My son is into stop motion animation. He built a frame out of legos to hold the phone still while he sets up the shot. He also uses blue tack to hold pieces in place (guys going down a slide, for example). He also programs with Scratch, and does some animation on that. We have the wii Udraw pad, but it hasn't really clicked with him. We live in NYC, so he does an afterschool program in stop motion animation at the Children's Museum of the Arts. They have week long summer programs in animation, as does Robofun, if a week in NYC in the summer is feasible for you.

Thank you for all of your great suggestions. I think I will try a few short comprehension passages with questions and see how he likes it. Otherwise I guess I just need to work on him recounting the story for me. If your's don't seem to get the nuances (like in the story in my original question) do you correct them, and if so, how do you do it?

I do not homeschool, but I do supplement my first grade son's education. I am looking for suggestions to help my son improve his reading comprehension. In school he has not been moving up reading levels because he has not been able to answer the comprehension questions. They use the guided reading program, he is on level G, having only moved up one level this year, after going from A-F during Kindergarten. At home he easily reads higher level books to me. For example (this is as reported by him) he read a story about a boy with a pet fish. After his baby brother was born, his parents started looking for a larger place to live. The boy said the fish didn't want to move. The parents found a larger apartment in the same building, so it was okay. One of the comprehension questions was Why did the boy say the fish didn't want to move? My son answered "Because the fish didn't want to move". I assume the correct answer is because the boy didn't want to move and he was projecting his feeling onto the fish. He has a full day of school (with no recess) and 1/2 hour of homework a night, so I want anything I use as a supplement to be fun. My personal issue around this is that while I love to read, and have always read lots of books, fast, but I hated analyzing literature, and never did that well in English classes, and it turned me off reading for awhile. I think that my feelings around this emotionally block me from asking him questions about what we read, because I don't want it turn him off reading. Our current bedtime reading routine includes a chapter of LoF (to supplement math, he verbally answers the questions, and loves it), then he reads a book to me, and I read to him (chapter books, fairy tales, last year we read all 48 Magic Tree House books). He often asks me questions while I read, and sometimes I ask if he as any questions for me after we read. If we are reading a chapter book, I often ask him to summarize what has happened so far before I start reading. Going through the threads here, the closest thing I could find was http://www.amazon.com/Homework-Building-Reading-Comprehension-Fluency/dp/0439616565 but I am not sure if it is going to work on the skills he needs, and seems too much like homework. Maybe a book of short stories with questions at the end? I am really not sure what would help him.