Need help! Concerns about 6.5yr old reading!

[calledtobehome]

This is the situation: My son is almost 6.5, just finished k back in Jan when he turned 6. We are using Hooked on phonics, he finished the first half of first grade book going into the red book which is the second have of first grade. I also just started supplementing with explode the code book 2 with him. He reads but he reads slow and sounds out every letter on the page, even his 3 letter words at times. Is this normal? He does not seem frustrated but it seems to me that this is kind of slow and I could be a little hard I don't no. My youngest son who is 5ysr old is reading much faster and fluently and hardly ever needs to sound out 3 letter words.

Is there anything else I can do to help my oldest or should I just continue to let him practice and go at his pace? I did ask him today to try to sound out the words to himself and than read them out loud but he seems to really like or has gotten used to sounding out every letter, and reading out loud and being able to hear himself.

 

Thanks alot,

[abbeyej]

From what you say, it sounds a little frustrating, but well within the realm of normal to me. I would just continue to give him lots of encouragement and lots of opportunity for practice.

 

Did he do ETC 1 and 1.5? If not, I would set ETC2 aside, and do ETC1 (or 1.5, if he has done 1 already) before moving on to 2. You can skip the first few pages and start in with the regular CVC reading practice. Yes, it may be a little easy for him, but it should also help with fluency and speed.

[Elizabeth Slagle]

Ok. This is normal. Some children are fast, easy readers. Others are not. he may be more auditory and "hearing" the words. Some kids are visual and read faster. That is ONE example of why this area is so diverse.

 

Most important is that he is not frustrated. You know, Waldorf School doesn't even worry about reading skills till 8 years old. So calm calm calm.

 

He is just processing differently that the other child. Let him take his TIME, and enjoy. Feel successful and move foward. It will be ok! E

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

My dd got to a point like that, except she didn't even want to read the words from a book. She just wanted to read one word at a time, and she sounded them out every time. So we worked on spelling (AAS, which is a big hit here) and kept up with her phonics skills reading one word at a time. One day reading just clicked for her and she went from reading level 2 Bob books to Amelia Bedelia and Mr. Putter and Tabby within a few weeks. I agree with a pp about learning styles. My dd is very much NOT a visual learner and it sounds like your ds might not be too. I think you just need to wait for things to click. Keep practicing the phonics skills and consider adding in spelling if you aren't already. Your ds will read fluently when he's ready.

[calledtobehome]

I really appreciate you ladies taking the time out to give me some insight! I think I'm probably expecting a little to much(Okay I've said it)!

 

Abbeyej- He never did book 1 because I knew it would be easy for him but like you said he would help with fluency and speed. I never thought of that so I'm going to buy book 1.5 today! Thanks!

 

Elizabeth-Thanks for the encouragement! It's good to know that other schools don't worry about reading until 8yrs old! I can take a deep breathe! Overall he is not frustrated but he has his days because he likes all his work to be perfect.

 

Lisa- I didn't think about adding spelling although we have done the spelling/word games in HOP. I was thinking about not starting spelling until we finished level 2. I'm going to look at all about spelling this evening. Good to hear how your daughter took off with her reading.

 

So should I continue to move along or should I slow him down and review all of the books from Hooked on Phonics K, bob books 1,2, & 3? I know I'm going to buy explode the code 1.5 and look into All About Spelling.