I had the follow-up conference with the school psychologist...

[A home for their hearts]

regarding my ds8 today. I had him tested because he has been struggling with learning to read. My heart was saddened by the results. He tested a lot lower than I excepted. His phonological awareness is at a pre-kindergarten level. I never even thought he had an issue with phonological awareness. During the testing he had a hard time with rhyming words, segmenting and deleting sounds. This really floored me. I thought since he knows the sounds of the letters that he didn't have a problem in this area. I was completely wrong. Now I'm left wondering what to do? Do I just stop all reading instruction and start working on phonological awareness skills? One of his strengths was his visual memory, he was able to spell a few words that I had no idea he could spell. The psychologist said he would probably do better learning to read by sight then with phonics. I'm just beside myself right now trying to figure out how best to help him.

[Mom-ninja.]

I suggest you read all you can on ElizabethB's site. She even offers free phonics tutoring videos.

[melmichigan]

I am all for phonics and support that as a program but have had one of my children with a reading delay not do well with phonics. It really delayed her reading. She is now doing real well learning to read with sight words and word families with more of a combined hooked on phonics approach. This was supported by her psychologist as well and she is now technically reading one grade level above age, although I look at it more on level myself. If phonics alone just doesn't work you may try what the psychologist recommends. We are planning on teaching phonics rules with spelling and have just started that. I know this has been debated and don't want to start that but just wanted to offer my experience. I know my DD is in the minority in this regard.

[Haiku]

During the testing he had a hard time with rhyming words, segmenting and deleting sounds.

 

My son has a whole host of speech and language issues, including auditory processing issues. The things you mentioned here have always been problems for him. He has difficulty with rhyming, and activities that call for something like "Take the word 'cat,' replace the 'c' with an 'h', what do you have?" have always stumped him. If I showed him the word "sat" and then covered the 's' and asked him to say the word, he would be lost.

 

We tried several different things to help with reading. The two things I found most helpful are letting him read along with a book on cd and Phonics Pathways.

 

Our occupational therapist/audiologist really discouraged a whole language, sight-words approach. She said that sight words do not give kids a familiarity with words and letters that phonics does and that kids who do not learn to manipulate letters and sounds end up with retarded reading skills as they progress beyond the beginning reading levels. She said that, particularly for kids with auditory processing issues, sight words reinforce the idea that letters and sounds are unrelated.

 

On a side note, I have noticed that my son's speech has improved considerably since he has been working more intensely with phonics.

 

Tara

 

ETA: After reading replies after mine, I realize I forgot to add that my son's speech therapist did work with him on the LiPS system.

Edited September 10, 2009 by TaraTheLiberator

[happydays]

My best recs from personal use:

 

Earobics 1 and 2

http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?stid=99

This was great for my son who had no phomenic awareness and was the only thing that taught him to rhyme.

 

Literacy Leaders by EPS

http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Literacy+Leaders%3A+10+Minute+Lessons+for+Phonological+Awareness/044988/1252550095-225231

I would set the timer for 10 minutes and work from this book. No matter how badly he did at first, I could be positive and patient for 10 minutes. And when things started to click for him, it was very obvious and rewarding.

 

I hope this helps.

 

happydays

 

ds 9

ds 7 <- graduate of Earobics 1 and struggling through 2

dd 3

dd 1

[LizzyBee]

If phonemic awareness is not in place before beginning phonics, phonics is just an exercise in frustration. There is a program made specifically to develop phonological/phonemic awareness. It is called Lindamood Bell Phonemic Sequencing Program (LiPS). It teaches students to feel and be aware of what their mouth, tongue, and lips are doing when each sound is made. I used part of the program with my youngest dd, and it helped her a lot!

 

Phonics programs teach the sound-symbol association. By teaching the oral-motor component of how sounds are made, students have another "hook" for understanding and remembering phonemes and how they fit together to make words. Even though we didn't use the entire program, it was worth every penny because it was effective with my dd. You can buy the clinical kit for about $350 from http://www.linguisystems.com, and they do not charge for shipping.

 

Alternatively, you can see if you can find a speech language pathologist in your area who uses LiPS. You can also go to a Lindamood Bell Learning Center, which is probably the most effective method, but they run about $10,000 to do the program intensively in a few weeks time.

 

A cheaper but pretty good alternative is Literacy Leaders from http://www.eps.com. It's a book that costs $31.95 and you just spend 10-15 minutes per day on the exercises.

 

There is a really good yahoo group that has some phonemic awareness exercises posted in the files section of the group website. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HeartofReading/

 

One free thing you can do to work on p.a. is read lots of rhymes and poetry.

 

You might want to do some reading at this website: http://www.dys-add.com. It is a wealth of information!

 

:grouphug:

Edited September 10, 2009 by LizzyBee

[Sue G in PA]

A bit pricey, but I highly recommend The Phonics Road to Reading and Spelling. I'm using it with ds6 and ds8 who can read well, but not spell well. We are starting at the beginning and just progressing quickly through to where he gets stuck.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

I suggest you read all you can on ElizabethB's site. She even offers free phonics tutoring videos.

:iagree:Webster's Speller is unique. It does not have a child sounding out every phonogram separately. I really think that it would be worth a try.

[nono]

:iagree:Webster's Speller is unique. It does not have a child sounding out every phonogram separately. I really think that it would be worth a try.

 

Thanks Lovedtodeath for this link! I almost fell over when I followed your link -- it is how I was taught to read! (I'm old :D) And really, it is how I was taught at my old-time Catholic grammar school. It's the piece I've been missing in my first year with my dd, 5. I kept having this nagging feeling like something was missing in my phonics/reading curriculum, and this is that missing piece! I'm so very grateful to you.

 

To A home for their hearts, I would definitely recommend you take a look at this. Our school was always known for producing little ones with great language and reading skills. This was the foundation upon which we built.

[Alessandra]

The book Phonemic Awareness by Marilyn Adams (about $20 on Amazon) is excellent, although obviously not a substitute for a whole program like Lindamood Bell.

 

Don't be discouraged -- IMO, phonemic awareness is not taught or evaluated nearly as much as it should be. At least you know what is going on now and can target that area.

[A home for their hearts]

Thanks ladies for all the advice. We can't afford to do LiPS or a Lindamood Bell Learning Center. My goodness, $10,000 dollars for tutoring who has that kind of money? But I'll look into the LiPS to see if it is something that we could use if we were ever able to afford it.

 

I'll look into the other books mentioned as well, Thanks for all the suggestions!

[LizzyBee]

Thanks ladies for all the advice. We can't afford to do LiPS or a Lindamood Bell Learning Center. My goodness, $10,000 dollars for tutoring who has that kind of money? But I'll look into the LiPS to see if it is something that we could use if we were ever able to afford it.

 

I'll look into the other books mentioned as well, Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

We couldn't afford the LB centers either! That's why we went with the clinical kit at home. If you decide to go that route at some point, it does have a good re-sale value.

[prairiegirl]

Stacy, I just wanted to give you a :grouphug: I have been where you are a few times and it is disheartening, but once you have a gameplan it gets easier.

 

All of my children are dyslexic but my youngest is the one that is causing my heart to stay on my sleeve. She has no phonemic awareness, difficulty with rhyming and still does not know her letter sounds. She will be 7 in Jan. After much gnashing of teeth, I have decided to go with LiPS. I will be ordering it soon. It is very expensive but it helps to know that I have a gameplan and it is a gameplan that has worked for many, many people.

[LizzyBee]

Stacy, I just wanted to give you a :grouphug: I have been where you are a few times and it is disheartening, but once you have a gameplan it gets easier.

 

All of my children are dyslexic but my youngest is the one that is causing my heart to stay on my sleeve. She has no phonemic awareness, difficulty with rhyming and still does not know her letter sounds. She will be 7 in Jan. After much gnashing of teeth, I have decided to go with LiPS. I will be ordering it soon. It is very expensive but it helps to know that I have a gameplan and it is a gameplan that has worked for many, many people.

 

My youngest dd's lack of p.a. was severe even after she learned her letter sounds. She turned 8 in July (I need to update my signature!), and things have really started clicking for her just in the past 1-2 months. Besides doing some work in LiPS last fall, she has been in OT for sensory integration, therapeutic listening program, and interactive metronome. She did some Earobics before LiPS, but we found LiPS to be much more effective. She had speech therapy from age 3-6 and just started again. In the past month, she's started accurately identifying rhymes and she's doing much better with reading 1-syllable words. Hang in there! It's a tough road, but it sure is sweet when you finally start seeing progress!

[Renee in NC]

My 8yo is in the same place (and probably my 6yo as well.) They were receiving a LiPS type tutoring in NC and will (hopefully) be getting the same thing here as well. The other plan is OT for the Therapeutic Listening and Interactive Metronome.

[Haiku]

OT for sensory integration, therapeutic listening program,

 

My son received these services as well, along with speech therapy that integrated LiPS. We got these services from a private OT clinic. Perhaps you should investigate that route. Our insurance paid for 20 visits per year, so we went every 2 weeks and had intensive homework for the "off" week. After our 20 visits were up, the clinic agreed to bill us at the insurance rate (1/3 the standard rate) for monthly visits until we rolled into a new year and started getting insurance benefits again. It still wasn't cheap ($35 co-pays and then $62 for the non-insurance-covered visits), but it was worth it.

 

Tara

[A home for their hearts]

I think I am in way over my head. I have no idea what sensory integration, therapeutic listening program, and interactive metronome are. :001_huh: How do I know if my ds has trouble in these areas?

 

Our insurance won't cover any kind of therapy unless it is needed because of some physical injury so OT is out, we would never be able to afford it on our own.

[siloam]

Thanks ladies for all the advice. We can't afford to do LiPS or a Lindamood Bell Learning Center. My goodness, $10,000 dollars for tutoring who has that kind of money? But I'll look into the LiPS to see if it is something that we could use if we were ever able to afford it.

 

I'll look into the other books mentioned as well, Thanks for all the suggestions!

 

Stacy,

 

Here is about the cheapest that I have found LiPS. $340 is much better than the $10,000 for tutoring. You can also buy it piece by piece from the website I linked. At the very least you would need the manual and the deck of cards. You would have to make your own felts which you can do with regular paper-I think they use felt to add a multi-sensory element, so it might be smart to just buy some felt and a big permanent marker and make your own. Even with just those two you are looking at around $150. I do see the manual on E-bay now and then, so it might pay to start watching there.

 

Let me know if you have questions.

 

Heather

 

 

 

[Lovedtodeath]

I think I am in way over my head. OT is out, we would never be able to afford it on our own.

:grouphug: ITU.

[ElizabethB]

There is a book called "Pure Phonics" that has step by step phonemic awareness exercises that is available for free online at Google Books:

 

Teaching pure phonics is giving instruction and drill on the phones or elementary sounds of our spoken language, entirely apart from letters, the training being of the ear alone. It is proposed that this drill should be begun in the kindergarten, continued in the primary, and practiced, for a few minutes daily, upon increasingly longer words in advanced schools. A more thorough acquaintance, than is usually gained during school life, with the elementary sounds of which our spoken English is composed, would conduce much toward bringing defective organs of speech in children to normal shape and use, improving the articulation and enunciation of people generally and, in time, producing a more correct and uniform pronunciation.

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=bcMRAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

She also wrote her own pronouncing print:

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=K7o9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

I have found that my students with speech difficulties do better with a pronouncing print. Here is my pronouncing print:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/upp.html

 

I also like this website for showing the sounds and how to pronounce them, it has great pictures showing how the sounds are made:

 

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#

 

Alexander Melville Bell's (Father of Alexander Graham Bell) Visible Speech may also be helpful:

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=EGwKAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=visible+speech+bell#v=onepage&q=&f=false

[A home for their hearts]

My ds8 doesn't have any issues with speech. There is one sound that he doesn't struggle with in speaking and the is the voiced th, otherwise his speech is fine. Is LiPS mainly for those who have speech programs or does it work for any child with phonological awareness problems? I'm also wondering if Earobics would work for him?

Today I gave him three words and asked him which one didn't rhyme, he had trouble with this.

[LizzyBee]

I think I am in way over my head. I have no idea what sensory integration, therapeutic listening program, and interactive metronome are. :001_huh: How do I know if my ds has trouble in these areas?

 

Our insurance won't cover any kind of therapy unless it is needed because of some physical injury so OT is out, we would never be able to afford it on our own.

 

Take one step at a time. Concentrate on phonemic awareness for now, then expand your reading to include things that often co-exist with lack of phonemic awareness.

 

Lack of p.a. may be pointing you to dyslexia. There is a wealth of information at http://www.dys-add.com that can help you decide whether this is a concern. One of the theories about dyslexia is that there are underlying problems with rhythm and timing; interactive metronome is a program that may help with these issues along with motor planning issues.

 

Sensory integration dysfunction sometimes accompanies learning disabilities; sometimes not. If you want to explore this, the best book on the subject is The Out of Sync Child. There are things you can do at home in lieu of therapy, and The Out of Sync Child Has Fun is the book for that. Basically, a kid with SID either avoids or craves sensory input. I have one of each. The sensory avoider eats extremely small bites and does so very slowly; complains about too much movement and commotion; will only wear a certain kind of socks; covers her ears when there is too much noise, which is a vast improvement over screaming and hiding as she used to do. My sensory seeker wants to always be touching someone; climbs doorways; runs, jumps, hops, skips, but never just walks; turns in circles but doesn't get dizzy; and is very loud.

 

Therapeutic listening program is modulated music that is supposed to help with auditory processing disorder, motor planning, attention deficit, etc. I am skeptical about whether it works, but insurance covers it so I am willing to try it.

 

I've mentioned motor planning twice now. My youngest has motor planning issues related to speech and night-time bedwetting. It's evident in her speech because she reverses sounds and often has a hard time putting 3 or more syllables together to make a word. It has to do with her brain and muscles getting in sync to carry out a complicated task.

 

Another excellent website that you might find helpful is http://www.mislabeledchild.com. When something resonates and you recognize your child in what you read, ask more questions here. I've learned a ton from the ladies on the special needs board as well as the curriculum and general boards.

 

:grouphug:

[LizzyBee]

My ds8 doesn't have any issues with speech. There is one sound that he doesn't struggle with in speaking and the is the voiced th, otherwise his speech is fine. Is LiPS mainly for those who have speech programs or does it work for any child with phonological awareness problems? I'm also wondering if Earobics would work for him?

Today I gave him three words and asked him which one didn't rhyme, he had trouble with this.

 

The purpose of LiPS is specifically to develop phonemic awareness. It is useful for kids and adults with or without speech issues.

 

Personally, I found LiPS to be more effective than Earobics. However, Earobics is much cheaper. You could start with Earobics, along with reading rhymes and poetry, and see if that is sufficient for your son. Every kids is different, and what works best for one is not always what works best for another.

 

Also, you can download the first chapter of Literacy Leaders from http://www.epsbooks.com (or is it http://www.eps.com ?). So you can start that and see if it works without having to spend any money.

[CookieMonster]

Stacy,

 

Reading your first post especially, I think you might misunderstand phonological awareness. It is not reading. It doesn't mean you did a bad job teaching reading or that your reading program is not working. Phonological awareness is the skill that a child must have in their everyday speaking language before they can start to read. It's the 'prerequisite class' to any reading curriculum.

 

Rhyming words, segmenting sounds, deleting sounds, and the like are skills children hopefully develop before you start teaching them the sounds of the letters.

 

I wanted to point this out because I think it's what others were already aware of and I couldn't tell if you had gleaned that from their replies or not. (If you already got this figured out then I hope you don't mind my jumping in. I mean well.)

 

Your son's lack of phonological awareness may be a signal that there is something else going on: a speech-language issue, an auditory processing issue. Or, more likely, it just means that your son hasn't developed these skills yet and just needs some remediation.

 

Which sorta makes the suggestion by the psychologist baffling. Really, your son couldn't move very far with whole language instruction either.

 

Try ramping up the word games in your house. Try rhyming games (make them fun!). Point out rhyming words in books and TV shows.

 

Play with words with your kids:

sound out each syllable extra long for fun (i.e. cccc-oooo-me ooooo-vvvv-errrrr hhhh-eee-rrr-eee)

use alliteration to sound goofy

change the sound of part of word and see if your kid can guess what it is you really mean

make up words

use really long words to be really silly with

 

Do anything you can do, casually and in every day life, to put emphasis on all the different sounds in words.

 

Most likely he'll start picking this stuff up and take off with it.

 

On the other hand, if he doesn't, then you know he needs some targeted intervention. That's where the different therapies previously mentioned come in.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

Sensory integration dysfunction... Basically, a kid with SID either avoids or craves sensory input. I have one of each. The sensory avoider eats extremely small bites and does so very slowly; complains about too much movement and commotion; will only wear a certain kind of socks; covers her ears when there is too much noise, which is a vast improvement over screaming and hiding as she used to do. My sensory seeker wants to always be touching someone; climbs doorways; runs, jumps, hops, skips, but never just walks; turns in circles but doesn't get dizzy; and is very loud.

I just wanted to clarify" There are many children with SID that do both... they avoid certain input or get overwhelmed by too much sensory input, yet they seem to also seek it out. I am an avoider... DD is both.

[Haiku]

I have one of each. The sensory avoider eats extremely small bites and does so very slowly; complains about too much movement and commotion; will only wear a certain kind of socks; covers her ears when there is too much noise, which is a vast improvement over screaming and hiding as she used to do. My sensory seeker wants to always be touching someone; climbs doorways; runs, jumps, hops, skips, but never just walks; turns in circles but doesn't get dizzy; and is very loud.

 

I've mentioned motor planning twice now. My youngest has motor planning issues related to speech and night-time bedwetting. It's evident in her speech because she reverses sounds and often has a hard time putting 3 or more syllables together to make a word. It has to do with her brain and muscles getting in sync to carry out a complicated task.

 

OMG! Have my children been living in your house?? My dd is/was a sensory avoider and was exactly as your described. OT and therapeutic listening helped her an enormous amount.

 

My ds is a sensory seeker and is exactly as you described. The progress has been slower with him, but he's getting there. He's also the one with speech and motor issues as well as phonemic awareness issues. He has been diagnosed with dyspraxia, which is a deficit in motor planning. In his case, all of our doctors/therapists seem to think that his issues stem from his early deprivation in an orphanage.

 

Tara

[ElizabethB]

The links I gave are not just for speech problems, they are also relate to phonological awareness because they show how speech is made how how that ties to print. The visual speech explanations especially show a visual representation of sounds and why and how sounds are produced, and how they are made and put together. But, this is a very complex document and system, I would start with Burnz' ideas and them move up to Bell, Burnz' explanations are written at a level that is much easier to understand.

[Ellie]

:grouphug:

 

My recommendation would be Spalding. Ok, that's always my recommendation :), but that's because I think it's such an excellent method. It has been proven to be successful with children of all learning abilities and modalities.

[LizzyBee]

The links I gave are not just for speech problems, they are also relate to phonological awareness because they show how speech is made how how that ties to print. The visual speech explanations especially show a visual representation of sounds and why and how sounds are produced, and how they are made and put together. But, this is a very complex document and system, I would start with Burnz' ideas and them move up to Bell, Burnz' explanations are written at a level that is much easier to understand.

 

I downloaded the Burnz books. They look really good!

[A home for their hearts]

I guess I was just surprised that his phonological awareness was so low since he does understand the concept of the letters making specific sounds. I do know there is a difference between phonological awareness and reading. I just thought he had it since he knows the letter sounds and can generally read cvc words fine. He does reverse b and d, he gets confused as to which is what when he is reading and doesn't know when to use which one when spelling a word. I have noticed some times that he will reverse words such as top, he might say pot. That doesn't happen too often.

 

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and I have a lot of reading to do!

[ElizabethB]

I downloaded the Burnz books. They look really good!

 

She was an amazing lady, I have her autobiography (maybe biography? her son did write at least part of it) linked on another computer. She was an early bloomer adopter who taught illiterate black adults to read using a IPA type font, then developed her own pronouncing print. She also developed her own shorthand system, afterschooled her children, and had an evening Bible study with them! She had to give up her bloomers in her classroom after protest but wore them around her house. (She preferred them for her comfort but dropped them after being told it made several of her students and their parents uncomfortable and caused distractions and doubts about her teaching abilities.)

 

All this despite health problems she fought all her life!

[Haiku]

I have noticed some times that he will reverse words such as top, he might say pot. That doesn't happen too often.

 

 

My son does this, too. He will also throw in letters that aren't even in the word, such as saying "srent" instead of "sent. Interestingly, my oldest (who is 15) also does this.

 

Tara

[siloam]

My ds8 doesn't have any issues with speech. There is one sound that he doesn't struggle with in speaking and the is the voiced th, otherwise his speech is fine. Is LiPS mainly for those who have speech programs or does it work for any child with phonological awareness problems? I'm also wondering if Earobics would work for him?

Today I gave him three words and asked him which one didn't rhyme, he had trouble with this.

 

LiPS works on hearing sounds, then categorizing them by how the mouth moves to make them, and how they are the same or different from one another. It also gives them labels that give clues to how the mouth moves to make them that make great hints for the child when they forget. Then it moves on to working on hearing the separate sounds in words. The nice thing is that if the child is struggling to hear the sounds they can at this point also use what they have leaned about the mouth movements to give additional clues. The programs first works with just hearing the sounds, and then hearing the sounds and associating them with the letters that make the sounds.

 

I agree with Elizabeth that the primary focus is Phonological Awareness. Because it goes through how the mouth moves to make sounds it also works well for Speech Therapy.

 

Heather

 

[Lovedtodeath]

 

The links I gave are not just for speech problems, they are also relate to phonological awareness because they show how speech is made how how that ties to print. The visual speech explanations especially show a visual representation of sounds and why and how sounds are produced, and how they are made and put together. But, this is a very complex document and system, I would start with Burnz' ideas and them move up to Bell, Burnz' explanations are written at a level that is much easier to understand.

Yes, for spelling I am having to get DD to say the sounds and notice when she changes the movements in her mouth. I will show her for this sound your tongue is back and then for the next sound your tongue is forward...

[ElizabethB]

I guess I was just surprised that his phonological awareness was so low since he does understand the concept of the letters making specific sounds. I do know there is a difference between phonological awareness and reading. I just thought he had it since he knows the letter sounds and can generally read cvc words fine. He does reverse b and d, he gets confused as to which is what when he is reading and doesn't know when to use which one when spelling a word. I have noticed some times that he will reverse words such as top, he might say pot. That doesn't happen too often.

 

Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and I have a lot of reading to do!

 

Good luck!

 

My daughter did not learn rhyming until she was 6 1/2. And then, I had to teach her in a mathematical manner although she is generally verbally advanced and mathematically a bit behind. (My son learned to rhyme just this week, and he's generally more mathematically inclined than verbally inclined!)

 

Anyway, I taught her that to rhyme, words have to end with the same vowel and consonant sound. If you use my UPP, you can easily illustrate how this works even with words spelled differently, for example, light and mite and might, you put a long vowel diacritical mark over the i's and put x's above the e in mite and the g and the h in might and light. (So, now they all end in a long i followed by a t visually as well as sound wise.)

 

Once she got this, I addressed CV and CCV words such as me, he, she, we, tree; hi by my try.

 

Then, words like old and cold and sold.

 

Then, the most complex rhyming case--why happy and sappy rhyme but happy and puppy don't even if they both end in the sound of pee. For weeks she insisted that words like happy and puppy should rhyme and had to ask dozens of people other than me to believe that they didn't!

Edited September 10, 2009 by ElizabethB

[Lovedtodeath]

:grouphug:

 

My recommendation would be Spalding. Ok, that's always my recommendation :), but that's because I think it's such an excellent method. It has been proven to be successful with children of all learning abilities and modalities.

LOL! I love ya Ellie, and WRTR is a great program, but I have to disagree. For a child with learning disabilities, Orton-Gillingham is a better, more incremental approach. Of course, it looks as though this child needs some extra work above and beyond Orton-Gillingham.

[ElizabethB]

LOL! I love ya Ellie, and WRTR is a great program, but I have to disagree. For a child with learning disabilities, Orton-Gillingham is a better, more incremental approach. Of course, it looks as though this child needs some extra work above and beyond Orton-Gillingham.

 

I agree, and I even refrained from mentioning Webster's Speller, which I can find a reason to mention 99.99999% of the time.

 

Of course, I think Webster's will be a great follow on.:) I have to keep up with my percentages, don't ya know.

[MyFourSons]

I know you probably have too much info to absorb already, but I thougt I'd add in my own experience. A private school I taught at implemented Orton Gillingham methods for the entire school after having such great success tutoring struggling students, including those with dyslexia. It uses a multi-sensory approach that is highly effective with learners who have special needs. We used a program called Recipe for Reading by Nina Traub with great success, and our students struggling with dyslexia and other learning problems were up to their grade level in reading by the end of the year:

 

http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/catalog/book.asp?subject=62S&subjectdesc=Reading+Intervention&series=491M&seriesdesc=Recipe+for+Reading&seriesParent=491M&seriesparentdescription=&altIsbn=8505&altIsbndesc=Recipe+for+Reading+Basic+Kit

 

The school I taught at just switched last year to a new Orton-Gillingham based program called Reading Horizons, it is more of a boxed curriculum and more expensive, but I've heard very good things about it:

 

http://www.readinghorizons.com/

 

There are other Orton-Gillingham based programs out there and trained tutors as well. Phonemic Awareness in Young Children iby Marilyn Adams is another book based on this method for students just starting out, and it could be beneficial for your son as well. This method is backed by extensive research, and several other methods such as Spalding (Writing Road to Reading) and Sanseri (SWR) are actually methods that adapt the Orton-Gillingham approach for use with regular students.

 

Don't give up hope, I'm sure you'll find a way to help your child succeed in reading!

[Lovedtodeath]

The school I taught at just switched last year to a new Orton-Gillingham based program called Reading Horizons, it is more of a boxed curriculum and more expensive, but I've heard very good things about it:

 

http://www.readinghorizons.com/

I hadn't heard about this one. Thanks for telling us about it!

[LizzyBee]

LOL! I love ya Ellie, and WRTR is a great program, but I have to disagree. For a child with learning disabilities, Orton-Gillingham is a better, more incremental approach. Of course, it looks as though this child needs some extra work above and beyond Orton-Gillingham.

 

:iagree:

 

Since OG has been mentioned, I'll add that I recently started Barton Reading with my 8 yo and it is fabulous. However, phonological awareness needs to be in place before beginning it (or any phonics program).

[ldee]

I was in the same situation as you about 2 ago. My dd was 7 at the time and having sooooo much trouble, S e tested on a per K level with barely any phonemic awareness. I went to the many testing facilities and perused the special needs board too. There is a program I learned about called PACE.

It was a miracle worker. She is in "4th " grade and working on a solid 3rd grade /4th grade level.

To find a provider/tutor in your area go to http://www.processingskills.com

The lady to whom I had much contact in making my decision is a frequent poster on the special needs. Her name is Tara and her website is http://www.braintrainers.com. She is very nice and can talk with you if you need.

[Ellie]

LOL! I love ya Ellie, and WRTR is a great program, but I have to disagree. For a child with learning disabilities, Orton-Gillingham is a better, more incremental approach. Of course, it looks as though this child needs some extra work above and beyond Orton-Gillingham.

I'm no expert, but I do know that Spalding has been successful with legions of children who have learning disabilities. :-)

[Ottakee]

i am going to go against the grain here and say that phonological awareness is NOT always needed to learn to read.

 

My 13dd has special needs. She could not do rhyming words or any of those other little games. She could not repeat 4-5 digit in a span (where you give random numbers for them to repeat), etc.

 

We started with the I See Sam books from http://www.3rsplus.com and she has learned to read. The books are about $20/set and there are 8 sets. So, for $160 you could get him read at a mid to late 3rd grade level. You can even find the first 2 sets online to print out for free.

 

These books ARE phonics based but teach it a different order and keep things like b and d, p and q far apart as well as give much more practice with each new word/sound. There is also a free yahoo group you can join to get help from expert using this program as well as other homeschool moms.

 

Let me know if you want more information.

 

After some hard work with the program (program is SUPER easy to use, it just takes 15 minutes or so a day) my dd is now reading simple chapter books.

[lisabees]

I know you probably have too much info to absorb already, but I thougt I'd add in my own experience. A private school I taught at implemented Orton Gillingham methods for the entire school after having such great success tutoring struggling students, including those with dyslexia. It uses a multi-sensory approach that is highly effective with learners who have special needs. We used a program called Recipe for Reading by Nina Traub with great success, and our students struggling with dyslexia and other learning problems were up to their grade level in reading by the end of the year:

 

http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/catalog/book.asp?subject=62S&subjectdesc=Reading+Intervention&series=491M&seriesdesc=Recipe+for+Reading&seriesParent=491M&seriesparentdescription=&altIsbn=8505&altIsbndesc=Recipe+for+Reading+Basic+Kit

 

The school I taught at just switched last year to a new Orton-Gillingham based program called Reading Horizons, it is more of a boxed curriculum and more expensive, but I've heard very good things about it:

 

http://www.readinghorizons.com/

 

There are other Orton-Gillingham based programs out there and trained tutors as well. Phonemic Awareness in Young Children iby Marilyn Adams is another book based on this method for students just starting out, and it could be beneficial for your son as well. This method is backed by extensive research, and several other methods such as Spalding (Writing Road to Reading) and Sanseri (SWR) are actually methods that adapt the Orton-Gillingham approach for use with regular students.

 

Don't give up hope, I'm sure you'll find a way to help your child succeed in reading!

 

Reading Horizon's has a Free Trial of their online workshop - ds is going through this as an overview. The actual program sounds great! And homeschooling groups can get 25% off this month. They told me I could get it, even though I'm not part of a hs group.

 

And, no. I do not work for them. In fact, I just discovered them last week. I think it would be a backwards step for my ds; that's why I'm using the free trial.

 

Here is the link:

 

http://www.readinghorizons.com/community/workshop/promotional.aspx

 

HTH!

Edited September 11, 2009 by lisabees

[lisabees]

Yes, for spelling I am having to get DD to say the sounds and notice when she changes the movements in her mouth. I will show her for this sound your tongue is back and then for the next sound your tongue is forward...

 

I haven't check it out, but Reading Horizons has an ESL Say section that apparently does the same thing. Not sure if you have to sign up for the free trial or not to see it!

 

HTH!

[lisabees]

i am going to go against the grain here and say that phonological awareness is NOT always needed to learn to read.

 

My 13dd has special needs. She could not do rhyming words or any of those other little games. She could not repeat 4-5 digit in a span (where you give random numbers for them to repeat), etc.

 

We started with the I See Sam books from www.3rsplus.com and she has learned to read. The books are about $20/set and there are 8 sets. So, for $160 you could get him read at a mid to late 3rd grade level. You can even find the first 2 sets online to print out for free.

 

These books ARE phonics based but teach it a different order and keep things like b and d, p and q far apart as well as give much more practice with each new word/sound. There is also a free yahoo group you can join to get help from expert using this program as well as other homeschool moms.

 

Let me know if you want more information.

 

After some hard work with the program (program is SUPER easy to use, it just takes 15 minutes or so a day) my dd is now reading simple chapter books.

 

LOL! There is Ottakee chiming in with her favorite program!! :lol:

 

As you can see, OP, many of us have seen improvements in our dc because of one program. It is wonderful that there are so many options.

 

If I were you, I would start cheap and at home. All he may need is some guidance. If he truly needs intervention, then you know you've done all you can.

 

Read, read and read some more. Play word games, check out Elizabeth B's suggestions (She has NEVER steered me wrong and is a big reason why my ds jumped ahead by 2 reading grade levels this summer). Ottakee has a link, I think, to the first 28 I See Sam books. Spalding has great phonogram cards. Just find what works best. Yes, you may waste some money along the way, but I promise that the feeling you're experiencing won't be for long. You'll be too busy working hard to get the best out of your child.

 

Best wishes!

 

Oh! And I thought I saw Earobics under the "For Sale" page. Just found the link. Only $40. It's a great program that he may find fun!

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125711&highlight=earobics

 

Am I allowed to do that? :001_huh: Oh well. Good luck!

 

Lisa

Edited September 11, 2009 by lisabees

[A home for their hearts]

Thanks for all the information everyone! I do have a few questions.

 

For the Earobics program, would I use step 1 or step 2? My ds will be 9 in December so I don't know if you are suppose to go by age or just start out with level one.

 

For the Recipe for Reading program, would I need the alphabet books that go along with it? They are very expensive.

 

Ottakee, you helped me out last year with the first two sets of the I See Sam books. My ds is on book 18 of ARI 1 and is doing great with them. However my concern is that he is just memorizing the words and not taking away any decoding skills. It seems like if I try a sentence on him that isn't included in the book he sometimes struggles with it. I think one of the reasons I was so surprised that he phonological awareness was so behind because he is advancing just fine with these books. The other thing that is holding me back with just using these books is that I would like a more OG type of program.

 

Okay, I'll look back through the posts and see if I have any other questions.

Thanks again ladies!

[LizzyBee]

For the Earobics program, would I use step 1 or step 2? My ds will be 9 in December so I don't know if you are suppose to go by age or just start out with level one.

 

I think I would start with Step 1 since his p.a. is so lacking.

[ElizabethB]

The recipe for reading book can be used all by itself if you are willing to write out your own words and make your own cards, etc. It tells you how to do everything and what exactly to say and do each step. (I've not actually needed it yet, I've been able to get all my students reading well with other things I have already, but I wanted to have an OG program on hand if I needed it, and that one looked like the best value. I also like to have a copy of a book in my possession so I can see the whole thing before I recommend it to anyone. At $25, it's a lot cheaper than most OG programs!)

[TraceyS/FL]

http://pages.cthome.net/cbristol/capd-rf1.html

 

I would start with that page and see if you can find someone that might test for Auditory Processing Disorder for you for free (university program, grant program, group - Easter Seals does here).

 

A lot of what you mention sounds like my DD - and what she did on her Language Eval at the ST (it was 4 hours long!). Now granted, most of what have been mentioned is the same stuff you'd use with the diagnosis - BUT, you might need to adjust some lifetime goals that a diagnosis might help with.

 

My DD is 10 and her auditory processing is about at the 6yo level, with involvement in ALL areas of APD (which isn't normal i gather - we are currently trying to get a neurological eval on her). There are some areas that can be helped... then others like today. She's not 100% well - but had to go with me to the apple store. The loudness in there makes certain things hard.... like i said, "what about your water bottle?" (she left it next to the kids computer), she then sat down and started playing the game again. It was actually funny because she did NOT hear what i said at all.... other then i said something and was point in the direction of the computer. Oops! LOL!!

 

Anyway, the testing has given us - and the ST some good guidelines of where to go with her therapy, and realistic expectations.

 

:grouphug: