6yo and trouble reading...should I be concerned?

[Sue G in PA]

My ds6 is using The Reading Lesson, simple Phonics books I have left over from our K12 days and Phonics Road (very s l o w l y). He occasionaly will do ETC online but the novelty has worn off and he has become frustrated with it now. :glare: He knows his letter sounds. He can sound out words...but with difficulty. For instance, in the Reading Lesson, there are four-five new words introduced, reviewed and then mixed in with NEW words. Ds6 "memorizes" the old word list and won't pay attention to the actually letters of the NEW words. Ex/ the old word is CAT and the new word is COT...he consistently says CAT instead of COT. He memorizes instead of sounding out or guesses instead of sounding out new words. It is frustrating for BOTH of us. Any advice? I'm really beginning to worry about him. While I am so proud that he has come at least this far (and I tell him that EVERY day), secretly I am worried that he won't "get it". What am I doing wrong? For the record, we spend about 10 minutes each day on The Reading Lesson, 5 minutes reading a story from the Phonics Reader and about 10 minutes with the handwriting/dictation of letters in Phonics Road. We haven't even gotten to the vowel teams yet. I can't see him getting THAT at all! HELP!

 

Oh...and it doesn't help that his 4yo sister just "gets" reading and is quickly moving past ds6 in The Reading Lesson. I ALWAYS do the phonics separately with them so there isn't competition and consistently praise ds6 for what he accomplishes each day apart from what dd4 does. KWIM?

[Pink Fairy]

I've got one who was the same way at 6yo. He is now 7, and reading very well--at least grade level. My theory is that some kids, and particularly some boys, need a little extra time for all those brain connections to form.

 

What you are doing with him sounds great, and he WILL eventually get it.

In other words, I wouldn't stress. :grouphug:

[chaik76]

My son stayed at the same place you are talking about for almost a year. He just needed time for it to sink in. All of a sudden at 7 1/2, it just started to work for him and he is now (at 8) reading at grade level. He did the same thing with memorization of words, btw. We just kept slogging through. And then one day...I stopped. I didn't do any reading lessons for about six months. And when we came back to them...he could read.

[Joker]

When my dd was that age I hated doing reading. She would ask the same questions over and over and over again. She knew all her letter sounds but had no interest in learning to read. She is now 9 and in the 4th grade - she reads above her grade level and loves reading. I think as long as you are trying, don't worry. They will take off when they're ready. Good luck.

[Ellie]

No, I wouldn't be worried.

 

I do think you'd see more progress if you were using Phonics Road exclusively and following the method, but I don't think there's anything to be worried about.

[Sue G in PA]

No, I wouldn't be worried.

 

I do think you'd see more progress if you were using Phonics Road exclusively and following the method, but I don't think there's anything to be worried about.

 

We do PR as it is suggested each day. We are still on the letters right now b/c his handwriting is not that great. AND, he often forgets the letters associated with sounds when I dictate a sound and have him write the letter. Now, if he SEES the letter, he knows the sound right away. Weird. So, we ARE doing PR as suggested...just adding in the Reading Lesson. Explain how you think I'd see more progress? I'm curious. :) Thanks!

[Amy+2]

Just a fun suggestion here...have you ever looked at the Sliders book by McRuffy Press?

http://www.mcruffy.com/SupPhonics.htm#Sliders

 

I used their Phonics and Reading program 2 years ago for my youngest-which we both loved btw-and one of his favorite parts were the sliders. (Maybe part of the draw was the cutting them out and creating them.;)) If your son knows his letter sounds, maybe sliders would be a new way of practicing reading. He will know that each time he slides the paper through, the vowel/consonant will change and he will need to refocus in order to sound out the new word that appears. :)

[IsabelC]

Have you tried the method suggested in TOPG? You cover up the word with your finger and then move your finger to reveal one letter - or blend/digraph - at a time. This forces your child to sound out the word instead of guessing from its shape or context. My 6yo took a long time to get going but now he is racing through his reading and is almost up to normal standard for his age. Wrt to how much time to spend, I believe quality is the key, not quantity. Short bursts of intense learning will be more effective and more enjoyable than long slogs where he isn't learning much. Have you checked out Elizabeth B's advice? I found a few of her suggestions very helpful.

[Reya]

Try Reading Mastery, The Blue-Backed Speller, and Remedial Reading from donpotter.net. :-)

 

I don't suggest combining reading and writing because it's extra hard for many kids who struggle.

 

Practice with the syllables in BBS will help a lot with blending.

 

But don't start worrying yet!

[Ellie]

We do PR as it is suggested each day. We are still on the letters right now b/c his handwriting is not that great. AND, he often forgets the letters associated with sounds when I dictate a sound and have him write the letter. Now, if he SEES the letter, he knows the sound right away. Weird. So, we ARE doing PR as suggested...just adding in the Reading Lesson. Explain how you think I'd see more progress? I'm curious. :) Thanks!

Hmm...well, sometimes when you add in another method, things are scrambled in the dc's brain, 'cuz the method is *different.* Spending more time on PR might alleviate that.

 

Long ago, a friend said she was doing Spalding with her dc, yet her dc's spelling scores on the end-of-year standardized tests did not show much progress. When I talked with her about it and asked what she was *doing,* turns out she was using a spelling text from the public school and trying to apply Spalding methodology to those word lists. Ah. She *wasn't* doing Spalding, after all. I have had similar conversations with people over the years, who it turns out weren't actually doing Spalding and then were complaining that Spalding "didn't work." So that's why I suggested what I did: that you not do other things but focus on doing PR (which is a spin-off of Spalding, written by an acquaintance who used to be a Spalding fan) meticulously.

 

According to PR's scope and sequence, during the first 4 weeks dc learn "sounds and formations of single vowels, consonants, and 25 common vowel teams and consonant teams; formation of numbers 0-9; Building Codes 1, 2, 3 completed." Have y'all not accomplished this?

[JenneinCA]

I would not be concerned. I would take the child to the eye doctor and make sure that glasses were not needed. Just to be sure.

[Tidbits of Learning]

I think this is common. My ds6.5 was using SaxonK at school last year after we had spent a year with CLPK at home before that. He just stalled at cvc words. He knew the sounds but would guess the words. It drove me batty.

Saxon K was a disaster at public school. I started the Reading Lesson over the summer and we made it to lesson 10 before the 2 vowel blends appeared and he seemed to stall again. So I brought out the CLP K readers that he had bombed on before and he is reading them well. We will finish the K readers and then move back to Reading Lesson for the last 10 lessons.

He is reading every day at his level and keeping up his reading skills, but we aren't introducing new concepts per say. He is building and honing the skills he has aquired. Stopping and letting him practice what he has mastered instead of moving forward has made a big difference in how my son sees his reading skills. He feels more confident and I feel less frustrated and concerned.

[MerryAtHope]

My ds6 is using The Reading Lesson, simple Phonics books I have left over from our K12 days and Phonics Road (very s l o w l y). He occasionaly will do ETC online but the novelty has worn off and he has become frustrated with it now. :glare: He knows his letter sounds. He can sound out words...but with difficulty. For instance, in the Reading Lesson, there are four-five new words introduced, reviewed and then mixed in with NEW words. Ds6 "memorizes" the old word list and won't pay attention to the actually letters of the NEW words. Ex/ the old word is CAT and the new word is COT...he consistently says CAT instead of COT. He memorizes instead of sounding out or guesses instead of sounding out new words. It is frustrating for BOTH of us. Any advice?

 

When you introduce the new words, how do you do it? I think I would make sure to do segmenting with him daily. Since you are using AAS, maybe you could use the letter tiles when introducing a new word, have him segment & blend it that way, then show him in the book, have him segment & blend again, and then let him see the words mixed in with the old list. Since he'll be used to segmenting and blending, let him know ahead of time that you may need to stop on some words and do that again, and that's ok. This way you're kind of coaching him on what to do as he approaches reading, and that he just needs to slow himself down a bit.

 

I think 6 is a bit young to be concerned yet, but if you see similar issues past age 7, I'd check out other possibilities. It could be consistent with dyslexia or vision processing issues etc...

 

Merry :-)

[Sue G in PA]

Ellie, we are still on the letter sound/formations in PR. His handwriting has just recently starting getting to the point where he can form the letters w/out much help. We haven't even made it to the vowel teams or consonant teams or numbers (although he does know his numbers and formations from math). In the Reading Lesson, he is still at the CVC words so I cannot imagine him "getting" vowel or consonant teams yet. We shall see. Guess I should just choose I program and do it meticulously, huh? Problems is...I love AAS AND PR...and he IS making progress with The Reading Lesson...albeit slow.