WWYD? 1st grader not reading well

[carlychan]

We are currently doing LLATL 1st grade and are almost done. We are just getting into long vowels. When he was tested (requirement in NC) he scored low average for reading and reading related sections. He averaged beginning 1st grade level. So, he is not far behind but I have have been concerned with how slow LLATL is. I think I want to change. The tester (who works at a private school) recommended Scaredy Cat Reading System. However, I know no one who has used it and hadn't even heard of it before. I think I want to change to Rod & Staff Reading grade 1 and just motor through it. What would you do in my situation? Am I jumping ship too early on LLATL? (BTW, I changed my 5th grader from LLATL to R&S this year, too). Thanks for any and all suggestions/input. I am open to other recommendations as well. Thanks!

 

Carly

[fairytalemama]

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading is working for us. We do a lesson for 15 minutes a day (which usually allows us enough time to review 1-2 previous lessons and do a new one) and then I let her play on www.starfall.com for 15-20 minutes. I seriously can't believe how well she is reading...and we just started!

 

I hope you find a program that works for you :001_smile:

[Tree House Academy]

We used LLATL Blue for Kindergarten and then switched to R&S Phonics and Reading at the beginning of 1st grade. LLATL "got him started," IMO. The meat of phonics and his taking off with reading has come with R&S. He is now reading at a 4th grade level.

[cjbeach]

http://www.joyceherzog.info/Joyce_Herzog/Learning_to_Read_and_Spell.html

 

Joyce Herzog (author of Scaredy Cat reading system) has been around for a while. I haven't use the system but have heard good things about it. Maybe someone on the special needs board has used it?

There are reviews on it on homeschoolreviews.com

[JennW in SoCal]

I don't have any experience with LLATL or R&S, so the only thing I have to add is that it just may be a matter of your ds needing his brain to mature a little bit more before it finally clicks into place. You don't say how old your ds is, but neither of my boys were putting the pieces together and reading until they were 7, then they just took off.

 

Be patient. Work on it a little at a time (with whatever program you use) and read aloud as much as humanly possible!

[carlychan]

Thanks for your replies so far. My ds is 7 years, 1 month.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I don't have any experience with LLATL or R&S, so the only thing I have to add is that it just may be a matter of your ds needing his brain to mature a little bit more before it finally clicks into place. You don't say how old your ds is, but neither of my boys were putting the pieces together and reading until they were 7, then they just took off.

 

Be patient. Work on it a little at a time (with whatever program you use) and read aloud as much as humanly possible!

 

:iagree: My thoughts exactly! A first grader is young. Don't let that 1 test worry you. Boys tend to do things like this MUCH slower as I am finding out with my boys than girls. Work with him through the summer, and lots of read aloud practice and he will be fine! Don't panic! Just remember, your son's score is NOT the lowest I assure you! :grouphug:

[Sue G in PA]

My ds7 is a slow reader as well. He is slowly, slowly going through mfw 1st and The Reading lesson (which he does like) and reading some Phonics Readers I have left over from our days in K12. He reads, but not fluently. He must sound out every.last.word...even if it is one he has seen a million times, kwim? I do believe that some kids (esp. boys) are just slower to read. Don't push him too much. My ds10 was slower to read as well until he WANTED to learn...and then he took off. I do recommend The Reading Lesson...easy lessons, LARGE print words at first and then they get smaller to fit more on a page, pages are not cluttered, etc. Another one I love is Phonics Road although it is pricey if you are just looking for a phonics program. Good luck and don't fret...he'll be reading in no time!

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

My ds is 7 years, 1 month.

 

 

He is fine! Just take it slow. He just turned 7. He is young!!!:)

[DianeJM]

We did Rod & Staff for our oldest when he was in 1st after having done Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons in K. He caught on eventually. (I think the 100 Easy Lessons gave him a jump start, but I never used it with my other kids, I went the phonogram method for my subsequent kids, with something similar to SWR.)

 

Anyway, Rod & Staff is great. We did their Reading and their Phonics in 1st and 2nd with our oldest, he ended up a good reader. My only beef with them is the way they use the diacritical markings and the phonetic markings such as how a dictionary would phonetically spell a word. It was okay, though, because I just skipped those markings, didn't teach them. Rod & Staff is solid and if you think you should give it a whirl, go for it. But just take it as slowly as your child needs to have it, go at his pace; I think he will have more success that way.

 

Blessings as you move ahead!

[chiguirre]

I used LLATL Blue to teach both my hsers to read. Ds still needed a lot of practice and review and we moved to Pathway readers 1.2 and 1.3 readers and workbooks as well as Sonlight's end of 1st grade readers (mainly Dr. Seuss books). We picked up LLATL Red after that. Dd just clicked at the end of Blue and we moved to First Favorites from Veritas Press and Story Time Treasures from Memoria. We're about half way through the 35 books that those 2 programs cover and dd can read quite well. I like the comprehension questions and the practice writing complete sentences that these programs include. LLATL was a good starting place, but you do need to follow up with something else too. LLATL Red is too big a jump in reading level to go to directly after Blue.

[SonshineLearner]

I would soooo relax, as long as it looks like he's processing everything ok. My 6.5 year old reads... not like the two olders, but he can read... and doesn't show any problems. He just needs to practice!

:)

(Course I was hs when younger... and my mom read books like Better Late Than Early, by the Moores.

[carlychan]

. My ds10 was slower to read as well until he WANTED to learn...and then he took off.

 

One of the problems is that he WANTS to read and can't. His daddy is deployed and he wants to be able to write a letter and read a letter from his daddy. He is very frustrated that he can't read fluently yet. So, this is not the problem. I think the LLATL is just So darn slow. Thanks so much for your suggestions. :)

[chiguirre]

We are currently doing LLATL 1st grade and are almost done. We are just getting into long vowels. Carly

 

By the time you finish the long vowel section, he'll be able to read books like Little Bear and Dr. Seuss. That last section of the year contains all the vowel teams and finishes up basic phonics. You're almost there. If your ds is enthusiastic, I'd start doing 2 reading sessions a day either back to back or split up depending on how long he can concentrate. Dd wanted to finish up, so we could get through 2 weeks worth of lessons in one week very easily. With ds, we kept the LLATL schedule and added in extra practice readers (Bob books level B and C and Nora Gaydos).

[gaillardia]

Phonics games can help. I used a set of games called Happy Phonics from Love to Learn. We also used Explode The Code which may be included in Happy Phonics.

[happyhomemaker25]

The lady from Simply Charlotte Mason was just talking about Scardy Cat at a conference I was at the other day. She really liked it.

I tried different things with my 8yo who is struggling to read. Finally I went back to Saxon Phonics 1 which I used for my older girls. I gave it up because it was so tedious for me. But she is really taking off with it. I'd decided if she was not reading by the end of this year I was going to have her tested. But I don't think I will need to now.

[carlychan]

We are doing phonics and the test asked him to things like how to spell bad or cat. It went on to things we have not covered yet (like long vowels). I think I am going to continue on with LLATL until we are finished (pretty soon) and then switch to something else. I am leaning towards R & S reading. I think we will try to get through grade 1 quickly before we move on next year to 2. Does that sound like a good plan? Thanks!

 

carly