Can we have another thread with encouragement for late readers?

[mo2]

Still struggling with my 8-1/2 yo. It's getting better, but we've got a long way to go yet.

[Mandy in TN]

Have you checked for LD's? My oldest is dyslexic. He learned to read late, but once he learned he jumped ahead by leaps and bounds. He quickly caught up with and passed by his grade-level peers.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[mo2]

Have you checked for LD's? My oldest is dyslexic. He learned to read late, but once he learned he jumped ahead by leaps and bounds. He quickly caught up with and passed by his grade-level peers.

 

HTH-

Mandy

 

Well, it's a long story, but we're working on it. We had testing through the PS and they said the scores "could indicate a learning disability" but that was the most they would say. They did not want to say anything more because they weren't able to observe her in a classroom setting, which tells them a lot. Whatever. Now I'm searching for other resources. There is a teaching university nearby but they don't do testing. No one around here seems to be able to refer me to the right place.

[Ellie]

My younger dd didn't read at her age level until she was 9½ yo. I can't say she was "struggling"--using that terminology puts a whole different spin on it--but she just wanted to do things her way, which didn't include reading when I thought she should. :)

 

But you know, she started taking classes at the community college when she was 14, was an A student, obsessively took notes and rewrote/color-coded them when she got home, was physically ill if she did not ace every test, was finished with any assignments well before deadlines...I guess it worked out that she did things her own way. :)

[Amy Jo]

Mine just turned 8, and he is improving. He just finished H-2 in SWR, which means he is ready to read according to them... I don't know. I think we will add McGuffey readers, and work on fluidity. In SWR the goal is to read the spelling words at 40 words/minute. Umm, not there yet. But he is improving. He made a 2.1 grade level on SWR's spelling test. (And we checked with one specialist (ped. optamologist) who had us take a break and work on comprehension. Which helped.)

 

But I'll sign up for encouragement! I think there is a good chance he'll be like Ellie's daughter.

 

Amy

[LizzyBee]

Have you seen this website: http://www.dys-add.com? It is a wealth of information and can help you know how to teach your struggling reader with or without an official diagnosis.

 

There is also a yahoo group called Heart of Reading. Just go to the yahoo groups website and do a search for Heart of Reading. It's a great group of moms who can give you suggestions and encouragement every step of the way.

 

My dd was diagnosed at age 7 even though I "knew" she was dyslexic when she was 4. Last summer (a year+ ago), we started OT and ST at a practice that is forward-thinking and much more aggressive than the practices we had used before. She's done Interactive Metronome and is still doing the Therapeutic Listening Program. We used LiPS for a few months, then started Barton Reading. We hit on the right "recipe" for her, because she has made tremendous progress. She turned 9 in July and is not yet reading at grade level, but we are very happy with her progress.

 

Hang in there!

[PollyOR]

Nephew read just before his 10th birthday.

 

DD #3 began reading before her 8th birthday. At 10 I was excited that she read Diary of a Wimpy Kid. She is now 12 and recently started devouring chapter books (currently reading Little Women).

 

DD #4 is 8 and on lesson 45 of 100 EZ Lessons. She can read the first few stories in AAS's first Beehive Reader. Some days I want to pull my hair out. We do need to get her eyes tested. PP, thanks for the reminder.

[Jilly]

My son struggled with reading until he was 9. I didn't push the issue very much, but I was concerned. Shortly after his ninth birthday something clicked. Now he reads all the time, and I am still amazed by it.

[Homeschooling6]

My late reader falls asleep with a book now. He didn't really start to read until the summer after his 4th grade year. He even reads the dictionary.

 

Here are some pictures of my 'late' reader. Just keep scrolling. I think the pictures with him actually sleeping are on my other blog :glare: I'm still transferring:confused:.

 

Found one. Click here to see

Edited September 27, 2010 by Homeschooling6

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

My struggling students have all improved! It is a slow process for many, though.

 

My daughter is going over regrouping for the millionth time, and my phonics students need about that many repetitions of phonics and spelling things before they get it.

[MerryAtHope]

(((Hugs))) I know it's work, hang in there! I saw a big change in my kids bt. 8 & 9. In addition to looking into dyslexia, I'd also encourage you to look into vision processing issues--check out this website: www.covd.org.

 

Are you using an Orton-Gillingham based approach to teach reading?

 

Merry :-)

[elegantlion]

My ds didn't start reading well until he was nine. He's almost on grade level now, still a very slow reader, but I feel like we're coming out of the tunnel. He just turned thirteen.

[nukeswife]

My dd is also progressing but it's at a very SSSLLLOOOOWWW rate. Sometimes it's really hard to sit and listen to her read but we are moving forward. It's not been easy but sometimes I think it's hard for me to see that forward progress. My dh was gone on deployment from Jan until Aug and when he came home and she read to him, he was over the moon telling me how proud he was of her and me for how much she's progressed. I thought he was wacky but then realized he was right.

 

I feel your pain, there are days I think this girl will never make it to magic tree house books, but we'll get there, just not as quickly as her older brother. She's my artsy child so letters aren't her thing.

[siloam]

Still struggling with my 8-1/2 yo. It's getting better, but we've got a long way to go yet.

 

My 7, almost 8yo boy is still not reading. He is on the road, but it is going to take a while. His auditory processing issues and recall problems get in the way. For example today we were spelling bat, and he wrote pat. It was a processing problem somewhere, because he even knew it wasn't the right word, he just couldn't recall the right letter for the sound. When he is working with sounds without letters he will do the same thing and change the sound, but he always pauses, so I knew he knows it is not right, but he just can't find the one that is correct in his brain.

 

Just keep swimming...

 

Heather

[Amy Jo]

Found one. Click here to see

 

Thanks - that is great to see!

[mo2]

Thank you all for sharing. I don't know many homeschoolers in real life (small town) and it's hard to find someone to commiserate. Everyone seems to think that if I had my kid in ps, this would have never happened, because all kids learn to read in K or 1st. Yeah, right. :glare:

[elegantlion]

When we realized ds had some delays I felt awful. He's such a bright kid and it finally dawned on us he wasn't being difficult, reading was just hard for him. I think I spent a lot of his 3rd and 4th grade years in the bedroom crying or biting my nails off. I felt like it was all my fault because he wasn't progressing.

 

I can't remember a time when I didn't love books, so it was painful to see him struggle. We have kept pressing on, day-by-day, small victory by small victory. This spring he read two 300 page books on his own. It took him a while (understatement) but it was such an accomplishment. We're still working on those little victories, finally, after a few long years, it all feels better.

[Homeschooling6]

Thank you all for sharing. I don't know many homeschoolers in real life (small town) and it's hard to find someone to commiserate. Everyone seems to think that if I had my kid in ps, this would have never happened, because all kids learn to read in K or 1st. Yeah, right. :glare:

 

They are memorizing lots of sight words. I use to wonder why my kiddos couldn't read words like little or down because they are in all the kinder/1st grade readers.

I realized that phonics, at least here at our house, takes longer because I'm not having them memorize down but learn the sound of 'ow'.