Need reading advice

[sixpence1978]

My DD is 7 and has some language-type issues that we are trying to help out with.

 

We are currently using AAS for her very poor spelling. She is about to finish level 1 and start level 2. This is working really well and we don't want to drop it.

 

Her reading level is higher...about Frog and Toad level-ish, but not really advancing. She struggles with sounding out words, skipping words, and skipping lines. So advancing has been hard because the words get larger and the print gets smaller.

 

How should I instruct her at her reading level without confusing her at her spelling level? I had heard that you shouldn't use 2 different OG programs at the same time. We do read each day, but I have been feeling like I need to "teach" a bit more in this area.

 

Just for reference, she has already gone through Abeka Phonics for K5 and Saxon Phonics 1, so I would like to avoid anything that has marking or coding of words. She has also had all this exposure and still struggles with VCE words, but can read something like "starvation".

 

She has had her vision tested which showed a problem with tracking, eye suppression, and visual memory. We are saving up for VT, but won't be able to start for a little bit. In the meantime, I am willing to type up what she is reading in larger print, but she somewhat balks at that because it isn't the real book with the pictures :)

 

Any suggestions would be great!

[Ottakee]

My personal favorite is the I See Sam set of books.

 

http://www.teacherweb.com/CA/PomeloDriveElementary/Mrssakamoto/printap2.stm has the first 2 sets you can print out for free. They might look a bit too easy (and might be) but they would help her with skipping words, and work on fluency.

 

http://www.3rsplus.com and http://www.iseesam.com are the 2 main websites for the books. They look super simple and no different than anything else..........until you use them and find out that they really are very carefully sequenced, introduce just a bit at a time and review it often, etc.

 

Check for many other threads on these books on this forum.

[Dobela]

I am glad to see you looked into VT. Have you asked the therapist if you could possibly start now, and just attend once a month with lots of homework assigned in the meantime? VT absolutely corrected my son's tracking issues.

 

Instead of retyping everything, have you considered just enlarging it using your computer scanner or with a copy machine? If you can find someone that would allow you to do that then the pictures would be included.

[sixpence1978]

We just got set AR1 of the I See Sam readers. This is where she placed on her placement test. I'm not quite sure on how to use them, I admit. She has read some of the first book.

 

Great idea with the photocopying the pages larger! Why didn't I think of that?

 

I wish I could say that our delay for VT was something we could work around. Unfortunately the problem lies entirely with my DH who wants to have her therapy taken out of his FSA. Therefore we are having to wait until the new year when we can do that. Don't get me started, it makes me a tad bit :angry:.

 

We are just trying our best to work through until then.

[Ottakee]

Check out http://www.3rsplus.com for their Getting Started information on using the books. Basically, you sit with the child and they read. If they get stuck you take the cursor (notched 3x5 card) and highlight with the card the word/sound they got wrong and have them blend it from left to right.

 

Try not to over help but give her time to correct her errors. If she is really stuck you can give her the sound she can't remember and then have her blend the word.

 

If the eye tracking is an issue, then use the notched card for all reading right now.

 

My sister's son did Vision Therapy and he at age 10 went from reading ARI 1 to reading at a 6th grade level over the course of the therapy. It was extremely helpful for him.

'

We just got set AR1 of the I See Sam readers. This is where she placed on her placement test. I'm not quite sure on how to use them, I admit. She has read some of the first book.

 

Great idea with the photocopying the pages larger! Why didn't I think of that?

 

I wish I could say that our delay for VT was something we could work around. Unfortunately the problem lies entirely with my DH who wants to have her therapy taken out of his FSA. Therefore we are having to wait until the new year when we can do that. Don't get me started, it makes me a tad bit :angry:.

 

We are just trying our best to work through until then.

[SailorMom]

Try a whole word reading method for a while and see if that helps. Phonics does not work for everyone. Myself, and both of my sons never learned phonics and are not only exceptional readers, but fast readers and avid ones as well.....

[MicheleEB]

Poor spelling with better decoding skills usually indicates a lack of knowledge of the rules of spelling. I have an autistic son with whom I have tried many, many, methods of teaching reading/spelling. I think learning the phonograms has been the best method I have found so far, and AAS the best program. We are now on level 2 of AAS. I have found that combining it with a daily phonogram drill really helps. This is what we use, (look to the left of this page for "Spalding DVD"): http://pat.leeschools.net/Helpful%20Websites.htm. The audio reinforcement seems to help him a lot. Adding the hand motions also helps him remember the sounds of each phonogram as we go through the AAS cards.

 

Michele

[peacefully]

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