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Is this dyslexia or just an age thing?


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My 6 year old son is painfully going through phonics. We use Phonics Pathways. For some reason he ALWAYS says the vowel first (in phonics pathways its set up so in the blend the consonant is first) So I checked out Ordinary Parents Guide from the library because the vowel is first when teaching blending. So we tried that today and what does he do? He says the consonant first. So I immediately switched back to our Phonics Pathways and he says the vowel first :banghead:.

 

Example: In Phonics Pathways the blend is Na but he would say An. In Ordinary Parents Guide the blend is An but he says Na. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME he reverses them no matter what:001_huh:. Is this normal? We are making no progress what so ever. Any advice? Im lost.

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I would say at this point, he's probably just not ready for it. Something in the process isn't connecting, which is making him process them backwards. It may be dyslexia - but it really could be just developmental.

 

I would suggest to put away the formal stuff for a while (maybe pick it back up in the spring) and just hit it informally while playing. Have him try to sound out or read small words on cereal boxes, signs, etc. to give him some frame of reference and a desire to learn to read. When you see him wanting to work with it more, work the formal stuff back in slowly.

 

If he's still doing this around age 8, then check for dyslexia. By then, the developmental stuff should pretty much even out and dyslexia is a lot easier to diagnose. Hope that helps!

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Take an index card and cut a square out of the upper left hand corner. Use that as a cursor, only showing him one phonogram at a time, have him sound out each, then have him say the word as a whole.

 

:iagree:

 

I use my finger too if I don't have an index card handy, only showing a letter at a time.

 

It sounds like he naturally tracks from right to left, and you need to help him get into a habit of tracking left to right.

 

Some helpful things I've learned: Stand/sit to the left from his viewpoint. (left side of the white board, his left side sitting on the couch, etc...) The natural inclination is to go from looking at the teacher to the material...so stand/sit where you want his eyes to start. When holding flashcards or pointing to the page, always have your finger/pointer starting from the left and pointing towards the right.

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Take an index card and cut a square out of the upper left hand corner. Use that as a cursor, only showing him one phonogram at a time, have him sound out each, then have him say the word as a whole.

 

 

I did something kinda similar to that, we have a bookmark that has a picture of a dime at top (the top is rounded) and I cut president Roosevelts face out so we could do that :blush:. He does ok individually but as a blend he can not do it.

Edited by wy_kid_wrangler04
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It sounds like he naturally tracks from right to left, and you need to help him get into a habit of tracking left to right.

 

Some helpful things I've learned: Stand/sit to the left from his viewpoint. (left side of the white board, his left side sitting on the couch, etc...) The natural inclination is to go from looking at the teacher to the material...so stand/sit where you want his eyes to start. When holding flashcards or pointing to the page, always have your finger/pointer starting from the left and pointing towards the right.

 

 

I will try that! Thanks :001_smile:

Edited by wy_kid_wrangler04
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I did something kinda similar to that, we have a bookmark that has a picture of a dime at top (the top is rounded) and I cut president Roosevelts face out so we could do that :blush:. He does ok individually but as a blend he can not do it.

 

Mine had to hear me blend from phonogram sound to word a bunch before it clicked for him.

 

I would have him say the sounds, then I would say the sounds (isolating each phonogram) and he would get it. He's still struggles to track a line...but he has visual perception problems in the mix too...

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Mine had to hear me blend from phonogram sound to word a bunch before it clicked for him.

 

I would have him say the sounds, then I would say the sounds (isolating each phonogram) and he would get it. He's still struggles to track a line...but he has visual perception problems in the mix too...

 

 

Is this your 5 year old or 7 year old? I will try saying it to him and see if that helps! If its your 7 year old, is he reading well now? My daughters were SO easy to teach this is so new to me!

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Since he's reversing letters, I would back up. Perhaps even to something like this: http://donpotter.net/PDF/Word%20Mastery%20-%20Typed.pdf and use the cursor.

 

My guys each hit a wall when it came to blends at about 6.5-7 years of age. However, it's the reversing letters you need to try to nip. Instead of reading sentences, have him read single words where he can't predict what they are because there is no picture, non sense words are included, and you're using the cursor.

 

 

He is not yet reading cvc words (he is stuck at 2 letter blends- not even reading yet) but that website looks interesting- I am going to try it with him! He may surprise me! Thanks :D

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I have been going through a similar struggle with my almost 7yr old. It is very difficult to tell if it is dyslexia or not at this age(without testing). I have dyslexia myself and never knew until I was 31. I learned to read in about 4th grade. Anyway, I did a lot of searching on the internet and everything I've read says that the treatment for dyslexia is systematic phonics drills. So I would not take a break from phonics because if it is dyslexia, it can take several years of systematic phonics lessons before the child "gets it". We use a bookmark with a window as well to train the left/right orientation. If we don't use it, my DD reverts back to reversing the letters like your DS. We worked on 3 letter words for over a year before we moved on to consanant blends. I would just keep working with him where he is at until he masters it, and them move on. I have noticed that DD reads a gazillion times better from the OPGTR(no pictures) than she does from regular books.

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I have been going through a similar struggle with my almost 7yr old. It is very difficult to tell if it is dyslexia or not at this age(without testing). I have dyslexia myself and never knew until I was 31. I learned to read in about 4th grade. Anyway, I did a lot of searching on the internet and everything I've read says that the treatment for dyslexia is systematic phonics drills. So I would not take a break from phonics because if it is dyslexia, it can take several years of systematic phonics lessons before the child "gets it". We use a bookmark with a window as well to train the left/right orientation. If we don't use it, my DD reverts back to reversing the letters like your DS. We worked on 3 letter words for over a year before we moved on to consanant blends. I would just keep working with him where he is at until he masters it, and them move on. I have noticed that DD reads a gazillion times better from the OPGTR(no pictures) than she does from regular books.

 

I do have Reading Pathways as well as Phonics Pathways. Maybe I will start working through that for a while. That is really focused on tracking problems. It starts with 2 letter blends and goes to 2 letter words with the first pyramid, but maybe if I say them with him and sound them out with him that will help. Thanks for this! Atleast I know I am not alone in this! Its hard after reading about kid after kid who reads at 3 1/2- 4 and my 6 year old is no where ready.

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Is this your 5 year old or 7 year old? I will try saying it to him and see if that helps! If its your 7 year old, is he reading well now? My daughters were SO easy to teach this is so new to me!

 

This is my 7yo. He blends well, but he still has issues...tracking a line, focusing if the page is busy, and inverting things. (was/saw, own/now, etc) He had the hardest time with b, p, d, q...but has remediated most of that....though he spelled president "presibent" yesterday. He can read large isolated words easily. He still struggles with books. He spells better than he reads. I took him for an eval at a dev opt when I noticed a growing discrepancy between his ability to decode and his actual ability to read a book. He has done VT at home with me, and needs to go back as soon as we can afford it.

 

Another thing that helped tons was using the white board and writing a word one letter at a time, having him write/spell on the board or with letter magnets. (My dd5 eaves drops on these lessons and learned to read this way...she reads very well.)

 

Getting the letters in a 3D format helps (playdoh, foam/plastic letters, etc). Have him say the sounds as he traces with his finger...cue him to start at the left each time until it's automatic (point to the spot on the letter where he should start the fingertracing as a cue). Let him say the sounds in order several times before helping him by saying them yourself, but if he doesn't get it after 2-3 times do say it out loud for him so he can model you blending.

 

 

Word Mastery is very good. :iagree: The only problem with it for me is that my ds7 needs help getting from decoding words to reading a sentence on a page with other sentences. He can do very well with something like Word Mastery and still not be able to pick up a book and read it. It *is* very good for the blending stage, so I highly recommend downloading it.

 

Keep lessons short, sweet, and consistent and he will get it. Slow and steady wins the race. (right? someone tell me it's true...:001_huh::lol:)

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Here are a couple of things I did.

 

The low tech version: I put a mechanical pencil with the lead in under each letter to be sounded. So if it was "na" the pencil tip would go under the n and then under the a. Then I would sweep the pencil under the whole thing from left to right to get the kid to say it together quickly.

 

The high tech version: I made power point slides where the n would appear first and then the a. Then I would prompt the kid to say it fast.

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This is my 7yo. He blends well, but he still has issues...tracking a line, focusing if the page is busy, and inverting things. (was/saw, own/now, etc) He had the hardest time with b, p, d, q...but has remediated most of that....though he spelled president "presibent" yesterday. He can read large isolated words easily. He still struggles with books. He spells better than he reads. I took him for an eval at a dev opt when I noticed a growing discrepancy between his ability to decode and his actual ability to read a book. He has done VT at home with me, and needs to go back as soon as we can afford it.

 

Another thing that helped tons was using the white board and writing a word one letter at a time, having him write/spell on the board or with letter magnets. (My dd5 eaves drops on these lessons and learned to read this way...she reads very well.)

 

Getting the letters in a 3D format helps (playdoh, foam/plastic letters, etc). Have him say the sounds as he traces with his finger...cue him to start at the left each time until it's automatic (point to the spot on the letter where he should start the fingertracing as a cue). Let him say the sounds in order several times before helping him by saying them yourself, but if he doesn't get it after 2-3 times do say it out loud for him so he can model you blending.

 

 

Word Mastery is very good. :iagree: The only problem with it for me is that my ds7 needs help getting from decoding words to reading a sentence on a page with other sentences. He can do very well with something like Word Mastery and still not be able to pick up a book and read it. It *is* very good for the blending stage, so I highly recommend downloading it.

 

Keep lessons short, sweet, and consistent and he will get it. Slow and steady wins the race. (right? someone tell me it's true...:001_huh::lol:)

 

 

Thank you so much! You really have helped me tonight! We will start word mastery tomorrow and see if that helps :001_smile:

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Since he's reversing letters, I would back up. Perhaps even to something like this: http://donpotter.net/PDF/Word%20Mastery%20-%20Typed.pdf and use the cursor.

 

My guys each hit a wall when it came to blends at about 6.5-7 years of age. However, it's the reversing letters you need to try to nip. Instead of reading sentences, have him read single words where he can't predict what they are because there is no picture, non sense words are included, and you're using the cursor.

 

 

Did you print this or just do it straight from the computer?

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I would also try to add in spelling. You can use magnetic letters if writing is difficult. Spelling is encoding and reading is decoding. My students seem to learn as much from spelling 1 word as reading 10, and for some it is even more powerful than that.

 

You could also try Webster's Speller, the 2 letter blends are easy to work with, and they build a foundation for later 2 to 7 syllable words. Here is my K Webster's Speller thread that shows how I'm working through the Speller with my son. He is having a bit of a hard time remembering short vowels, today he spelled more words than we normally do and that was helpful.

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I would also try to add in spelling. You can use magnetic letters if writing is difficult. Spelling is encoding and reading is decoding. My students seem to learn as much from spelling 1 word as reading 10, and for some it is even more powerful than that.

 

You could also try Webster's Speller, the 2 letter blends are easy to work with, and they build a foundation for later 2 to 7 syllable words. Here is my K Webster's Speller thread that shows how I'm working through the Speller with my son. He is having a bit of a hard time remembering short vowels, today he spelled more words than we normally do and that was helpful.

 

 

Oh I never even thought of that. I have Websters Speller and Spelling Power. Level A is just 1-3 letter words! Thanks

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