Discouraged and Need Advice-Reading Difficulties

[Princess Peach]

I am so discouraged about my DS (7 yo - he'll be 8 in April) and his reading. We have been working on it since K and he is now in 2nd grade. He can sound out CVC words, and he can say blends, but he can't read. He has to sound out every word and has been doing this for over a year.

 

I started with Abeka phonics (in K), but it moved too quickly to long vowel sounds, so I put it away. I have tried HOP, Ultimate Phonics, Starfall, and probably other things that I can't remember right now. At the beginning of this year, I got him LLATL Red, which was great for the phonics review at the beginning, but then progressed beyond what he could do. I went back to Abeka and got him the first grade phonics set. We are still plugging away on that, but now the worksheets are going beyond what he can do.

 

He also went through the first three BOB sets recently. He is still not reading. I will say his comprehension is very good, despite the difficulties. I suspect he may have something going on, perhaps dyslexia, I don't know. He mixes up b's and d's (even capital letters??) and mixes his numbers up, too (often doesn't know if sixty-one should be 16 or 61).

 

So I've been researching different programs. I've looked at Barton and Wilson, at ETC. My head is swimming. I would like a multi-sensory approach. Any recommendations or advice would be appreciated. We don't have unlimited funds, but are able to spend a few hundred dollars if it's going to be what he needs. I'm just afraid to try something else and fail again. :confused:

[johnandtinagilbert]

I hope Heather (Siloam) will pop in. She had a dynamic understanding of dyslexia.

 

He may also be a late bloomer. My last son did not start reading fluently until somewhere in 2nd grade. My first suggestion is continue with easy books. They help with fluency.

 

You may also benefit from flash cards of words he knows. Sometimes, a little practice goes a long way. It will certainly induce some speed.

 

I also suggest picking something and stick to it. Continue with the daily phonics reviews. Does he do well with that? Does he understand how letters work together? I guess I'm asking, is it a blending or phonics recognition issue? If you suspect phonics, keep drilling; if you suspect blending, try Elizabeth's Webster Spelling (free online) website for exercises in blending.

[Hedgehog]

DD9 wasn't reading fluently until she was 8. Some kids are just like that. Dyslexia (or similar) could be an issue, but your DS could just be a slower starter.

 

If it's a question of being a slower starter, I don't believe this makes a fundamental difference by the time they're in high school. I was reading well - apparently - by the age of 3, but in the end I was no better a reader than my classmates, who had first encountered the alphabet when they started school.

[Homeschooling6]

My oldest son didn't take off with reading until the summer before his 5th grade year. He is now in 7th grade and reads a lot. He always has at least one book going.

It took a while. He had a hard time with phonics. All the rules just confused him.

 

I would find what you want to use and stick with it. I feel that one of my mistakes was dropping the curriculum when it got tough.

 

When you get to the long vowels what does he not understand or forgetting? Does he forget the silent, sneaky e ?

[Karen in CO]

Have you had his eyes checked? My younger did was having problems reading although she could sound out words. At her vision exam, her doc noted that she was experiencing letter flips and reversals along with a mid-line jump which caused her to lose her place as she went from left to right across the page.

 

I would have him evaluated for vision problems before proceeding with more reading programs.

[PeterPan]

Since the things you're describing are linked to vision, I'd get his eyes evaluated by a developmental optometrist. http://www.covd.org My dd never could sound out words till we did vision therapy (age 11). She could read fabulously btw, she just couldn't sound out. I taught her with SWR and used their technique of putting the words on flashcards. Until he can sound out words to learn to read, you need a different approach. But I wouldn't skip the eyes part, since things you're describing can fit that. Also, Barton has a pre-test you can do that will tell you a lot. Dyslexia has both auditory and visual components, so you could have issues with how he processes one or the other or both. You might like to head over to the Special Needs board and do some reading. It's a friendly place. :)

[PeterPan]

Have you had his eyes checked? My younger did was having problems reading although she could sound out words. At her vision exam, her doc noted that she was experiencing letter flips and reversals along with a mid-line jump which caused her to lose her place as she went from left to right across the page.

 

I would have him evaluated for vision problems before proceeding with more reading programs.

 

Oh that's too funny, we both posted at the same time! Truly though, people say we read into things, but this does sound like vision stuff.

[Princess Peach]

Thank you so much to everyone that replied. I will be checking into the links you provided. I quickly searched for a Dr., and found one not too far away. I would probably need a referral, though, but I'm going to talk to DH about it tonight. He may have no problem and just be a slow starter.

 

I am going to stick with our reading program for now. You all are right, I do not need to be buying anything else when it gets tough. Thanks for talking me off the ledge! :001_smile:

 

I am going to use the flashcards with words he knows (he does know some sight words) and some for CVC words. Maybe I will group them, doing all the -at words, then something else, etc. I also think I will use an index card or bookmark to help him with tracking. Does that sound good?

[Terabith]

I would definitely have his eyes checked by a developmental optometrist.

 

In addition, I would pursue phonics in an aggressive way. I would do daily phonemic awareness activities and phonogram review. http://www.literacyresourcesinc.com/what/ is a good resource for phonemic awareness, and I would be sure to include phonograms that go over all possible sounds. Spalding is nice for that.

 

I would have him work through a systematic phonics program. I would look carefully at ABeCeDarian. I think it might be a good fit. If you don't like that, Ordinary Parent's Guide might work, but if it doesn't work pretty soon, then I would go to a program like Barton. Can he pass the Barton screening? In addition, I would have him do daily reading from the I See Sam books and some fluency work on words, like Dancing Bears.

 

I'd have him work through Explode the Code for practice, and spend some time on the computer to practice in a different way. I'd start with Funnix; they have a free download this month. Then work through ElizabethB's online phonics lessons and move to Headsprout. After Headsprout, do Funnix 2.

[Princess Peach]

Forgot, I wanted to answer a couple questions. Sorry, I don't know how to multi-quote.

 

I guess I'm asking, is it a blending or phonics recognition issue?

He knows his letter sounds backwards and forwards, so I guess it's a blending issue. He can read up and down the blending ladder, but then if he's presented with ca-t, he'll still sound out c-a-t.

 

When you get to the long vowels what does he not understand or forgetting? Does he forget the silent, sneaky e ?

I have not even gotten there yet, because I thought he had to be able to read with the short vowels first. Should I start introducing the long vowel words? He does know the long vowel sounds.

[ChandlerMom]

Just a thought (discard if not helful :D): do you think ds is hung up on the auditory? I mean, m-a-n doesn't really sound like man. One of the reasons I went with 100EL is that it starts Day 1 blending (not suggesting EL100 for your ds since it's not designed for corrective work). So, kids learn to keep making one sound until they are ready to make the next (mmmmmmaaaaaaannnn). Then they can just speed it up to get the word and it always sounds like the word. It's only while teaching my 2nd I appreciate that you can't read a hard sound (like /b/,/k/, /t/, /g/, /p/, can't think of the name for them, but the sounds you cannot "hold") until you have already "read" the following sound to know where you're tongue/mouth is going next. For that reason, words like cat are actually kinda tough compared to words like man or even long vowel words, since you don't SAY c-a-t, you say ca-t. [100EL has let me teach that to dd right off the bat, which has helped her speech tremendously.]

 

Do you think it might be helpful encouraging ds to not break up the phonic sounds for a few words (like above) and see if that helps him "hear it"? To start, stay away from the sounds you cannot hold.

 

Another thing can be memory - he has to learn to keep the first sound "in his head" while he makes the next. might he be so focussed on the next sound, he's forgetting the one's he's just said? Some memory games might help if that's an issue (listen/say three sounds, which came first/middle/last; decode words to their phonics; finally read sounds and recall).

 

Good luck!

 

ETA: just be aware that developmental optometrist are usually not covered by insurance (you mentioned needing a referral). They're not considered "mainstream" or proven though some folks swear by them. I'm neutral, but if he can read c-a-t, but when you SAY c-a-t he can't blend into cat, that doesn't sound visual to me, but auditory or processing, with which no optometrist will be able to help, right? Admittedly far outside my expertise, though!

Edited January 24, 2011 by ChandlerMom

[sixpence1978]

This sounds quite a bit like my DD. She doesn't really seem to have a problem with the phonics part of reading. She know all her sounds, but moving into blending and long vowels were a struggle.

 

What really helped her over the hurdle a bit (she still struggles some though) was just having her read...a TON! And she wouldn't read a book once and be done with it. I would have her read it at least 2 times, but more like 3-4 times would be better.

 

She was also seen by a developmental optometrist and has just finished up her 3rd week of therapy. She has a bit of a tracking issue, eye suppression (she favors one eye over the other), and a limited visual memory. We are seeing some memory issues and some language skills issues elsewhere also.

 

So, I guess I would also recommend getting his eyes checked. I would stick with what you are doing, but just keep him reading a ton. The flashcards are a good idea. There are also a lot of phonics type games out there that might help. I also really like Reading Pathways (also called Pyramids by the Phonics Pathways author) to build fluency. My daughter is also doing really well with All About Spelling (though she is going through it pretty slowly).

[PeterPan]

That's great that you found a dev. opt. so close! Definitely talk with them, see how they do things, ask to talk with others who have used them, etc. Our place has monthly parent info nights where you can come in, meet one of the therapists, listen to a spiel by the doctor, etc. I took my dd along, and that left me much more confident that I was on the right track. They could talk her language and put to words things that had been going on. See the dc can have symptoms of vision problems (eye teaming, suppression, convergence, etc.), but they have never known anything differently. When the optometrist started talking about what it felt like when dd tried to catch a ball or what it felt like when she tried to do schoolwork, things started coming out.

 

The evaluation too is fascinating because they can show you very clearly what the problem is. A regular optometrist only screens for these problems. A dev. opt. goes very in-depth and has tools to actually show you how well the eyes converge, focus, a working together, when there's supression, etc. They have this thing called a visagraph, infrared goggles that track eye movement as the dc reads. So basically you leave very sure of what's wrong because you've SEEN it for yourself. Ours also checked for bilateral issues, retained primitive reflexes, and other issues that occur that might need referrals.

 

Actually, sticking with your current phonics at this point won't do any good, and I'm not sure why you came to that conclusion from this thread. There ARE things in homeschooling where it's a matter of sticking with it. But there are times when it's not. 3 years and clear evidence that it's not clicking mean a shift is in order. But it also doesn't have to cost you money. Have you tried your library yet? Many will have a copy of WTRT (Writing Road to Reading). Conceptually it's in the same family as SWR, Barton, Wilson, AAS, etc. They're all different and have special things they bring to the table, but WRTR would at least be a start. You could read it and start learning about the methodology. And do the pre-test on the Barton site.

 

Yes, you can take all the words he has covered so far in his phonics and put them onto flashcards. When my dd was that age I had her cards in a box grouped in packets of 20. I was just looking at them nostalgically last night... Anyways, I would have her read through them 3-5 times a day, just very quickly. Then take the words you're working on and put them into little homemade booklets with a sentence on each page. He can read the sentence and illustrate.

 

Don't be shocked though if none of your methods make any progress till you get physical problems cleared up. And really, we're not talking so long. Vision therapy, if you really go at it and do the homework and work work work, can get a huge turn around in 2-3 months. And during the time, you can be doing some of the early skills from WRTR or your OG family program of choice. See these OG-style curricula are all going to have him start back at the beginning on sound to written correlation. That's what you can be doing now, while you're having an evaluation and looking to see if there are physical problems that need to be treated.

[Amy Jo]

Sounds like my son. He now knows all the sounds, and we are working on fluency (search for a recent thread on DIBELs for more details). Anyway, he couldn't blend. I actually had him use the syllables from Websters Speller, becuase he couldn't blend CVC.

 

The most helpful thing was spelling. We used SWR, but there are others like AAS. I found his waeknesses (th) and he had to concentrate to/break up the words. But it was something he could do.

 

I had his eyes checked - the doctor had Nno skills with children. Worried my son a bit. Just F Y I.

 

Amy

[PeterPan]

I had his eyes checked - the doctor had Nno skills with children. Worried my son a bit. Just F Y I.

 

The place where we went has multiple full-time therapists and treats TONS of children. You just have to see what you can find.

[Alicia64]

I'm sorry that I don't have time to read all of the responses, but I wanted to say that when my seven year old (who will also be eight in April) was struggling w/ reading big time, I asked this board for help. (This was in August or so.)

 

I started wondering about Dyslexia. So I ordered a book from the library called Overcoming Dyslexia -- which is kind of like the bible of dyslexia. Up to date info. Very good.

 

Then Perry -- on this board -- suggested that I use the I See Sam books. I had no idea what she was talking about, but Googled it, liked what I saw and we've moved onto the advanced books.

 

Perry helped me so much by saying that the I See Sam books go up to fourth grade. Oh, I thought, this isn't just a "now" issue but something that needs attention for years to come.

 

At this point, I'm not sure that my son has dyslexia. I just think some kids "click into reading" at 5. Some at 6. Some at 7 and beyond.

 

I also used The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. I'm not a lover of scripted curriculum, but I could see the beauty in this one. It's by Jesse Wise and I'm so glad I stumbled onto it at a conference.

 

So those two books: the I See Sam series and Jesse's books appeared to make all the difference.

 

I may still have my son tested for dyslexia. It won't change anything now, but I've learned that an official dyslexia title can mean that my son will get extra time for the SAT's, or bar exam or whatever in his future. Meaning he'll get extra time for reading the test.

 

Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info.

 

Alley

[momto3innc]

My son is 6.5 and at the beginning of this year he was at the same point. He has known his letters/sounds since he was 4, could sound at words, but had to sound out EVERY word EVERY time. I had him tested and he has significant dyslexia. We were using the similar curriculum to you. We have switched to AAS plus he sees a Orton-gillingham specialist for reading help 4 times a week. Plus, we are doing the vision therapy thing too and that has also helped us tremendously. I am getting trained in O-G methods in a month or so and then we'll stop the reading class (it is just too expensive but we thought it worthwhile to get him started and I'd like to be well trained since this will be a long term issue and we plan to homeschool for a while). Anyway, for us finding out what was going on and getting help has made a huge difference. He is now reading short chapter books fairly easily which is shocking considering where he was in August. We saw a huge leap with the vision therapy and then slow incremental increases through the different method of teaching.

If you were to change one thing, I would suggest using AAS. It really is a reading/phonics program as well. You'd probably get through the first steps fairly quickly and then slow down and really take your time...and it's not terribly expensive. If you're willing to spend a little more Barton is great as well.

[woolybear]

Just want to jump in and say it could be various things, BUT my older ds really didn't start to read till 9 1/2 and now at 10 1/2 I would say he can really read. My younger ds is 8 and is still sounding out words and often is WAAAAY off base. So...maybe it's just a matter of your chilling out a bit? Hard to say. Even harder to do. I know.

[Princess Peach]

Thanks again to everyone. I really do appreciate your input so much!

 

I printed out the first 10 I See Sam books and some flashcards. We are going to try that. I was looking into AAS, too. I need to look into it more, but it looks good so far.

 

One good thing is that I had him read the first Sam book and he was really excited about it. He wants to read so badly. He's not discouraged yet-that's a plus!

[shanvan]

This sounds quite a bit like my DD. She doesn't really seem to have a problem with the phonics part of reading. She know all her sounds, but moving into blending and long vowels were a struggle.

 

My DD had the same trouble, which I had not experienced with my son. I worried it was because of some type of LD.

 

What really helped her over the hurdle a bit (she still struggles some though) was just having her read...a TON! And she wouldn't read a book once and be done with it. I would have her read it at least 2 times, but more like 3-4 times would be better.

 

:iagree:I did this with my DD. The repeated readings helped her tremendously.

 

 

In addition to the repeated readings I made flash cards to go with every story. On day one we covered nothing but the flash cards. We practiced several times. I made piles of the ones she was quick with and the ones that needed practice. When she became quick enough I put the words together in phrases on flash cards, just as they appear in the story. Sometimes I would open the story and challenge her to say the phrase on the card and then find it on the page. It was like a game. We practiced those and I read the story to her, but allowed her to read anything she recognized. The next day we took turns reading from the story. We were using BJU readers, so the vocabulary was controlled and did not advance too quickly.

 

When we first started sometimes she could only work up to reading one page on her own, but that was okay because it was improvement. So the next story I would try for two pages or some type of improvement. I looked for progress. At the same time I made sure I continued to read aloud a lot to fuel her love for reading and desire to read on her own.

 

I also made sure to use some real books that she enjoyed (for her Mr. Putter and Tabby and Amelia Bedelia were great) and had her practice reading words, then sentences, then pages from them. I made sure to provide her with an audience she could read to once she could fluently read a page or two and even later when she could read a whole story. Sometimes it was dad, sometimes a grandparent -- anyone who could witness her accomplishment and rejoice with her.

 

With a gradual approach we built up her reading skills so that she was no longer just sounding out, but really reading. It took a lot of time and patience, but she reads very well now.

 

I'm not saying that you shouldn't look into other factors that may be contributing, though I agree with another poster that this sounds more like a processing issue, not vision---but that is based on my very limited knowledge. Sometimes though, with some DC it takes longer and they need for us as parents to just be patient and maybe to look for new ways to work with them. Try some different approaches and look into any other issues (vision or others) you think may be at play.

 

In answer to your question about long vowels --I had the same dilemma. With my DD when faced with moving on to long vowels I did not do it. We stuck with short vowel word practice until she was more fluent. I think I did explain long vowels as we encountered them, but didn't move onto teaching them with phonics. I hope something I've written is of some help. :001_smile:

 

Shannon

[Ray]

Like the discussion you all have here, and tagging in late to bump it up for one more pass plus to throw in a couple links.

http://www.soundfoundationsbooks.co.uk/

http://www.dianefrankenstein.com/reading-together/

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

Sight words can slow down phonics, I would not teach any sight words, here is an explanation of why not to teach them as wholes and how to teach them phonetically:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

You could also try my game for a while, it is a fun way to reinforce the phonics and blending skills:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html

 

Here is a good video from another homeschooling mom here showing how she uses a notched card:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207436

 

You can also try some oral spelling and blending work for a while.

 

If it is not a vision problem, there are some cheap other programs you can try, but I would get the vision checked first.

 

Webster's Speller, free!

 

I See Sam, cheap, first books free!

 

School Phonics Workbooks, cheap, they start with long vowels which are easier to blend.

 

Recipe for Reading, cheap, OG. (Cheapest OG program out there, $25.)

[Princess Peach]

I just want to say again, thank you, thank you, thank you to all who've responded and shared your experiences and links. I have looked at each one and will go back and thoroughly digest it all as I have time.

 

ElizabethB, I will definitely be making the phonics game today. That is right up my DS's alley. :001_smile:

 

I am feeling so much better about everything today. You have all lifted my spirits and made me feel supported. You all are the best! :grouphug:

[shanvan]

:grouphug:

 

Sight words can slow down phonics, I would not teach any sight words, here is an explanation of why not to teach them as wholes and how to teach them phonetically:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

 

 

 

:iagree:Just wanted to clarify that my flashcard suggestion was not to advocate sight words, rather it was to have the child use his phonics knowledge to practice blending the sounds and become more proficient at it. Once he is more proficient he can read those words within a story context. I agree with you about sight words.

 

Shannon

[PeterPan]

Same here. We used flashcards to practice reading words that she had already worked through and understood phonetically using SWR methods. No sight words, no reading without understanding. Any time she stopped on a word, we worked back through it using SWR methods of word analysis.

[sixpence1978]

:iagree:Just wanted to clarify that my flashcard suggestion was not to advocate sight words, rather it was to have the child use his phonics knowledge to practice blending the sounds and become more proficient at it. Once he is more proficient he can read those words within a story context. I agree with you about sight words.

 

Shannon

 

:iagree:

 

Yep...my suggestion too. The flashcards should be of words that he can phonetically decode. Use them to build up his fluency.

[Wee Pip]

I'll just chime in to say -

My dd was the same way (she reversed about 1/3rd of her alphabet, btw). I tested her using Reading Reflex's placement test and found she knew her phonics just.fine. She could sound out and blend. She couldn't read. I stopped using phonics based readers. I pulled out really really easy picture books that were repetitious. I followed the booklist at the back of the book called Teach A Child to Read with Children's Books (note: NOT to be confused with 100 Easy Lessons, yuck. Sorry, but yuck.) Basically, I gave her easy predictable books that went something like -

"I like pancakes. I like pizza. I like..." etc. and "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?" Did she know those words? Not at first. Could she guess them? Yes. Was this a bad thing? No. Within 1 year of going thru those easy booklists, getting gradually harder and harder, she caught on. By the year's end, she was probably up to grade level or above. She's really grown in her reading since then. I posted about this on my blog today, actually. It's supposed to be a blog post about Math, but it made me think of our reading troubles, and how we got past it. My blog is in my signature if you care to read more.

[VinNY]

I will add in my two cents:)

 

My dtr has severe issues with working memory, speech etc that of course effects reading, math etc..anyway we are receiving a ton of therapy(speech, VT and resource room). At one point, two years ago, I was seeing a therapist to help with her reading to get her to blend m..a..n to man. She had me create lists on one side of a folded paper for example pa, ma, da,fa etc and then on another folded paper would be an ending sound of t,d, etc . The point was for the child to say pa..t..then pa...d an then move onto ma..t, ma..d. So they were to chunk the beginning sound..ma, mo, mu etc with the ending sound to break the habit of m..a..n.

 

OK I did that for awhile and then remembered that 100 EZ lessons (that I taught 5 other kids with but couldn't teach her with at 5 or 6) does this beautifully. So we tried it again last year when she was 8...and it worked great to get her to blend and at least up to a 1st grade reading (we did brain gym too at the same time to help with tracking issues etc)level.

 

Now we are in Vision therapy, but I use the I See SAm readers with O-G Recipe for Reading, Apples and Pears for Spelling with LIPS as an auditory processing therapy..and she is making slow, but sure and steady progress.

 

Good luck

[siloam]

:grouphug:

 

Sight words can slow down phonics, I would not teach any sight words, here is an explanation of why not to teach them as wholes and how to teach them phonetically:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

You could also try my game for a while, it is a fun way to reinforce the phonics and blending skills:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html

 

Here is a good video from another homeschooling mom here showing how she uses a notched card:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207436

 

You can also try some oral spelling and blending work for a while.

 

If it is not a vision problem, there are some cheap other programs you can try, but I would get the vision checked first.

 

Webster's Speller, free!

 

I See Sam, cheap, first books free!

 

School Phonics Workbooks, cheap, they start with long vowels which are easier to blend.

 

Recipe for Reading, cheap, OG. (Cheapest OG program out there, $25.)

Yes, NO sight words!

 

Dyslexic and visually challenged kids don't have the ability to see the differences between similar words. They see the overall outline. Words like this, them, those, these, all look fairly the same. They will see the beginning and guess the word based on that. Once they start guessing it is a hard habit to break, generally taking years. Personally I don't care if you have given them the phonetic background. This is said from the perspective of a 40yo visual dyslexic who still struggles with guessing. Do go there. It is not worth it.

 

Ok he can sound out. He can then hear the sounds, but can't blend. Honestly I have had two children do this. My 2nd dd could spell for a year before she could blend. In time it did click. She also went through VT, but in her case it didn't improve anything. But my doctor also wasn't as good as OhElizabeth's. I am convinced my dd's problems are not vision based but processing. The theory is that some people see some colors faster than other colors. This causes a distortion in what you see. I once was on a website that was black with white letters in a Roman type font. Where the letters were skinny they were washing out and they were having a halo effect. That is where the edges are really bright. I generally always have a halo effect around the white space of a book, but the washout was new. The net effect was I couldn't read a word. If you click on the washout here is the closest example I can give you of what I was seeing. I have been through Irlen testing in College, so I know that yellow and white are two of my worst colors and anything in the blue, pink or purple range I see correctly. There was one word on the page that I could read perfectly, despite being written in the same font. Continue was written in red. This is not a problem that Vision Therapy can fix. To my knowledge it isn't fixable you can just manage it with reading filters and/or glasses (I have never felt the need for the glasses).

 

Back to your ds. I would focus on spelling, given that is his strong suit. Borrowing from Barton, they have the child sound out each sound while tapping under the letter, so cat you would tap under the c and say /k/, under the a and say /a/, under the t and say /t/. Then it has them make a u. For my ds it worked best to start the u at the first letter and to to the last letter, but Barton also models doing it in the air. When you start the u you say /k/, when the you is at its low point you say the /a/ and as it comes up to the top right corner you say the /t/. The goal is for the child to eventually do this on their own, but it is fine for you to model it and do it with them. Shay, another gal on these forms that works with LD kids, also describes blending as humming the sounds. You can try that to see if using a different word picture might help it click so he can hear it.

 

If I were in your shoes I would also give him the Barton Student Screening, focusing on the third section. It might be that he has some haring issues going on. Blending is primarily an auditory exercise. He could be having problems because he can't hear it, or because he is mostly visual and it will take longer for the auditory piece to catch up, or it could be that he is just developmentally delayed and that piece will fall in the place. With my 2nd dd, whom I mentioned above, she couldn't remember the sounds. Give her the sounds and she could recall the letters without a problem. Give her the letters and she just couldn't find the information in her mind as to what sound should be associated with it. It took time but she eventually learned them so well that blending came.

 

On the other hand my ds has auditory processing issues and is just a wiggly boy. He can't go without having something in his hand, so he would easily become distracted with what he was holding. I am sure he would have eventually gotten it one way or the other, but the Barton movements kept him focused on the task and he blending in a matter of days. Though after that he still has recall problems. :D He can read at a 2nd grade level-when he remembers what sounds that letter makes. He remembers some of the sounds (like oi, oy, aw, etc...) from our LiPS work, which he hasn't focused on for a year or more. But he struggles to remember which short vowels are which. You can see him sitting there thinking about it, hesitating like he knows he doesn't have the right answer and he knows he should know it. But in the end he can't find the right answer without some sort of reset. Barton has a rhyme tapping pattern they do to help the child be able to remember the sounds on their own. I think I am going to have to resort to using them even through I would prefer to have him learn the letter to sound instant recall. Poor guy is frustrated himself at how he can remember it any time but when it counts.

 

My goal in describing my children's issues is to demonstrate how different source problems and manifest itself in the same problems, and see if any connect with problems your child is having. I also agree that vision issues could be the source of all of the problems. My 3rd dd could blend easily, but continued to write most of her numbers backwards through 3rd grade. She still occasionally does so, but now she usually self corrects. She hasn't been through VT because you can't convince my dh that the whole field is a hoax after our earlier experience. But I suspect she has the same visual processing issues I do. With her I am working on visualization skills, using Seeing Stars (just he manual) and I apply the concepts to our AAS work. Before she didn't have the ability to see words in her mind. She also had auditory problems and had to go through LiPS. Between the two she is coming along nicely.

 

Heather

 

p.s. I have got to get hs started today, so no proofing. Please forgive the errors. :blushing:

[ElizabethB]

I think I am going to have to resort to using them even through I would prefer to have him learn the letter to sound instant recall. Poor guy is frustrated himself at how he can remember it any time but when it counts.

 

I would try the syllabary. After a few months of going through various syllables, the pattern sticks. Keep the one page syllabary handy for him to refer to when he gets stuck. Eventually, it may stick. The pattern of it has been most helpful for my students who struggle the most.

 

If there are other sounds he struggles with, you could make your own syllabary and add those sounds on to the end.

 

For example, if oi/oy and ou/ow are problems, make:

 

ba be bi bo bu by boy bow

 

ab eb ib ob ub oib oub

 

Go over daily with different consonants and allow as a reference chart for a while.

[ElizabethB]

No sight words, no reading without understanding. Any time she stopped on a word, we worked back through it using SWR methods of word analysis.

 

:iagree:

 

Yep...my suggestion too. The flashcards should be of words that he can phonetically decode. Use them to build up his fluency.

 

Yes, NO sight words!

 

:hurray: :) :lol::lol:

[shanvan]

:hurray: :) :lol::lol:

 

Hey! What about me? :glare: I said no sight words too! :tongue_smilie:Just kidding! Actually, I was the first to agree (not that it was a contest!) :party:That so many of us are in agreement!

 

Shannon

[siloam]

I would try the syllabary. After a few months of going through various syllables, the pattern sticks. Keep the one page syllabary handy for him to refer to when he gets stuck. Eventually, it may stick. The pattern of it has been most helpful for my students who struggle the most.

 

Funny but I do this as part of his speech therapy, and he isn't helping his recall...or doesn't seem to. Maybe it could be worse. :D He has been doing this for several years now. Through I don't do it with the visual element. I might try adding in the visual end and see if it helps him. It couldn't hurt, right?

 

I also go through our phonogram cards daily. These I keep on his reading level, by which I mean the level at which he reads but has recall problems. He can go through them without blinking an eye or getting any wrong. No hesitation. I add one new one a week.

 

Then daily he does the SWR method of cover phonograms at his mastery level, which is back at a K or 1st grade level. Ugh! These he also does without hesitation, and with multi-sensory work. These are the ones he shows the least amount of recall problems with. We just started short i through.

 

This week he had progressed to short a and short i in ETC, and he started confusing the two, so bag was big sort of thing. He doesn't do it when he works with me very much, probably because he is more focused or because I stop him and have him read what he wrote and he self corrects. I allow him to do the ETC sheets on his own to gauge how is doing independently. He is doing great with consonants, but he had a hard time putting the right letter to the right sound when he is using it practically.

 

I also ordered Earobics for him yesterday. He prefers to work independently, so I can't only get so much out of him in one day. I think this will be a nice supplement where he can get some more of the intense practice he needs.

 

Heather

 

[Terabith]

How fluent should a kid be with short vowel words before adding long vowels?

[siloam]

How fluent should a kid be with short vowel words before adding long vowels?

Hmmmmm. I would want them to not need to sound our short vowel words, and not have many recall problems.

 

Long vowels, especially silent e words often give LD kids a hard time. Non LD kids can figure it out on their own, and generally don't have a lot of problem with it. Just teach them to glance at the end of the word for the silent e like they glance at the end of a sentence to see if it is a question.

 

But my 3rd dd was still struggling with them in 3rd grade. At first I had to use my finger to circle from the silent e to the vowel, for about a year. Through 3rd grade she would read them as a short vowel, see the e then go back to the beginning of the word and read it with the long vowel. Felt like forever, but it did eventually click.

 

Heather

[laundrycrisis]

Back to the OP, I haven't read the entire thread...this is where our son was at with reading a year ago. At that point I had him evaluated by a COVD optometrist and discovered major eye teaming problems. He started vision therapy and had great improvement within the first few months. At that time I also began weekly appointments with a private reading tutor.

 

The optometrist moved away and we continued his care under another COVD optometrist. This one went beyond the eye teaming issues and also tested for and worked on visual processing problems. He had many symptoms of dyslexia when we began all this. A year later, he is a vision therapy graduate, can read the instructions on his math worksheets, and is just starting to read a little for pleasure, on his own, easy large print books. Writing is still very hard for him but he is making progress.

 

A year ago I thought he would never make it to this point. It just seemed that reading was impossible for him and I was pretty scared for him. It has been worth every penny and all the hard work to help him. Discovering the problems that were treatable with vision therapy has made an amazing difference for him. It is worth checking out. I am not saying it is a cure-all and it does not "fix" everything, and he still has some challenges and perhaps always will. But the parts that vision therapy could help have been a huge improvement for him.

Edited January 25, 2011 by laundrycrisis

[ElizabethB]

Hey! What about me? :glare: I said no sight words too! :tongue_smilie:Just kidding! Actually, I was the first to agree (not that it was a contest!) :party:That so many of us are in agreement!

 

Shannon

 

:lol:

 

Sorry I missed you!!

 

Here you are:

 

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

:)