Help, Reading Issues 8 Year Old

[momcoleman]

I am having this huge feeling of beig a failure at the moment. My youngest son is 8, soon to be 9. He started out life with speech and language problems. When I pulled him out of school in the begining of 1st grade he was still not reading, they had never taught him phonics, and basically he was just pushed to the back burner. Now he reads but he struggles and its just not fun for him. He should be on a 4th grade level but I would put him around a 2nd grade level at best. He still lacks phonics skills. The problem is I get "phonics" type kits for him and they are very babish and he hates them which makes the whole thing worse because he projects that onto reading. HELP?? Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I am not even sure exactly what to ask, I just know I need help because he is struggling and I feel like I can not fix it. All other subjects he is spot on with and is even working 1 grade ahead in math.

[mom31257]

Why not search for phonics programs designed for adults? Many adults can't read well.

 

I did and came across this, Fast Track Phonics (for young adults and adults). It shouldn't be too babyish.

 

Here is an adult reading program, too, SightPhonics. This even has an online version with a monthly fee. Maybe you could try it for a month and see if he likes it?

 

Here's another that is online, We All Can Read.

 

I've not tried any of these, so I'm not endorsing them.

[lorrainejmc]

Take a look at Toe by Toe on Amazon. I haven't used it but I have it in mind for the future as my ds7 has speech delays and is really still learning to communicate verbally. It is well reviewed here in the UK.

[Princess Peach]

I hate to sound like a broken record around here, but I would try All About Spelling and start at level one. It is not babyish but it would start him out "easy" while filling in the holes he may have in his learning.

 

My 8 yo is currently halfway thru the first level and I've been very pleased.

[Critterfixer]

He started out life with speech and language problems.

 

You might also post this over in the Special Needs thread. Have his needs been fully addressed? If he has trouble with auditory processing he may not be able to hear the phonetic sounds as well as he should, making phonics difficult for him.

 

He should be on a 4th grade level but I would put him around a 2nd grade level at best.

One thing that SWB says in TWTM is that teaching a child with language difficulties or other special needs means accepting that it may take more time to get to where you need to be. From your post it seems as if he did not get any intensive time on teaching reading where he went to school, so while his grade level says one thing his actual training in the skill would be somewhat lower.

 

As far as curriculum suggestions go, I've heard a lot of good things about Orten-Gillingham methods for students with language difficulties because they teach using the full range of learning styles. I believe All About Spelling is done with this style in mind, which might be useful for you. I'm not sure about Phonics programs per se, but I'm positive someone out here can direct you to OG style phonics programs.

[mom31257]

As far as curriculum suggestions go, I've heard a lot of good things about Orten-Gillingham methods for students with language difficulties because they teach using the full range of learning styles. I believe All About Spelling is done with this style in mind, which might be useful for you. I'm not sure about Phonics programs per se, but I'm positive someone out here can direct you to OG style phonics programs.

 

The site I listed above, We All Can Read, says it uses this method. I didn't really know what it was.

[Critterfixer]

I believe OG has a teaching course that parents can take. I haven't done it myself, but I know that several of the parents on the Special Needs board are taking the course and really learning a lot about using OG methods.

[Aurelia]

 

Dancing Bears is designed as a remedial reading program, and doesn't appear babyish to me.

[Amy Jo]

I would try a reading by spelling approach - something like AAS, WRTR, SWR, etc. That's what helped my son the most - he was 7 or 8 when we started.

[MeghanL]

I think Veritas Press has fantastic readers in their phonics museum. They are biographies so they don't seem babyish to the reader. And you also get some history and art appreciation thrown in for good measure!

[AmericanMom]

Have you ever tried Webster's old speller? There is a version online for free at www.DonPotter.net , and it is definitely not babyish. No pictures at all, actually, and it starts them with syllables so they are reading words like frugal before words like sail. He might like to be reading bigger, multisyllable words.

[TxMama]

My son is 8 almost 9 and has a history of speech and language issues. We did 4 years of speech therapy.

 

My ds is reading at about a early 3rd grade level.

 

My oldest dd was also a speech/language issue kid with early reading issues. She is a Junior in college doing quite well. She did not start reading chapter books until age 9 (or 10) but by age 13 was on the same reading level as her brother who was reading chapter books at age 6. She was not reading AT ALL at age 7/8. So hang in there.

 

Speech/Language kids are going to need more time during this early phrase of reading. If you are concerned about auditory processing then look into that. Chances are these types of issue were explored by his speech therapist while working on Speech. Of course, I'm assuming that he had ST at some point. If not, then certainly look into this.

 

 

I approach reading from several different angles.

 

First, we work our way through a controlled vocabulary basal reader. We are using Pathway readers but any one will do. I like Pathway because they give us a list of new words for each story. Before we read the story, I list the new words and we "mark them up". We break them into syllables, find all the consonant and vowel teams, determine if the vowels are long or short, etc. Whatever he needs to do to read the word. Then we read the story.

 

I've found with my ST kids that controlled vocabulary is key for these early years. They get so frustrated if they have to sound out each and every word. Once they start reading chapter books on their own we drop reading from Pathway.

 

Second, I use All About Spelling for spelling. Lots of good review for phonics. We re-read the word cards a lot. I like AAS because it is very systematic and easy to teach. For an OG program it is very inexpensive. Also it is easy to teach! I did mention that, right? No need for a Teacher inservice like many OG programs. I have my son read ahead in the program. We review a phonogram and he reads the cards. We keep reading the cards until he can do them with ease. So he is reading at a higher level but working on spelling at a lower level. Hopefully this makes sense. AAS wasn't around for my oldest dd but I sure wish it was!

 

Third, we do a phonics drill. We were doing a pg from Phonics Pathway but we are recently switch over to doing Reading Pathways. We could probably drop this at this point but since it only takes a few moments each day and he finds the sentences in RP funny we will keep it up until we finish the book.

 

Fourth, I have him re-read easy books. I have a basket and I have him choose books from it to read each day. These are really, really easy books and usually a book that we have already worked through. This is a big confidence booster for him. I honestly do not care if he picks up a 1st grader reader during this time. This is a fun reading time.

 

Fifth, I read aloud from high interest read alouds. My goal is to choose books that well get him excited about reading and putting forth the effort to learn to read chapter books. For my son, Narnia has been a hit. For my oldest dd it was M. Henry's horse books.

 

Sounds like a lot but it really isn't.

 

We spend about 15 minutes with Pathway, 15-20 minutes on Spelling. 5-10 on reading the AAS cards, less than 5 on Reading Pathways, and he spends about 15 reading from our easy reading basket. So we spend about 60 minutes a day working on reading skills. We break it up throughout our day so it never feels like a burden. He spends part of each day reading at an easy level, part of the day reading at a more challenging level and part of the day reviewing phonics.

 

Hope our story helps you feel encouraged! You are not alone and he will get there!

[momcoleman]

Thank you all for all the suggestions! I will look into a lot of them to see what fits for us. He has had speech therapy and been through all of that. The school system was doing therapy once a week for 20 minutes and basically told me he would always "have issues" with some things. I pulled him and paid for a private therapist that visited several times a week and helped me learn what to do on my end for daily help and today as far as speech and his language skills he has no issues at all, other than he can speak a bit fast and you have to slow him down. His sentence structure is great, he often hears a word and asks what is means and its not long until he is using that word in his own vocab and things of that nature. He has come so far from the 2 word improper sentences (Me go, Me want, Me toy), not putting words together, and flipping around all of his letter sounds to where he is today and I could not be more proud of him. He reads well enough he can get through Magic Tree House books if I sit with him to help him fill in the words he is not sure about. I think his biggest problem is having no phonics base, and that is particially my fault because I thought that was part of what he was learning in order to fix his speech but it wasnt as much as I thought it was. My oldest son learned phonics very early and before I started homeschooling so its a grey area for me. I am going to look at the programs listed for sure, and I had someone private message me a great one too. I appreciate all the help and support! It is nice to know I am not the only one to struggle down this road.

 

Jenn