Please help me with my struggling reader

[Knittinfarmgirl]

I am just so frustrated with this. She was 7 in April. We started with 100EZ lessons last fall but ditched it early on. We've been using The Reading Lesson and a bit of Phonics Pathways.... I'm just not sure what to do with her... how to help her.

 

Some days she does better than others. She come to a word she doesn't know right off and needs to sound out. Today it was 'with'. She'll begin sounding it out. Use the wrong vowel sound. Sometimes she'll correct herself. Sometimes it'll be the long sound when it's short and sometimes she'll use a different vowel than what's written. :001_huh: When she got past the 'i' and moved on to the 'th', she inserted an 'n' sound. 'Winth' At this point she begins to repeat it adamantly trying to convince me it's the word, I guess. I ask her to sound it out again and she begins to tell me it's too hard. She's frustrated and starts to melt down at times. Also, with The Reading Lesson, when she gets to the unfamiliar word, she'll look up at the drawing to try to help figure out what it could say and she'll guess at what it is. Then we're back to me telling her to sound it out. You get the picture.

 

She's definitely improved over the past few months but it's always the same struggle. I just do not no where to go with her.

 

Has anyone dealt with similar issues? How did you do it? Did you find anything to help? :bigear:

 

I hope this made sense.

Thanks!!!!

[Tohru]

:grouphug:

My ds didn't actually learn to read until he was around 9. He went from being a non-reader to picking up a middle-school chapter book, reading and comprehending it.

 

Anyway, I would say maybe she just isn't ready? Or that the switching of programs may be confusing her. Perhaps back off for a bit and then start over? We had really good luck with At Last A Reading Method for Every Child.

[Ellen in PA]

My dd 9 also struggles to learn to read. We consistently use Phonics Pathways repeating the lesson as many times as needed along with practice in regular readers, picture books, and easy chapter books. I also purchased Reading Pathways which is the pyramids touched on briefly in Phonics Pathways. It has been an uphill battle for years. We had a neuropsychologist evaluate her two years ago to rule out dyslexia or other learning/developmental issue. The only thing that came back was a low IQ. I encourage you to keep up daily practice with gentle correction (sometimes I need my own advice).

[The Governess]

What about trying All About Spelling? It teaches all of the phonograms and the rules (when to use each), which might help her with choosing the right sound. It also focuses on segmenting a word into its sounds which could help with eliminating the extra sounds she is putting in. And since you are practicing on a whiteboard with tiles instead of with readers, there are not pictures for her to use for guessing.

 

Hope you get some more ideas from other experienced moms as well!

[Kuovonne]

When DD would try to sound out a word but still be mixed up after a few tries, I'd slowly sound it out for her. At first I used a notched card to cover up the word and reveal each phonogram as I said the sound. After she no longer needed the notched card, I'd sometimes use my fingers the same way.

[Missouri Okie]

My 6.5 yo was also slow to really start reading without sounding out every word. He, too, often would insert extra sounds.

 

My vote is for persistent, gentle practice daily with the stuff that's challenging her. Plus, I think what really helped my son was also having him read from the Pathway Readers, starting with the easiest level. The stories are very repetitive and easy (but not as easy and controlled as Bob Books). That repetition seemed to really help him.

[creekmom]

I found the Abeka sound "clue cards" to be very helpful. http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnline/BookDescription.aspx?sbn=41998 There are several levels represented by different colors. One side of the card has a sound, the other side has an example word with that sound. I awarded my ds with a small treat every time he finished a level (was able to tell me the sound of the letters on each card correctly the first time). When you discover a sound that she has trouble with, you can make a list of several words with that sound to practice.

[LizzyBee]

I suggest you look at this website, http://www.dys-add.com. It can help you decide whether your dd might be dyslexic and need an Orton-Gillingham based reading curriculum. OG is an evidence-based approach that works for ~90% of dyslexic students.

[abacus2]

My 7 year old is also struggling. ETC online (purchased through homeschoolbuyerscoop) has been helping. It allows her to work at her own pace and consistently reads words to her sound by sound as she works.

[Knittinfarmgirl]

Thank you so much for everyone's responses. I'm appreciative of the encouragement and suggestions. I know I need to give her time but I also want to make sure she's getting the instruction she needs. You've given me some good things to look into. :001_smile:

[MerryAtHope]

When my kids would struggle like this, instead of asking them to try again, I would sound it out for them. Both had symptoms of dyslexia and one also had vision processing issues (www.covd.org). I agree with the idea to look at an Orton Gillingham type program. You could take a word and build it with letter tiles--the TH would be on one tile and she could easily see 3 tiles, 3 sounds, work on each sound and then put them together. We did this with Reading Reflex, and then later on with All About Spelling. Just know that when your daughter says it's too hard or too much work--it really is, she's not just being lazy or obstinate. She can learn with the right methods, but right now it really is hard for her. (((Hugs))) to you both! Merry :-)

[golfcartmama]

OPG really helped my son!

 

FWIW, I believe he is dyslexic, but in our area testing is very expensive and we just can't swing it now, so I decided to use curricula that are known to work for dyslexics and I've seen GREAT results.

[kristamaranatha]

My dd9 was the exact same way a year ago. She was reading at lower than a kindergarten level at the beginning of third grade. The thing that really helped was just practice. Lots of practice. Reading 20 minutes at a time any story book that she wanted to read. Now she tests at almost third grade. In a year she almost completely caught up. So I wouldn't worry too much. Just keep working at it :)

 

Another thing is she got glasses this year. This may or may not have had an impact on her troubles learning how to read in the past.

[TXMary2]

I am going to go out on a limb here (since this is the WTM site) and suggest The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. :D You can "look inside" the book to see how it works. My son has pretty much memorized most of the rules he has learned so far and will usually say out loud "this one breaks the rules" when he comes across a word like "give" or "have." I think it is one of the best "learning to read" tools out there.

[Knittinfarmgirl]

Just know that when your daughter says it's too hard or too much work--it really is, she's not just being lazy or obstinate. She can learn with the right methods, but right now it really is hard for her. (((Hugs))) to you both! Merry :-)

 

Thanks for this, Merry! She's also my very short attention span child so I sometimes have trouble with her staying focused.

[Knittinfarmgirl]

Another thing is she got glasses this year. This may or may not have had an impact on her troubles learning how to read in the past.

 

I think I'm going to be making her an appointment. I got glasses in 2nd grade and while I don't think this is the issue for her, I'd like to rule it out... or know it could be contributing and deal with it.

[PeterPan]

Cyndy, when you make the appointment, do it with a developmental optometrist instead of a regular one. http://www.covd.org That way if she has more going on with her eyes (eye teaming, focusing, convergence, etc.) they can screen for that too. My dd could sound out words till we did vision therapy.

[momto2Cs]

My dd is a late reader too - she's 8, and doesn't read much past cvc words. Anyhow, what I am finding works for her is a combo of ClickNKids Phonics and Nora Gaydos readers... I use them like so, 4-5 days a week:

 

 

 

1. Online ClickNKids lesson
   
2. Then we switch gears and do math or something else
   
3. Then we come back on go over words and sentences from ClickNKids, usually reviewing 2-3 lessons at a time. I do this with letter cards and a whiteboard. ClickNKids has printable pdf files of all the words and sentences covered.
   
4. Later in the day, I have her read from a Nora Gaydos book.
   

 

This approach is the first I have used that has led to substantial progress. I am hoping to get her up to "grade" level within a year.

[MyLittleBears]

:grouphug:

 

Anyway, I would say maybe she just isn't ready? Or that the switching of programs may be confusing her. Perhaps back off for a bit and then start over? We had really good luck with At Last A Reading Method for Every Child.

 

We are experiencing the same thing here. My ds just turned eight this week. We also tried several programs. SSRW, then OPGTR, HOP and finally Reading pathways. It seemed as if we were getting nowhere and we started when he was 6. I had gotten the At last- a reading method for every child book in a last ditched effort but I hesitated because the program is well, just so "different". I called CLE to ask about their reading program and their advice was just not to switch around because it confuses them more. I took that wise advice and I must say, he is finally coming along. Mary Pecci's book is great, but consistency was the key. Also, I wouldn't worry just yet. She is still very young. Not all children read before the age of 7 or 8. My oldest who is dyslexic,was not fluent until the beginning of 3rd grade and now he reads at almost HS level and devours books. This was something I thought would never happen but one day, it just all clicked.

 

hth!

Edited May 26, 2011 by MyLittleBears

[JessReplanted]

I use Abeka for teaching reading. After learning letter sounds (short vowels first), the child learns letter blends. My son really struggled learning to read, and we spent many days just singing the letter blends: wa, we, wi, wo, wu

Once the blends start to click, adding the 3rd letter is easy, and suddenly the child is reading.

 

With a word like 'with', we would focus on identifying two letter blend sounds. What does 'wi' say together, and what does 'th' say together?

 

HTH

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

For extra practice that is fun, you can try my phonics concentration game:

 

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

 

I would also add in some spelling, you can do some oral spelling or "written" with magnetic letters. When you add spelling to the phonics, you learn it to a much higher level and it sticks in the brain better. I've found that for most of my students, reading 10 words is equal in brain sticking power to spelling 1 word.