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[Paisley Hedgehog]

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[kathkath]

I don't have an LD student but I do have my master's degree in reading--

Fluency is aided by repeated readings of text at a student's independent level. That means your child is already able to decode all of the words. Little kids tend to like reading familiar books over and over but it gets tricky with older kids as they want to read one and be done. One way to do this is to read plays with groups of kids or family members. Assign a part to each person, read through the play. The next day rotate parts and read again. Do this for a week, and use the time to practice working on phrasing, expression, and acting with your voice. Something really great about this is that they hear other people try parts and that gives them ideas for how to improve their voices. If you do this for a period of 6-8 weeks you will find that going into later weeks your kids will be much quicker to phrase correctly. Here is one way to do it.

http://www.readingrecovery.org/pdf/conferences/NC07/Handouts/Beeler_Reader's_Theater.pdf

[chiguirre]

I wish I know the key for my ds. We've stumbled around for a long time and he's still not an eager reader. Some successful strategies for us were using the Kindle set to landscape with the largest line spacing and second to largest text. It feeds him the text in very manageable chunks. I noticed this helped his fluency and stamina immensely. Since there are not that many children's books available for the Kindle, I decided to experiment with a normal book. We're working through a Junie B. Jones now. The text is very easy for ds (it's 2 grade levels lower than the last Kindle book he read) and he's working on using a bookmark to chunk the text himself. He moves the card to expose about 4 lines of text at a time, reads that, moves the card. This is what I do when I read because it makes tracking easier. The problem for ds is his fine motor skills. He needs to concentrate to hold the card steady, but I hope that it will improve with practice. If ds can get over the hurdle of freezing up at a page of text, he'd be able to read the classic chapter books. He'd take longer than a typical kid, but he'd be able to do it.

 

In the meantime, we've taken to listening to lots of audiobooks. I resisted this because I thought the kids should READ them, but now I think it's more important that they enjoy them while they are kids. They've loved Gooney Bird Greene, Mrs. Pigglewiggle, Henry Huggins, Mrs. Frisby, and they're eagerly following Percy Jackson now.

[LizzyBee]

I was reading a blog, and the lady talked about how she successfully addressed her son's dyslexia. One of the things she talked about was her belief that a child with reading difficulties needs to read more not less, and she put him in a literature-heavy program (Sonlight, I think).

 

It got me thinking, if your child has a reading problem, do you lighten up on the reading, or hammer down? I admit, I've settled for 'less than beefy' literature choices for my LD son, both in content, difficulty, and length. He fatigues easily when reading (5 or 10 minutes and he's toast), but seems to really enjoy it (esp Usborne books and graphic novels).

 

What do you do? How much independent reading do you require of your LD student?

 

I didn't want to frustrate my kids and make them hate reading, so I've not required much independent reading. It's worked out fine for my dyslexic kids. They were slower to read chapter books and enjoy reading, but once it clicked, you couldn't keep them from reading. They both use their booklights to read at night before they fall asleep, they read in the car, in the bathroom, etc. Last week, my 9 yo read a Magic Treehouse book in 30 minutes! Just amazing, considering where she was 6 months ago.

Edited June 1, 2011 by LizzyBee

[merry gardens]

I was reading a blog, and the lady talked about how she successfully addressed her son's dyslexia. One of the things she talked about was her belief that a child with reading difficulties needs to read more not less, and she put him in a literature-heavy program (Sonlight, I think).

 

It got me thinking, if your child has a reading problem, do you lighten up on the reading, or hammer down? I admit, I've settled for 'less than beefy' literature choices for my LD son, both in content, difficulty, and length. He fatigues easily when reading (5 or 10 minutes and he's toast), but seems to really enjoy it (esp Usborne books and graphic novels).

 

What do you do? How much independent reading do you require of your LD student?

Depends on where the child is at.

 

I pulled back on reading until I figured out what was going on with my ds. I could have probably gotten him reading earlier, but I could see there was something going on that wasn't right. He was guessing, not reading. That was not a reading habit that I wanted him to develop.

 

Once we started an intense O-G program, he continued on only controlled reading for over a year. Now he finally knows enough de-coding and has built up a big enough sight word vocabulary for independent reading. Until a child with dyslexia reaches that point, I would discourage independent reading.

 

Right now, I don't "expect" any independent reading. He does it, but I don't expect it. As far as a literature-heavy based program, I wouldn't do it with my son at this point. I'm too busy working with programs that remediate his dyslexia and they are intense enough for us without adding more to our workload.

 

This could also depend on the severity of a child's dyslexia.

[Stacy in NJ]

immediate ability level; and a modest amount at a level above his ability.

 

But, generally, yes. More reading is better, but you need to NOT overwhelm him with material that is all above his immediate reading level. That would be exhausting.

[RamonaQ]

Absolute, bar none, what has rapidly increased fluency is reading along with audio. This was ds tutor's idea.

 

Within 4 months ds fluency shot up. We started at 30 min per day and built up to 1 hour. We do read along with TTS since ds is reading a ton. There is good research that backs up what I found empirically. I also like it because ds is getting constant correct (relatively so if TTS) reading of a word. I also like this because increased word exposure-- see that graphic from Sally Shaywitz book about how many words good readers are exposed to per year (p. 106; readers that read 4.6 min/ day are eposed to 282,000 words vs. 20 min/ day are exposed to 1.8mil words).

 

In 4 months, before incorporating read along with TTS, ds read 4 novels over 4 months, and the 4 months after, he read 28 novels during his free reading time.

 

I also still do 20-30 min daily read out loud to me, which are ds literature books.

 

However, for free reading-- because I want a lot of it- I choose books that have a high enjoyment factor (ie- Ranger's Apprentice type of books).

 

Recently, we have backed down a bit on reading along with audio to start encourage independent reading (and since ds fluency is up), and ds is now happily reading independently for 20 -30 minutes per day (again high interest books).

Edited June 1, 2011 by RamonaQ

[ondreeuh]

My son didn't really read much until he was about 8. We started with Dr. Seuss and similar books (a couple lines of text per page) and worked until he was getting burned out. I gradually increased the amount of reading. The harder it is, the less he does. He is now almost 10, and reading books at about a fourth-grade level but there are lots of words he's not familiar with (words that are never used in regular conversation).

 

I read to him aloud from decently-challenging literature, but I really need to have him read along with audiobooks. I don't care if he's gaining the words by sight-reading - I can definitely see how it would help tremendously. I have the Harry Potter audiobooks, along with The 100 Cupboards series and the Narnia books. I'd love more suggestions.

[SonshineMama]

What is TTS? I was just thinking about how to get ds following along with a book while it was reading in audio. I am unsure how to start doing this and need some help here. . . just their normal readers? I'd love advice on this!

 

As far as the OP, we have lightened up considerably. From what I've read about dyslexia, until they are really doing well, one of the most important things is to GO SLOW. I do believe in encouraging reading but LD are different from a child who is slow to read.

 

That said, we are still in the very beginning stages of treating our son's dyslexia and other LDs. By backing off and making it fun has given him a WAY healthier opinion about reading and about all his work and therapy. For the past 5 months, we've done nothing but memorize sight words using pictographs, phonological awareness and games. I am just now starting to offer him books to read and he can say no - it's not required. I think Susan Barton recommends no reading until they are in her 3rd level.

 

In the dummies guide to dyslexia (not sure that's the exact title), they talk about never giving too much info or they won't remember it! Funny thing, my ds is starting to move a lot faster now. We've done REALLY little and I am starting to realize it's like making the base of a snowman. Start tiny and keep making it and before you realize it, you'll be moving a LOT larger of a boulder.

 

Just my two cents. I fully realize every child is different :)

[Love_to_Read]

I pulled back on reading until I figured out what was going on with my ds. I could have probably gotten him reading earlier, but I could see there was something going on that wasn't right. He was guessing, not reading. That was not a reading habit that I wanted him to develop.

 

Once we started an intense O-G program, he continued on only controlled reading for over a year. Now he finally knows enough de-coding and has built up a big enough sight word vocabulary for independent reading. Until a child with dyslexia reaches that point, I would discourage independent reading.

 

 

Dd has done this...she skims along without actually reading more than the first letter or two of most words. ACK!!!!

 

I would recommend trying something like the exercises in The Gift of Dyslexia, the brain integration exercises offered by Brain Gym or Dianne Craft, and some sort of Orton-Guillingham phonics. I do think that fluency is important, but my dd is way too fluent as she skims along guessing on grade level. My main goal is to get her to slow down to look at the letters to overcome where she's at right now!

 

I do like the idea of a literature-based program like Sonlight, though, for the sake of content. Children need to know that reading isn't all boring "See Jane run." They need exposure to real literature to want to read, and to start developing a sense of story elements and vocabulary. Almost all of the Sonlight books I looked at in the core I'm considering were available by audiobook through the library, sometimes even online via the libary's membership in certain websites so that you don't have to be responsible for the physical copy of the tape/CD. I do think that years of nothing but controlled reading can really stunt a child's growth...when I still taught in schools, I did see so many children in remedial classes who had totally had the love of reading and writing beaten out of them by the dullness of working on a lower level of literacy. So, I would try to get that exposure to large quantities of quality literature through audiobooks....controlled texts to focus on learning phonics, but unabridged audio to feed their minds.

 

Whether they read along or just listen and doodle would depend on how well they track across the lines of text, IMO....whether or not it is close enough to their own pace for them to see the words properly, or whether it flies by too fast to follow without gaining bad habits.

[peacefully]

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[Paisley Hedgehog]

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[Splash]

For two years ages 8-10 dd did OG with tutor and very controlled reading assignments. Only last six months of tutoring did she read books. During that time tutor encouraged books on tape and reading aloud to her to keep up her learning and vocabulary. When stopped tutoring at 10.5 reading was at grade level and dd was reading magic tree house, secrets of droon, Judy Moody, Junie B Jones type books. She did this for about another 6 months. She tried Harry Potter but at that point it was too hard and frustrating. She did devour books though and reread many of her favorites.

 

Fast forward: She is now 12, she reads nonstop. Finished Harry Potter series 3x, Percy Jackson Series 2x along with lots of classic literature. She tested in the 99% for reading/vocabulary this year. When she was 8 teacher actually put away the test and didn't finish because it wasn't appropriate for her and she ranked in the 1%. Speed in testing situations is still an issue but that is about it. Well and spelling we're still working on that.

[PeterPan]

Ok, I'll go back and say the thing you might not like. The fatiguing easily could be his eyes, not the dyslexia. It's easy to assume that because a dc has dyslexia all the problems are caused by it. In fact, dyslexia causes them to fall ASLEEP, absolutely. But just fatiguing? I'm not sure that's the case. I would go back to the eyes for that. And as my evidence on dyslexia causing them to fall asleep, I site two adult dyslexics and what I've read online. For the fatiguing eyes, I site my dd.

 

Now as far as improving the reading, well in our house it was audio books. Basically she listened to audio books so far ahead of her comprehension or reading or anything else that she just had this huge reservoir of words to draw on when she started to read. That way she didn't need to sound out, which of course she didn't (and still probably doesn't) do. I just found out this week she has been skipping all the long names in Lord of the Rings, hehe. I asked her for the name of a king from LotR so we could give our new dog a name, and she couldn't tell me. She has read the books over and over and over. So she's still gulping by whole words and not sounding out things she doesn't know.

 

Where that was going, I don't know, except to say yes to audio books and more reading. But more reading won't help if the problem is his eyes.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

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[LizzyBee]

Ok, I'll go back and say the thing you might not like. The fatiguing easily could be his eyes, not the dyslexia. It's easy to assume that because a dc has dyslexia all the problems are caused by it. In fact, dyslexia causes them to fall ASLEEP, absolutely. But just fatiguing? I'm not sure that's the case. I would go back to the eyes for that. And as my evidence on dyslexia causing them to fall asleep, I site two adult dyslexics and what I've read online. For the fatiguing eyes, I site my dd.

 

Now as far as improving the reading, well in our house it was audio books. Basically she listened to audio books so far ahead of her comprehension or reading or anything else that she just had this huge reservoir of words to draw on when she started to read. That way she didn't need to sound out, which of course she didn't (and still probably doesn't) do. I just found out this week she has been skipping all the long names in Lord of the Rings, hehe. I asked her for the name of a king from LotR so we could give our new dog a name, and she couldn't tell me. She has read the books over and over and over. So she's still gulping by whole words and not sounding out things she doesn't know.

 

Where that was going, I don't know, except to say yes to audio books and more reading. But more reading won't help if the problem is his eyes.

 

I'll both agree and disagree with you. :D

 

If the eyes are not working correctly, yes, that will cause fatigue. But dyslexia will also cause fatigue. First, the mental exertion required for a dyslexic student to learn to read is enormous. Second, therapies and OG curricula are designed to re-wire the parts of the brain that aren't working correctly. Again, that's an exhausting process. I have read of (and experienced) dyslexics experiencing fatigue, but not falling asleep. I can see where that would happen to some dyslexics, though. Heck, I even fall asleep when I'm reading sometimes. :tongue_smilie:

[Love_to_Read]

Physical fatigue...like rubbing eyes...might present differently than mental fatigue...though I'd expect some overlap, like headaches.

[PeterPan]

Ok, I'll go back and say the thing you might not like. The fatiguing easily could be his eyes, not the dyslexia. It's easy to assume that because a dc has dyslexia all the problems are caused by it. In fact, dyslexia causes them to fall ASLEEP, absolutely. But just fatiguing? I'm not sure that's the case.

 

It's fine to say it. Ds goes for a VT screening next Tuesday. :lol: We went for his comprehensive exam yesterday, and the student optometrist noticed that ds's eyes tended to turn outwards the longer he was in the chair. So if it's obvious to a trainee, what's the real doc gonna say? So much for Dr. Mom ;)

 

(ds's vision tested 20/15 though, so I'm not a horribly awful parent for ignoring the advice about VT all this time :D)

 

Well good for you!! You'll have to keep us posted on how it goes! Are you going to wait on glasses to see what the VT doc says?

 

Well I'm happy you're getting some answers. And you know, in your shoes, as impatient as you probably feel, I would wait just a fuzz before starting your next thing with phonics, etc. Figure out the VT and put your energy into that. You can get changes pretty quickly, and then he'll have better eye function to build with. You've put so many pieces into him, maybe things will just CLICK.

 

Definitely keep us posted! :)

[PeterPan]

Physical fatigue...like rubbing eyes...might present differently than mental fatigue...though I'd expect some overlap, like headaches.

 

Exactly. The younger the child, the more trouble they have explaining what they're feeling. They just know it feels bad and they don't like it. But whether it's their eyes hurting or the mental strain (producing a headache) of their brain trying to resolve double images and poor convergence or whether it's just that the processing is hard, they're going to have a hard time putting it into words. What I had read, and what stacks up with my experience, is you can have a dyslexia for whom reading is slow, processing is not going well, and they read but sort of lull off to sleep. My dh and stepfather are like this. I'm normal, and if I start reading a book I actually WAKE UP. But when you have that thing of trying a task and 10-15 minutes later wigging out, that, for my dd, was the eyes.

 

It's definitely not as simple as saying it has to be rubbing eyes, because there's actually a mental strain with vision problems. I've been doing the VT stuff on myself to work on my peripheral vision (which was off enough that it impacted my driving), and that strain creeps up so subtley that you don't even realize what has happened. It's sort of a headache, fatigue, gotta STOP kind of feeling. No rubbing of the eyes for me at all. If I as an adult can't even sort through what I'm feeling, I can't imagine trying to sort it out in a kid. You just have to check the eyes, treat what is going on, and see what symptoms resolve.

[Love_to_Read]

:) thanks for the perspective :)

[merry gardens]

My son didn't really read much until he was about 8. We started with Dr. Seuss and similar books (a couple lines of text per page) and worked until he was getting burned out. I gradually increased the amount of reading. The harder it is, the less he does. He is now almost 10, and reading books at about a fourth-grade level but there are lots of words he's not familiar with (words that are never used in regular conversation).

 

I read to him aloud from decently-challenging literature, but I really need to have him read along with audiobooks. I don't care if he's gaining the words by sight-reading - I can definitely see how it would help tremendously. I have the Harry Potter audiobooks, along with The 100 Cupboards series and the Narnia books. I'd love more suggestions.

Ondreeuh, I love your avitar! :lol:

[ondreeuh]

I saw it on a tee shirt site and laughed so hard I could barely catch my breath. It definitely helps to find SOME humor in dyslexia.

[LizzyBee]

I saw it on a tee shirt site and laughed so hard I could barely catch my breath. It definitely helps to find SOME humor in dyslexia.

 

I might put that as my facebook status today. I love it!

[rafiki]

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[gracyomalley]

We did a combination - with ds. When tested at age 9 he had a clear diagnosis of dyslexia, but also very slow processing, and was one of those reading at grade level technically kids, who couldn't always read a sentence out of context. His tutor worked on the phonemic awareness stuff and we continued phonics based instruction...then switched to SL for literature...he cried when he saw the books, but went on to finish EVERY one of the advanced readers...and now is keeping up still. He reads for fun some, but gets very fatigued by his school day, so unfortunately, as reading is still mentally hard work, listens to audiobooks more, once his schooling is done - but is still reading an historical novel/biography in the 4-6th grade level, every 1-2 weeks...can read his middle school science (but definitely benefits from having the option of clicking on "read the question".

 

He always loved books - and figured out the "read along with the audio" thing on his own with the Chronicles of Narnia. I'm not sure his dyslexia is properly remediated - I think we may have started too late...but his other skills and perserverance are kicking in well -

 

I really was torn about the literature based program, but frankly, the SL choices are very engaging and has excellent vocbulary, high interest, and he's learned tons...its been a good fit - but really important to match the readers to the level that a child can really read, not too advanced. The first book he started to read on his own for fun was Harry Potter, but the first one he actually finished was A House at Pooh Corner - which he read off his ITouch to his Border Collie at night...that's the level that was truely easy for him - so I'm ok with that!

 

Erin

[EKS]

If you're looking to improve reading fluency, it is very effective to have the child read aloud to you every day. Start with books that are easy for them and gradually work up. Also gradually extend the time from 5 minutes (if that is where he tires) to up to 30 minutes. I did this with my son for a year and a half and it really helped. He started out with Junie B. Jones <gasp> books , moved on to Magic Tree House, and ended up with Childhood of Famous Americans books.