Reading fluency: please tell me it gets better!

[FairProspects]

Please tell me at some point ds will be able to read a book with more than 2 lines of text on it without stopping or stuttering or sounding out a word. We have been working on this for so long, completed 18 months of vision therapy, and reading sentences is still a struggle. I'm grateful he can at least sound out words now, but putting them together in a manner like speech is apparently akin to climbing Mt. Everest. The thought of adding my 5 y.o. and having 2 beginning readers to slog through makes me want to cry.

 

Any thoughts for improving fluency would be appreciated. We have tried reading along with books on tape, and repeated readings of a passage, and while these do help him improve on the passage we practice, none of it seems to transfer to the next book or the next time he sees the word. Does he just need more practice? Any words of encouragement?

[cjgrubbs]

:grouphug:

 

My oldest was not reading until 6.5 and it was still kind of slow and painful for another year or so. He is now a great reader with great comprehension BUT he is still not real pleasant to listen to reading out loud and he's 11! So I still read to him alot (modeling) and he does a lot of independent reading as well. I do have him read to his younger brothers for practice - these are easier books that he generally knows and he has much improved on the sound of his reading out loud but still to give him something his reading leavel (7th-8th) that is new and ask him to read aloud is kind of painful for the listener!

 

My middle is 8 and he is just now really starting to read chapter books on his own. However, he can read a story book to my 5 year old and do a much better job than the 11 year old...but he doesn't like to read on his own as much.

 

So I think every child is different. If your son reads to himself silently is he understanding? Can he answer a simple question from what he reads?

 

Just keep practicing. I repeated the same books with middle son while we worked on this until he was fluent with them and they seemed "easy". This helped him build his confidence.

[mama25angels]

:grouphug: Yes it does get better! My DS is 50% better than he was last year and he seems to get better daily.

[Delighted3]

I know it is hard, but in my experience, the best path to fluency is for a child to read out loud for a short time each day. I also highly recommend the "I See Sam" little books for struggling readers. They are very incremental and your child has success from the very first reader. They are fairly expensive, but you only have to buy one set at a time and the first 2 sets are available online for printing.

 

This is about the reading program:

http://iseesam.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8_9&zenid=f7c16a92da248bf3a09c49e1df79a363

 

Here is a link to the free printouts of set 1 and 2:

http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/

 

HTH,

Joy

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

One day it just clicked for my dd. She was spelling (better than she could read) and reading one word at a time by slowly sounding them out. One day she just picked up an easy reader from the library and read the whole thing (well, I helped with a word or two). This was 2.5 years ago and now she can read anything. Word building (spelling a la AAS) and reading games for one word at a time worked well for us until things clicked. Then, and only then, did we start working on reading sentences.

[FairProspects]

So I think every child is different. If your son reads to himself silently is he understanding? Can he answer a simple question from what he reads?

 

I don't really know. Other than Lego Club magazines, he won't read anything silently or at all. It is a struggle just to get him to read aloud to me once a day.

 

We already do AAS and he can sound out very difficult words individually, but he has difficulty continuing a sentence to the next line without stopping or losing his place or tripping over a word. This is such a hard, long road and I know ds is super frustrated too.

[Critterfixer]

Is vision his only issue with reading do you think? Has the vision work resulted in improvements in other areas? Vision is a big part of reading, but it isn't all of it.

[Beth in SW WA]

Does he just need more practice? Any words of encouragement?

 

Yep. Nothing profound to offer except...practice, practice, practise...as with any skill. My dd7 is my slowest reader. She reads every day for an hour. With me. With big brother. With big sisters. With dad. Alone. Orally. Silently. With an audio book. She even reads to our puppy.

 

We break it up. But we never miss a day. My goal for her this year is increased fluency.

 

Bribery doesn't hurt. Perhaps set small goals with big rewards. :)

[Blueridge]

It gets better. I promise! :grouphug: Slow and steady will yield great rewards one day. :001_smile:

[genny]

I know it is hard, but in my experience, the best path to fluency is for a child to read out loud for a short time each day. I also highly recommend the "I See Sam" little books for struggling readers. They are very incremental and your child has success from the very first reader. They are fairly expensive, but you only have to buy one set at a time and the first 2 sets are available online for printing.

 

This is about the reading program:

http://iseesam.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=8_9&zenid=f7c16a92da248bf3a09c49e1df79a363

 

Here is a link to the free printouts of set 1 and 2:

http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/

 

HTH,

Joy

 

Thanks Joy for the link to the free printouts...these will really come in handy:D

[happyhomemaker]

You will get there! Don't be discouraged! Ds has just recently, in the past couple of weeks, started to take off in reading. He could sound out words and read some, but he was always telling me that he hated reading and couldn't do it. I started pointing out words he could read at random times during the day. He would come to me to read something for a video game, and I would point out some words he could read. I extended this to signs, words on cereal boxes etc. I think this gave him confidence that he could read in "real" situations and not just slowly sitting with me. He started to try harder and tell me he could figure out words by himself. The other day he picked up an easy reader and read the whole thing! I think sometimes it just takes a while, and then they have a lightbulb moment and take off.

[MerryAtHope]

I don't really know. Other than Lego Club magazines, he won't read anything silently or at all. It is a struggle just to get him to read aloud to me once a day.

 

We already do AAS and he can sound out very difficult words individually, but he has difficulty continuing a sentence to the next line without stopping or losing his place or tripping over a word. This is such a hard, long road and I know ds is super frustrated too.

 

Have you talked about this at all with the vision therapy office? My son did VT at an older age, and while not a perfect fix, it has helped a lot, as has AAS. Maybe when the new AAR 1 is out, that will provide additional fluency exercises that would be helpful (though the level may be too easy for him, but if you are going to use it for younger children also, it might be worth it to use some aspects of it with him).

 

I will say that my oldest sounded out every. single. 3-letter word until he was 8, and it was a very slow & painstaking process! But it does get better (he's in 9th grade and reading all of his own science, history, lit etc... and enjoying it!).

 

At age 7, one thing he liked was Calvin & Hobbes comic books. I'm sure he just looked at the pictures a lot of the time, but I figured eventually he'd be trying to read the captions too!

 

Are you using the AAS readers?

 

One thing you might try--go through his readers and pull out words and make them with tiles. Have him read them independently in tiles first (or handwrite them on a white board). Then when he comes to them in his readers, he'll have had exposure to them already.

 

With tracking, have you tried using an index card *above* the line he's reading? Sometimes people try the line below, but that does make a reader have to stop at the end of a line. Holding it above the line blocks out extra text but allows the eye to have the chance to track smoothly to the next line of text. Practicing that way might help him learn how not to stop at every line.

 

Hang in there! (((Hugs))) Merry :-)

[FairProspects]

Have you talked about this at all with the vision therapy office?

 

With tracking, have you tried using an index card *above* the line he's reading? Sometimes people try the line below, but that does make a reader have to stop at the end of a line. Holding it above the line blocks out extra text but allows the eye to have the chance to track smoothly to the next line of text. Practicing that way might help him learn how not to stop at every line.

 

Hang in there! (((Hugs))) Merry :-)

 

Well, technically he graduated from VT. His last check-up they said he no longer had tracking issues. I also know he had a really off sensory day today. Even he said his brain just wasn't working right. I just have such a hard time handling it when he has one of these days!

 

It is funny you should mention the card thing though because he does use a special blue see-through card for reading that focuses the text. Maybe I should try turning it upside down and using it from above. That might really help him.

 

There are some days when I am just so overwhelmed by his needs.

[Critterfixer]

Make sure that he knows that you know it is difficult, and that you are proud of him when he gives his best efforts. I know with my sons, particularly my younger one with reading difficulties, appreciates being told that I applaud his work. He's hFA, so he doesn't like hugs, but he does like to be told that I am pleased that he works so hard at things that are so hard for him.

[mindygz]

My dd9 was still slowly chugging through easy readers at age 7 (fall of 2nd grade year). The biggest thing that felt like it helped was alternating us reading more interesting books (we did the Rainbow Fairy books for her) for her reading time. It was almost painful for me, but we did it determinedly about 20 minutes a day. She started taking off mid 2nd grade, and just today I looked up a book she had picked up and read (and loved) and it was a 5.5 on the Scholastic reading level chart.

 

Now I'm struggling through with ds6 (7 in December) and am working hard to keep that perspective and remind myself that eventually it WILL click. And I keep hoping ds2 will be one of those quick learners... a mom can dream, right?

[mamatohaleybug]

I don't have great advice. My daughter just turned 9 and is still a very choppy, struggling reader. She can figure out more and more words and her comprehension has improved a lot but the fluency leaves much to be desired. She has improved enormously but still is reading only at a beginning 2nd grade level. She also has vision issues along with a lot of other special needs. I've found that the best way is to just encourage and give praise and find things she actually enjoys reading. Slowly but surely she makes progress and sometimes now will even pick up an early reader (Fancy Nancy books) to read by herself. That gives me hope! Hang in there!

[Tmhearn]

Your siggy says that you're using OPGTR. How far along are you? I only ask, because my dd was still really slow with reading all the way through finishing that book (which took like 2 years). I expected her fluency to be better by finishing the book.

 

After reading suggestions here, I added in more daily practice. I think that really helped. She reads outloud for 20 minutes or so daily and then to herself for another 20 minutes. I really think the daily practice is important. We also use ETC for reinforcement of what we have already learned in addition to a spelling program.

 

It really is a long process! I too have another reader starting up. I was also dreading starting the process over, but he seems to be picking it up a little easier. So, maybe your next child will be a little easier. If nothing else, we know better about what to expect, right?

[FairProspects]

Your siggy says that you're using OPGTR. How far along are you? I only ask, because my dd was still really slow with reading all the way through finishing that book (which took like 2 years). I expected her fluency to be better by finishing the book.

 

We are around Lesson 185. After poking around on the AAS website, I highly suspect ds is at least mildly dyslexic. I think at this point we are going to look into testing, keep up with the AAS and daily reading practice, and maybe re-group after we get some additional results.

[BigMamaBird]

For some strange reason, we have major breakthroughs in February. I don't know why. But we were struggling along, just like you. Then February hit and something just clicked. Maybe it was maturity, maybe confidence, I don't know. But keep going. You will hit a breakthrough someday and then they'll be reading every sign you pass along the road and every book in a bin!

[kitten18]

Have you tried Reading Pathways?

 

It's good for fluency because each line in pyramid builds on the previous line.

So at the beginning of the book, a pyramid might be:

 

Gus

Gus is

Gus is a pig.

Gus is a fat pig.

Gus, is a fat pig, and he

etc......

 

 

I've been using it with my DD (she will be 8 in a few days), along with nonsense words, Remedial Reading (downloaded from Elizabeth B's site), and lists of words from Webster's Speller.

[Cassy]

I've been having similar problems with my DS7. For two years now I've been doing reading with him every day, twice a day, for around 20 minutes each time. He's slowly getting there. I have felt desperate sometimes, but 'fortunately' I have a DS12 who's wonderfully clever, doing brilliantly well at a very good school, and who didn't really read properly until he was 8. DH is dyslexic, so I think there's probably some genetic developmental delay with my boys (although the other two DS10 and DS4 seem fine).

 

My experience with DS12 has been that one day it just 'clicks', and it certainly seems to be going that way with DS7 at the moment. I do hope this will be your experience too :001_smile:.

 

Best of luck

 

Cassy

[MerryAtHope]

Well, technically he graduated from VT. His last check-up they said he no longer had tracking issues. I also know he had a really off sensory day today. Even he said his brain just wasn't working right. I just have such a hard time handling it when he has one of these days!

 

Interesting (and a good thing!) that he can communicate to you that his brain isn't working right on some days. It's hard on everyone, I agree.

 

Have you ever kept a journal to see if it relates to anything like food he eats, or certain events?

 

I used to cut things short on days like that, and try again later or the next day. Hang in there! Merry :-)