first grader not reading at all-- suggestions?

[butterflymommy]

:bigear:

 

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. DD is 6 1/2 and has not made any real progress in reading over the past year+. She knows her letters and sounds but cannot put them together into words.

 

I've tried: Seton, R & S, 100 EZ lessons, Starfall, MFW K, Bob Books, flashcard games, we even tried doing nothing just to see if she could "grow into it." She can sight read a handful of words-- her name and maybe three other words. She can't sound out words. She watches PBS shows like Word Girl but none of it is sinking in.

 

Any ideas? Is there anything I can do for her?

 

She is at level in math (except for word problems, which she can't read).

[PentecostalMom]

I wouldn't worry. Every child is different. My ds did not start reading until the summer between 1st and 2nd grades. He was just barely sounding out words before then, and he just suddenly got it.

 

My dd is in 1st, (she will be six in March) but we technically started K "early" according to school standards. We have been slowly working our way through Ordinary Parents Guide (by the way, you don't say that you've tried it) and she is just beginning the 2nd set of BOB books. She can read them, but slowly and still sounds out many words before saying them. However, we missed quite a bit of school this past fall because of a move, baby being born, a vacation, and going out of state for two weeks because my father had heart surgery. From mid-August to New Year's, we probably only did 3 weeks of school. We started back Tuesday and I can tell she is more ready and is learning the OPGTR lessons easier than she was a short time ago.

 

I say pick something and stick with it, and keep doing the same things repeatedly. Reading takes practice, patience, and time.

Edited January 8, 2012 by PentecostalMom

[Aurelia]

Perhaps Bear Necessities or The Writing Road to Reading will help. BN has minimal writing while WRTR has much more. Ariel made the most progress when I started implementing WRTR methods having her write the phonograms and read them back. From there it was easy for her to combine the phonograms into words.

[Ellie]

:bigear:

 

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. DD is 6 1/2 and has not made any real progress in reading over the past year+. She knows her letters and sounds but cannot put them together into words.

 

I've tried: Seton, R & S, 100 EZ lessons, Starfall, MFW K, Bob Books, flashcard games, we even tried doing nothing just to see if she could "grow into it." She can sight read a handful of words-- her name and maybe three other words. She can't sound out words. She watches PBS shows like Word Girl but none of it is sinking in.

 

Any ideas? Is there anything I can do for her?

 

She is at level in math (except for word problems, which she can't read).

Wow. That's a lot of different methods to have been "tried" with a child who is only 6½.

 

My standard recommendation: Spalding. Drop everything else.:)

[butterflymommy]

Wow. That's a lot of different methods to have been "tried" with a child who is only 6½.

 

My standard recommendation: Spalding. Drop everything else.:)

 

We started a little before her fifth bday since she was identifying letters and picked up quickly on sounds. We did Seton and MFW K (which is very "light," mainly matching games) concurrently, gave up for a while, then started R&S (not the whole set, just a page or two a day in a workbook), bob books (me reading to her), and 100 EZ concurrently. We've tried the flashcard games and encourage her to play starfall throughout. We also leave subtitles on during TV shows. Nothing sinks in.

 

I'll look into the two programs mentioned here so far, thanks!! :bigear:

[Ellie]

We started a little before her fifth bday since she was identifying letters and picked up quickly on sounds. We did Seton and MFW K (which is very "light," mainly matching games) concurrently, gave up for a while, then started R&S (not the whole set, just a page or two a day in a workbook), bob books (me reading to her), and 100 EZ concurrently. We've tried the flashcard games and encourage her to play starfall throughout. We also leave subtitles on during TV shows. Nothing sinks in.

 

I'll look into the two programs mentioned here so far, thanks!! :bigear:

Ok, see, it doesn't look as if you've done a comprehensive phonics program all the way through, so it really isn't accurate to say that you've tried all those programs and that they haven't worked, KWIM?. That isn't a bad thing, considering her age, but apparently, she needs something more.

[Terabith]

Yeah, but it's hard to do a comprehensive phonics program all the way through when you can't get to the point of sounding out CVC words. You just can't go anywhere.

 

How is her phonemic awareness? Can she rhyme? Say what sound a word starts with? If you say /k/ pause /a/ pause /t/, can she say cat? Can she stretch words out?

 

That's where I would start. You need to establish the phonemic awareness. I would do lots of games with poker chips where she pulls down a poker chip for each sound. Start with two sounds per word. Remember, not letters, but sounds. So, say the word "no" and have her stretch it. nnnnnnn.....oooooo, pulling down a chip for each sound. Then have her touch each chip and say its sound. Touch the n chip and say n, etc.

 

If her phonemic awareness isn't good and she can't do these activities, I would have her do the Barton screening test. http://bartonreading.com/students_long.html#screen

 

Try that first. Next recommendations depend on how she does.

[Shellers]

I recommend Bear Necessities!

[PhotoGal]

Similar to what Terabith said, here is what I suggest:

 

 

Get some letter magnets or tiles (lower case)

 

Start with just a two letter word (like "it"). Make the first word for her, point to the i and say its sound, then point to the t and say its sound, then blend it together.

 

Have just a few more letters available (the rest put away). I would recommend a couple vowels and a few easily distinguished consonants (t, p, g)

 

Ask her to make change your word into another word

 

For example: This is the word "it". Can you change it into the word "at"?

 

If she does it, huge praise and enthusiasm!

 

If not, point out what she did right (you can say, "You are right, we do need to change a letter" even if she changes the wrong one, kwim?), then show her how to do it "Let's try changing the i to a" and point/sound out again.

 

Keep going with just 2 letters until it is easy. (You can use "made up" words if necessary - just let her know these aren't real words, just for fun - like turn "it" into "ip").

 

Once 2 letters is easy, try three letter CVC words. Keep going with those until they are easy. Then try blends, longer words, etc. This is really focused work and should help her ability to sound things out.

 

 

You may also want to add some sight words using flashcards and predictable text (I know some people on here don't like those methods!). I noticed my dd actually reads "normal" books better than pure phonics books (like Bob books) because the story and word choice make more sense to her. Personally I glaze over whenever "a cat has a tan hat" as well. But we use both phonics (AAS, ETC, making words as described above, Bob books) and sight words (flashcards with common words, reading books where you can predict what word it is, then use phonics to check).

 

Hope that helps! I used to be an intensive reading tutor so I am just sharing some of the strategies from that experience. :D

[kubiac]

Maybe ReadingBear.org? Hey, it's free... :)

[momsuz123]

We have been having some similiar problems here. We are really working on the phonics - we have AAS and AAR level 1. (I already had them when Ellie was telling me about Spalding). They are definitely helping - but it. is. slow. I am trying a different mind set. If it is okay for kids to learn how to ride a bike at different ages, then why do they all have to be reading at 6? I am doing a ton of read-a-louds. I don't push her to read much. We spend our reading and spelling time really focusing on the phonics. I recently purchased the Mary Pecci workbooks which have actually been great. They have a lot of fun phonics things to do more independently - my dd loves them and actually asks to do them - I think she likes that she can do them more on her own. I also just bought some books by Peggy Kaye called Reading Games (or something like that). These were all based on recommendations from the Hive. I am having a new more laid back approach with my dd, and I think it is a healthier one. Yes, she may have a ton of red flags for dyslexia, but she is too young for the test, and I don't want to just sit here and do nothing. I hope some of this has helped. Just hang in there, keep trying, be patient. I will let you know a few other things that I have tried recently that have really helped - but I really love AAS and AAR.

[Cassy]

Another point to consider is consistency of practice.

 

I've found that practicing reading for 20 minutes or so, twice a day, every day, has been essential for DS7, who is probably dyslexic to some degree (DH and DS12 have both been diagnosed dyslexic). It can be hard. Sitting day after day, struggling with the same, simple words for weeks at a time, making no apparent progress, can be soul destroying. However, DH didn't learn to read until he was around 10 y.o., despite having a very high IQ, and in the end he felt it was this consistency and intensity of practice which helped him to finally learn to read.

 

It did begin to 'click' for DS7 about six months ago, and he's made fabulous progress since. I know some people will say that it's a developmental thing, and that when they're ready to read it will just 'click', but I've always felt that I just couldn't leave it to chance like that.

 

Good luck and best wishes

 

Cassy

[EKS]

Have you ever tried it with you sounding out the words and having her put them together?

[Ellie]

Yeah, but it's hard to do a comprehensive phonics program all the way through when you can't get to the point of sounding out CVC words. You just can't go anywhere.

It depends on what method you are using. Spalding and its cousins don't focus on teaching CVC words. And it doesn't sound as if the OP has done a comprehensive phonics program to any extent.

[Mommee & Baba]

My dd6.5 is NOT a child that learns well with a book when it comes to reading. Her best progress was with tools such as All about Spelling...which isn't even a reading program! BUT this helped her to know that the sounds and how they blend together to form words. It was really neat. BUT it's just a spelling program, they do have a reading program but again she's not a book child when it comes to reading.

 

Now that she does well with her Spelling, I keep at it twice a week. But she enjoys Reading Eggs for her reading. It's brought her up to her grade level in less than 3 months. She does 3-4 lessons each week and more on the weekends when she's bored!

 

If your dd is NOT a book learner for reading I suggest something else like Reading Eggs.

 

I tried OPGTR, HOP, 100EZ, TRL, and several online programs for printing out books. NOTHING would get to her in a POSITIVE way and make her take anything from it. That's when I saw someone post about Reading Eggs and a free trial and tried it out and it was an INSTANT hit here with my 3rd grader and my 1st grader!

[prairiewindmomma]

--

Edited November 10, 2021 by prairiewindmomma

[brendag]

I started my 4 year old twins with the Leapfrog Letter Factory dvd. After they got the sounds down, we then moved on to Webster's Speller (syllabary) using a whiteboard and big magnet letters (for spelling). They do Starfall.com for fun every once in awhile. They are moving right along. Best of all, Webster's and Starfall are free. I printed out Webster's from donpotter.net. Loving this so far!!! Reading and spelling for us involves 20 minutes, 4 times a week, but I'm teaching both at the same time.

 

Elizabeth has a great site with lessons on using it.

 

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

 

Good luck with whatever you do!

Brenda

[siloam]

Yeah, but it's hard to do a comprehensive phonics program all the way through when you can't get to the point of sounding out CVC words. You just can't go anywhere.

 

How is her phonemic awareness? Can she rhyme? Say what sound a word starts with? If you say /k/ pause /a/ pause /t/, can she say cat? Can she stretch words out?

 

That's where I would start. You need to establish the phonemic awareness. I would do lots of games with poker chips where she pulls down a poker chip for each sound. Start with two sounds per word. Remember, not letters, but sounds. So, say the word "no" and have her stretch it. nnnnnnn.....oooooo, pulling down a chip for each sound. Then have her touch each chip and say its sound. Touch the n chip and say n, etc.

 

If her phonemic awareness isn't good and she can't do these activities, I would have her do the Barton screening test. http://bartonreading.com/students_long.html#screen

 

Try that first. Next recommendations depend on how she does.

I would second this.

 

I would also ask, can she spell? My 2nd dd could spell for over a year before she could blend. We focused on spelling and the reading eventually clicked (which is what Ellie is suggesting).

 

Barton did wonders for my ds who also couldn't blend. By that I mean we had been working on blending (by my doing it first and him repeating, first slowly then faster then saying the word and him repeating each step after me) for almost a year, and with Barton he was blending in a week. But he also had phonic awareness problems and had to go through LiPS first.

 

Heather

 

[abacus2]

Explode the code online helped my 6 year old make the connection and start blending.

[southernm]

Explode the code was such a blessing for ds 6. He abhores sounding out words. He cried over OPGTR. For some reason, he has really caught onto ETC.

[momsuz123]

I also agree with a pp stating that do reading in shorter increments throughout the day. With my dd, we do it about 2x/day and I try and go for about 20 minutes each time (we had to work up to that, and we don't always even do that. I am really trying to make it fun also. When I first started using AAS 1 with her, I first used it as a phonics only curriculum. I knew she couldn't spell the words yet. I really slowed down the pronounciation with each word, and we just took our time. Then we did it all over again, but more from a spelling approach. It is slowly coming together. I have to always be ahead of her and ready for another "game" or idea though because the grumbles come out easy.

[Walking-Iris]

I also agree with pp to find something and to stick with it and to do it every day.

 

My ds didn't like the format of Alphaphonics or EZ Lessons either. And I don't really like the scripted books, so what you could do is to use those books but to write out the lesson on a white board or chalkboard or with letter tiles. Write out the parts/letters of words in different colors.

 

I second also ETC and watching the LeapFrog DVDs. Also about Starfall (which my ds loved), sit down and work through it sequentially with your child. I firmly believe that kids left to *play* on those sites may jump around too much or get distracted by the stimuli, but if you're there with them you can work through it and direct their attention where it needs to be and repeat in a *real* human voice what the computer just said, kwim?

 

Also read every day, stopping now and then to point out a word and sound it out. Read chapter books at bedtime, listen to audioboooks, keep the captions on the TV etc.

 

If your dc is a confident writer (printing the letters) then try to combine the handwriting and reading a lot of the time. If your dc is not a confident printer then stop and work on that.

 

Also does your dc show emergent reading? Doe she *read* a favorite storybook out loud by memory for example or make up a story by looking at the pictures as if she's reading it?

Edited January 7, 2012 by Walking-Iris

[Canadianmumof5]

We loved Headsprout here. I know many here don't "approve" of it - but he is a reading fiend now and will.not.stop.reading.

 

We did try a few lessons of 100EZ before plunking down the $$ for Headsprout.....but that was a total bomb here.

[Lecka]

I agree with Terebethia also.

 

For my son having a manipulative (i.e. letter tiles) was Very Important. It made it concrete for him. Orally doing blends or segments (mmmmaaaaannnn and see if he could say man) was not helpful for him.

 

I spent a long time modeling for him, without asking him to do anything. Then, I asked him to copy me right after I had done one.

 

The word chains (where you start with man and ask him to make it can) were great for him too.

 

I looked at phonemic awareness activities done orally and changed them to be done with a letter tile. Like -- the ones where you say a word, and they are supposed to segment it with coins or counters.... he did much better practicing doing that with letter tiles. It was an extra help for him to understand what was going on.

[kalanamak]

 

Any ideas? Is there anything I can do for her?

 

 

Phonics Pathways has you work on two letter sounds, drill fashion, and then moves to three letters.

I had a pair to homemade paper "wheels" held together with a brad. The center had wedges with at, ed, ay, etc and the bigger wheel had a consonant. You could rotate to pay, say, may or pat, sat, mat, etc. That was practice blending the consonant with the "memorized" rest of the word. I also did that with magnetic letters, leaving a column of consonants in place and letting a pair of letters start at the top and "sink" down level by level.

I'm glad we did SWR, because it gave kiddo a lot of confidence that reading WOULD come. I mean, if he could remember all 6 sounds of -ough, and could spell all those words, it would come, right?

[kalanamak]

Have you ever tried it with you sounding out the words and having her put them together?

 

:iagree:

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

My first step in teaching my kids to read is to teach them to break a word into its separate sounds. They start out identifying just the first sound, then first and last, all the way to saying each sound. This is all done orally. Then we move on to word building with a movable alphabet. We do play some simple reading games at this point, where they are reading one word at a time. We stay here until reading clicks. They go from slowly sounding out one word at a time to reading a whole book.

[Hope in God]

Every child is different. My first didn't really learn how to read comfortably until just after she turned 8 but my second taught himself how to read when he was 3 just from watching the Leapfrog videos. I am finding that my third needs A LOT of reinforcement and if I had to be providing all that reinforcement I would go nuts so I am using Reading Eggs.

 

I highly recommend reading eggs for a child that just needs that little bit of help to pull it all together. There is a large variety of lessons and they are all short so that it doesn't get tedious. You can do a free trial online.

[NASDAQ]

I'm a little hesitant about the "children moving at different speeds" business. AFAIK the research Jeanne Chall did in reading suggested that "watchful waiting" is very overused.

 

I'm not familiar with the phonics component of MFW. It would be helpful to know how far you've gotten in a comprehensive phonics program. Did she get through the phonemic awareness parts in 100EZ Lessons? Does she know the consonant sounds? Can she break a word into different parts -- identify the sounds in CAT, say?

 

DD did phonics K with Saxon, and she didn't need to be able to read CVC words to do it, although she could.

[LarrySanger]

I think of learning to read as a step-by-step process. The student really can't proceed to a step until she's thoroughly mastered the previous steps. A lot of people don't really understand this--they treat reading like a mystery. It really isn't. No offense, but I really believe that age-based "reading readiness" is a myth, as is the idea that some kids "just aren't ready" because of some mysterious brain development. That's simply not it; instead, whether the student is "ready" to read depends on what skills she has previously mastered (emphasis on "mastered"). Here are the steps as I understand them:

 

1. Learn to recognize the ABCs. Given the letter name said out loud, the child should be able to pick the letter out of a lineup. Also, given a letter written, the child should be able to say its name. There are lots of tools to help with this, of course--ABC books, Starfall, various Leapfrog toys like the "Phonics Bus" which we used, etc. I guess your child can do this, but if you're not sure, test her.

 

2. Learn the sounds of the individual consonants. These are not too hard if you stick to individual consonants--digraphs and blends are taught in phonics. The sounds of the vowels are also done in phonics, so you needn't bother with them either. These sounds must be learned thoroughly in advance. I obviously don't know, but this might be where your child is stuck. A child will be very confused if the consonant sounds haven't been thoroughly mastered. Again, Starfall and toys can help with this. Another good resource is this collection of videos I put together.

 

3. Be able to go from the word sounded out (e.g., /d/ /o/ /g/) by you to the word blended by the child ("That says dog!"). My guess is that your child is stuck here, if not at 2. This wouldn't be surprising, because this is the hardest step. Once a child begins to get the knack of going from individual letter sounds (which you supply) to a blended word, it's all downhill (assuming you've got a decent reading program to follow after that). This can be practiced in many ways. Refrigerator magnets, flashcards, and LeapFrog fridge phonics can help, as can lots of different software programs. My favorite is a website I designed myself--ReadingBear.org. 100% free, ad-free, and non-profit (supported by the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi). You'd use the "Sound It Out Slowly" setting. The first five presentations are all CVC words that drill about 150 different words at four different speeds. I hope you'll have a look.

 

4. Be able to sound out words. If the child relies on you to do the sounding-out, she won't progress. Note, I have this after 3, not before. This way you focus on one skill at a time. Blending words is hard, and it can be done without sounding out words. But once the child is blending, she can tackle sounding-out, and that isn't so hard. Also note that the child might not want to sound out words. Don't make her (at least, not regularly); if she can say a word out loud without sounding it out, and especially if she can decode previously-unread CVC words, then you don't need any more proof that she can actually sound them out. I believe it's preferable that she does the sounding-out in her head; this will make her a faster reader. But you should make sure that she can actually sound out the words. By the way, Reading Bear's "Let Me Sound It Out" setting drills this.

 

5. After that, it's simply a matter of systematically going through the rules of phonics. As you know, there are many packages available to do this. You can also guess which one I endorse, although right now Reading Bear has just 14 rules covered; I'll be adding 6 more in the coming weeks, and I'll have a total of around 50. Anyway, don't stop short in a phonics program. It's important to go through a whole program. (Well, maybe the last 1/4 of thorough programs can be skipped, if your child is really reading well.) Also, be sure to review old rules regularly--don't assume your child still remembers old rules.

 

People hostile to phonics don't like it, but an extremely readable and practically useful book that I'd recommend to you is Why Johnny Can't Read. An oldie, but goodie.

 

What a child who is having trouble learning something really needs is success. So go back to the point in the above sequence that she was very comfortable with, review it and build up her confidence with some appropriate praise, and then go from there. That's my advice anyway...

Edited January 8, 2012 by LarrySanger

[Terabith]

I DO think that a 6.5 year old who hasn't made any progress in phonics and only recognizes about three sight words, including her name, is a sign of concern.

[5Bmom]

What about Explode the Code starting with Book 1 and using the TM and Code Cards. It CAN be a comprehenize program when used with all it's componants and it is a lot of fun!

[FairProspects]

I DO think that a 6.5 year old who hasn't made any progress in phonics and only recognizes about three sight words, including her name, is a sign of concern.

 

:iagree:Since remediating difficulties can take awhile, I think its time to at least begin exploring why it is so tough for her.

[ElizabethB]

I would work on spelling 2 letter words and syllables ala Webster while trying to figure out what the underlying problem is.

 

You can start out with basic long vowel words and syllables, long vowels are easier to blend than short vowels. Work on them for a few weeks and then move on to spelling short vowel syllables.

 

Start with me and mo and my (Mo like the name of the Robot in Wall-E.) M, N, L, and R are the easiest to blend, all other consonants get a bit of their sound cut off when they blend with vowels. (And, with short vowels, you do not want to blend L and R at first, they distort the sound of the vowel somewhat.)

 

So, start with these 4 long vowel syllables from Webster, in syllables the a will be long like in ma-ker or na-ture. Y has its I sound, long I in a syllable.

 

ma me mi mo mu my

na ne ni no nu ny

la le li lo lu ly

ra re ri ro ru ry

 

Keep demonstrating the blending while working on the spelling.

 

Then, try to figure out if there is an underlying problem--a few ideas are visual, check out a covd.org doctor, or phonemic, try some phonemic awareness activities and the Barton student screening to see if you need a program like LiPS.

[momsuz123]

Well, I don't know if this help, but I will tell you a little bit about my 6.5 y/o who sounds somewhat similar. She has a long history of hearing problems from ear infections (third set of tubes) - her hearing is good now, but she failed a hearing test that Sylan learning gave her last summer. Her health isn't the greatest (different story), and I realized I had to hs, so I had the girls tested at Sylan to give me an idea of where to start (didn't really know anyone hsing that well). They told me they stood behind her and would say 2 words, sometimes they were the same word, sometimes different. She would just have to say if it was same or different. Total fail. I called the ENT, who then said get her into their child development center to rule out auditory processing (AP)issues vs anything else. Of course, I was really concerned. She was pretty much memorizing every sight word possible, but rarely, if ever, making an attempt to sound out words.

Well, a few months go by, she gets tested. Yes, they picked up a lot of red flags for dyslexia (too early to really test for this, they say - so no true diagnosis), they said they see kids who have a big APD vs some kids who have a little apd. They said she may fit into the little apd. Or, maybe she is just a kid who has missed so much of school without really hearing that she is just behind (This is more my thought - denial maybe).

Point I am trying to make is that yes, I agree, it doesn't hurt to see if there is something going on. It took almost 6 months from the time my dd failed the hearing test to our final evaluation at the development center. They still haven't called me back to set up any appointments - they are really booked out. They want to have a SLP work with her for awhile to really try and sort out if this is apd or something else (mentioned above).

I have gotten a lot of great advice from this board. I am trying to really relax, be really patient, and focus heavy on phonics. We continue to do a ton of read alouds. I have read threads on here about kids who don't really take to reading until 8 or 9, and still do fabulous. Hang in there, but never a bad idea to sometimes say hmmm, why is this a problem?

I hope my rambling helped. I really know "some" of the frustration and for me almost "sadness" that you are feeling. Good luck!

[Dolphin]

One thing I was told to do with my son was to ask for some things by the letter sounds. Where is the C-A-T? Can you get me my P-E-N?

 

I know it might seem a step backwards. But AAR pre level 1. SHe will have confidence as she knows the letters of the Alphabet. It does a lot of rhyming games and pre reading skills. I found with my son, going to where it is WAY TO EASY, is actually a good thing. It changes their perception of the subject. Instead of being something really hard, that they just can't do, it is now so easy and fun. A different mindset really helps.

 

I would not worry yet. Yes your daughter is a first grader at 6.5, but my son was 6.25 when reading suddenly clicked for him. It was the beginning of first grade, but based on age, not a huge difference. He was in a small private school k-2. He finished his kindy year at the bottom of the class in reading. Miles below anyone else. Suddenly reading clicked with him. By Christmas of 2nd grade he was moved into 3rd grade reading. I just had him tested this year and his reading comprehension is low 8th (he is a 4th grader). *I* wouldn't worry yet.

 

Nicole

[Mommee & Baba]

I'm also a fan of getting her little books that are a level UNDER what she can do. This helps her build confidence while she's doing the "tough stuff".

 

BTW I never heard of readingbear.org until this post. WHAT a blessing! I saved it and plan to see how my dc handle it :) We're currently running on a free trial of Reading Eggs.

[Pen]

At the stage you are at (we weren't yet homeschooling) my son's teachers/schools were saying don't worry, it will come with time. One school was public, one private and the latter tended to do reading late anyway--while the latter took the pressure off, and for at least some other children the late approach seemed to be fine, the reality is that for my son the wait and see approach was wrong. And from what I have seen tended to be wrong for children who had any difficulties in this area. In retrospect, I wish I had looked into what was going on sooner and not waited.

 

What finally started to work for us, after a reading specialist raised the dyslexia possibility, was a thing called High Noon Intervention started from the beginning with review (or more likely really learning in the first place) of letters and sounds (but I think it may not be intended for under age 7?), assuming nothing prior had been learned at all. He finally started making progress. There is also a program called Read Write Type from Talkingfingers.com which links phonetic sounds to the letters. It was highly recommended, and I think it also helped. But I am not sure if he could have done that without the High Noon first. High Noon also sells a phonics program --and various Orton-Gillingham materials--for younger children, but my son detested it.

 

I suggest either some testing and evaluation of child, or reading yourself to try to figure out what is going on, and then to try to get a suitable program depending on what the difficulty seems to be. Before being steered to "dyslexia" I was trying all sorts of things that were not helping and tended to create more distress and sense of failure.

 

Thankfully, we did go from "I can't" "I won't ever be able to" to where reading is now a favorite thing.

 

Good luck.

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

I am trying to find the "right" reading help for my dd 8 years old now. I tried to teach her to read along with her brother when she was 6 and he was 7. We used Teach Your Child for awhile, then because she was not able to keep up at all, I picked up an older Usborne book for fun... Cat and Mouse reading with games and my son just "got it" and started reading very well. She still did not, so I just let her play on Starfall some, kept reading to her, and tried to encourage her ( she started thinking she was "not smart enough to read". We have had several interruptions, but read aloud alot on a regular basis. I have let her use Reader Rabbit games, and she gravitates toward Math. She is very good at math and does Saxon 2 workbooks on her own, except she has to have someone read the instructions/ she was memorizing words and I was fooled for a little while, and then realized what she was doing. She has told me since then that she just can't remember. I have not had her tested, but definitely there is some type of disability there. Any suggestions are appreciated. Sylvan closed and I knew of some dyslexic home schooled children who they could not help anyway. I have looked on HSLDA site a few times and read about many types of processing disabilities it could be.

 

I had to have surgery in August ( bad timing) and it took longer to recover than I anticipated, and then I found out I am expecting and it has been a very rough pregnancy. Needless to say, I am cleaning out the school books, rooms, and shelves. Now wondering if Saxon Intervention might work or help.

[PeterPan]

I am trying to find the "right" reading help for my dd 8 years old now. I tried to teach her to read along with her brother when she was 6 and he was 7. We used Teach Your Child for awhile, then because she was not able to keep up at all, I picked up an older Usborne book for fun... Cat and Mouse reading with games and my son just "got it" and started reading very well. She still did not, so I just let her play on Starfall some, kept reading to her, and tried to encourage her ( she started thinking she was "not smart enough to read". We have had several interruptions, but read aloud alot on a regular basis. I have let her use Reader Rabbit games, and she gravitates toward Math. She is very good at math and does Saxon 2 workbooks on her own, except she has to have someone read the instructions/ she was memorizing words and I was fooled for a little while, and then realized what she was doing. She has told me since then that she just can't remember. I have not had her tested, but definitely there is some type of disability there. Any suggestions are appreciated. Sylvan closed and I knew of some dyslexic home schooled children who they could not help anyway. I have looked on HSLDA site a few times and read about many types of processing disabilities it could be.

 

I had to have surgery in August ( bad timing) and it took longer to recover than I anticipated, and then I found out I am expecting and it has been a very rough pregnancy. Needless to say, I am cleaning out the school books, rooms, and shelves. Now wondering if Saxon Intervention might work or help.

 

I would have her eyes checked by a developmental optometrist. http://www.covd.com There are a lot of vision issues that can affect reading, and they're things a regular optometrist doesn't check. You need a developmental optometrist for that.