How did you get past this reading stage?

[ShelleyW]

My ds is 8. He has been reading CVC words for 2 years now. He has not progressed past it. He can sound out longer words w/short vowels but still makes so many errors that he can't get past 3 letter words. Here is an example of his reading:

 

Book says: Tim and Jim can bat.

Ds says: Tom and Jim can bit.

 

If he reads the same book the next day, the sentence is completely different. It is always the vowels that he gets wrong (and b and d).

 

I have tried everything, been through too many reading programs to count and on and on. I am having him tested for LDs in a few weeks but wanted to hear what other who have BTDT are doing.

 

My dd 10 was recently diagnosed w/dyslexia among other things and it seems my ds is going down the same path. I was just hoping to intervene w/ds's reading a little earlier this time. I think I waited too long to have dd tested.

 

Thanks in advance for your replies!:)

[merry gardens]

Have you had him tested by a speech therapist and an audiologist? Make sure his hearing is okay. Ask them to test your son for phonemic awareness problems.

 

My son had those tests, but unfortunately the professionals I worked with didn't have much experience with dyslexia and remediating phonemic awareness problems. Our second slp noted that there was a problem with my ds' phonemic awareness, but what she recommended for us to to at home didn't work. The next year, I discovered something that did:

 

LiPS. When I bought Barton, a reading program for dyslexia, I discovered my child didn't even have the phonemic awareness to pass a section of this test: http://bartonreading.com/students_long.html#screen

 

The above Barton student screening is very easy to adminster at home. Give it to your son (if you can pass the tutor screen). If he can't pass that test, take the results to an slp. If he does pass, he may still need extra work on phonemic awareness.

 

As I wrote, my son couldn't pass that screen. The developer of Barton (Susan Barton) refered us to a program called LiPS. LiPS works on phonemic awareness through teaching the child how the sounds are made in the mouth. Vowels are particularly tricky because many vowels sound and are produced in similar ways, but there are slight differences that they can learn to see and feel. http://www.ganderpublishing.com/LiPS.html

 

Barton also works on phonemic awareness. The first level works on phonemic awareness exclusively and not reading. Students continue working on phonemic awareness through the next few levels, along with reading. (There are other ways to work on phonemic awareness besides LiPS and Barton, but the other things that I had tried hadn't work for my ds.)

 

Some speech therapists can administer LiPS and remediate phonemic awareness problems, but slp can specialize in various areas. Before making an appointment with an slp for testing, find an slp who is familiar with phonemic awareness.

[Ottakee]

A good program for this is the I See Sam books. http://www.3rsplus.com and http://www.iseesam.com You can even get the 1st 2 sets free to print out online as they are in the public domain.

 

They teach only 5 sounds blended into 3 words and move VERY slowly from there. They keep b and d, p and q, etc. FAR apart in the instruction sequence. Using the cursor/notched card really helps as well with the blending left to right.

[ShelleyW]

Thank you merry gardens. I went on Barton today, and gave my son the test. He actually passed! I was sure he wasn't going to so that was good. :D I am leaning towards getting Level 1 (I have been going back and forth on what to do b/c I am sooo tired of spending money only to find it wasn't right for us) so I will pray on it this week. Susan Barton's website gives me so much hope and I have heard lots of good things about her program.

 

Ottakee, I have checked out the I See Sam website a bunch of times. :)Are the books actually shipped from England or are they PDF downloads? I am going to try a few lessons w/ds to see how he does.

 

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond.

[wapiti]

It is good that you are doing the LD testing. Also consider ruling out vision issues.

[Ottakee]

Ottakee, I have checked out the I See Sam website a bunch of times. :)Are the books actually shipped from England or are they PDF downloads? I am going to try a few lessons w/ds to see how he does.

 

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to respond.

 

The I See Sam books are printed and shipped here in the US. The Apples and Pears program and Dancing Bears are from England but I think they are now printed here in the US as well.

 

You can find the 1st 2 sets in PDF form that you can print out for free if you want to just try them.

[FLDebbie]

My 8 yo son sounds like yours. I'm using Barton with him and it is really helping him. We're at the end of level 3 and he's actually doing much better reading other items. Looking to level 4 I can see big jumps in what he should be doing. I've heard that level 4 is a key level and while it might take longer than the earlier levels, once the student gets through that level, he should be reading multi-syllable words. Sue Barton recommends no other reading outside the program until level 4, but my son has suddenly discovered the joy of books and there's no way I'm going to stop him. I do read to him quite a bit in other subject matter (history, science, etc.) so he doesn't get stressed with reading at this point.

 

It's expensive, but to me it's worth every penny knowing my son is actually learning to read. I'm also using it with my 6 year old and he's way ahead of the other kids in his kindergarden class in terms of reading.

[Shellers]

I recommend Dancing Bears and Apples and Pears.

 

I began homeschooling my DS11 last November. He's made HUGE progress with both of these programs. I also recommend Reading Rescue 1-2-3.

[Guest cathi9]

I totally agree with you, FLDebbie. I am using barton with my twin 8 year olds. We are on level 3 right now. One just finished lesson 9 today while the other is on lesson 4. The difference in ds on lesson 9 is amazing! He also has just discovered the joy of reading and is trying to read everything he can. I bought the supplemental reading books that are recommended by Susan Barton for the end of Level 3. Some of them are from Burns Books and I gave him that one today to read (it is appropriate after level 3 lesson 9) and he is loving it. He can sit and read all by himself for the first time. I am ecstatic at the progress he has made. Barton is truly the answer to prayer for me and worth every penny!

[Lecka]

I am a huge fan of the I See Sam books. They are easy to get from 3rsplus.com ime. They have come within 2 weeks when I have ordered them.

 

However -- my son had to do phonemic awareness before he started those books. He was not able to blend and I don't think the notched card would have been enough for him (b/c he was just really not getting it).

 

I bought Barton Level 1 and I didn't totally use it with him but the videos were worth the purchase price.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Lecka

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

I would try my online phonics lessons and some Webster's Speller before you spend the money on Barton.

 

After you work on spelling and reading syllables from Webster for a while, the children get the pattern of ab eb ib ob ub and can be referred back to the syllabary when they miss a vowel sound, eventually they start to be self correcting. The emphasis and pattern of vowels is very helpful for struggling students.

 

Also, Webster's Speller then works on divided words with these short patterns, allowing progress to 2 and 3 syllable words with simple phonics. (The 2+ syllable words actually start with the simple long vowel syllables.)

[ShelleyW]

Thanks for the help. :) I will check out all of your recommendations and sit down w/dh to decide. There is so much out there that it is tough to figure out what will work for you child. Hopefully this is the last reading program I have to buy......

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

You can try Webster's Speller, my online lessons, and I See Sam for free.

 

Here is the 1908 version of Webster's Speller:

 

http://donpotter.net/pdf_files/websterspellingbookmethod.pdf

 

And, a bit on how to use it, you can also search for threads here with the tag "Webster's Speller" for more detailed help and suggestions from others who are using it.

 

My online lessons are linked in my signature.

 

Here are the first 52 I See Sam books, you can print them out for free:

 

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

[ShelleyW]

Thanks ElizabethB, I am going to check it out right now.:)

[JDages]

I used Spell to WRite and REad which is labor intensive by my oldest dd who is 14 and I am sure has a visual processing disorder, a form of Dyslexia, learned with that. She still isn't a good speller but she is a good reader. On a side note something that very recently has helped her is going off gluten. Her head is clearer and she is able to read longer and think more clearly.

Jennifer in Pa

[ShelleyW]

Thank you Jennifer. We have been gluten free for 6 years now and it has made a world of difference. Fish oil has helped us too.

[herekittykitty]

Have you read The Gift of Dyslexia by Ron Davis? He talks about how modeling the letters in clay helped solidify them in his mind and stopped some of the visual/perceptual problems. My DS7 did the Davis Dylexia program and it helped a lot. Even if you don't do the program, you might consider browsing through the book and having your son make letters and words out of clay. The plastilina clay is great because you can leave it out and it never hardens. I ordered ours from Dick Blick art supplies. Perhaps the letters in a 3D medium might assist his learning. It certainly couldn't hurt and is something you could try pretty quickly. Even now if my son experiences some confusion with letters (recently it was i and lower case L), if we clay them it gets way better. After he's done he feels them and traces them with his eyes open and closed. Just a different perspective.

[Shay]

My son benefited from exercises in Reading Reflex, then we did I See Sam. I've used Barton with students also, but personally I prefer to get them going quickly RR or the first 3 levels of Barton, and use I See Sam for reading practice. I have used the Barton tiles with ISS and introduced them with the ISS sequence.

 

Corrective Reading B1 is also terrific, and I've seen lots of kids with IEPs learn to read and gain much needed confidence with the CR program.

[Murmer]

I would stop him and say did that make sense...no go back and say I slowly. He needs to start noticing for himself when what he says doesn't make sense and go back and sound it out correctly.

[EKS]

I pointed to each word with a pencil (a mechanical pencil with the lead in). When there was something I wanted to point out (say, a silent e or a vowel digraph), I would tap it (silently). If my son made a mistake with the sound of a letter, I would keep the pencil under the letter to show him that he needed to think about it again. If he had haltingly sounded out the word, I would run the pencil under it again quickly to tell him to "say it fast." This way his reading wasn't interrupted by my telling him to do things.

[SailorMom]

Have you read The Gift of Dyslexia by Ron Davis? He talks about how modeling the letters in clay helped solidify them in his mind and stopped some of the visual/perceptual problems. My DS7 did the Davis Dylexia program and it helped a lot. Even if you don't do the program, you might consider browsing through the book and having your son make letters and words out of clay. The plastilina clay is great because you can leave it out and it never hardens. I ordered ours from Dick Blick art supplies. Perhaps the letters in a 3D medium might assist his learning. It certainly couldn't hurt and is something you could try pretty quickly. Even now if my son experiences some confusion with letters (recently it was i and lower case L), if we clay them it gets way better. After he's done he feels them and traces them with his eyes open and closed. Just a different perspective.

 

This is one of the things we did. My son (at about 8 as well - second grade) went from reading at a low K level and doing exactly what the OP's son is doing, to reading at about a 3rd grade level by the end of the school year. We also used sandpaper letters....

Controversial though it is - my son needed whole language instruction and needed to memorize the shapes of words.

[ShelleyW]

Have you read The Gift of Dyslexia by Ron Davis? He talks about how modeling the letters in clay helped solidify them in his mind and stopped some of the visual/perceptual problems. My DS7 did the Davis Dylexia program and it helped a lot. Even if you don't do the program, you might consider browsing through the book and having your son make letters and words out of clay. The plastilina clay is great because you can leave it out and it never hardens. I ordered ours from Dick Blick art supplies. Perhaps the letters in a 3D medium might assist his learning. It certainly couldn't hurt and is something you could try pretty quickly. Even now if my son experiences some confusion with letters (recently it was i and lower case L), if we clay them it gets way better. After he's done he feels them and traces them with his eyes open and closed. Just a different perspective.

 

I actually bought this a few weeks ago. I used his techniques to review the letters and the order of them. It really helped with his alphabetizing skills. I haven't gotten to making the words out of clay but am planning on doing that. He enjoyed this activity and it really helped him to see the difference in some of the letters he confuses. I think the words in clay is a great idea and cannot imagine that it wouldn't help.

[TAKlinda]

He probably isn't 'seeing' the letters -- try ReverseFixUp.