Worried about reading

[lindsrae]

My eldest DD is almost seven she reads at around a second grade reading level...as long as she doesn't have to read the whole book! I am discouraged right now because she hasn't made much progress this year in reading, and the biggest issue I have is her attitude towards it. I know she needs more practice, but it is hard to even get her to try. She loves being read to, but she hates the hard work it takes for her to read on her own. I'm at a loss to know if this is just laziness, stubbornness, and fear of failure--because we struggle with these issues in other areas as well--or if there is some kind of issue or if this is just developmental. I know all kids are different and progress at their own pace, but I don't want her to "get away" with it if she is just trying to get out of hard work.

 

How do I find the balance between challenging her to do her best and turning her off to reading?

 

I just feel like I'm failing her somehow because we can't seem to make progress. She's very resistant to doing work. There is lots of complaining and finding ways to get out of reading, math, and handwriting. We're in the process of moving right now, so we are taking a summer break, and I'm just trying to figure out the best way to approach her attitude and her reading skills when we begin again in a few weeks.

[Pen]

If you think there is a problem with her being able to do it, get an evaluation done so that gets figured out one way or the other. Since reading affects pretty much all areas of schooling, a reading problem could look like across the board laziness etc.

 

Some people trade back and forth reading with their children, or start it and let the child finish, etc. Some people read it to their children first and then have their children read it (though my son prefers to do the first reading, even at the expense of some mispronounced words, but if he has already heard it, it loses the excitement for him).

 

I find letting my son choose what he is reading when possible helps. Finding a series that the child can get hooked on seems to help (for one thing, names, and certain repeated information gets easy. For 2nd grade reading level his favorite series was the Magic Tree House, but, if you try that, look at the RL on each book as they range from 2nd to 4th). At second grade you might also try very short books, like excellent picture books, since finishing seems to be a problem. If she is not solid on phonics, you might do well with leveled readers. Modern Curriculum Press has some decent ones for young children. In any case, I would try to have the difficulty not be too great. An easier series than Magic Tree House, but past basic phonics books are the Little Critter books and the Frog and Toad (hmm. something and Toad, Frog isn't sounding right) books.

 

The more they read, in general, the easier it gets, and the easier it gets, in general, the more fun it gets.

Edited June 17, 2012 by Pen

[kemilie]

I agree, find her a series that she loves and maybe it will "hook" her? My new reader was going through the out loud reading time every day with me, doing it but not LOVING it, and then I bought him a set of Usborne books at the local homeschool convention. And he discovered how fun it is to get lost in a world of books! And now we can't tear him away from the books. Which is a problem I won't complain about!

 

Unfortunately I can think of tons of series for little boys but little girl reading books are not yet my area of expertise! Take her to the library? Let her pick a pile of books if your library has them divided out by reading level? Our library does but not sure if all are like that.

[boscopup]

Don't give her 2nd grade level books for "free reading" time. Give her easier books - as easy as you can find that will still be interesting. Save the 2nd grade level for short "reading improvement with mom" times.

 

My oldest didn't enjoy reading until he could read around a 4th grade level, and then he got hooked on the 2nd-3rd grade books because they were now easy to read (and there are bunches of good ones at the library at that level). He's a perfectionist also, btw. I've had to *gradually* increase the challenge in his schoolwork, and I mostly did that in the subjects he finds the eaisest. Since reading is hard for her right now, I'd suggest doing the trading off reading sentences/paragraphs/pages thing for a bit to take the load off, and challenge her in another subject that she finds easy.

 

At the end of first grade, I had my oldest doing assigned reading at or near his reading level, and I assigned just a certain number of pages or a short chapter each day. That helped spread things out. He also had a free reading time where he could pick anything out of the library book basket, and many books in there were below his reading level, easy to read, and were books that would be interesting to him (he likes nonfiction better than fiction).

 

Reading stamina takes some time to build. I saw a huge leap between 1st and 2nd grade in the stamina department. Now after 2nd grade, he reads all the time. It's amazing what a year of maturity can do!

 

I'm still dealing with confidence issues with my middle son (5.5), as he thinks he can only read "baby books", and he also doesn't really want to work at the reading, and it IS work for him. He's been able to decode CVC, CCVC, and CVCC words for a long time, yet he won't read a book. "It's too hard." I'm just being patient with him. As his reading gets better, it will get easier, and I think he will one day enjoy books. Like your DD, he loves being read to. He just doesn't quite have the skills to read the books he likes himself, and he is also a perfectionist.

 

Hang in there. :grouphug:

[lea1]

Don't give her 2nd grade level books for "free reading" time. Give her easier books - as easy as you can find that will still be interesting. Save the 2nd grade level for short "reading improvement with mom" times.

 

:iagree: Also, when you are having her read books that are more challenging to her, take turns. Start out by having her read a paragraph or two and then you read a page or two. Eventually, you read a page and she reads a page. Find books that are very easy for her to read on her own but also that she will find interesting and engaging or funny.

[lindsrae]

If you think there is a problem with her being able to do it, get an evaluation done so that gets figured out one way or the other. Since reading affects pretty much all areas of schooling, a reading problem could look like across the board laziness etc.

 

what kind of evaluation would I get? Where would I get it done? I'm not exactly sure if there is an issue. I guess I'm not really sure what is the best thing to do :)

[Alphabetika]

You've probably already thought of this, but I'll just throw it out as a possibility: Have you had her eyes checked? Sometimes kids this young have vision issues but don't know how to describe them, or they can't identify that this is what's making it difficult for them to work. Just a thought...

 

I also agree wholeheartedly with the idea of letting her read easy stuff for her independent reading. She'll move on eventually, truly! Take heart!

[lindsrae]

You've probably already thought of this, but I'll just throw it out as a possibility: Have you had her eyes checked? Sometimes kids this young have vision issues but don't know how to describe them, or they can't identify that this is what's making it difficult for them to work. Just a thought...

 

I also agree wholeheartedly with the idea of letting her read easy stuff for her independent reading. She'll move on eventually, truly! Take heart!

 

I have considered an eye exam. I need to look into that.

 

Right now, she doesn't do ANY independent reading. Any reading she does is inflicted upon her by her mean, old mom. And I guess that's part of my concern. I know she needs to practice to improve but getting her to practice is a battle. Every. Single. Time. :glare:

[Gentlemommy]

My dd sounds a lot like yours.;)We DID have her eyes checked, and found she has multiple issues and requires vision therapy to correct them. We've been doing therapy for three months, and can see the improvement. She still has at least three months left, possibly more. Just a thought...

 

I do require three 10 minute sessions of her reading aloud per day. At the urging of her therapist, we have actually added in sight word practice...I am an intensive phonics gal myself. However, I can see the value of instant recognition of words, which she has a problem with. (as part of her therapy, she does letter charts, and 'reads' letters from a page in time to a beat-despite her knowing the letters for years, it is hard for her to name them quickly. She says her brain knows what the letter is, but it takes a minute to say it aloud, kwim?) Just knowing instantly those really common words that make up 90% of kid books is a HUGE help in making reading palatable for her. Before she had to sound out and think of rules and phonogram sounds for every.single.word. She can actually decode really hard words, it just takes her longer.

 

For her reading, she does one easier book of her choice, one chapter book (right now we are reading a Magic TreeHouse book on ancient Egypt for history- She reads as much as she can for ten minutes {less than one full page} and I finish the chapter), and one selection from our reading curriculum The Reading Lesson.

 

I've seen a lot of improvement with regards to reading, but it's not really enjoyable for her yet. I'm a bookworm, so this is hard for me. I still read aloud to her a TON, and from harder books.

 

Anyway, that has been our experience. I hope it helps you some.

Edited June 18, 2012 by Gentlemommy

[Ohmomjacquie]

Yoyr dd sounds like mine. I recently read "reading magic " by mem fox. It gave me a lot of insight. I'm trying to read aloud a lot more. When she reads aloud I watch for words that may trip her up and help her with them. She gets very easily discouraged and frustrated. Tgis is helping her attitude toward reading. Another thing has been library trips. She loves animal books. We found a row of leved ones and she has been reading a lit of those. She's not reading a lot in her free time but hoping we get there! Last year we found junior b jones

Read a bunch of those!

 

Keep at it, find her interest etc. We can get them reading more!

[Pen]

what kind of evaluation would I get? Where would I get it done? I'm not exactly sure if there is an issue. I guess I'm not really sure what is the best thing to do :)

 

I'm going to suggest you post this question over on Special Needs part of these forums along with more information about anything you have noticed about her reading that might give a clue--what is easy, what is hard, for example.

 

Things that come to my mind include dyslexia and vision problems, but there are other things that could affect reading. There are some online sources to do little mini-screenings on one's own before trying to decide if one should spend lots of money for a neuropsychologist to do a full evaluation.

 

Both HighNoonBooks and Barton which have Orton -Gillingham based reading materials (generally what is found to work best in case of dyslexia--) have people you can talk to on the phone who may be able to offer some help.

[CatholicMom]

I agree with finding a series of interest and try to sneakily get her to read them... like, Oh, no, this isn't necessarily for school, but I heard this book (book 1 of a series) is good and I thought you might like it.

 

I had the exact same problem as you at the beginning of this year and was lamenting about my son who loves to be read to but hated reading on his own. I did the above with the Magic Treehouse books and he didn't take the bait at first, so I had to force him to read the first chapter. :lol: Then I gently insisted that he at least finish the book. He clearly was enjoying it and I said there's a 2nd book, etc. He read the 2nd and then was all excited about reading them "in order." Reading them in order was a big motivator to him and I was shocked and THRILLED when he started going through 1 Magic Treehouse book a day! His reading fluency improved GREATLY this year... when he read 19 Magic Treehouse books. :lol:

 

So it may be a different series for you, but getting her to realize she can enjoy reading if she finds the right book is a huge motivator.

 

I bet it will happen, but I know exactly how you feel and I was super frustrated before our great reading awakening. :) Hang in there.

 

Look on Amazon for series because what other people have bought pops up and that's really helpful.

[lindsrae]

I'm going to suggest you post this question over on Special Needs part of these forums along with more information about anything you have noticed about her reading that might give a clue--what is easy, what is hard, for example.

 

Things that come to my mind include dyslexia and vision problems, but there are other things that could affect reading. There are some online sources to do little mini-screenings on one's own before trying to decide if one should spend lots of money for a neuropsychologist to do a full evaluation.

 

Both HighNoonBooks and Barton which have Orton -Gillingham based reading materials (generally what is found to work best in case of dyslexia--) have people you can talk to on the phone who may be able to offer some help.

 

I've read The Writing Road to Reading, and we've used Phonics Road this year. She can read the readers for PR just fine (it is only one page a day), and the spelling isn't that big of a problem. Sometimes she will forget which phonogram makes the sound, which I think is normal. (When she can't remember, she will often have a "I can't do this!" fit--but she is a classic, first-born perfectionist. If she can't get it right away or if something causes her to think or work just a little bit, then she'd rather not try. That's what I HOPE the issue is, but she has been resisting reading pretty much all year, so that's why I wonder if there is something else going on.

 

I agree with finding a series of interest and try to sneakily get her to read them... like, Oh, no, this isn't necessarily for school, but I heard this book (book 1 of a series) is good and I thought you might like it.

 

I had the exact same problem as you at the beginning of this year and was lamenting about my son who loves to be read to but hated reading on his own. I did the above with the Magic Treehouse books and he didn't take the bait at first, so I had to force him to read the first chapter. :lol: Then I gently insisted that he at least finish the book. He clearly was enjoying it and I said there's a 2nd book, etc. He read the 2nd and then was all excited about reading them "in order." Reading them in order was a big motivator to him and I was shocked and THRILLED when he started going through 1 Magic Treehouse book a day! His reading fluency improved GREATLY this year... when he read 19 Magic Treehouse books. :lol:

 

So it may be a different series for you, but getting her to realize she can enjoy reading if she finds the right book is a huge motivator.

 

I bet it will happen, but I know exactly how you feel and I was super frustrated before our great reading awakening. :) Hang in there.

 

Look on Amazon for series because what other people have bought pops up and that's really helpful.

 

I know I need to find something that really captures her interest, but it seems like any book with more than a few lines of text on a page really freaks her out. While she is perfectly capable of reading Frog and Toad books, she doesn't want to because it is "so long." I've tried the covering up part of the page trick, but she wants to know what is behind the paper. When she sees a page of (large, double-spaced) text, she gives up before she even tries.

 

The strange thing, to me, is that she has a really good memory, but she seems to have a hard time remembering printed words. What I mean is, she can see a new word, sound it out, and then not be able to hold it in her brain in order to recognized it when she comes across it just a few lines later. This stands out to me because her younger sister, 4 1/2, has a very good visual memory and can see a word once and remember it.

 

Sigh. Hard to know when to relax and just let her mature enough to do better without my pushing and when she needs to be pushed or maybe even evaluated. Reading has always been really easy for me, and my middle daughter seems to be developing as a pretty "natural" reader, but DD#1 just doesn't care that much for school. She finds no pleasure in reading on her own and completing any kind of schoolwork. I know that is probably more typical than not. But I'm not homeschooling so that I can battle with my daughter on a daily basis to get her work done! :glare: I want her to be able to enjoy learning in general and reading in particular.