kristi26 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 DD is 6 and just finished kindergarten. She is doing okay with reading but it's a struggle. She loves to read the books that she "knows." She hates reading new ones. I try to choose books that she'll have success with but she turns whiney and defeats herself before she's even started with negative, "I can't do it" talk. We've done Phonics Pathways last year (which was boring for us both but seemed to help her learn it). We practiced a ton with making words, word families, drawing/writing outside on the sidewalk, different word games, etc. I've also picked up several different books in the Explode the Code series for this fall. We've continued practicing our reading over the summer. And it just seems to be stagnant. What can I do to help her really get it? To get better at reading? My older boys were in PS for K and learned to read primarily from a PS teacher. I did all the practice at home, but they learned a lot in PS. She is the first one I've taught on my own and she's the one that is struggling. Is it me? Am I doing it wrong? Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 It's hard to tell from your post how much your daughter is "struggling." So I'll just tell you what I did with my daughter at that age that seemed to help. We used 100 EZ lessons, went through all the Bob Books and several easy readers from the library throughout her K year. She had no desire to read books on her own for fun. When she started 1st grade at age 6 (summer birthday) I chose Charlotte's Web to work through with her. Each day she would begin reading and it may only have been a paragraph slowly leading up to more. I was very lenient in helping her sound out words. I would finish the session by reading the rest of the passage or chapter to her. Because this was at a slightly higher reading level, it was a sufficient learning challenge for her. Because I helped with the reading she was rewarded each day with hearing a great story and it held her interest. By the time we finished the book, her improvement in reading was quite noticeable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Hmm...that's a good suggestion. She can read through the level 1 Bob books with little trouble. She can read Biscuit easy readers pretty well. She can't do "Green Eggs and Ham" without crying or "Frog and Toad" or anything like that. She seems to get overwhelmed by too many words on the page. And she seems to lose whatever we've worked on if any sort of a break is taken such as the week we took off while on vacation. Now it feels like an uphill battle again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Spalding. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sctigermom Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Hmm...that's a good suggestion. She can read through the level 1 Bob books with little trouble. She can read Biscuit easy readers pretty well. She can't do "Green Eggs and Ham" without crying or "Frog and Toad" or anything like that. She seems to get overwhelmed by too many words on the page. And she seems to lose whatever we've worked on if any sort of a break is taken such as the week we took off while on vacation. Now it feels like an uphill battle again. This sounds like my son. He is 6 (May birthday) and can read the level 1 Bob books. He can also read some of the level 1 I can read books (I Like Bugs, The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat, ect) . If the book has more than 1-2 sentences on the page he gets overwhelmed and loses track of where he is. We are slowly moving through the book Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. It's slow going and some days are a real challenge, but I can tell he has made great improvements from a year ago when he refused to try and sound out anything. If there is a day when he says "I can't" or starts to shut down then I just sound out the word for him and have him repeat it after me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Spalding. :D Thanks! Checking out the link now!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 This sounds like my son. He is 6 (May birthday) and can read the level 1 Bob books. He can also read some of the level 1 I can read books (I Like Bugs, The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat, ect) . If the book has more than 1-2 sentences on the page he gets overwhelmed and loses track of where he is. We are slowly moving through the book Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. It's slow going and some days are a real challenge, but I can tell he has made great improvements from a year ago when he refused to try and sound out anything. If there is a day when he says "I can't" or starts to shut down then I just sound out the word for him and have him repeat it after me. Yes!!! This is my daughter as well, but her bday was in January so she's an older 6 (at least physically). Maybe I should look into that book as well. I know WTR recommends it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Let her read those books she knows when it's time to read to mom, for now. Meanwhile, prepare her well for new books. Ditch your previously planned LA - or just postpone beginning it for a while. Instead, pull out any and all new words from a new book. Spell them together, decode them with magnets, play Memory with them, review the phonics previously learned, etc... Pull out sentences from that book for copywork. Reading one new sentence per day and copying it is doable. (Don't tell her that you are preparing her to read a new book. Just do it.) Then pull out the book and promise to help with all the hard words. See what she does. If she's still reluctant to even try, there is no shame in bribery (a small piece of candy for each sentence/page she tries). That book will probably be added to the list of "easy books" and that's fine. If you can add one more book to her "easy list" every week or so, she'll probably outgrow this stage soon. That said, make sure she's really decoding and reading (not just memorizing sight words). Spend plenty of time spelling the words and decoding them. Also, keep reading aloud to her a wide range of books; some that you'd like her to try in the next few months and many that are way above her reading level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Let her read those books she knows when it's time to read to mom, for now. Meanwhile, prepare her well for new books. Ditch your previously planned LA - or just postpone beginning it for a while. Instead, pull out any and all new words from a new book. Spell them together, decode them with magnets, play Memory with them, review the phonics previously learned, etc... Pull out sentences from that book for copywork. Reading one new sentence per day and copying it is doable. (Don't tell her that you are preparing her to read a new book. Just do it.) Then pull out the book and promise to help with all the hard words. See what she does. If she's still reluctant to even try, there is no shame in bribery (a small piece of candy for each sentence/page she tries). That book will probably be added to the list of "easy books" and that's fine. If you can add one more book to her "easy list" every week or so, she'll probably outgrow this stage soon. That said, make sure she's really decoding and reading (not just memorizing sight words). Spend plenty of time spelling the words and decoding them. Also, keep reading aloud to her a wide range of books; some that you'd like her to try in the next few months and many that are way above her reading level. I love this suggestion! We'll have to try it out! Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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