Lucy Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 My daughter is beginning 3rd grade but is behind in reading. She is comfortable reading at the "Magic Tree House" level, but still misses words in it. She flies through math (almost in 4th grade math) but struggles with reading the word problems. We tried to start grammar this week, and she is laboring over just reading the sentance that she can't focus on finding a noun. Tears. She hates to write because she can't spell anything and is a perfectionist. I'm not sure what to do. So I have two main questions: 1. Should I have her eyes checked? Could it be a tracking problem? 2. What should I do with her? I'm thinking I'll scratch grammar and wait till shes older, maybe do writing projects narration style, find a very basic spelling (suggestions?) - Please, those of you who have experience with this - give me direction! Thanks in advance! Rondi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassy Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Your daughter sounds very similar to my DS8. We started with an eye exam and he was found to have a severe astigmatism. There is also a strong tendency towards dyslexia in DH's family and DS13 is dyslexic, so we're planning on having him assessed for dyslexia in the next few weeks. I've found that DS8 needs to read to me twice a day for around 20 minutes at a time to make any progress, any less than that and he seems to get 'rusty', if the sessions are any longer then the effort tires him out to the point that he is constantly making mistakes. I hope you find some answers, I know how hard it is working with someone with literacy problems, and how worrying it can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Most definitely get an eye exam before worrying about learning disabilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 My son is similar, and just turned 9 yesterday. He had eye surgery when he was young, and at ever checkup was 20/20. i took him back for a checkup when he was struggling in kindergarten, but still 20/20. His reading continues to improve, i just let him work ahead a grade level or three in math, and behind a grade level or two in LA. and we are just really starting in on writing this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 I'd have her eyes checked. I was noticing that my son was getting headaches while reading, so I had his eyes checked -- he needs some reading glasses. Hopefully when we get them, they'll make it easier for him to read comfortably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Another vote for eye exam first. My son first started school, he struggled with reading despite knowing all the phonics. Then we got his eyes checked. His astigmatism was very bad (-5). Once he got glasses, he started cruising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 Definitely do a regular eye exam, and if they don't find anything, look into vision tracking issues through www.covd.org. It's also fairly common for someone with dyslexia to be able to read but really struggle with spelling. (The Eide's call that Stealth Dyslexia). Dysgraphia or even ADHD are other possibilities (alone or with one of the above). What you describe about her reading chapter books, missing a word here or there, but really struggling with word problems also points to a possible issue to me. Fiction is the easiest type of reading, because smart children are able to put the story together even if they don't read every word. Non fiction is generally harder, and short excerpts like word problems, test questions or lists of unrelated words are the hardest types of reading. You can't comprehend these and fill in the blanks if you are missing or misreading some of the words. My son had vision processing issues and went through vision therapy, that was very beneficial to him. All About Spelling greatly turned things around for us, so that's one program you might check into. It uses incremental instruction with multisensory methods, and has a built-in review system. Kids who struggle for various reasons tend to need lots and lots of review. I hope you can find answers and help for your son! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted September 8, 2012 Share Posted September 8, 2012 I agree with what everyone already said. Both of my girls were tested and although they have 20/20 vision, they bombed in the vision department of tracking, etc. My 7 y/o who really struggled with reading and writing had/has both eyes drifting outward while reading (I never noticed this because I always read with her next to me or in my lap). My 8 y/o dd however, is a very strong reader, but was constantly missing small words, and had headaches. Neither kiddos writing was great either. Fast forward to 7 months of vision therapy - nothing short of amazing. No missed words, reading better and writing better. Get the eyes checked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy Posted September 8, 2012 Author Share Posted September 8, 2012 Thanks for all the replys. I'm going to make an appt for her! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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