How to expose an unwilling 16 year old to the world of language...

[lisabees]

My 16 year old, mildly dyslexic son is at ps. I brought him home a few years ago, because he was reading WAY below grade level. He caught up and desperately wanted to return to school. He is the outlier of our family - the social butterfly, the serious athlete, the major conformist. He hates to read. He is not interested in anything academically. Only baseball and friends. His GPA is not even a 3.0. But - he is looking forward to college. Dh and I are sure he will be the most successful, because he is so socially gifted! ;)

 

I am starting to fear that he is not only NOT ready for SATs, but not even close to college-level reading/writing/thinking. A few times a week, I give him an op-ed column to read. I am looking for other suggestions that won't take more than a few minutes a day, whether it is essay reading (maybe from an anthology?), informal grammar, anything.

 

Any ideas?

[dbmamaz]

Well, i would start by having him read about baseball - biographies of great players, sports articles in the newspaper, stats discussions about players . . . . use his passion to draw him in to language

[lisabees]

Well, i would start by having him read about baseball - biographies of great players, sports articles in the newspaper, stats discussions about players . . . . use his passion to draw him in to language

 

Thank you for the suggestion. Honestly, though, he is ready to step it up. I frequently give him sports pieces to read. Last night he read an op-ed piece about football. His response? "It was alright. I thought you were going to give me something deeper than that." I think it's time!

[swimmermom3]

Thank you for the suggestion. Honestly, though, he is ready to step it up. I frequently give him sports pieces to read. Last night he read an op-ed piece about football. His response? "It was alright. I thought you were going to give me something deeper than that." I think it's time!

 

I have: 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology, which has received a serious workout here. There is a wide selection of works and you could start with a more outrageous or thought-provoking piece. There is David Cedaris, or Mike Rose's "I Just Wanna Be Average," or "Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain." We continuously deconstruct bits of political speech we hear or advertising we see. It doesn't take much time to instill some skepticism. :D We tell them, "If a speaker starts to play on your fears or generate intense emotion, take it apart."

 

However, Lisa you may throw all the thought-provoking material at him and he still may not respond. I think my oldest son sealed his younger brother's homeschooling fate last night by talking about his Lit & Comp 12 class. His teacher asked a question that would have caused a raucous conversation at our dinner table, or in your average high school classroom twenty years ago. Nothing. Zip. The question had to do with art and morality. What about the photographer who snaps a photo of a starving child lying in the road in a war-torn country? What about an artist who chains a dog to a wall and films him as he starves to death? Moral? Art? My son was hot and bothered because no one could be bothered to respond.

 

Good luck and keep engaging him.

[Candid]

There are some novels that are good, real literature about baseball: The Natural, Shoeless Joe, etc. Also some short stories, etc. I found this at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Baseballs-Best-Short-Stories-Sportings/dp/1613743769/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360166542&sr=1-1&keywords=short+stories+baseball We have some such book.

 

My oldest is a prolific reader, but also a baseball fanatic. I would lean away from offering sports bios as an option. They aren't well written and you don't want to go there. BUT I am reading from your OP that your son can read well, he just doesn't like to read. If he needs more practice then bios might be okay (although depending on you, you may wish to preread for adult content).

[Barbara H]

You might find some helpful stuff here http://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/academicdepartments/english/faculty/Pages/catw_materials.aspx

 

If you are looking for something really time efficient it might be good to look for an older edition of a textbook used for "developmental English" at community colleges. These will have short high interest essays with specific activities and questions.

 

You mentioned the SAT - I'd also suggest looking at the ACT. In my experience kids who don't have as well developed vocabularies often do better on the ACT. For test prep and teaching critical reading for college readiness I suggest focusing primarily on nonfiction instead of literature.

[Lori D.]

Vocabulary practice for the SAT

Take a look at doing a page a day from Vocabulary Cartoons: SAT Word Power; goofy images can really cement learning, esp. if DS is more of a "right-brain" learner. Another fun way to practice/expand vocabulary is to do online games. I personally like Free Rice, as food is donated every time you reach a specific level, but here's a great site with a number of really good games: Game On Learning. Maybe schedule this for 5-10 minutes a day; maybe make it a competition with DS to each do it and challenge one another -- sports guys often like competitions! ;)

 

Spark discussion and debate in general

The Pig That Wants to be Eaten might help spark some thinking/discussion (or even written responses). It is a series of 1-page ethical and moral scenarios and dilemmas that provoke response. Use it informally 1-2 nights a week at the dinner table so the whole family can participate.

 

Movies as Literature as a first Literature program

A GREAT way to learn the tools for analysis discussion, as it is much easier to *see* the elements used for analysis and learn how to discuss, and then move on to written works where it is harder to see what is going on.

 

Consider starting with classics of high interest

Some boys really get into science fiction; you might consider doing several classic works of sci-fi to jump start discussion: The Hunger Games; The Giver (Linski); Ender's Game (Carde); Farenheit 451 (Bradbury); The Time Machine (or War of the Worlds, or The Invisible Man) (Wells); Nineteen Eighty-Four (Orwell); Left Hand of Darkness (or Lathe of Heaven) (LeGuin); Brave New World (Huxley)...

 

In discussion/analysis, start with compare/contrast

When you do read something, compare/contrast to things going on in the sports world, or in TV shows or movies you've both seen; from noticing what is similar or different, you can begin to branch out to how these led to similar or different consequences, and then work backwards and discuss the character/personalities of the people making the choices that were similar/different, and then even see if you see a "big idea" (theme) that connects several of these events...

 

Watch it first

Try watching the movie of a work of literature first: for example To Kill a Mockingbird. Then read the book; the movie smooths the path so you're familiar with the characters, events and themes, so when you read the book, then you can focus on the literary elements and how they are working.

 

Short stories or novellas

They are a fast read, they focus on a single theme or element, they can expose you to a lot of authors in a short period of time. A great novella that's fast and easy to read that might prompt discussion: Animal Farm. Lots to compare with politics, or even just the social dynamics of a sports team or any group of people where there is jockeying for power and control.

 

Captive audience

Listen to audio books of classics in the car while commuting to various events, and discuss while trapped in a moving vehicle... :laugh:

 

If all else fails...

And you can't seem to get to reading very many works, then make one night a week movie night and *watch* the classics of literature that you want to make sure your son has at least heard of. Maybe once a month have DS write a short "reader response" to the work -- have him answer in your discussion of the movie, or in written form when he does a "reader response", some of Susan Wise Bauer's GREAT questions for the logic stage on discussing a novel or story (about half way down the page).

 

Final thought -- and maybe this should really be a FIRST priority...

See if you can get some treatment for the dyslexia to make all of LIFE reading smoother for DS. Even something as simple as a color overlay can dramatically help many with dyslexia... I'm not recommending this kit, just like how it clearly shows the concept here. This is a VERY helpful and informative article on dyslexia -- about 2/3rd of the way down is info on interventions and helps. Also, some of the nutritional supplements and physical therapies on Dianne Craft's website can help increase connections between the two brain hemispheres and may help some -- the writing eights and arm figure eight exercises apparently also increase coordination and improve sports performance!

 

 

BEST of luck in finding what works for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[lisabees]

I am overwhelmed by your thoughtful responses! And many of your ideas are new to me. A very big thanks.

 

Lisa and Candid - both of those books are now in my Amazon shopping cart. I've also found that if I look at the table of contents in other books, I can find essays online.

We continuously deconstruct bits of political speech we hear or advertising we see. It doesn't take much time to instill some skepticism. :D We tell them, "If a speaker starts to play on your fears or generate intense emotion, take it apart."

 

However, Lisa you may throw all the thought-provoking material at him and he still may not respond.

 

Thank you, Lisa, for the reminder to talk to ds about being skeptical. My other kids pick things up so easily from the modeling they have received. DS16, on the other hand, needs incremental guidance. And, yes, ds is probably the kind of kid your sons would come home and talk about! He participates a lot in class, he says. And he has become very proud of that fact. He is only in 10th grade; maybe there will be some more genuine curiosity about the world after he matures a bit!

 

Barbara - you are right. I find your link very helpful! Thanks. I'll look around for developmental English texts. Good idea.

 

Lori - how do you do it? How do you give personal and thoughtful lists to members, time and time again? I like your vocab ideas (we have Vocabulary Cartoons in the bathroom. I think I'm the only one who looks through it). He has a limited vocabulary and we definitely need to work on it. Interesting that you mention movies. Dh, in particular, has really tried to expose ds to various films and analyzes them in a gentle way with ds. He is starting to get it! We have spent years trying to diagnose and improve ds's challenges. He is actually in a decent spot compared to a few years ago. Now, it is up to him.

 

Thank you all!

 

ETA: Just got his report card. He just squeaked a 3.04! We are moving on up!! :hurray:

[Kendall]

If you want to try to eke some pleasure reading out of him in addition to the non fiction essays, try the humorous Three Men in a Boat by Jerome. It is online and he could read the first chapter and see what he thinks. P.G. Wodehouse's books have great language in them. You could try a few Jeeves stories; they stand alone. For a novel try Leave it to Psmith. He has lots of others.

 

Three Men in a Boat

 

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/308

[Nan in Mass]

If you want to try to eke some pleasure reading out of him in addition to the non fiction essays, try the humorous Three Men in a Boat by Jerome. It is online and he could read the first chapter and see what he thinks. P.G. Wodehouse's books have great language in them. You could try a few Jeeves stories; they stand alone. For a novel try Leave it to Psmith. He has lots of others.

 

Three Men in a Boat

 

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/308

 

 

I second this suggestion. You could have him listen to one on tape (or the beginning of one) to get him started, then have him read on his own if he likes it. My boys like the Hornblower series, too.

 

Nan

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

Have you worked through Marcia Henry's Words? I like how it combines vocabulary and spelling and word roots. It supposedly goes up to an 8th grade level, but the words at the end are high school level. If spelling is good, I would use another resource.

 

Critical Thinking Company's Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Verbal looks like it would be helpful for building up to the verbal analogies that you generally only see on something like the SAT. I am using the level down with my daughter and it is a great resource, at the end that level (level 2) it has some simpler verbal analogies. We do a few pages a day, it is very incremental and gradually builds up to analogies.

 

WWS combines fairly difficult reading passages with practice writing and outlining. It would be more of a time commitment, but also covers more. This might be a better summer project.

 

McGuffey's 5th reader has a variety of reading passages and has definitions of difficult words (the 5th reader is the highest level that has definitions.) I would have him read the definitions of the words before and after the passage. You could print out a few to try and buy the reprint if you like them and they are working well. Here are a few of the words from one of the earlier passages:

 

DEFINITIONS.--2. Warden, a keeper, one who guards, 4. En-croach'ment,

unlawful intrusion on the rights of others. Brig'ands, robbers, those who

live by plunder. 5. Mot'ley, composed of various colors. De-mo'ni-ac,

devil-like. 6. Sub-or'di-nate, inferior in power. 7. Ma-rines, soldiers

that serve on board of ships. De-mean'or, be-havior, deportment. 8.

Par'ley, conversation or conference with an enemy. 9. Re-mis'sion (pro.

re-mish'un), pardon of transgression. 11. Im-pre-ca'tions, curses, prayers

for evil. Ex-pos'tu-lat-ed, rea-soned earnestly. 12. In-dom'i-ta-ble, that

can not be subdued or tamed. 17. Blenched. gave way, shrunk. 18.

In-trep'id, fearless. 19, Re-prieve', a delay of punishment. 21.

Pre-cip'i-tan-cy, headlong hurry.

 

Here is a link to the free text version from Gutenberg Press:

 

http://www.gutenberg...040/pg15040.txt

 

I also really like the layout of the new Word Within The Word books by MCT. It is easy to skip over words with the stem that you know and read the definition of those you don't, very efficient. (See page 84, PDF or online of lesson 10 for Vol I.)

 

Also helpful is reading on an iPad or Kindle with something with a fair number of difficult vocabulary words but interesting. You simply highlight the word and its definition pops up. Swiss Family Robinson is a good boy book with a lot of vocab words, here is a Gutenberg version:

 

http://www.gutenberg...659/pg41659.txt