Not reading towards the end of 1st

[knittingmama]

Should I be concerned? Our 2nd oldest is 7, and he is still not reading, really at all. Sentences like "This is a dog" are still very challenging for him. I'm not sure what else to try. We were doing IEW's new phonics curriculum for several months, but that seemed to be making things worse, so we're back to "The Reading Lesson" and it's going better, but just very, very slowly. We have been back to TRL for several months and are only on chapter 4, I think. And it's not that he doesn't want to do it; he does, and he works extremely hard at it. It just isn't sticking yet. His 4 year old sister is reading rather well, but he is just so challenged by it. Do I need to do something differently? Back up somehow?

[MeganW]

Have his eyes been checked? Can you SEE anything weird with the eyes? I had one kid who I have known for ages had eye problems just because I can look at pictures and see that they just don't like completely normal. Not wrong enough to notice easily, but just when you really look. I had another kid who would hold her head sideways so that she was only looking out of one eye at the paper. I only noticed kid #3's issues when trying to read using the large whiteboard. Her eyes would start on the left, move to the center, then do this weird jump thing, then she couldn't figure out what line she was supposed to be looking at. All three were cleared numerous times by a well-respected opthamologist, but I kept taking them back b/c I just knew something wasn't quite right. I finally gave up on her and went the route that I thought was hokey, but I was desperate. All three went through vision therapy. They started at separate times, and all 3 started reading about 3 months after starting the therapy. Maybe it's a coincidence, but seems like too much of a coincidence for me to buy it!

 

Another thought - I finally outsourced teaching reading to an Academic Associates tutor who was WONDERFUL. The program wasn't very different from the much-revered Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (OPGTR) that everyone here recommends. The difference in our case was the patience level of the instructor, compared to the much-tired-of-dealing-with-it Mommy. :) Made all the difference in the world. In June, when we started, my kids were still at the CCCCCCAAAAAATTTT stage. Now, all 4 are reading above a 4th grade reading level. Best money I ever spent!

[Gentlemommy]

I agree about getting his eyes checked. I took my dd, at the end of her first grade year, to a COVD, after reading about it on here. Lo and behol, the poor girl had a bad tracking and convergence issue. :( Good news though, after six months of vision therapy, she picked up reading VERY easily. And that was despite stopping all formal reading instruction for the first 4 months of VT. She could just SEE the words, her eyes were finally able to track in ONE direction, and we're both able to focus on ONE thing. So I would say, try that first. It made a world of difference for us. She now reads everything she can get her hands on, and says reading is her favorite thing.

[knittingmama]

We have just gone to a regular optometrist, and I don't think they checked anything like that. I guess I need to get him an appointment, and I think I'll go with a different dr this time. I guess I will look one up in the morning and call and get an appt. Good call on that. I hadn't even thought about his eyes being a problem.

[sweetpea3829]

Yes, definitely have him seen by a developmental optometrist! Regular opthamologists often disregard DOs and whether or not vision therapy is valid or not. But there are more and more parents finding their struggling readers have a developmental vision issue. Once corrected, the kiddo is able to read better.

 

Also have his auditory processing checked...not hearing...auditory processing.

 

Finally...if it turns out he is dyslexic (just throwing this out there), the Barton Reading Program is supposed to be EXCELLENT for dyslexic students.

[MeganW]

We have just gone to a regular optometrist, and I don't think they checked anything like that. I guess I need to get him an appointment, and I think I'll go with a different dr this time. I guess I will look one up in the morning and call and get an appt. Good call on that. I hadn't even thought about his eyes being a problem.

 

 

Be sure you are looking for a COVD fellow.

 

My kids could pass a normal eye exam, b/c they could work to pull their eyes into focus for long enough to pass the exam, but then they would relax and their eyes weren't in focus any more. They walked around 90% of the time out of focus (sort of like when you go off in a daze, and things are blurry). They also were unable to track across the midline. As long as the book was on the right or left, they were fine, but if they were looking straight on, they just could not follow a line of type across the page.

 

FYI - the therapy is expensive and not usually covered by insurance. Our initial exam was $350, and then we had 6-15 months of twice-weekly vision therapy at $135 per session. We got back about 20% from insurance.

 

It was just SO much money (times 3 kids!), and we really couldn't afford it, but we were so desperate to try anything to fix these kids. We just didn't feel like we had a choice but to try it. It was so worth every penny!!!!

[sweetpea3829]

 

 

Be sure you are looking for a COVD fellow.

 

My kids could pass a normal eye exam, b/c they could work to pull their eyes into focus for long enough to pass the exam, but then they would relax and their eyes weren't in focus any more. They walked around 90% of the time out of focus (sort of like when you go off in a daze, and things are blurry). They also were unable to track across the midline. As long as the book was on the right or left, they were fine, but if they were looking straight on, they just could not follow a line of type across the page.

 

FYI - the therapy is expensive and not usually covered by insurance. Our initial exam was $350, and then we had 6-15 months of twice-weekly vision therapy at $135 per session. We got back about 20% from insurance.

 

It was just SO much money (times 3 kids!), and we really couldn't afford it, but we were so desperate to try anything to fix these kids. We just didn't feel like we had a choice but to try it. It was so worth every penny!!!!

 

 

You can find a DO at www.covd.org.

 

And the insurance issue....yeah, we ran into that as well. It depends on your insurance and it depends on what the doctor codes it as. DD7 went through a short time of vision therapy which was covered by insurance, but it was a fight and a half. In her case, if I understand it correctly, she was both far-sighted and astigamatic at the same time. So her vision was all over the place. The proper corrective lenses made a huge difference for her.

 

Prior to seeing the DO, she saw an opthamologist who is supposedly one of the very best in RI for pediatrics. And he caught the astigmatism, but not the developmental vision issues. I had even asked him about developmental vision and vision therapy and he flat out told me it was a waste of time and money and basically that it was a "quack".

 

Developmental vision isn't well regarded yet...but it's gaining ground. And rightfully so. I'd be willing to wager that a fairly high percentage of "dyslexics" actually have developmental vision issues that were never corrected.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I am probably very different than most but I wouldn't worry. My 1st grader is 6 (turns 7 next week) and he reads ok. Not great but not bad. He is still learning and struggles at times. He is working through Sonlight 1st grade readers.

 

My 8 year old *really* struggles to read. I used to panic but he will read when he is ready. My now 5th grader I am pretty certain came out of the womb reading. They all have strengths and weaknesses. Just practice, practice, practice but be patient. He will read when he is ready. Don't push or he will push back. One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is we are not bound by public school standards. My kids are all over the grid. My oldest HATES math. She is doing well but it is not easy at all for her. If you tested her knowledge of history she would probably score well into college years (think-- junior or senior even) She is a history NUT! Loves it. Devours is. I am going to say it-- she is a history nerd <3

 

Just give him time. He will read when he is ready :)

[sweetpea3829]

I am probably very different than most but I wouldn't worry. My 1st grader is 6 (turns 7 next week) and he reads ok. Not great but not bad. He is still learning and struggles at times. He is working through Sonlight 1st grade readers.

 

My 8 year old *really* struggles to read. I used to panic but he will read when he is ready. My now 5th grader I am pretty certain came out of the womb reading. They all have strengths and weaknesses. Just practice, practice, practice but be patient. He will read when he is ready. Don't push or he will push back. One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is we are not bound by public school standards. My kids are all over the grid. My oldest HATES math. She is doing well but it is not easy at all for her. If you tested her knowledge of history she would probably score well into college years (think-- junior or senior even) She is a history NUT! Loves it. Devours is. I am going to say it-- she is a history nerd <3

 

Just give him time. He will read when he is ready :)

 

I have to respectfully disagree with part of this. If only because I think there needs to be a caveat.

 

This approach is perfectly fine, as long as there are not LDs involved. Many children with an LD or a developmental vision issue will not learn to read, or do math, or whatever when they are ready. Not because they aren't ready...but because the LD hasn't been addressed.

 

So yes, if LDs are ruled out...then let him be and he'll come along when he's ready. But please, do rule out LDs first. They can be mitigated so much more easily if they are addressed early as opposed to waiting. Not to mention the frustration that can be alleviated if he does, indeed, truly WANT to read, and is trying the best he can, but is struggling because of a LD.

[Gentlemommy]

Yes, I agree, it has to be a COVD, not a regular eye doctor. My dd had 20/20 vision when she started VT. They are not the same thing.

[Gentlemommy]

Yes, I agree, it has to be a COVD, not a regular eye doctor. My dd had 20/20 vision when she started VT. They are not the same thing.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

 

I have to respectfully disagree with part of this. If only because I think there needs to be a caveat.

 

This approach is perfectly fine, as long as there are not LDs involved. Many children with an LD or a developmental vision issue will not learn to read, or do math, or whatever when they are ready. Not because they aren't ready...but because the LD hasn't been addressed.

 

So yes, if LDs are ruled out...then let him be and he'll come along when he's ready. But please, do rule out LDs first. They can be mitigated so much more easily if they are addressed early as opposed to waiting. Not to mention the frustration that can be alleviated if he does, indeed, truly WANT to read, and is trying the best he can, but is struggling because of a LD.

 

 

 

 

My son that struggles does have LD's. He has HFA, he is dyslexic, he has numerous other issues that may not be directely related to his reading struggles. He is getting it just at a slower pace. I am not doing much intervention-- he is reading just a bit below his brother. Compared to a year ago that is fantastic because be barely knew his letter sounds a year ago. I do, however, think it has to do with the specific child and the severity of LD's. This is a hard topic because there are mild LD's and there are extreme LD's. He is in OT, we do Reading Pathways and we will start using Dianne Crafts Brain Integration therapy book once I order it (once I have the $ to) but he is getting there with working on it. His working on it probably looks different than a child with no LD's though.

 

All that said, I have no doubt he will read when he is ready. (I am not arguing, I hope you know that :) I am strictly going based on my son. 100 kids with the same LD will probably learn a 100 different ways, ya know? :) )

[alisoncooks]

OP: Your child sounds much like mine. I have not had her tested and I don't yet plan to. DD shows no other symptoms for vision-related learning difficulties. She is reading CVC words (but still sounds them out) and she's slow to read sentences (no stamina).

We also have a 4 year old in the house who is making quick progress -- I anticipate she'll pass her sister once I officially start doing phonics work with her...

 

That said, I'm not yet worried. Oldest DD is a little behind, but not terribly so. I also know that kids this age make leaps and jumps.

 

An example: We took a few days off last week, and our first lesson back introduced "ck" as an ending. She immediately picked it up and read it well in words. This same child was struggling with CVC just the week before.

 

I'm not familiar with TRL -- we're using Phonics Pathways -- but something I'm finding that helps the reading/sounds stick is giving her a written element to our lesson. (Sometimes it's just writing a few words we've practiced in a writing journal. We just picked up ETC, so we'll be using that, too.) But it seems to help it all stick.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to add another voice to the conversation. :p

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

You can add in my phonics concentration game to get in some extra practice. Some children need a lot of repetition. Do at least one subject between your normal phonics and the game, 2 or more is even better. You might also want to add in a tiny bit of spelling at a different time in your subject order. You can alternate between written (can be on the white board), oral, and using magnetic letters or scrabble tiles.

[MeganW]

 

 

 

Prior to seeing the DO, she saw an opthamologist who is supposedly one of the very best in RI for pediatrics. And he caught the astigmatism, but not the developmental vision issues. I had even asked him about developmental vision and vision therapy and he flat out told me it was a waste of time and money and basically that it was a "quack".

 

 

That's exactly what we ran into. The traditional doctor kept telling me there was nothing wrong, when there clearly WAS something wrong. (It is not normal for kids to walk into doorways and trip over curbs every single time they pass by!!) I too asked about vision therapy and was told it was a gimmick. I am pretty conservative by nature (I was a CPA in my past life), but truly was desperate enough to try something out of the box even with very little hope of it doing anything. It was well worth it!!

[knittingmama]

Thanks so much. You have given me a lot to think about. I'm not sure that it is vision related, but I will be definitely getting him in. I have actually had hearing concerns with him in the past, and I'm starting to wonder if that might be part of it. I will be getting him in to get that checked out, too.