having 1st grade issues???

[Walking-Iris]

I'm hoping for some advice, commiseration, encouragement...whatever.

 

My 1st grader is 6 years old (summer birthday) and we are having a ton of problems this school year.

 

He has not progressed in his reading at all. We can't get past blends. I try to move on, but he can't seem to remember a word he just read yesterday, two days age, a week ago, a minute ago!!!

 

He understands letter sounds and he can sound out a word, but he is extremely resistant to doing it. He seems to be trying to look at the word as a whole shape and just memorize it as a whole rather than sounds to be read. For example a word like "dumps" (putting aside that he still hesitates if that is a b or d for the moment!!) he'll quickly glance at it and say "jumps"...because he just read "jumps" in another sentence and "look Mom---that's just like this ---tall letters and short parts and this is the same as this---why is it not the same???..."   Tears, frustration, pencil dropped on the floor, general wanting to give up angst!!! because it's not jumps and now he has to actually figure out what those sounds are....

 

Handwriting---it's nice, it's legible---but reversals. On again, off again. Just when I think we're past reversals he'll start doing it again. b,d,c,a,j,g, 3 and 2 were all struggles today.

 

He's not past Bob level readers (and other readers I have similar to Bob) and when he does read them perfectly, we can revisit the same book another day and ---nope---it's like I'm teaching it all over again. 

 

Oddly enough he's pretty good at spelling. Reversals aside. He can hear the sounds that I say and is able to write them, but reading them from a page is the primary struggle. He does excellent at narrations in WWE and copywork. He's doing great at math. 

 

General attitude: pretty much can't sit still and hates even trying to sit still. A typical 10 minutes at a table to do a few pages of math etc usually involves giggling, wiggling, dropped pencils, chewed pencils, scrunched papers, falling out of chair, random noises, interruptions, unrelated doodling, tears, more giggling, scattered c-rods, "are we done yet's?" sliding under tables...I wouldn't be surprised if he started standing on his head. He pretty much holds the rest of us hostage to the interruptions.

 

He's insanely impulsive, clumsy, and basically a bull in a china shop most days.

 

He was evaluated when he was 4 for sensory issues and nothing came of it. He's smart, curious and extremely busy busy busy. he also still has sleep issues. Every night is a battle to get him to settle down and sleep. 

 

My oldest has Asperger's and I swear I have never ever had this much trouble with him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lea_lpz]

I would continue to work in k level skills. A limit of boys are better suited to do k at six. Start trying to fullful 1st grade level standards next year and just continue with k basics.

 

We used my fathers world k. I don't know if that would fit with your family values or are interested in a Christian curriculum, but the Lang arts was perfect for my dd. It uses a routine and incorporates multisensory learning which was helpful for my dd who sounds really similar in that you'd cover something and she would completely forget over the weekend. They are reading cvc words at the end of the first semester and short stories. The complete curriculum took us about 2 hours to complete with read alouds and adding in 15 minutes of Spanish a day, and is easily broken down in to shorter segments for kids who can not work to long without getting antsy :)

 

We are doing 1st grade right now and loved k and are enjoying 1st.

 

I have a post right now on my summer birthday boy and an debating having him start k at age 6 by the way.

 

Good luck :)

[Trilliums]

I'd get some modelling clay or play dough and sit down with him and make all the letters for dumps and then all the letters for jumps.  Let him handle the letters and turn them around in different directions.  Let him see a lower case d can be rotated to be a b or a q or p.    Even better would be to make the entire alphabet out of clay and help him associate the sounds to each shape.  You can make blends and then shapes to go with them.  TRuck : Make a little truck for the letters to all travel on, etc. 

 

Your description reminds me so much of my son.  He also was a whole word reader.  Working with letters in clay or drawing them in sand or building them with math cubes helped him relate to letters much better.  He was a late reader though.  He is now 16 and excelling academically (taking classes at our University) though so it did not hold him back.

 

 

[Walking-Iris]

Thank you. I hesitate at having him work in k level skills because he does well with 1st grade level math. He does a brilliant job with WWE1 and FLL1 and any BW projects. He enjoys his science and history. He's definitely not (imo) at a K level skill set or development. In fact he was often bored with his K level work. 

 

Thanks for the suggestion Trilliums. I've tried hard for years to relate everything we do to a hands-on project approach. I've tried to turn phonics into any kind of game imaginable. I guess at the end of the day I think---you're just going to have to sit down with a book eventually.

 

I've been focusing on the phonics part of lang arts hard lately. He does a great job with the content and is pretty smart when it comes to concepts not typically K-1st grade. Evolution comes to mind. That kid can describe these concepts in a clear way. 

 

But if the basic reading isn't down---we can't progress at his rate in those areas. 

 

 

[HS Mom in NC]

Let go of the idea of grade levels. Focus on which skills he needs now and help him master them.  Grade levels are one of the biggest scams in education.

 

My oldest daughter started learning to read when she was 4 and could read like an adult by her 5th birthday. 

 

My middle daughter wasn't ready to learn to read until she was almost 8.  We got the phonics out when she was 5 and nothing stuck after two 10 minute sessions twice a day for 2 weeks.  Then we put it away and didn't worry about it.  When she was 6 we got it out again every 3 months or so, did the same 10 minutes two times a day for a few weeks and she didn't make any progress.  We did that until she was almost 8 and finally she started making progress.  By the time she was 11 she could read like an adult.  She started college at 15 and has the highest scores in all her classes.

 

My youngest started learning to read at 5.  She made progress, plateaued for a while, then made progress for a while, then plateaued for a while, and now at age 8 can read almost fluently, but not quite yet. We didn't stress about plateaus.  Some kids just do that. They're not machines than steadily make progress at a regular pace.

 

Her school sessions had to be about 5 minutes long when she first started school because she's turbo powered.  She had to do a lot of large motor physical play before and after a short session. I mean running laps around the yard and jumping jacks and climbing the play structure and sliding down 15 times in a row and doing push ups then doing 5-10 minutes of phonics.   She moved to longer sessions much more slowly than her peers and siblings did. Now she can sit longer but she still needs lots of breaks throughout the day to get all that energy out.

 

She doesn't fall out of chairs as much as she used to.  She still explodes into rooms but she's getting better. We have to tell her "That's too much" and explain that her behavior can continue outside (volume, large motor movements) or she can stay inside but has to be quieter and slower and more careful if it's an option.  If it's school, it's time to tone it down and focus.   It took time but with conscious reinforcement, it's better.

 

We have to be blunt and specific about what she needs to do in these situations and why because she has no intuitive ability to figure it out  by herself. Right now we have to focus on "let it go."  Whether it's continuously chanting or humming a phrase around other people to which we say, " You can say/sing it one more time and then you need to be done. If you want to sing to yourself out loud go to your room or outside, we're watching tv/talking etc."  or when she goes on and on about something we say, "OK, it's time to wrap this up now because you've said more than enough about it and other people have things to contribute to this conversation"  or "You've been talking a long time, now it's time to stop talking because you don't have anything new to say." Now the most frequently used explanation is, "Let it go.  I have already answered this and I'm not discussing it further."

 

She does Tae Kwon Do 3 days a week and PE once a week.  Whenever possible, we have her play outside using large motor skills. Lots of screen time makes her physical behavior and attitude worse.

 

I had very high standards for quality handwriting early on, but not a lot of quantity.  Now that she can do more, I break up her copying her narrations I wrote down into 2 sessions with large motor skill physical play in between. 

 

For sleep and behavior issues, google Diane Craft, a staple at homeschooling conventions.

 

[Sherry in OH]

He sounds like he is six – wiggles, giggles and all.

 

If it makes you feel any better, my second grader still reverses some letters and numbers.  The boy can look at what he has written, tell me it is backwards, erase it, and write it backwards again.   He does much better with cursive. 

 

As far as reading, maybe he just isn’t ready.  If he doesn’t consider them too babyish, have him watch the Leap Frog Talking Words Factory DVDs for a week or two.  You could also let him play on Starfall or one of the other phonics sites in lieu of reading lessons for a couple of weeks.  Then pick up the books and try again.     

 

If he can’t sit in a chair, remove the chair.  Let him do his math standing or on his knees or flat on the floor.  Incorporate his energy into the lesson – have him jump the answer or clap the answer instead of writing it.   

 

It is okay to have content subjects be at higher levels than skill subjects.  A six year old just learning to read is within the bounds of normal.   

[Susan in TX]

If I were you, I would put away all the formal schooling until he is seven.

 

That said, if you still think he should be learning to read now,  I have found Clicknkids.com to be helpful. Also, my son could not learn to read using phonics only instruction. He could sound out the words but he would never remember them so he was continually having to sound out all the words when reading. With him I used a combination of clicknkids along with Spectrum Dolch Sight Word Activities workbooks followed by Scholastic's 100 Words Kids Need to Read workbook series. I also used old Ginn readers from the 1960s. Also, when he was reading aloud I stopped making him sound out unfamiliar words and just told him what the word was. This approach was much more successful than the just phonics approach that had worked just fine with his four older sisters.

 

Susan in TX

[Trilliums]

Thank you. I hesitate at having him work in k level skills because he does well with 1st grade level math. He does a brilliant job with WWE1 and FLL1 and any BW projects. He enjoys his science and history. He's definitely not (imo) at a K level skill set or development. In fact he was often bored with his K level work. 

 

Thanks for the suggestion Trilliums. I've tried hard for years to relate everything we do to a hands-on project approach. I've tried to turn phonics into any kind of game imaginable. I guess at the end of the day I think---you're just going to have to sit down with a book eventually.

 

I've been focusing on the phonics part of lang arts hard lately. He does a great job with the content and is pretty smart when it comes to concepts not typically K-1st grade. Evolution comes to mind. That kid can describe these concepts in a clear way. 

 

But if the basic reading isn't down---we can't progress at his rate in those areas. 

 

Most hands on projects are still woefully two dimensional (cut out some paper figures, glue them here, color this, etc.).   I hope you will reconsider providing your son a 3D basis for recognizing the difference between the 2D rendering of letters on paper.   I don't even consider it a hands on project, much less a game.  It is an exploration and an alternative learning strategy. 

 

I understand your concern that not reading will hold him back in other areas.  I felt the same way. It turned out not to be the case though. Not at all!  He devoured audio books on a variety of subjects, mostly scientific.  He loved to be read to and to discuss a variety of topics.  His vocab was stellar from an early age and still is. School teachers at parks would ask me how my 7 yo knew so much about Egypt since it was not taught until grade 5 or physics which they still did not understand themselves (this did happen when some teachers overheard my kids building in the sand box).

 

Reading at age 6 is an arbitrary standard.  A child who does not read by age 6 is not necessarily behind or lacking somehow. 

[SnMomof7]

Her school sessions had to be about 5 minutes long when she first started school because she's turbo powered. She had to do a lot of large motor physical play before and after a short session. I mean running laps around the yard and jumping jacks and climbing the play structure and sliding down 15 times in a row and doing push ups then doing 5-10 minutes of phonics. She moved to longer sessions much more slowly than her peers and siblings did. Now she can sit longer but she still needs lots of breaks throughout the day to get all that energy out.

 

She doesn't fall out of chairs as much as she used to. She still explodes into rooms but she's getting better. We have to tell her "That's too much" and explain that her behavior can continue outside (volume, large motor movements) or she can stay inside but has to be quieter and slower and more careful if it's an option. If it's school, it's time to tone it down and focus. It took time but with conscious reinforcement, it's better.

 

We have to be blunt and specific about what she needs to do in these situations and why because she has no intuitive ability to figure it out by herself. Right now we have to focus on "let it go." Whether it's continuously chanting or humming a phrase around other people to which we say, " You can say/sing it one more time and then you need to be done. If you want to sing to yourself out loud go to your room or outside, we're watching tv/talking etc." or when she goes on and on about something we say, "OK, it's time to wrap this up now because you've said more than enough about it and other people have things to contribute to this conversation" or "You've been talking a long time, now it's time to stop talking because you don't have anything new to say." Now the most frequently used explanation is, "Let it go. I have already answered this and I'm not discussing it further."

Wow, my 7-yo is MUCH this way :), along with articulation delays.

[brendag]

Sounds a lot like my ds6 (Sept. bday) who is advanced in many areas.  I'm attributing it to the asynchronous development thing. The writing is what is holding my ds back a bit so I scribe for him in some areas so he doesn't get frustrated.  The part of your post quoted below is pretty much what I've got going on here as well.  I've tried breaks in between each subject, plugging through a couple at a time before a break, etc.  He's also got some intensities that just add to the party.  He asked me the other day why I need to meditate every day.   :tongue_smilie:   I don't really have much advice except to suggest having an extra cup of coffee/tea or whatever you need to try and make the day go better.  If you figure something out, please post!  ;)

 

"General attitude: pretty much can't sit still and hates even trying to sit still. A typical 10 minutes at a table to do a few pages of math etc usually involves giggling, wiggling, dropped pencils, chewed pencils, scrunched papers, falling out of chair, random noises, interruptions, unrelated doodling, tears, more giggling, scattered c-rods, "are we done yet's?" sliding under tables...I wouldn't be surprised if he started standing on his head. He pretty much holds the rest of us hostage to the interruptions."

 

 

Brenda

[chelsmm]

Well, that does sound pretty normal for a six year old! My son is similar in many ways. If my son went to school, I would have just put him in kindergarten for this year.

 

My son needs lots of movement. He often is on a swing while I am reading or building blocks while I am teaching something else. He retains and learns it, but he needs to be busy.

 

The letter reversals can be so normal at this age. The fact that your son has decent handwriting and spelling is impressive! He's so young still. I think he probably needs more

Movement. And less desk work. Ten minutes might be his max for now.

 

More games too.

[HS Mom in NC]

I know a person with a very physical child that got one of those small, one person, a foot or so off the ground, trampolines and let the kid bounce on it during school while she memorized things, listened to read alouds and did narrations. 

 

My turbo powered 8 year old sometimes bounces on an exercise ball while my husband reads aloud to her for long stretches of time. She loves hands on projects too but sometimes things crash and bang in the process, so be prepared. Today the bowl of jewels for Charlemagne's crown went flying across the room, not falling to the floor.  That's how much physical motion went into painting the crown gold. I had to tell her, "You need to make smaller movements." She didn't figure that out on her own right away.

[Guest NewKidOnTheBlock]

So my son is 6, a first grader, and has many of the same traits as your son. On a recent trip to the developmental doc, they were concerned that he might have issues with dyslexia. The clumsiness. The state of confusion every time we give instructions to do more than one task. The difficulty remembering things, yet, he is quite intelligent. And of course, the reading issues. So they advised that I have him tested for dyslexia through the public school system. In our state, (MD), they have to perform the test if I parent requests. So you may want to consider that. Also, you should note that dyslexic people often try to memorize words, rather than sound them out. 

 

When he was 4, he was diagnosed with ADHD. OK, whatever, I thought to myself. But then preceded to break his elbow jumping off a bed, put rocks in his ears, and swallowed a screw. Not to mention used to chase around cars, (real ones!). He is, however, the sweetest kid ever. So yeah, no more denial about the ADHD thing, but I do think the term is used too loosely.  We chose not to medicate him, and deal with it via diet and routine. Not perfect, but we get by. If there is one thing I abide by, it's no red dye. Life saver. So you may want to check that out too. 

 

Also, the bedtime thing. The doc advised that characteristics of ADHD and sleep deprivation are almost indistinguishable. So we started making him lay down in the afternoons, and sure enough, he'd be out like a light. He was tired, despite our healthy bedtime.  When he is tired, he will not stop moving. 

 

So your son may not have any of these issues, but it may help to rule them out. If he does, a least you can approach his reading from the correct angle because I know it can be very frustrating for both of you. He's just a little guy. Of course, while some kids read at 4, some don't read until 8. Lucky for him, he is at home and can progress at a pace that is acceptable for himself. 

 

Good luck. 

[Farrar]

He sounds a bit like my ds who was a little slower to read.  I wouldn't stress about it.  Obviously, keep working on it, but try new things, keep it like a game, do more physical stuff like the playdoh mentioned above.  Do you have Games for Reading by Peggy Kaye?  Do that kind of stuff.  Try to relax.  I know it's hard!

 

And I would focus more on the things he does well.  Spend more time on math.  Read more aloud and do more with content since he obviously enjoys it.  I know that we talk a lot about skills as being the core, absolute thing for young kids, but really I think content can be a saving place of fun in school for younger kids.  Do the stuff he's good at and build him up around it.  When something isn't working, it's our tendency to throw ourselves at it, but often the solution is to give the "problem" less energy and instead work on the things that work.  And let the reading come when it comes.  It will eventually.

[....]

He understands letter sounds and he can sound out a word, but he is extremely resistant to doing it. He seems to be trying to look at the word as a whole shape and just memorize it as a whole rather than sounds to be read. For example a word like "dumps" (putting aside that he still hesitates if that is a b or d for the moment!!) he'll quickly glance at it and say "jumps"...because he just read "jumps" in another sentence and "look Mom---that's just like this ---tall letters and short parts and this is the same as this---why is it not the same???..."   Tears, frustration, pencil dropped on the floor, general wanting to give up angst!!! because it's not jumps and now he has to actually figure out what those sounds are....

 

Handwriting---it's nice, it's legible---but reversals. On again, off again. Just when I think we're past reversals he'll start doing it again. b,d,c,a,j,g, 3 and 2 were all struggles today.

 

He's not past Bob level readers (and other readers I have similar to Bob) and when he does read them perfectly, we can revisit the same book another day and ---nope---it's like I'm teaching it all over again. 

 

Oddly enough he's pretty good at spelling. Reversals aside. He can hear the sounds that I say and is able to write them, but reading them from a page is the primary struggle. He does excellent at narrations in WWE and copywork. He's doing great at math. 

 

 

From your description and what you're doing in your signature, your son is more advanced than my 6 yro.  Mine is still reading Bob books.  We have not done spelling or handwriting yet.  It looks like you guys are reading SOTW 1.  There's no way my 6 yro could sit long enough to listen to that.  Yesterday, we read Curious George in the Snow.  Lol.  She is not ready for WWE yet.  

 

I was told at our school district's early childhood center that letter reversals are very normal up to 3rd grade (my son did that, too and I thought he had dyslexia).

 

The way your son is memorizing the shape of the words makes me think he might be a VSL (I have 2 of those).

 

About the clumsiness...aren't all 6 yro dudes like a bull in a china shop?   :tongue_smilie:  One time, I gave my son a plate of tacos to carry to the dinner table.  As he walked, he tilted the plate and they slid all over the carpet.  Sigh...  So, I gave him another plate of tacos.  He started walking and spilled those on the carpet, too.   :svengo:

[boscopup]

He sounds similar to my first grader, who just turned 7 last week. He's doing better with reading now, but it's been a long slog. I recently started using R&S Reading and Phonics, and the Reading does use sight words, but it also focuses on comparing words to other words, to see that they're different. He basically has to notice the letters instead of shapes the way they're doing it, and it seems to be improving his phonics ability, believe it or not. :)

 

A year ago, my son would forget words that he had just sounded out in the same sentence. Yes, it is exhausting. Keep plugging along. It will come eventually.

 

Reversals alone don't bother me, as my 9 year old still reverses b/d (and he's an excellent reader).

 

My first grader is VSL (he thinks in pictures), so I think that's why he has taken longer than his brothers to cross the reading bridge. My dad was the same way, and he became an advanced reader by around 6th grade. So I keep plugging away, and we make improvement all the time.

 

My first grader works ahead in math - no need to keep math and reading at the same level. He started Beast Academy 3A this week and loves it (we're continuing with CLE 200 as his main math though). I fully expect him to be working well ahead in math using AoPS later on, just like his big brother is. My first grader is a better problem solver than his big brother.

 

We were using FLL1 and WWE1, and my son didn't have any trouble with either one, and we were also doing Pentime 1, but I've decided to go with a less is more philosophy with this kid. So he does his CLE Math 200, followed by R&S Reading 1. Then we do history/science (I read aloud everything to him). After lunch, we do R&S Phonics 1, which includes some writing. It's less writing than Pentime was, but his writing is improving. Go figure! So I'm requiring nice looking letters during Phonics, and then he doesn't have to do separate handwriting lessons. This is working well for him. Next year, I'll add in more writing.

 

This kid is my thinker who asks all the hard questions. He notices tiny details that no one else does. He's very smart. Reading is just taking a while. He will read though. I'm sure of that. :)

[Walking-Iris]

Wow so much to try to respond to. Thank you all for the advice and thoughts.

 

Let go of the idea of grade levels. Focus on which skills he needs now and help him master them.  Grade levels are one of the biggest scams in education.

 

 

 

I've never had the idea of grade levels to begin with. ;) My post above was in response to a poster suggesting MFW K. I'll continue to consider him 1st grade. Grade levels for me are useful for community sports, responding to the random stranger, any official thing where a grade level may be asked. As far as grade level in what we do though? Not so much. My response to the poster can be clarified in that I meant when looking at "typical" K level skills, he's beyond them. So thinking in terms of "continue to work in K level skills" wouldn't actually help us any. 

 

 

If I were you, I would put away all the formal schooling until he is seven.

 

 

 

I know it's a popular idea in homeschooling to delay academics, it just doesn't work for me. I'm not in the better late than early crowd, but more in the better early than late crowd. I start actively working with my children at around 2-3 years old. Not wanting to derail this thread into that discussion however. I am more than willing to let children work at their pace. I understand the range of learning to read is wide and that a child doesn't necessarily have to be reading certain things by 6, but I've never been comfortable with putting things away in hopes that something will be better when they are older. I'd rather just keep working on things in various ways until something works for this kid's learning style. Thanks for the rec of the Words They Need To Read books. I've seen those but haven't actually used them...I may look into them.

 

Most hands on projects are still woefully two dimensional (cut out some paper figures, glue them here, color this, etc.).   I hope you will reconsider providing your son a 3D basis for recognizing the difference between the 2D rendering of letters on paper.   I don't even consider it a hands on project, much less a game.  It is an exploration and an alternative learning strategy. 

 

I understand your concern that not reading will hold him back in other areas.  I felt the same way. It turned out not to be the case though. Not at all!  He devoured audio books on a variety of subjects, mostly scientific.  He loved to be read to and to discuss a variety of topics.  His vocab was stellar from an early age and still is. School teachers at parks would ask me how my 7 yo knew so much about Egypt since it was not taught until grade 5 or physics which they still did not understand themselves (this did happen when some teachers overheard my kids building in the sand box).

 

Reading at age 6 is an arbitrary standard.  A child who does not read by age 6 is not necessarily behind or lacking somehow. 

 

Well in all honesty we don't do a lot of cutting or pasting or gluing projects. (Now my dd does....but she loves paper crafts of all kinds and can easily be entertained with scissors, construction paper and a glue stick :) ) We use HWOT so for letters specifically we have the wooden letters and we've done the play doh. Various activities we have done are making homemade board games, using Montessori moveable alphabets, playing our own version of banagrams, building words with Duplo legos, various oral games, building words with finger puppets (glove finger tips with letters written on them), book making (he actually enjoys this), word family flip books, as well as some of the various activities in our Caldecott Curriculum. 

 

I understand what you're saying about 2d and 3d however. I guess my frustration comes because he's so active that I have had to relate nearly everything we do to some sort of project/game/hands-on/movement/activity of some sort....it gets exhausting to keep up. OH it would be so convenient for him to just sit down and do a phonics lesson!!!

 

He amazes me at how much content subjects he soaks up. My older ds was just the opposite---very good at the skills, but interest in history or science took some time. Still even our content subjects are actively learned rather than passive reading. 

 

My son needs lots of movement. He often is on a swing while I am reading or building blocks while I am teaching something else. He retains and learns it, but he needs to be busy.

The letter reversals can be so normal at this age. The fact that your son has decent handwriting and spelling is impressive! He's so young still. I think he probably needs more
Movement. And less desk work. Ten minutes might be his max for now.

More games too.

 

Yeah that's the extent of of the "seatwork" we've been able to manage. Math is usually pretty active with the use of c-rods and bead bars and playing the card games. And it's usually done on the floor Montessori style with a place mat or yoga mat as a workspace. There are times when it's easier if he would just come to the table though. I have been pulling ideas from Peggy Kaye's Games For Math (which I got a few months age just for him), but I don't have her Reading book. He is allowed to bounce on the exercise ball, or spin in the Bilibo if I'm reading. But honestly the amount of reading aloud I can do with him in one day isn't much longer than a quality picture book, or the page lesson in his science. He does enjoy bedtime reading, so that's where a chapter book read aloud always happens. My other children however enjoy reading and that's been an issue, getting him to respect my time with them as well. I usually tell him he doesn't have to listen but he needs to do some quiet activity until we're done. 

 

 

 

When he was 4, he was diagnosed with ADHD. OK, whatever, I thought to myself. But then preceded to break his elbow jumping off a bed, put rocks in his ears, and swallowed a screw. Not to mention used to chase around cars, (real ones!). He is, however, the sweetest kid ever. So yeah, no more denial about the ADHD thing, but I do think the term is used too loosely.  We chose not to medicate him, and deal with it via diet and routine. Not perfect, but we get by. If there is one thing I abide by, it's no red dye. Life saver. So you may want to check that out too. 

 

Also, the bedtime thing. The doc advised that characteristics of ADHD and sleep deprivation are almost indistinguishable. So we started making him lay down in the afternoons, and sure enough, he'd be out like a light. He was tired, despite our healthy bedtime.  When he is tired, he will not stop moving. 

 

So your son may not have any of these issues, but it may help to rule them out. If he does, a least you can approach his reading from the correct angle because I know it can be very frustrating for both of you. He's just a little guy. Of course, while some kids read at 4, some don't read until 8. Lucky for him, he is at home and can progress at a pace that is acceptable for himself. 

 

Good luck. 

 

 I've thought about it. I also have the "yeah whatever" when it comes to the ADHD diagnosis, but my oldest has Asperger's so it's not a far fetched idea there could be something. I do however know that he is not experiencing spectrum issues. It was evaluated before since his brother did, but there is zero red flags for any of that. ADHD? Dyslexia? some minor sensory issues? Maybe. Honestly though i don't know how severe things need to get before seeking help. 

 

 

From your description and what you're doing in your signature, your son is more advanced than my 6 yro.  Mine is still reading Bob books.  We have not done spelling or handwriting yet.  It looks like you guys are reading SOTW 1.  There's no way my 6 yro could sit long enough to listen to that.  Yesterday, we read Curious George in the Snow.  Lol.  She is not ready for WWE yet.  

 

I was told at our school district's early childhood center that letter reversals are very normal up to 3rd grade (my son did that, too and I thought he had dyslexia).

 

The way your son is memorizing the shape of the words makes me think he might be a VSL (I have 2 of those).

 

About the clumsiness...aren't all 6 yro dudes like a bull in a china shop?   :tongue_smilie:  One time, I gave my son a plate of tacos to carry to the dinner table.  As he walked, he tilted the plate and they slid all over the carpet.  Sigh...  So, I gave him another plate of tacos.  He started walking and spilled those on the carpet, too.   :svengo:

 

Actually nope---we're not reading SOTW. I decided to use HO Ancients this year and although that has SOTW for reading, like I said above he can't sit still. What we have done for history is we've been working on our History Pockets (he loves that) and watching a ton of documentaries (he loves those).  A poster above mentioned Leap Frog. He actually doesn't watch to many children's shows. He prefers documentaries and science type shows like Mythbusters. And he'll try to recreate them. So for history we've focused on assembling his pocket book, and reading shorter books from the recommended book lists. He's also pretty attached to any Magic Tree House Research Guide he can get his hands on. 

 

He's much more interested in any science topic, so I've decided I have too much to do as it is to add trying to teach Ancient history to a 6 year old. So in that regard we've just been focusing on interest driven short read alouds, docs, and assembling his pocket book. He asks to work on that a little each week, so I'm good with that.

 

He actually loves WWE, and I love it because the excerpts are short enough that I feel I was able to read something beyond a picture book to him, and he does a great job at narrations. He likes copywork. It's visual. It's oral. It's also active since my children do WWE copywork/narrations in an unlined sketchbook. I've had to double up days to keep it interesting. So I write out the copywork sentence and I read the excerpt while he's copying and then he does the narration portion and then he draws something from that scene. He absolutely loves doing this every day. 

 

His spelling is primarily coming from ETC. He likes doing all the written/spelling work in those books (regardless of reversals)...but he balks at the reading pages. I have WRTR and I've tried to read it and wrap my brain around it---but I guess I'm so busy (I'm taking college classes) that I've sort of ignored studying that manual. It seemed much easier to go with OPGTR because I wouldn't have to figure out how to use it.

 

Thanks to everyone. I guess I may be over worried about it. My DH seems to think so. I started to read at age 3, my ds started reading around age 4, and my 3 year old dd is showing an intense interest in reading and writing. I guess maybe my 6 year old is really the "normal" one LOL. 

 

I'm going to breathe and just keep doing what we're doing that is working and just have a bit more patience.

[MotherOfBoys]

My son is the same way but I've found ways to get around it.

 

Like dump and jump. It's great that he sees the similarities! It will keep him from having to sound out the whole word. That's one reason to learn rhyming words. It's a short cut for us. I would praise my son for noticing it. Then I'd say "what is the first sound in this word (as I point to the word dump)? " /d/ "great now what is the first sound in this word (as I point to the word jump)" /j/ . Then show him the shortcut of not having to sound out the whole word, just the first two letters to get the rest. Adults don't sound out every word, we know them by sight eventually. Kids books rhyme for a reason. For fun and for shortcuts. I read this in a Pathway Readers teachers guide, which teaches phonics, that said encourage the first to letters to be sounded out but it's ok if they guess the rest. I also use the opportunity, if they guess wrong, to say "did you hear yourself? That word didn't make sense did it? Let's look again." I don't expect much more than I do. I guess at big science words sometimes. I look for similarities. So why can't my son? My boys all have problems noticing anything around them so I've made a point to point out when they DO notice something (like dad on the phone so I should be quiet, or brothers sleeping so I should go to another room, etc).

 

I also took more time on word games and put away the reading books for awhile when we needed it. Sounds like you do that though. We used letter cards to build words because he was a good speller (accentuate the positives) and then related them to other words.

 

As for the pencil dropping I blew a gasket one day and taped it to his hand. :)  On the bright side, he's gotten better at catching it before it hits the floor. I also have an old school desk that has the desk attached to the chair. Best invention ever! for a wiggly boy.

[Caribbean Queen]

He understands letter sounds and he can sound out a word, but he is extremely resistant to doing it. ... For example a word like "dumps"...he'll quickly glance at it and say "jumps".....---why is it not the same???..."   Tears, frustration, pencil dropped on the floor, general wanting to give up angst!!! because it's not jumps and now he has to actually figure out what those sounds are....

 

Just tell him what the word is.  Sound it out for him.

 

Son:  "The truck jumps"

Mom:  "Dumps. /d/ /u/ /m/ /p/ /s/  dumps."

 

And move on. 

 

 

Here is a good technique:  Read easy books extremely slowly while your child follows along.  I mean really, really slowly!  Don't require anything of him but to look at the words.  This is a no-pressure way to drill commonly used words.  It did wonders for my children's reading skills. 

[kwg]

SOmething I htought of when I first read this post was Making Words by Patricia Cunningham.  I just started it with my 6 yo bc he has a habit of guessing words when reading.  Like I said we just started so I do not know how long it will "work", but I used it in my first grade class and the kids get a kick out of it.  My edition is older but i assume it is pretty much the same.

[kbutton]

If your other children did things so early, this child is probably just as bright but either has some learning issues or requires a very different approach. My SIL was a stealth dyslexic (frustrated and undiagnosed until adulthood), and my son has Asperger's, so I am big on evaluations. If you feel like your child is getting really frustrated, I would encourage you to seek an evaluation. I agree that things could go either way at six, but if this is not the typical trajectory for your children, he could be having issues. I am also a better early than late kind of person--my kids were ready to learn and needed the stimulation (though neither one read extremely early, just picked/picking it up quickly).

 

Some highly visual kids really don't do well with phonics. My very intelligent FIL is visual-spatial, and when he was in school, whole language instruction was popular. He picked it up fast! He didn't know what a vowel was until high school. Maybe he would have learned well with phonics, maybe not. Whole language certainly didn't hold him back. Ironically, he became a reading specialist, often teaching phonics (though he was very good about teaching to a child's individual strengths from what I gather).

 

If your son is good at patterns, maybe he's seeing patterns in words so easily that it's hard to distinguish between visually similar letters (seeing the forest but missing a tree here and there). Both of my boys saw similar letters like b, d, p, q, etc. as one letter oriented differently (same with m and w). I told them they had a great skill--some people can't see things upside down, backwards, forwards, etc., but if they wanted to be able to read, they needed to remember that the different positions each meant different things. Maybe a mnemonic would help your son learn the positions (even a whole body mnemonic if necessary). My six year old still reverses some letters, but we try to have him visualize the b as a person looking forward (right) with a big belly. The d is a person facing backward (left), so the circle is a big derriere. Maybe you could make up a story about how the letters got into their positions that would help him remember which one is which. Or maybe cursive writing/reading would help since at least the loops are different for all of those letters. If some visual/spatial strategies don't seem to help, I would think about an evaluation. The Eides have information on stealth dyslexia, including some slides online.

 

Your son sounds like an interesting kid, and I hope you are able to figure this out. It sounds like you are doing a great job.

 

My six year old skips over the individual sounds in words if he thinks he knows the word by shape. In his case, I ask him to spell the word he's supposed to be reading out loud, and that changes his focus to the individual letters. I think he's very spatial, but he likes phonics, and he's not easily frustrated. He often realizes he's reversing something and just asks us if something is right or wrong. If he couldn't reason through place values, he would write all of his numbers wrong too (and still does sometimes). 12 would be how he writes 21, etc. Also, having to dictate and work through sounds seems to help him over some of his sticking points with phonics. If he's learning a new sound, like oy/oi, we brainstorm a list of words that have that sound, and he writes them on the whiteboard as we talk through how they could be spelled. It seems to do much more for him than having him read a list of the same words.

[ErinE]

I think you've received some great advice. My only suggestion for reading would be using an index card with a square notch cut out of the corner. Whenever dd would guess words too often, I used it to cover up the word and reveal it one letter or blend at a time. It forced her to slow down and see the word parts.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I teach my kids to spell first.  We orally sound out words, then build words with a movable alphabet.  Finally we move on to All About Spelling.  It's basically the same as what we had been doing but more formal.  My oldest two kids jumped into reading halfway through AAS level 1.  Before the jump they would slowly sound out each word.  Forget about sentences.  After the jump, they pulled out a book and read the whole thing (Green Eggs and Ham was ds's first book).  Reading came easily to dd and she started at 4.5yo.  Six months later she could read any picture book she could get her hands on.  DS didn't start reading until 6.5yo and he is progressing much more slowly than dd, but still doing fine.  The only reading work that we did before they jumped was games that involved reading only one word at a time.  I would have 4 word cards on the table and would say one out loud and they had to pick the right one.  Or I would put an object or picture on the table to match to a card.  Or they would take a word card and match it to an object somewhere in the house, do an action, etc.

[Dmmetler]

Balance ball chairs and balance discs for the floor or for couch time are a big help with my wiggly DD.

[mommymonster]

By any chance has he had his eyes checked? Perhaps glasses might be in order.

[Walking-Iris]

Thank you for all the advice. He has had an eye exam---he's due for another this year. 

 

He did read me Hop on Pop a couple nights ago. He specifically asked if he could read it to me. He's balked at trying to read any real book so far. He did get a bit frustrated at times. He definitely has the whole "can't do it perfectly---give up" attitude.

 

He does like to write as well. He'll try to spell out little notes to us with "invented spelling." 

 

The conversation basically went like this:

 

"Can I read this to you."  "Of course!!" (Me--all excited because up until now it's me asking him to read something aloud or try to listen to a read aloud.)

 

Nervously: "But what if I forget some of the words?"

 

Will you ever forget the letters? "No"  Will you ever forget the letter sound I've taught you? "No" Then don't worry, we'll figure out the hard words together.

 

I did notice that he definitely was trying to remember the shapes of words...and that caused him to stumble a bit while reading it. I've gone back to the word family idea a poster suggested and trying to have him isolate the different beginning sound. 

 

He has also had a hard time remembering/understanding  the sounds for ou, ow, th, sh, ir, er, ir, and the silent e. He also forgets sight words previously worked on. 

 

He tends to argue with me. It's like all letters have their primary short vowel sound and consonant sound and there's no deviation from it at all. 

 

Once we starting getting beyond CVC words he just started shutting down. 

 

 

[herekittykitty]

Well, I do agree that some kids aren't ready to read at this age.  But it's also true that dyslexia can be diagnosed in 1st grade.  And 1 in 5 kids have some degree of dyslexia. The majority of parents wait until 3rd, 4th or 5th grade to get a diagnosis and help - when there is no doubt that there is problem.  What all of those parents would tell you is that they wish they could turn back time and intervene earlier.  Did anyone in your family have trouble with reading or spelling growing up?  Does your son show any of these other symptoms on the list below?  If so, I would take him for a private evaluation NOW. Knowledge is power, and current research says that if reading intervention for dyslexia starts in 1st grade, their reading won't be any different from their non-dyslexic peers in 3rd grade.  There's a lot at stake to just hope it's nothing.

 

http://www.bartonreading.com/pdf/Dys%20warning%20signs.pdf

 

If you really don't want to consider an evaluation for whatever reason, I would encourage you to consider an Orton-Gillingham reading program for him.  If you are not familiar, they are basically phonics on steroids, multisensory programs and they are the gold standard for dyslexics.  

[Walking-Iris]

Copy and pasted the list you provided. I'm not adverse to an evaluation, he has been evaluated in the past for sensory issues. Mainly I think our doctor suggested because my oldest is on the spectrum so they were just being cautious. It didn't come to anything and I don't feel as though he has any sensory issues. As far as getting evaluated for reading, I would likely have to go through our local school....I have a friend who tried that with her dd and it is apparently a ridiculous and ineffective process. 

 

No one  in my immediate family had reading problems. My husband's family on the other hand---smart and capable people, but not too bright when it comes to education and books. My husband is an excellent reader and smart and loves and collects books and works in education, but his brother and Dad don't read and I've heard his Mom try to read aloud to my kids and there's something off. 

 

I'm familiar with O-G...SeqSpell is somewhat O-G. Anyway, as far as these dyslexia red flags are concerned-----I'm just not convinced we're at a place yet where there is due for that level of concern. I am open in finding various ways to help him read though---even using some techniques used with children who are dx'ed with dyslexia if it helps.

 

 

In Preschool (none of these. Actually my oldest who has Asperger's had most of these, other than the memorizing alphabet and rhyming. And no close relative with dyslexia that I know of...except maybe his uncle? Not sure. But regardless of having all these signs my oldest was an early fluent reader and excellent at spelling and writing. So---I don't ever know how much weight to give these types of lists.)

• delayed speech

• mixing up the sounds and syllables in long words

• chronic ear infections

• severe reactions to childhood illnesses

• constant confusion of left versus right

• late establishing a dominant hand

• difficulty learning to tie shoes

• trouble memorizing their address, phone 

number, or the alphabet

• can’t create words that rhyme

• a close relative with dyslexia

 

In Elementary School (I placed a star by our main difficulties at present in red, no star or comment means it's not been an issue)

• dysgraphia (slow, non-automatic handwriting 

that is difficult to read)

• letter or number reversals continuing past the end of first grade  * (this. It's getting better and ebbs and flows. He'a aware there's a mistake and sometimes will stop and ask me  before writing or reading which way to start or is that a b?)

• extreme difficulty learning cursive

• slow, choppy, inaccurate reading: * again this. I mainly just assume this comes with the territory of learning to read. But he is

- guesses based on shape or context struggling with it. We haven't covered things like suffixes or prefixes yet. 

- skips or misreads prepositions (at, to, of)

- ignores suffixes

- can’t sound out unknown words * he can sound out words, he understands that concept, but he's highly resistant to doing it.

• terrible spelling

• often can’t remember sight words (they, were, does)

or homonyms (their, they’re, and there)

• difficulty telling time with a clock with hands

• trouble with math

- memorizing multiplication tables

- memorizing a sequence of steps

- directionality

• when speaking, difficulty finding the correct word

- lots of “whatyamacallits†and “thingiesâ€

- common sayings come out slightly twisted

• extremely messy bedroom, backpack, and desk

• dreads going to school

- complains of stomach aches or headaches

- may have nightmares about school