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Need help with 10yo struggling reader...


michaeljenn
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My 10yo dd is struggling to sound out multi syllable words.  I listen to her read aloud and she honestly misses most of them.  She is a fairly slow reader as well.  She does not have the best comprehension as well. She was homeschooled for K, then public for 1-3rd.  I am unsure what to do.  I have considered going through All About Reading 4 with her when it comes out, but am afraid it will seem too babyish with her:(

 

I also have a 7yo who can read like a champ... Actually, he is almost a better reader than my 10yo dd.  I am going to go through All About Reading 3 with him.  My 10yo dd is very competitive, and I know it will cause major problems if I have her go through a program that her 7yo brother is doing.  

 

Does anyone know of a program that can help her with multi syllable words, and also help her build fluency and comprehension, without making her feel like a "baby"??

 

Please help!!

 

One other thing... when i assign her a book to read, she takes about 30-40 minutes to get through a 4-5 page chapter.  You can tell she is struggling, but she does not want to admit it.  

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First of all, its something to be commended that she is willing to spend 30-40 minutes working through something that difficult for her!!  

 

I don't have any advice to offer but I agree that it may be problematic to have them going through the same program.  That would be a recipe for disaster in my house!!

 

What about doing a remedial reading program (Rod and Staff has one)?

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You may be already doing all that I will suggest, and these things would likely need to supplement something else.  I'm not sure that they will take care of the problem.  But they certainly will help whatever else you do.

 

Here are a few ideas:

 

You can have her read aloud to you daily (or more) and write down words she doesn't pronounce correctly.  The next day have her read those before reading aloud to you.  I do this until they read them correctly 2 or 3 days in a row. I also stop and ask them to tell me what sentences mean or paragraphs or ...  [We really love this time together! We also look up places/things/animals that are unfamiliar-which of course builds background knowledge]  

 

There are a lot of great picture books (fiction and non fiction) with great vocabulary and rich language.  You could have her read them aloud to you multiple times until they are smooth.  Have her read them to herself, too.  

 

You can give her sentences to copy (and also do from dictation) that have words that she struggles with.  

 

Kendall

 

 

 

 

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My 10yo dd is struggling to sound out multi syllable words.  I listen to her read aloud and she honestly misses most of them.  She is a fairly slow reader as well.  She does not have the best comprehension as well. She was homeschooled for K, then public for 1-3rd.  I am unsure what to do.  I have considered going through All About Reading 4 with her when it comes out, but am afraid it will seem too babyish with her:(

 

I also have a 7yo who can read like a champ... Actually, he is almost a better reader than my 10yo dd.  I am going to go through All About Reading 3 with him.  My 10yo dd is very competitive, and I know it will cause major problems if I have her go through a program that her 7yo brother is doing.  

 

Does anyone know of a program that can help her with multi syllable words, and also help her build fluency and comprehension, without making her feel like a "baby"??

 

Please help!!

 

One other thing... when i assign her a book to read, she takes about 30-40 minutes to get through a 4-5 page chapter.  You can tell she is struggling, but she does not want to admit it.  

 

Spalding. Always Spalding. :-)

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Megawords might help. The focus of the program is learning to spell through reading fluency (of large spelling lists) and recognition of vc patterns for chunking, also using syllabication and meaning in context to decipher words.

 

Basically everyday she would read a long list of words and see how many she could read in 1 minute (you don't have to time it if that would stress her out or be pointless.) Then do some exercises with the words in the workbook. Once she has mastered the first word list (i.e. reads it fluently.) She moves on - that takes a couple of weeks. There are very few and very short spelling tests in the program as it basically tests recognition of a pattern. But it will teach her to quickly chunk words and build her stamina by re-reading the same list each day for fluency.

 

I'm not sure this would be a complete answer, but it's surely not babyish and would likely help. It could be paired with something like CAP or WWE where you could have her read the passage outloud after you read it to her.

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She may have dyslexia, which is basically a difference in neurological processing that can affect reading/writing/spelling but also means the person may have amazing strengths as well.  Dyslexics frequently end up being great authors, inventors, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, pilots, even neurosurgeons, because of their special strengths. For instance, the man who invented the compact disc (which led to DVD and then BlueRay and then streaming video) struggled with reading in school and  is dyslexic but is also incredibly intelligent and gifted in certain areas.  

 

You might read the link below and the book The Mislabeled Child by Brock and Fernette Eide to see if any of that speaks to you regarding your child.  Just hopping curriculum might not net you much at all if you aren't certain what the underlying cause or causes of her difficulties are.  I waited until 5th grade before I finally started seeking real answers to the underlying causes for my own child's struggles.  I should have started there instead of waiting so long.  We wasted years and created tons of frustration that weren't necessary.

 

This site has some free information that might help you determine if your child is dyslexic.  Just read through it.  See if anything there speaks to you.  You don't have to buy anything.

http://www.bartonreading.com/dys.html

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My guess would be some sight word habits from school. I would recommend my online phonics lessons and the things on my how to tutor page. You could try the short version of the things on my how to tutor page first, the multisyllable page.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/howtotutor.html

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/WellTaughtPhonicsStudent.html

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I tried program after program, book after book, but the thing that clicked - years ago now - was two run-throughs of ElizabethB's free phonics lessons.

My very late to read boy (12 I think? It's a blur....)  is now 16 & reads voraciously.
Still can't spell but is working diligently through Apples and Pears. (http://www.soundfoundationsbooks.co.uk/)

If Elizabeth's program is not enough or you want something booky to go with it, Dancing Bears (fast track AB) would go nicely with it. I know I considered ordering it but after doing the lessons, we just moved into the spelling program & it was enough for him.

Elizabeth - you were a real lifesaver for us. Thank you so much. :hurray:

 

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My online lessons look slightly easy at the beginning of each lesson, but by the end of each lesson you are working on 2 to 5 syllable words, and there are 3 syllable words at the end of lesson 1. They are not, however, babyish. They have been used and are designed to be used by adults and older children. Children should be at least second grade to use them as is, I recommend that 1st graders who want to use them split each lesson in half.

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