mo2 Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My daughter, 6, cries when we sit down to practice reading. It is the only subject that I have trouble getting her to work on. She cries, smacks herself in the head, says, "I hate myself. I'm so stupid." What can I do to make this easier for her? I've switched programs enough to know that it's not a problem with the program we're using, it's just that she really has a hard time reading. We're about a third of the way through The Reading Lesson, and every day is a battle to get her to do it. I thought maybe I was pushing her too hard, so I've backed off to the point that now I only ask her to do 1 page a day. Still the tears. We took a break for summer, and now it's even worse trying to get back into the routine. Any advice from someone whose been there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadbhoward Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My advice is to wait. My dd was just like that when she was 5. I put up the reading book and would pull it out every once in a while to see what her interest level was. In the meantime I just kept reading everything I could to her. About a week before her 6th birthday she just picked up the reading book and wanted to learn. With in a few weeks she was done with it and is now reading whatever she can. My dd would cry and tell me she was stupid too that is why I decided to stop pushing her altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted August 28, 2008 Author Share Posted August 28, 2008 My advice is to wait. My dd was just like that when she was 5. I put up the reading book and would pull it out every once in a while to see what her interest level was. In the meantime I just kept reading everything I could to her. About a week before her 6th birthday she just picked up the reading book and wanted to learn. With in a few weeks she was done with it and is now reading whatever she can. My dd would cry and tell me she was stupid too that is why I decided to stop pushing her altogether. But how long is it okay to wait? I know this is unreasonable, but I'm a first-time hser, and in the back of my mind I have this fear that I'm still going to be "waiting" when she's 8 or 9. How can you tell if she's just not ready or if there's some sort of problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen in VA Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 But how long is it okay to wait? I know this is unreasonable, but I'm a first-time hser, and in the back of my mind I have this fear that I'm still going to be "waiting" when she's 8 or 9. How can you tell if she's just not ready or if there's some sort of problem? There is no simple answer to that question. You have to wait until she is neurologically ready - no way around it. It is not something you can force. I had trouble with my second born when he was beginning. I almost bought a new program but we all got sick instead. We lay around the house for a month or more watching old movies and drinking hot tea. When we started school up again, he just flew through the reading. I had not done anything. Everyone is different. If I were you, I'd set it all on the back burner for at least three months. Do fun stuff - art, science, history read alouds, some project like building a model. Do puzzles, play games - just skip reading instruction for now. Pick it up in three months and see how she does. If she is still not ready - repeat the above. Btw, you always want to eliminate any physiological reasons for learning difficulties before you jump to the conclusion that it is a true learning problem. Have you had your daughter's eyes examined? That is where I would start if you haven't already done so. My 12yo struggled with reading and I found he was severely farsighted. Once we got him glasses he did fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain View Academy Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My ds at 6 had no interest and would always say he just couldn't read. We took our time and did Rod & Staff Unit 1 for reading and phonics. It really - really helped in. Starts off so slow and gradually builds up. I knew he was learning when he got on the phone with Grandma and began telling her what sounds letters makes, etc. and he had never even talked to me about it! I'd try the Unit 1 reader for 1st grade. The workbooks really helped my ds read more without him even realizing it. ~ Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My older dd's were delayed in reading readiness...they were 8-9 when they started reading more than 3-letter words. By age 10 they had caught up and surpassed their peers (one attended PS for a semester). While I was waiting for them to be 'ready' to read I read to them--LOTS (good stuff too) some days for 2-3 hours or until my voice gave out...special memories... In my "official" (cough, cough) teacher reading classes we learned that MOST children will learn to read between the ages of 3 and 10. And in almost the same breath the instructor said--"it is BEST if a student begins to read at age 5--it makes their 1st grade teacher's job so much easier!" Do some unofficial reading games with her--www.starfall.com is great and so are the LeapFrog phonics videos--those helped my now 6yo to start reading last year--yep my baby was reading YEARS before (age wise) than her sisters. One of my favorite pre-reading activities was to make a TRAIN game. I used index cards and a file box to create our 'word bank'. I started with basic color and number words. After those were 'started' I added in basic articles (a, an, the...) and then simple verbs (run, saw, met...). DD chose the 'nouns' for her TRAIN. To 'play' we would take turns making sentences with the words--usually sitting on the carpet. After 2-5 sentences were made dds would copy them for handwriting practice. Once or twice a week we would cuddle on the couch and review the words in the word bank--kind of like flash cards. Eventually I added in capital letters and punctuation... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Have you tried switching off lines or sentences? (ie. you read one, she reads one). Also have you tried getting some readers that are very easy for her and having her read those at a different time of the day. If blending is a problem have her create her own words using a dry erase board or magnetic letters, then sound them out together. I agree with backing off on your current reader but what you could do is continue to read it to her while she runs her finger along to follow, pause every once and awhile and have her read the next word. These are just some ideas that worked with my dd to get her past the fear of reading. She had the ability, but the big, scary words all on a page made her not want to read. This year she is doing a great job with books I thought we'd never get to. It was like one day she wasn't scared anymore and she just started reading. Hope that you are able to use something from it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I used The Reading Lesson to teach my daughter to read. Can you tell what part of the lesson your daughter has trouble with? Can she blend sounds easily? Can she quickly and easiy recognize the letters? Does she have the sounds of each letter memorized? Does she have to sound out each individual word, instead of reading old words by sight? Does she have vision problems? Does she simply have no interest being able to read herself? If you know what sub-skill she is having trouble with, you can stop or slow down formal lessons to work on that sub-skill. Slowing down to 1 page, or even half a page is okay. Going back in the book and re-reading tought pages is also okay. Occassionally reminding her what sound a letter makes is also fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcjlkplus3 Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 My dd had a really hard time with her primer OPGTR a few times, but She loved reading the Bob Books. Does she like to read "real" books? Does she see you read alot? It also helped (a little) that I could remind her of why we had to do the primer - so that she could pick up any book she wanted nad read it, just like mommy and daddy. Otherwise a break and reading is never a bad thing, especially at 6. Audio books also helped I think. She could hear stories that were beyond her reading level, and I could tell her, when you get better at reading you can read the Mgic Tree House that you don't have yet (Magic Tree Houses are still favorites around here) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 the ordinary parents guide to teaching reading is working well for my almost 4 year old. she is about half way through it now. we do 2-3 pages a day, about 5 days a week, it takes about half an hour as we read things 2-3 times before moving on and also reread the previous day's lesson as a review before doing a new lesson. i use a yellow popsicle stick as a pointer. we skip all the activities, just read through everything. she seems to enjoy it. it is not a chore to her. but if your child does not seem ready, i would wait until she is, and just read to her a lot in the meantime. every child is ready at a different time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.