swimmermom3 Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Sailor Dude is my youngest of three children and the only one in the family who does not read at all outside of class. For years, we have teased him as being our "illiterate" child, even though we have always placed a strong emphasis on English classes and he enjoys the reading in school. He reads slowly and this has freaked me out all through high school because while his brain is up for the challenge of more demanding classes, the reading speed has put a lot of stress on the schedule and on him. The new ACT scores are in. We owe the incomparable Maya Inspektor at Pennsylvania Homeschoolers a huge "thank you" and then some. Sailor Dude scored a 35 in English and a 34 in Reading. For those of you with bright guys who are slow readers, hang in there. Keep working on the comprehension. Speed isn't everything. Practice and maturity can real change things. 46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinzen Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 : Thanks for sharing! I loved it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Curious - did he have time extended on the ACT? Great job on those scores! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Congrats to both of you on the great scores! Thanks for sharing your story; I have an "illiterate" as well, and it is encouraging to hear that it can work out all right in the end. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Very cool. My DH is a very slowww reader. Nothing wrong with his comprehension, but yes he reads slowly so he doesn't like reading long novels so much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhunandFonics Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 That is wonderful! My oldest elected to go to community college just so he could avoid taking the SAT/ACT because he's a slow reader. The funny thing is now that he's out of high school he's been reading for pleasure more than he ever did when he was being homeschooled. Go figure... :glare: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 Curious - did he have time extended on the ACT? Great job on those scores! Kelly, he did not have extended time. I went so far a couple of years as to get the neuropsych appointment for evaluation, but backed out because both Sailor Dude and his older sister were at that time undergoing numerous tests to try and figure out the cause of chronic intestinal problems. I still have doubts about that decision. His comprehension is probably better than those of us in the family that are much faster readers, which is a good thing, but again, the reading speed is problematic for heavier course loads and we have spent much of high school tweaking coursework. For example, he's completed the two AP English classes, so for his senior year, I am trying to expose him to great authors, whose work I think he will appreciate, but we are using shorter works based on the works used in The Great Courses' A Day's Read. Books like One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich that have 178 pages, will take a week or more. His older siblings would have read it in 2 days max. Like my husband, ds reads every single word, so we continue to work on that. To increase his ACT scores, he drilled and drilled for speed. I don't know if any of that helps, but through the years, we have had so many conversations on the high school board about slow readers, and they are nearly always boys. It's frustrating, and at times, disappointing. Barring any serious learning challenges, I would encourage everyone to keep reading to them on a higher level than they might choose or be capable of managing on their own. Encourage them by helping choose books of interest, books that engage them. For the testing, I hate to say it, but keep drilling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Love it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Mousie Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 The new ACT scores are in. We owe the incomparable Maya Inspektor at Pennsylvania Homeschoolers a huge "thank you" and then some. Sailor Dude scored a 35 in English and a 34 in Reading. Lisa, can you please give us an idea of the reading requirements for Ms. Inspektor's AP Lit course? And is the AP Lang course also heavy reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 You are giving me hope for my DS9. My speedster DS10 did better than his practice test scores :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Whoa! Those are awesome scores. Thanks for sharing. Great job, Sailor Dude and Maya Inspektor. I hope he/you let her know. Ds took a CC class called Critical Reading and Thinking in 10th grade that I think helped him achieve similar scores. He really is more of a math/science kinda guy but he scored better on English/Reading than Math/Science on the ACT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Kelly, he did not have extended time. I went so far a couple of years as to get the neuropsych appointment for evaluation, but backed out because both Sailor Dude and his older sister were at that time undergoing numerous tests to try and figure out the cause of chronic intestinal problems. I still have doubts about that decision. His comprehension is probably better than those of us in the family that are much faster readers, which is a good thing, but again, the reading speed is problematic for heavier course loads and we have spent much of high school tweaking coursework. For example, he's completed the two AP English classes, so for his senior year, I am trying to expose him to great authors, whose work I think he will appreciate, but we are using shorter works based on the works used in The Great Courses' A Day's Read. Books like One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich that have 178 pages, will take a week or more. His older siblings would have read it in 2 days max. Like my husband, ds reads every single word, so we continue to work on that. To increase his ACT scores, he drilled and drilled for speed. I don't know if any of that helps, but through the years, we have had so many conversations on the high school board about slow readers, and they are nearly always boys. It's frustrating, and at times, disappointing. Barring any serious learning challenges, I would encourage everyone to keep reading to them on a higher level than they might choose or be capable of managing on their own. Encourage them by helping choose books of interest, books that engage them. For the testing, I hate to say it, but keep drilling. What did you do to for drilling? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisabees Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Way to go Sailor Dude! Great scores, Lisa! My boys have always told me that they are super slow readers, yet they score very well. DD12 reads quickly, but will not score well on any test. Orally, she demonstrates great comprehension. On a test? No way. THAT frightens me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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