Phonics for a reluctant 2nd grade boy that is lagging in reading

[Shellydon]

My 2nd grade boy is lagging in reading simply because he hates it.  He loves math and is working a grade ahead, but just despises reading and writing.  We've been doing explode the code slowly over the last year, but he is still at sit, sat, mat, cat type words.  I need to find something that he was be at least somewhat amenable to completing that will boost his reading skills fairly quickly.  I am not worried about any reading disorders, I just need to get him jump started.

[Ellie]

My 2nd grade boy is lagging in reading simply because he hates it.  He loves math and is working a grade ahead, but just despises reading and writing.  We've been doing explode the code slowly over the last year, but he is still at sit, sat, mat, cat type words.  I need to find something that he was be at least somewhat amenable to completing that will boost his reading skills fairly quickly.  I am not worried about any reading disorders, I just need to get him jump started.

 

Spalding.

[Rosie_0801]

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/208407-k-websters-speller-to-teach-reading-weekly-schedule/

[KathyBC]

Maybe look at Phonics Pathways?

[caedmyn]

Abecedarian has been helpful for my 7 yo. They have a placement test on their website. It's multi-sensory so he might like it more than some programs (and it might be more effective). It can be modified to involve little or no writing also (my child dislikes writing also).

[Shellydon]

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/208407-k-websters-speller-to-teach-reading-weekly-schedule/

 

This method has been a complete bust with him.  He truly hates it. :)

[Shellydon]

Spalding.

 

I've looked at this once or twice, but man, it looks like there is a huge learning curve to it, and that is is really teacher intensive and time consuming.  Do you find it to be difficult to learn to use?

[Shellydon]

Abecedarian has been helpful for my 7 yo. They have a placement test on their website. It's multi-sensory so he might like it more than some programs (and it might be more effective). It can be modified to involve little or no writing also (my child dislikes writing also).

 

I've never heard of this-- off to check it out!

[MomatHWTK]

My littles have all started out at Starfall.com

I don't know about the workbook ETC, but my kids were bored with the online version. They will do the work, but not happily. 

Ooka Island has worked for my youngest. 

[Kat w]

I love phonics pathways.

 

I've used it with all 5 of my kids.

DD 23 still remembers things learned in phonics pathways and that it was pp in particular !

 

Ahe struggled to read. LOTA of repetition with her

[OneStepAtATime]

Have you considered the possibility of stealth dyslexia? He may hate it because it is genuinely hard for his brain.

 

Barton Reading and Spelling might be an option...

[Gentlemommy]

I liked The Reading Lesson, followed by Phnics Pathways.

[MerryAtHope]

You may want to check out All About Reading. It uses a multisensory approach which is really helpful for kids who are struggling to get going with reading.

[Ellie]

I've looked at this once or twice, but man, it looks like there is a huge learning curve to it, and that is is really teacher intensive and time consuming.  Do you find it to be difficult to learn to use?

 

Not difficult, but yes, you have to study the manual and make notes and stuff. But once you get started, it's open and go. It is not time-consuming; recommendations for the length of time spent daily is for classrooms, not homeschoolers. :-) And it is everything for English skills: reading, spelling, penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, simple writing. It can be more comprehensive grammar and composition, but most homeschoolers like to break things up some. :-) And it's a one-time purchase of the manual (Writing Road to Reading) and a set of phonogram cards (except for a new composition book each year for the dc to use as spelling notebooks).

[ReadingMama1214]

If he likes apps, my daughter LOVES Teach Your Monster to Read. She'll play it forever and not realize that she's learning.

[mommymonster]

My math-loving, reading-hating boy is giggling his way through Progressive Phonics. It's silly, free and available online.  

 

Please do consider dyslexia, if you're not seeing gains by the holidays.

 

 

[Kat w]

Have you considered the possibility of stealth dyslexia? He may hate it because it is genuinely hard for his brain.

 

Barton Reading and Spelling might be an option...

Onestep, what's stealth dyslexia ?

 

I haven't heard of that . is it a program? Or a style?

I bring in what I can to mix it uo a bit with the 2 little guys.

[OneStepAtATime]

Onestep, what's stealth dyslexia ?

 

I haven't heard of that . is it a program? Or a style?

I bring in what I can to mix it uo a bit with the 2 little guys.

Dyslexia is a neurological processing difference that can make reading, writing and Spelling very challenging. Usually people with dyslexia also have some amazing underlying strengths but those strengths can sometimes be masked by the issues without some specialized help. Stealth dyslexia just mainly means that the child is compensating because of underlying strengths but eventually usually even with those strengths they hit serious bumps with those skills. Usually a system that is Orton-Gillingham based such as Barton Reading and Spelling can help. It depends on the strengths and weaknesses. You might look on the Dyslexic Advantage website or the Barton Reading and Spelling website and see if anything there speaks to you.

[ReadingMama1214]

My math-loving, reading-hating boy is giggling his way through Progressive Phonics. It's silly, free and available online.

 

Please do consider dyslexia, if you're not seeing gains by the holidays.

We also love progressive phonics. On days where my daughter doesn't want to read, she loves these books.

[Kat w]

Awesome. I'll do that . thanks

 

I've always used phonics pathways with the big kids. That's O-G , when u read about it years ago, made sense.

 

Something that this or another thread in k-8 sparked me to think about, onestep , I wonder how much his speech is REALLY playing into this whole thing.

 

I mean, he has trouble carrying everything laterally ( lik learning something isolated then APPLYING is different )

 

But I'm wondering if his speech has just taken the wind out if his sails. Tho he works hard, hell lock up a bit if he feels like he can't do it.

 

It has occurred to me til tonite , and I went in a slight rant about the very tough schedule in 1st Ed. Wtm.

 

Our kids, all kids and adults but esp kids, need time to think.

 

There's a mom that has a tagline that's a quote from Socrates, it's along the lines of the , give someone a fish they'll have to keep asking, teach them to fish and you've given them the means to support themselves .

 

Same with the mims quote, teach them to think, and a child/adult you have made.

 

I'm gonna check out stealth dyslexia tomorrow.

 

Man, I wonder if speech and his experience with all has ...idk...made him, apprehensive I guess.

[LMCme]

Maybe Dancing Bears?  The serial stoly is a lot of fun (admittedly perhaps inappropriate for the youngest readers as there is a drunken horse and such... but if you're okay with that it is a lot of fun).  You can preview the entire book on the Sound Foundations website.  It is Orton Gillingham, open and go.

 

LMC

[fralala]

I love Phonics Pathways. I love phonics. I love teaching kids to read!

 

But, alas, my kids do not share these passions. They have learned to read from Reading Eggs.

[Dinsfamily]

I was there at the beginning of last year with ds7 (he'll be 8 next week). I had a bright ds in 2nd grade but barely reading in a halting manner. It didn't make sense to me but I knew it was due to motivation and attitude. Because we use SWR, he knew his phonograms and was decent at spelling but refused to read. I just had to reset my expectations with him and keep moving with SWR. I had him working SLOWLY through Sonlight's grade 2 readers moving around the books to keep his interest. The 2nd grade readers worked because he knew all of his phonograms and could sound out the words plus they are more interesting than the 1st grade readers. He didn't like it but I kept reading sessions to 10 mins not worrying about how much was scheduled. The short sessions helped him progress and "see" that he was getting better. He was very proud to see how much faster it was going as the year progressed. Something clicked halfway through the year and he completely caught up to grade level. I really credit the reading instruction in SWR and Sonlight's readers igniting an interest. He didn't like all of the books but when he did like one, we would go to the library and check out a similar one. His favorite was Nate the Great so we'd get a different one each week.

 

For writing, I used WWE1 with him. He isn't a reluctant writer, but having him copy sentences he couldn't read didn't seem productive. I always picked the easier sentences for copywork and we read it together before he would copy it. He loved the narration exercises so that made the whole writing process fun for him. WWE1 really complemented what he was learning in SWR.

[Susan in TX]

ClickN Read Phonics

 

This worked well for my son.

 

 

Susan in TX

[AggieMama]

I also recommend Reading Eggs. It has gotten my reluctant reader/writer to read. I'm still working on DD2, but she has made progress in the last few weeks when I've mandated a lesson a day. I think the interaction is enjoyable and since it is a game the kids are interested in it.

[Shellydon]

I'll be digging through the suggestions, thanks!

[rebcoola]

Happy phonics it is a lot of work to cut it all out but once that is done its very easy to use and it matches the sequence of explode the code.  Also Reading Eggs

[kiwik]

Does your budget allow for assessments and tutoring? If you have been working steadily since K and are still at 'cat etc' you must both be frustrated and it seems likely there is more to it than not liking reading.

[macmacmoo]

We made it to explode the code 4 and just plateaued there.

 

We jumped around with lots of things before settling down with Logic of English Essentials. He improved leaps and bounds.

[hepatica]

If he is having speech issues (is that what your previous post suggested, not sure I am comprehending correctly), then I would definitely have him evaluated for learning disabilities. Speech problems are a definite red flag for dyslexia. I had been teaching my 7yo with phonics programs (some of the ones mentioned above) for 3 full years and nothing made a difference until we started Barton. 

 

 

[ElizabethB]

Maybe he doesn't like the syllables because they are hard?  The other things on my well taught student page also work towards building high level reading skills quickly, use the new chart with Blend Phonics and the syllable division exercises, the vowel and consonant one page chart while he is building up his phonogram knowledge.

 

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

 

Don Potter's fluency drills are also good for building up an older student quickly, his math minded students like to chart their progress, but you need 100% accuracy more than speed, he has them graph their progress in WPM on a chart but also graphs errors on the graph as X's.  He goes through them a few times, they like to see their speed and accuracy increase as they go through them the 2nd, 3rd time, etc.

 

http://www.donpotter.net/pdf/blend_phonics_fluency_drill.pdf

Edited July 24, 2016 by ElizabethB

[ElizabethB]

A 2nd grader should be reading at least 50 WPM oral reading speed on the fluency drills, but again, accuracy is more important, speed comes with practice over time. My son needed a lot of practice, and so do many of my students, especially boy students, of that age. The use of charts speeds their progress, I used to use the Phonovisual charts but have switched to the ones I made, linked from my well trained student page link above. (Both the Phonovisual and my charts are based on charts from before 1923 that are in the public domain.)

 

You do not immediately repeat the fluency sections--go through the entire thing or at least the entire section and then repeat, you do not want the words to be memorized.

 

My son did better with several short sessions daily vs one longer session, and he learned faster once I added in the charts. If you add an online program for more review, the only one I currently recommend is Read, Write, Type, the others I have seen all promote guessing to one degree or another.

 

http://www.talkingfingers.com/read-write-type/

Edited July 24, 2016 by ElizabethB

[Kat w]

Elizabeth B,

What is that link to the phonics charts?

 

I need that Iol.

Thanks

[Soror]

Does your budget allow for assessments and tutoring? If you have been working steadily since K and are still at 'cat etc' you must both be frustrated and it seems likely there is more to it than not liking reading.

I agree, kids like to succeed, they dont like to fail and a 2nd grader still at that level sends up red flags to me. Perhaps he is just a really late bloomer but I'd be considering the fact that he has some type of learning challenge.

[ElizabethB]

Elizabeth B,

What is that link to the phonics charts?

 

I need that Iol.

Thanks

Link 9 at the bottom of my well trained phonics page.

 

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

 

My youtube blending video and no sight words, Know sight words video number one show how to use them.

 

 

Edited July 25, 2016 by ElizabethB

[Shellydon]

Does your budget allow for assessments and tutoring? If you have been working steadily since K and are still at 'cat etc' you must both be frustrated and it seems likely there is more to it than not liking reading.

 

Normally, I completely agree with this.  I am a huge fan of getting kids checked out early rather than waiting.  In my DS case however, he is find.  I am a specialist in language learning disabilities, so no worries about dyslexia or any other disability.  He is just a little engineer who wants to do math and and STEM stuff all day.  Reading is boring.

If he is having speech issues (is that what your previous post suggested, not sure I am comprehending correctly), then I would definitely have him evaluated for learning disabilities. Speech problems are a definite red flag for dyslexia. I had been teaching my 7yo with phonics programs (some of the ones mentioned above) for 3 full years and nothing made a difference until we started Barton. 

No speech issues. 

[Shellydon]

I am going to order All About Reading today.  I think the more hands on approach will be a good fit for him.  He still isn't going to be in love with phonics, but I am hoping he'll at least be compliant and stop complaining about the uselessness of reading.

[Kat w]

Ohhhh Elizabeth B ,

I love the don potter stuff. I studied and implemented his reading comprehension stuff.

 

Turns out it was something he had done for teaching Spanish speaking kids reading comp.

 

I write out all 15 pages lol (ima dork haha)

 

It worked WONDERS with my boys . it's the only thing that made them "get" how to comprehend what they were reading.

LOVE him.

 

I bookmarked all the stuff in the don Potter. So glad you had that.

 

I'm going to read the other stuff now.

Thank you so much for these links.

Don Potter is awesome!

Edited July 25, 2016 by Kat w

[Kat w]

ShellydOn,

 

We use all about reading . it's works really well with my boys.

 

My 12 yo is LC and it really helps him a ton to touch the letters, manipulate then on the magnetic white board then we write them.

 

It's affordable and touching (feeling) is essential for my boys.

 

I pair it with phonics pathways fir wird family review and they love the little sayings the guy says lol.

 

And I use the don Potter reading comprehension I found last year.

Elizabeth B put a link uo to his phonics, I hadn't seen it til now.

 

I wish the lady in the video spoke slower. That's way to faast fir my boys to follow.

 

All about reading tho, really good program. I use the all about spelling too.

 

I'd say get aar first.

Phonics pathways is a nice compliment to it for practice.

[Kat w]

Another thing I like about all about reading is if you call and have questions, they are soooo helpful and sweet and knowledge able.

[Kat w]

Normally, I completely agree with this. I am a huge fan of getting kids checked out early rather than waiting. In my DS case however, he is find. I am a specialist in language learning disabilities, so no worries about dyslexia or any other disability. He is just a little engineer who wants to do math and and STEM stuff all day. Reading is boring.

No speech issues.

Lol, a little engineer who thinks reading is boring.

 

I had one I those. He's 20 now and in school to be an engineer. His dad was one ( moved over to the business side of things now)

 

And? He reads great lol.

[duckens]

We use a combination of phonics and sight words to jump start reading.  Then we ease into a formal phonics curriculum.

1) Phonics: We used these word family slides.  (and other pages that went along with the slide to reinforce them).  There is also a book of word slides for long vowels.

2) Sight words: We used this book for sight word stories. 

--I typed out all the sentences of the stories in large print.  I printed them twice, and cut them apart: one of just sentences, one of words.  I would give dd two sentences and the accompanying words, and she would have to match them like a puzzle, then read them to me.  I would do the same and ask if she would "beat me" in this task. 

--I made bingo games for each unit with the words.  We played with cheerios.
--One can print out four 1/4 sheet stories with the unit's words.  We glued the sheets into construction paper books.  I affixed a post-it inside the back cover of each "book" and the list 1.Mom 2.Dad 3. Sister 4.Pet 5.Friend (grandpa, aunt, babysitter, etc).  Each day, dd reads the story to a different person.  The family pet and a little sister probably don't care if he doesn't get every word right, so this is good practice for him.  You can only read the book to one person each day to be crossed off.  By the time dd has read it five time to five different people on five different days, she probably has mastered those words.  The little book goes under her bed in a shoebox so she can read to herself before bedtime (and stay up later if she is reading in bed).  You can do this with BobBooks, too.  She earns 25 cents for each book completed.

***My dd has just outgrown this book.  i want to keep the book, but if you decide to go this route and want the sentence strips and bingo set, pm me, and I will try to send them to you.


 

[ElizabethB]

How and why to teach all but 5 of the 220 Dolch sight words and 100 Fry instant words with phonics:

 

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