Pegs Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 DS is now at the stage where he is able to read to learn, and I'd like to help him build his stamina so that he can access more information more easily. For the last few months I've been assigning smallish passages - from a few paragraphs to a few pages - from a variety of sources. I ask him to read through once or twice, to ask for help with hard words (usually proper nouns), and to reread any sentences which sounded a bit odd the first time through. Then when he feels sufficiently practiced, he reads aloud to me. He puts a lot of thought into phrasing and expression, and uses different voices for different characters. His fluency is coming along beautifully! But I'm wondering whether his stamina is lagging? I assigned some reading today and asked him to practice for 15 minutes then stop wherever he landed. He made it to 11 and seemed genuinely exhausted. I said that next time we'd go for 10 so that he'd be confident he could do it, and we'll gradually work up from there. Does this sound like a realistic plan? Is this normal for not quite 7 and a half, or is his stamina a little behind where it could be? In which case, what's the best way forward? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Your signature says 2e. In which ways is he twice exceptional? It would help with recommendations/feedback to know a fuller picture. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 I would look in your evals and see if they did language testing. If his language, especially paragraph comprehension, is not IQ-appropriate, he's not going to be able to do IQ-appropriate work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Have his eyes checked if you haven't. Farsightedness can cause eye strain and it pops up out of nowhere. One of my kids suddenly needed a decently strong prescription at age 9 even though we'd had her eyes checked at 7.5. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 Your signature says 2e. In which ways is he twice exceptional? It would help with recommendations/feedback to know a fuller picture. ASD-1. And gifted enough that his assessors said "clearly gifted!" and so decided not to pursue testing. But he's very mathy (started Beast Academy with great success before 7) and has a high level of comprehension, takes MOOCS and gets the quizzes right. Stuff like that. Receptive language and memory have always been exceptional. He was very late to talk (past 3 years old), but then was able to paraphrase David Attenborough documentaries he'd seen six months prior, because he remembered them from his toddler days. So, I've been mildly surprised that his reading isn't as far ahead as I might have expected. But is it *behind*? BTW, the passage he read today was from The Chronicles of Narnia, so it's not like we're still plodding through phonics readers, yk? I guess I'm asking specifically whether 10min of reading at this level is concerningly poor stamina. Has any of this helped?? Thanks for the replies so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 It really depends on the child. I read for hours at that age, as did my oldest daughter but I remember most of my others wearing out pretty quickly at age 7. Reading stamina at that age really had no bearing on how well they could hang in there at age 9 or 10. It seems developmental in nature, like learning to walk. An early walker isn't necessarily any brighter than a late one. But do have his eyes looked at because looking back, it's been my farsighted kids (I have four) who have been balky about reading at that age. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 He obviously has some reason for the fatigue after 10 minutes. For some kids 10 minutes at that age is actually quite short (it would have been for me) but for others 10 minutes can be extremely fatiguing, especially if the print is smaller, the text more dense, etc. While you work on building reading stamina, have you considered audio books for additional content exposure? My DD had little stamina for reading at that age. We found out she was dyslexic and remediated that but she was still having a hard time reading for extended periods even in High School. In my DDs case it turned out she has Developmental Vision issues that were not caught in a standard eye exam. Her eyes have to have breaks. Has your son ever had an eye exam? A child can have perfect visual acuity and still have Developmental vision issues. Unfortunately lots of eye doctors are not trained in how to screen for those types of vision issues. Someone from this website should be able to do a preliminary screening. I'm not saying rush out and get him examined. I'm just mentioning that this could be an underlying reason for fatigue. https://www.covd.org/ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 And no, it is most definitely not behind. Most children are still in the learning stages at 7. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) Yes, it's an abnormal level of fatigue. No, I would not *assume* his receptive is completely there without data. There can be pockets of issues. You would probably see the CELF in your report if the psych ran it. Yes, you're correct that he could have discrepancy from IQ in his achievement, even with reading above grade level. Edited March 21, 2017 by OhElizabeth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 Okay, thanks. Good to know he's not behind compared with peers, for what that's worth. We'll start with an optometrist because I know I can do this fairly quickly and easily, and it seems worth ruling out farsightedness. Audiobooks: yes. He was Tolkien-obsessed for a while, but has now moved on to a lot of mythology. We are huge fans of audiobooks here. (Guess who refuses to do LOTR as a readaloud. ;) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 I cross posted with you, OhE. I'll follow that up when I see the report. Thanks for the heads up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Hugs and good luck. :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 If you can find a developmental optometrist to check his convergence, focusing, etc., that would be good. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 (edited) Actually, I'm not sure the fatigue is necessarily abnormal--it could be though. 10 minutes reading a chapter book like Chronicles of Narnia (chapter book with few or no pictures and small print) is not at all the same as 10 minutes of reading something that might be labeled as 2nd grade, like Frog and Toad (larger print, fewer words per page, more pictures etc...). An eye dr. checkup is a great idea and I'd definitely do that, but I'd also see how long he lasts with things that would be "easy" for him to read--things he might be able to read out loud with a cold reading and still do well, or picture books he would enjoy, etc... Nothing wrong with working on harder books that are within his ability level, but I'd also let him build up fluency and stamina on easier books. Do ask about font size when you go to the eye doctor, to see if he identifies any reasons why your son might struggle with smaller font sizes. (For example, when my kids were little, they were both farsighted at age 7, and the eye dr. said that was still within the normal range for their ages but did make smaller font harder to read.) Edited March 21, 2017 by MerryAtHope 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted March 21, 2017 Share Posted March 21, 2017 Actually, I'm not sure the fatigue is necessarily abnormal--it could be though. 10 minutes reading a chapter book like Chronicles of Narnia (chapter book with few or no pictures and small print) is not at all the same as 10 minutes of reading something that might be labeled as 2nd grade, like Frog and Toad (larger print, fewer words per page, more pictures etc...). This is what I was thinking. Is Chronicles at the high end of his reading level? I CAN read Don Quixote, but it's like trudging up a hill. Get me some pop fiction and then I'm biking on a paved path! FWIW, Chronicles would be a hard pull on my 7.5 year old. He's currently reading the Boxcar Children with relative ease. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 An eye dr. checkup is a great idea and I'd definitely do that, but I'd also see how long he lasts with things that would be "easy" for him to read--things he might be able to read out loud with a cold reading and still do well, or picture books he would enjoy, etc... Nothing wrong with working on harder books that are within his ability level, but I'd also let him build up fluency and stamina on easier books. Do ask about font size when you go to the eye doctor, to see if he identifies any reasons why your son might struggle with smaller font sizes. (For example, when my kids were little, they were both farsighted at age 7, and the eye dr. said that was still within the normal range for their ages but did make smaller font harder to read.) All stuff to think about. Yes. Thank you. He does pick up nonfiction and read it to himself with breaks between pages. So he's not averse to reading, which is probably a good sign. I'll prioritise larger print size at our next library visit and we'll see how we go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted March 21, 2017 Author Share Posted March 21, 2017 This is what I was thinking. Is Chronicles at the high end of his reading level? I CAN read Don Quixote, but it's like trudging up a hill. Get me some pop fiction and then I'm biking on a paved path! FWIW, Chronicles would be a hard pull on my 7.5 year old. He's currently reading the Boxcar Children with relative ease. To be completely honest, I don't actually know where he's at with regard to reading level, because everything I've given him has sounded pretty good the second time through. Like he's learning on the job, and learning fast. Perhaps we've just nudged his current ceiling with Narnia? Though he's read parts of The Hobbit very fluidly with a little practice too. Which brings me back to... I don't know! Should I find out? Or should we just keep reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted March 22, 2017 Share Posted March 22, 2017 (edited) To be completely honest, I don't actually know where he's at with regard to reading level, because everything I've given him has sounded pretty good the second time through. Like he's learning on the job, and learning fast. Perhaps we've just nudged his current ceiling with Narnia? Though he's read parts of The Hobbit very fluidly with a little practice too. Which brings me back to... I don't know! Should I find out? Or should we just keep reading? I can't truly pin point reading levels either. I go by general feeling, I guess? I'd wonder how he does with easier books. If ALL books are a struggle and you know he can read those words, then that'd be a problem. Sometimes if I think DS7 CAN read something but just WON'T, I'll buddy read with him - switching off every paragraph or so. After doing that I can usually gauge if he's truly able to read that particular text or not. All of that is to say, just keep reading! And, trust your mommy gut. If what the other posters have said about vision issues speaks to you, peruse that. I personally have not had vision problems to accomidate with any of my kids (knock on wood). ETA, Narnia itself is usually a child's first exposure to that genre, language, and unique vocabulary, so that could all contribute to slow-going also. Edited March 22, 2017 by carriede 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted March 22, 2017 Author Share Posted March 22, 2017 I can't truly pin point reading levels either. I go by general feeling, I guess? I'd wonder how he does with easier books. If ALL books are a struggle and you know he can read those words, then that'd be a problem. Sometimes if I think DS7 CAN read something but just WON'T, I'll buddy read with him - switching off every paragraph or so. After doing that I can usually gauge if he's truly able to read that particular text or not. All of that is to say, just keep reading! And, trust your mommy gut. If what the other posters have said about vision issues speaks to you, peruse that. I personally have not had vision problems to accomidate with any of my kids (knock on wood). ETA, Narnia itself is usually a child's first exposure to that genre, language, and unique vocabulary, so that could all contribute to slow-going also. You know, after all this, I think it was just a font size thing. DS is certainly no stranger to this genre or complexity of language. I'll get his eyes checked just in case - he was quite late to cross his midline, and sometimes has trouble finding the next line of text when reading through something for the first time, so there could be a visual tracking problem still lurking about. But I tried him on a few books with larger print yesterday, and he read them fluidly and expressively the first time through (stopping to add his own comments on the text), so ruling out eye stuff is really a JIC. Thanks for the encouragement to trust my gut, too. There have been a few things lately have shaken my confidence a little. Thanks to all who've been so kind and patient with me here. :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Hang in there! It can be a roller coaster of a journey. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb_ Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 Hang in there! It can be a roller coaster of a journey. :) Yes it can! I'm on year 22 and I still second guess myself. It seems like the more I learn, the less I feel like I know. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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