dd2 no progress in reading-2E?

[La Condessa]

My second daughter just took the DORA for the 4th time (every 6 months for the past 1.5 years).  She has shown no improvement, except in vocabulary.  The phonemic awareness subtest has declined the past two times.  Technically she would now be close to grade level, since her birthday in most areas would make her an older Kindergartner.  But--something doesn't seem right to me.  This was my most obviously gifted kid as a young one.  We started phonics very early, because she begged me to teach her to read.  We have consistently, systematically worked on phonics through last school year and this.  The past six months, after her last assessment showed no improvement, we backtracked and intensively reviewed sections one by one starting over from the beginning of blending.  I think her reading of more basic words is much smoother than it used to be.  Or at least, I thought so.  Maybe she has simply memorized all the words in the early sections of OPG?  This is the same kid who knew all her letters and sounds at 15 months, but took three years from when she wanted and was trying to learn her numerals before she could consistently remember what a 4 looked like (but meanwhile she was subtracting 2-digit numbers in her head). 

 

There's a little voice saying, "Well, some kids just struggle.  Some are advanced and some are behind.  Am I really sure that it's not just that I don't want that to be my kid?" but--my gut is saying no.  Something is going on with her.  I don't know what to do next, whether to pursue professional testing, or if there's some other way to assess what we need to do differently?  I am concerned about costs, but we'll find a way to afford what is needful.

[luuknam]

I don't know how DORA tests phonemic awareness, but I think one of the first things I would do is have her hearing checked. I'm probably biased, because I had to get ear tubes at 10yo - my parents didn't realize how bad my hearing had gotten until it was pretty bad (I did have frequent ear infections, but from what I've heard there are also kids who have 'silent' ear infections, so anyway). 

 

Kids do often make leaps and then plateau for a while before making another big leap, but I would've expected to see *some* improvement over 1.5 years. 

 

If you're worried she might have memorized some words, I'd suggest you switch to a phonics program that uses nonsense words (I don't think OPGTR does, but I could be wrong). I started Toe by Toe with my oldest between K and 1st, so when he was almost 6yo - I think Elizabeth over on the Learning Challenges forum has some other curriculum using nonsense words that she recommends. 

Edited April 2, 2017 by luuknam

[La Condessa]

I don't know how DORA tests phonemic awareness, but I think one of the first things I would do is have her hearing checked. I'm probably biased, because I had to get ear tubes at 10yo - my parents didn't realize how bad my hearing had gotten until it was pretty bad (I did have frequent ear infections, but from what I've heard there are also kids who have 'silent' ear infections, so anyway). 

 

Kids do often make leaps and then plateau for a while before making another big leap, but I would've expected to see *some* improvement over 1.5 years. 

 

If you're worried she might have memorized some words, I'd suggest you switch to a phonics program that uses nonsense words (I don't think OPGTR does, but I could be wrong). I started Toe by Toe with my oldest between K and 1st, so when he was almost 6yo - I think Elizabeth over on the Learning Challenges forum has some other curriculum using nonsense words that she recommends. 

 

Thanks.  I have never noticed any indication of hearing trouble (I am hard of hearing myself), but it definitely makes sense to rule things out.  I'll look up Toe by Toe.

[wapiti]

In addition to the hearing, you might also rule out vision issues (including developmental vision issues with a covd optometrist).  Then consider other types of evals (full workup for LDs like dyslexia).  The decline in phonemic awareness is particularly interesting.

 

If your mom intuition is telling you something, pay attention :)

Edited April 2, 2017 by wapiti

[luuknam]

Thanks.  I have never noticed any indication of hearing trouble (I am hard of hearing myself), but it definitely makes sense to rule things out.  I'll look up Toe by Toe.

 

 

Aside from just hearing, auditory processing could be an issue too, but ime professionals don't want to test for that until a kid is 7 or so. My son's speech therapist would let him play with Earobics sometimes back when he was in 1st grade - but it's not cheap. You'd be better off figuring out what the problem is before spending money on solutions that may be solutions for the wrong problem.