Oh my goodness, please save me... I just discovered my 2nd grader is far behind. He can barely read a level 1 book!

[DNMSHOW]

My boy is 7. He goes to a pre-k to 5th grader day care and he has public virtual school there. They use Schoology and I have no idea what they are doing and how to help him at home. I have decided to do homeschooling when he comes home to try to quickly get him up to speed especially with reading and writing. Please tell me what I should do with him. I guess I need a full schedule or books or whatever. Sorry to ask so much but I am trying to find the info and found this forum. Thank you all so much. 

[purpleowl]

Deep breaths - it will be okay. 🙂 You are not asking too much. 

I'm a little confused - are you planning to have him continue doing the virtual school and add in some academics at home as well? Or are you planning to switch entirely to homeschooling, no more virtual school? Just trying to figure out how to advise.

Either way, @ElizabethB will probably have some suggestions about remediating his reading skills - hopefully she will pop in here!

[Lori D.]

Welcome! So sorry you are stressed, and that your child is struggling with reading.

What you are suggesting (homeschooling when he comes home from his daycare/virtual public school) is called "after-schooling". You do not need to do anything special as far as any paperwork or anything else in order to after-school.

Unless your child has a learning issue that requires remedial work or therapies, you can probably fairly easily address this at home through after-schooling by going through a phonics-based reading program. Many children don't start to "click" with reading until about age 7, so there may not be any issues -- it may be that your child is just on his own unique timetable of development, or he is not "clicking" with the style of the material used to teach reading at his virtual school.

Here are 3 fairly inexpensive programs that are easy for parents to do at home. You would only need ONE of these programs, but I wanted to give you choice -- I included links to book, plus reviews, so you could decide which might be a better fit for you and your child:

- The Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading -- review
- Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons -- review
- Phonics Pathway -- review


Three other programs that you might consider, if your student has more specific needs:
- McRuffy's Language Arts: Phonics & Reading -- review
- ABeCeDarian -- review
- All About Reading (probably level 1) -- review

I would also start reading aloud to your son -- say a chapter a night from good chapter books, or several higher-end picture books from the library -- as hearing books being read aloud helps to develop many areas of the brain, as well as helps to embed phonics and word sounds; patterns of good writing; plus vocabulary. Here are a few lists of good read-aloud books to get started with -- you can check books out of the library, or download onto Kindle or other e-reader to help keep costs down.

- Imagination Soup: Amazing Read Aloud Books for... 1st Grade;  2nd Grade; 3rd Grade
- Some the Wiser: Read Aloud Books for Second Grade
- Amy's Bookshelf: 50 Must Read Books for 2nd Graders
- Scholastic: Top 25 Picture Books to Read Aloud (scroll down the list to find titles that would be a fit for 2nd grade)


As far as "being behind in writing".... public schools are notorious for requiring at too early of an age way too much writing, and writing of a type that requires use of logic and thinking skills that do not develop in the brain until older ages (like late elementary/early middle school ages).

If a student is not reading well yet, they really can't/shouldn't do writing beyond copying a short sentence for practicing handwriting (penmanship). If the student is reading well and has a beginning grasp on spelling, then the student could be writing a short sentence here and there, with actual (live) teacher or parent guidance.

What exactly is being required of your student for writing? And if he is not ready for that level of writing, perhaps consider reading Susan Wise Bauer's Rethinking School: How to Take Charge of Your Child's Education -- there is a Kindle version that is not expensive, and used print copies available fairly inexpensively. The book has some great practical steps you can take to advocate for getting your child's schooling more personalized/individualized to be a better fit for him.

BEST of luck in finding what works best for your family in these trying times! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited September 16, 2020 by Lori D.

[Lori D.]

Also, you might try re-posting this on the K-8 Board, or the General Board, to get more "eyeballs" on your post, and thus more responses. You currently have this posted on the middle school board. 😉 

[DNMSHOW]

Thank you both SO, SO MUCH! I did actually order “Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons” already. So happy to see you recommended it. You gave me such good advice. If I am using that book could you please suggest what you think would be my best choice to add with that book? I will use your advice with those reading suggestions for sure. Thanks again!

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, DNMSHOW said:

Thank you both SO, SO MUCH! I did actually order “Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons” already. So happy to see you recommended it. You gave me such good advice. If I am using that book could you please suggest what you think would be my best choice to add with that book? I will use your advice with those reading suggestions for sure. Thanks again!

I would be careful to not overwhelm your child with too much to start with. Slowly ease into doing lessons at home with Teach Your Child to Read, plus regular reading aloud, to start with. See where his reading level really is at first -- I like Plum's checklist link above -- you may not *need* to start at the very beginning of Teach Your Child to Read... or you may try starting at the beginning of the program so you both get the hang of the lesson style, and then go at a faster pace until you start hitting hurdles, and then slow down and go gently through topics your student hasn't learned yet or is not clicking with.

Some free fun educational websites/videos as support:
- Starfall -- website
- Leap Frog -- videos
   Letter Factory part 1, part 2; part 3; part 4
   Storybook Factory part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4; part 5; part 6; part 7; part 8
- Read Between the Lions -- older PBS show episodes (I'd watch these together so you can talk about them)

When my DS#2 was struggling to clear the hurdle of reading (he was a late bloomer) he enjoyed these educational software exploration games:
- Bailey's Book House
- Reader Rabbit: Learn to Read, and, Personalized Reader Rabbit

Also, once your child gets rolling with reading, you might look through your library for some "we both read" books (here is one publisher as an example), or, check out some early "stepped reader" books and read together "buddy style" ("you read a page, I read a page"). Or, young reader books that have an audiobook to go with them, so the child listens and follows along in the book.

Be sure to keep learning to read fun! Choose interesting and humorous books, and books on topics of high interest to your child. Consider a subscription to a children's magazine that he would enjoy -- also, search & find types of books are great for keeping alive interest in books.

BEST of luck! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited September 16, 2020 by Lori D.

[DNMSHOW]

1 hour ago, Plum said:

Hello, Plum, I want to still keep him at his daycare with the virtual teaching and do everything I can for him in addition at home... afterschooling. I think his problem is that I did not spend anywhere near the time teaching him I should have. But he does not seem to be able to sit for his lessons at full attention but he might be normal in that way, I don’t know what is the normal attention expected at 7.

[DNMSHOW]

Man Lori and everyone thank you... Amazing free advice here....Helped me so much!

[ElizabethB]

If he got sent home sight words, he probably has some guessing habits--also accelerated reader, other balanced literacy practices cause guessing habits that need to be untrained. This article "At a Loss for Words" by Emily Hanford explains what the schools teach and why it doesn't line up with science, especially the latest brain research. This link is all her articles about reading, they are all interesting:

https://www.apmreports.org/collection/reading

To untrain guessing habits you need nonsense words, I have a game that makes them:

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Phonics/concentrationgam.html

My remedial program designed for students that get typical balanced literacy teaching in school also has additional nonsense words to help fix guessing habits and teaches phonics to a 12th grade level:

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Reading/syllablesspellsu.html

100EZ lessons is a good start but only teaches to the 1st grade level and you'll need to supplement with nonsense words.

Most online things also have some balanced literacy teaching and sight words, the first few stories of Starfall are good but the sight word activities and later portions are balanced literacy based, not phonics based.  Reader rabbit also has a lot of balanced literacy influences. The best online program for basics is read, write type:

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

Ordinary Parents Guide and Phonics Pathways teach to a 4th grade level.

The free online Word Mastery from Don Potter teaches to a 3rd grade level. 

My syllables program teaches to a 12th grade level but is not a full program, you'll need to follow with all of Webster's Speller, do all the 2+ syllable words there. I like OPG, PP, or Word Mastery better for phonics basics than Webster's Speller but Webster's Speller also works for phonics basics, it's just not as user friendly for that.

It is best to give a bit of a break after school ends and work 15 to 20 minuets at at time, two 20 minute sessions are generally better than one 50 to 60 minute session. Physical activity between sessions is also best.

 

[Pen]

Hi! And welcome! After seeing your how to move thread message, I found this.  I do suggest that you post to K-8, General, and Learning Challenges.   Not try to move this , just another thread on each since some people will be looking in some forums but not others . 

 

I used High Noon reading program successfully with my son who is dyslexic, and felt at time that it might be better for some kids to learn reading even if they are not dyslexic.  Though non dyslexic kids might be able to go faster and not need as many components or as much repetition. 

 

I think it is http://Www.highnoonbooks.com - let me know if that doesn’t work.

We used the Reading Program(teacher book, student book, student workbook package) plus Sound Out Chapter books mainly.   I wrote more about this on Learning Challenge forums. 

 

It has a little writing in the workbooks, but we mainly ended up using BraveWriter methods and an online class for writing.  Also my son worked on writing for Stone Soup magazine and eventually got published there.   Writing is a slow learning and improving at it process in my experience. 

[Pen]

 

We also used “talking fingers” Read Write Type successfully in addition to High Noon.

 

 

[vonfirmath]

22 hours ago, DNMSHOW said:

My boy is 7. He goes to a pre-k to 5th grader day care and he has public virtual school there. They use Schoology and I have no idea what they are doing and how to help him at home. I have decided to do homeschooling when he comes home to try to quickly get him up to speed especially with reading and writing. Please tell me what I should do with him. I guess I need a full schedule or books or whatever. Sorry to ask so much but I am trying to find the info and found this forum. Thank you all so much. 

You might also look at what books you are asking him to read

I don't know how those "leveled readers" are chosen but I didn't find the level was all that indicative of a book a child could read. There seemed to be all sorts of words that had to be taught individually to my kid and made her feel like a failure trying to read them.  Every book introduced new stumbles, even if it was a book with characters she loved, etc.

We went to Barnes and Noble and picked up a couple of treasury of "Dick and Jane" stories.  They used the same word (or similar words) over and over in stories that my daughter could actually complete and give her a feeling of success. Sometimes she'd sit down and we'd read several stories in a row. Sounding out the words typically worked -- plus repetition of the words she was sounding out helped as well. And yes, names had to be learned. But they were used over and over instead of having to reach for help with more new names.  We started out alternating pages I read to pages she read. But she quickly took over.

I didn't think the stories were excessively interesting. But I credit these books with her finally learning how to read. 

(And I let her pick out other books in our collection of picture books that I read allowed while my finger showed her which word I was reading -- just so she had exposure to more books.)

[DNMSHOW]

WOW THANK YOU ALL! I am going through and figuring all this fantastic information. I am amazed how hard you all are willing to work for someone you don’t know!!! This has helped so much.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I can second all of the advice you have gotten!  

My structure for my 1st grader is to read/spell a bit from Phonics Pathways (10 minutes), then have him read from a graded reader for less than 5 minutes.  We use the McGuffey readers, but these are old fashioned and very moralistic, so not appealing to all!  I really like the I Can Read books, especially those by Arnold Lobel, for a more modern, fun reader.  

 

 

[PeterPan]

Just as a thought, if he's not engaging with his virtual schooling or is not doing well, you need to talk with his virtual teachers. You should still have the protections of the IEP process. You could also talk with the daycare to make sure they're helping him stay engaged. He may need some movement breaks.

[Sarah0000]

Also check out Teach Your Monster to Read. It's a free online phonics game he should be able to do independently for extra practice.

[ktgrok]

For reading I'd get Abecedarian Short Version of Level A. It's easy to teach with no experience, it is reasonbly priced, it is very efficient, and there are videos to help you. The owner is also great at offering help. 

Level A (Short Version) is a version of the materials designed especially for older, remedial students.  It contains the same content as the regular Level A materials, but the lessons proceed at a much faster pace.  In addtion, there is no handwriting instruction provided in the Short Version.  This version of Level A is a good choice for first-grade age students who can read some words and have some blending skill.  It is also an excellent choice for students age 7 and older who are non-readers or very beginning readers.

Info about the program: http://www.abcdrp.com/revisions-2020

Webstore: https://shopabcdrp.com/collections/new-books-for-2020

Edited September 19, 2020 by Ktgrok

[lewelma]

I did not read until I was 12, and graduated from a top-10 univeristy "magna cum laude" by 21. You have time. Not all kids progress at the same speed, but this does not indicate that they are slow. Take deep breaths, and meet your child where he is at. 

[EKS]

You've caught the problem early, and that will help a lot!  

I'd start by having him read aloud to you from materials that you know he can read.  Pay attention to what is tripping him up.  If he seems to need more phonics instruction, get a phonics book--there are tons of them--and go through it with him.  Once he is up to speed on phonics, have him read aloud to you from books that are easy for him to read fluently for a minimum of 20 minutes each day.  Gradually increase the reading level over time until he is reading easily on grade level (or, better yet, above).

In addition to having him read to you, you should read to him every day from books that he enjoys.