He won't stop guessing! AAAAACCCKKK!

[FlockOfSillies]

Ds7 reads very well, except that he guesses or skips words. I think he's just not taking his time -- always hurrying on to the next thing, just like everything else in his life. But I haven't been able to get him to kick the habit when it comes to reading.

 

Any ideas on techniques to try? Do I need to get his eyes checked? I KNOW he needs to have his head examined. :lol:

[Tap]

When dd went through this, if she guessed on a word, I made her start over at the top of the page or paragraph. It wasn't a punishment, just a rule that we agreed to and followed. We made it kinda silly and kept good humor about it. I didn't want reading to have a negative memory for her. We woud tease and laugh whenever she she messed up. SHe also got a sticker star on a piece of paper for every page/paragraph/ book read perfectly, depending on the length (even if she had to start over several times on sections).

 

She was allowed to hold up one finger as a cue to me she was sounding out a word, but if she guessed or changed a word, then she would start over.

 

We also had a deal with some small books, 100 words or so, that if she could read the whole book without an error, she got to keep the book. They were short, but there were some books that she started over on, maybe 10 times before she could get it absolutely perfect. She really didn't care about the book, it was the accomplishment.

Edited January 19, 2009 by Tap, tap, tap

[Tohru]

Aaah, he's only 7. Nonchalantly correct him when you catch him each time. He'll slow down and digest his reading later when he is older.

[Carrie12345]

I really think it's just an age thing. My dd is always "blowing stop signs" (ignoring punctuation). Other dd often "guesses" on words. They *know the punctuation and they *know how to read the words, but their eyes and brains (and, sometimes, excitement) don't always have the same... cadence.

 

What about making a list of his guessed words and then writing (or having him write) them, either spelling list style or in sentences on separate pieces of paper?

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

Ds7 reads very well, except that he guesses or skips words. I think he's just not taking his time -- always hurrying on to the next thing, just like everything else in his life. But I haven't been able to get him to kick the habit when it comes to reading.

 

Any ideas on techniques to try? Do I need to get his eyes checked? I KNOW he needs to have his head examined. :lol:

This is a good question. My ds7 has the same problem, and I've been wondering if he needs his vision checked. Sometimes I think it's just an impatience thing, he doesn't want to slow down to sound out words. My dh tells me not to worry about it, based on our other son's reading, he should "take off" at some point when the planets align and it "clicks" for him.

I usually just say "I don't see an rrrr in that word" or "o doesn't say 'ah'" to try to bring his attention back to the word, but he oftentimes gets frustrated.

I'll be checking back to see what useful suggestions others have.

[Lovedtodeath]

DD was doing this and I finally found out why. She was relying on sight reading. She was getting by in ETC just fine without sounding out words. She learned to sound out when she was 3 and continued for a while, but somewhere between 5 and 6 she stopped. Her reading level is at about 3rd grade, but she was mostly sight reading. I got her to begin again by doing phonics lessons with multi-syllable and nonsense words. She continues to guess with actual words that she is familiar with if I do the phonics lessons with those.

[Pamela H in Texas]

reading specialists have the student run their finger under the words.

[Oak Knoll Mom]

My son does this and my dh had a great idea. We start out with 10 mini M&Ms on the table and I eat an M&M every time he guesses. He gets to eat what's left at the end of the assignment.

 

Just wanted to add--I am not one to use rewards, stickers, etc., but the guessing had gotten so bad that I had to do something. We only did it a couple of times before he realized how pleasant it was to read without guessing. :-)

[chiguirre]

I think this is just one of the stages of learning to read. As you get better at it you recognize a lot more words without sounding them out. As an adult, I very rarely sound something out, I almost always just know the words. I've noticed as ds is able to read more words fluently without sounding them out, he'll guess at words that are similar (hungry for hung, for example). I just correct and keep moving. I don't know if this is the best course of action yet, I'll let you know in a year. ;)

[Snickerdoodle]

My seven year old is doing the same thing. I am just having him reread the sentence where he misses, skips or reads a word wrong. If he doesn't know a word and tries to skip it or garble it I make him slow down and sound it out. I am also slowly getting him pay attention to punctuation while reading (appropriate pauses, etc.)

 

But it's good to hear mine isn't the only one. Interesting.

[Tree House Academy]

My 9 year old was always really smart...and the way he learned to read was by sight. He went to public school and he actually never really learned to sound out words at all. Eventually we all do this, but we sound them out until we actually know the words and then read by sight. My son did the same as your son and it has been a slow process teaching him to sound out words and stopping him when he reads to go back and say the correct word. It is starting to work now, but it sure has not been easy. :(

[kalanamak]

I did this as a child, and do this an adult. I'm just better at it now that I'm grown up :)

 

For kiddo, when he give good effort on his school work (and really, he is all or nothing....if he's distracted or gamey on one subject he usually is on another) he gets a bowl of ice cream. If he does above and beyond the call of duty, he gets a vid (currently it is Jason and the Argonauts).

 

 

If he is guessing at words, I remind him that this is not working at something, that school is his work, like doctoring is mine, and he knows that he is jeopardizing his ice cream. Maybe your son, too, has a motivator that works like magic.

[RebeccaC]

It can be a strategy that children get into who are taught sight words, which also builds lazy tracking skills so that words will be missed. I worked for awhile as a licensed reading therapist and it is a hard habit to break.

 

There has been brain several studies done that show that good readers never read by sight but will track every sound symbol in a word. The speed that a mature good reader does this is extremely fast. If you are teaching sight words stop and have your son sound out and track every sound symbol in the words he guesses. Tell him that guessing is not reading.

[Urban Girl]

Thanks for asking this question. My 8yo has been doing this, and I thought I needed to do remedial phonics. I've been having him put his finger under the words, as a pp stated, and that seems to help. I love the m&m and ice cream rewards. That may be just the incentive needed in this house. Thanks all for great suggestions and comfort in knowing that others are dealing successfully with the same issue.

 

Yolanda

[Lovedtodeath]

With DD it was more of a perfectionist issue. She prefers sight reading b/c she is (in her mind) more likely to be right. I figured it out when she refused to read the words Hal and sprig because she was not familiar with them and was afraid she was wrong. I started having her sound out multi-syllable words after that to be on the safe side. Additional phonics work won't hurt, but if they need it, not doing it can certainly be detrimental.

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

It can be a strategy that children get into who are taught sight words, which also builds lazy tracking skills so that words will be missed. I worked for awhile as a licensed reading therapist and it is a hard habit to break.

 

There has been brain several studies done that show that good readers never read by sight but will track every sound symbol in a word. The speed that a mature good reader does this is extremely fast. If you are teaching sight words stop and have your son sound out and track every sound symbol in the words he guesses. Tell him that guessing is not reading.

 

My ds7 has never been taught sight words ...it's been phonics from day one. I use a bookmark under the line, and he uses his finger under the word. Today we read a book with shorter lines and bigger print, and I didn't notice so much guessing. The thing is, he guesses on words he's read successfully before. When he comes to a totally unfamiliar word he sounds out. Esepcially after reading the previous posts, I'm leaning toward chalking it up to his age and wanting to finish as soon as possible and think that time will cure this problem, as long as we continue to read.

[RebeccaC]

My ds7 has never been taught sight words ...it's been phonics from day one. I use a bookmark under the line, and he uses his finger under the word. Today we read a book with shorter lines and bigger print, and I didn't notice so much guessing. The thing is, he guesses on words he's read successfully before. When he comes to a totally unfamiliar word he sounds out. Esepcially after reading the previous posts, I'm leaning toward chalking it up to his age and wanting to finish as soon as possible and think that time will cure this problem, as long as we continue to read.

 

Doesn't matter if it is age or a strategy developed from being taught sight words it is still a habit forming and I would gently say guessing is not reading lets try that again, or lets slow down and sound out that word again. One thing I had my students do was to write out words that they did not track saying each sound as they wrote it out or traced in something yummy like Jello powder, ect.... A word like soap would be trace or written while saying each sound so the oa would be written/traced while saying long o.

 

One thing you need to think about or maybe watch for is if he has a tracking problem. I don't know how long he has been reading but if this is still an issue in 6 months you might want to have an eval done by a developmental optometrist just to make sure.

 

You should know that the type of child I worked with was usually on the high end of the autism spectrum or had some form of dyslexia or was a ESL student. So I really did not work with kids who would out grow their reading problem.

[flyingmommy]

DD was doing this and I finally found out why. She was relying on sight reading. She was getting by in ETC just fine without sounding out words. She learned to sound out when she was 3 and continued for a while, but somewhere between 5 and 6 she stopped. Her reading level is at about 3rd grade, but she was mostly sight reading. I got her to begin again by doing phonics lessons with multi-syllable and nonsense words. She continues to guess with actual words that she is familiar with if I do the phonics lessons with those.

 

 

This is exactly what happened with my son (now 20). He was taught sight words in ps but no phonics. He would see a word like "they" and he'd start guessing.....the, them, their, there, they....He'd just guess all the "th" words he'd learned till he got the right ones. He ended up having to learn what I call "emergency phonics" in 2nd grade. To this day, he has difficulty with spelling, not because he can't get all the letters, but because he can't mentally break a word into syllables and hear what comes next.

 

Jeannie

[MeanestMomInMidwest]

One thing you need to think about or maybe watch for is if he has a tracking problem. I don't know how long he has been reading but if this is still an issue in 6 months you might want to have an eval done by a developmental optometrist just to make sure.

 

You should know that the type of child I worked with was usually on the high end of the autism spectrum or had some form of dyslexia or was a ESL student. So I really did not work with kids who would out grow their reading problem.

Thank you for your advice. He has been reading about one year now, and I have no idea what level he's on (although he can read the JJ books at our library, which is the designation for junior readers, with only a little help). I was thinking it may be a tracking problem. I had actually mentioned to dh that perhaps we should have his vision tested.

[Ann]

Thanks for all the ideas. My DS does the same thing and I was getting frustrated. I am trying the M&Ms idea tomorrow with him.