HELP With Reading!!

Here are some helpful sites you can read to get ideas.

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah-ch2-pg2.html

http://www.ed.gov/pubs/SimpleThings/family.html

http://www.scholastic.com/schoolage/grade2/homework/10bes...

i am a 2nd grade teacher... let me start w/ that

what exactly is she struggling with? there are many elements to reading. comprehension (which i noticed you mentioned)? word recognition? sight words? blending? fluency (the rate that she reads)? expression?

i personally don't like the TPRI as an assessment tool but our district uses it as well. do you know if she will take any other assessments... like the DRA? the DRA is a great assessment tool and personally I think it's more accurate than the TPRI. However, after she has taken the TPRI ask her teacher to give you a print out of activities that you can use at home to help her. This should be available to the teacher if she records the scores online.

Things you can do:

* www.starfall.com <-- great interactive reading site
* when you read with her at home have her before reading the story discuss what is going on in the pictures on each page and have her make prediction about what the story is going to be about .. have her explain this
* have her retell the story the story to you in her own words
* list important events in the book
* discuss the 5 w's (who, what, when, where, why)
* have her read her favorite story to you or her favorite part of a story over and over (this helps with fluency and expression)
* model how to read to her. read a paragraph of a book how you would like to hear her read it and have her read it back to you
* make sure she is reading books that on her level (when buying or checking out books have her read the first page.. if she struggles the book is too hard for her. her teacher should also be able to provide you with a list of suggested books). however, if she wants a book that is too difficult still get it and you can read it to her and practice with choral reading (reading outloud together), or where she repeats what you just read (point to the words as you do this)
* ask her teacher or look online for a list of high frequency words and dolce sight words. either make flashcards with these words or buy a set (you can get them at Mardels). introduce 5 words a week and have her practice them and use them in sentences, etc

Also, loo\k online for resources and suggestions.. I hope this helps!

One thing that can help her is to label the items in your house. Ask her to read words that are printed on everyday items. Make it a game as you are driving down the road. If she connects reading to real life and not just books she may be able to open her mind to the concept and accept more vocabulary.

I would ask if you have sat down with your child and asked her if there was something about reading that she does not like. Then I would find out if there is something she does like. Often times younger students see reading as a threatening subject because they have to "get it right". In what area is your child having problems-comprehension, phonics, fluency, site reading etc.

I myself tutor children from pre-k on up in this area. Please feel free to contact me and I will try to assist you as much as I can...

Just to let you know, I have a 16 yr old son who has cerebral palsy..He is in the 10th grade and reads on the level of 12 grade/freshman in college. My 10 yr old is in the 5th grade and reads on the 7/8th grade level. It was a matter of finding what they liked and building from there.

I taught and one of the things I always told my parents was that early childhood was from 3-8. Meaning a child might read at 4- this doesn't mean they are brilliant and the non reading 4 year old is slow but the non reader has until 8 years old. The school system is set up in a way to test these poor babies and we aren't teaching to the child's style. TEachers are also under a lot of pressure and have upped the curriculum in the last 5 years. What they were learing in first grade they are now teaching in kindergarten! Can she read anything? Has she been tested for dyslexia? There is a great book you can get at Barnes and Noble- it is called Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz. I would read this and see if your daughter has some of these reading traits. Be your child's advocate!!!! I would read to her at home and discuss with her and ask her questions. I would also try not to stress her out- I don't know how parents homeschool because my child stresses me out when I am trying to help him! It is frustrating and you don't want to squash her self esteem. I would also ask her teacher if she could circle the mistakes on her paper and then your daughter could bring them home and you could read them with her. Her getting bad grades on a paper is not going to help the situation. Hopefully, the teacher understands that she is in second grade and this isn't going towards her GPA!

1. Irlen syndrome - a malformation of the Rods and Cones in the eye, is present in about 1 in 4 people. It can range from moderate to severe, and is treated with a colored transparency. Symptoms include difficulty reading, headache from reading, SLOW reading.. and if you do a little research at Irlen.com, you'll have a better idea as to why. Reading so slowly can be a huge problem with comprehension - simply because by the time you get to the end, you forget what was at the beginning.

2. Does she have any speech problems? Reading is about connecting that symbol on a page to a sound. Children who are deaf/ HOH or who have speech impediments have a harder time making that symbol - sound connection. This is where LIPS and Lindamood - Bell begin with addressing.

3. Did she learn sight reading first? i.e. those horrible Dick and Jane books. A child who learns sat = sat, instead of /s/ /a/ /t/ - blend to get /s/a/t/ - sat, is going to top out about 3rd grade with the number of words they recognize - which means that they're stuck at 3rd grade level, or they have to learn phonics. If this might be your problem, I LOVE the talking letter factory DVD from Leap Frog.. then the talking word factory and the storybook circus. They're for the younger set, but they do a very nice job of introducing Phonemes.

4. It's not about age. I have a 5 year old boy (5 in July) who is reading above 2nd grade level. I have an 11 year old girl (April) who was behind in reading (and graphing) until 4th grade, when I had her screened for Irlen Syndrome. She can now read anything put in front of her... she still doesn't like reading, but she can read and digest any junior high book. It's about reading readiness and developmental maturity.

Barnes and Noble has a good selection of flash cards and workbooks for all subjects with grade specific info on the cover.

I could have written this same post for my son. I am sure you have tried some these things. We read with him every night and encourage him to work through the words he doesn't know and show him how to break it apart and use the context - basically reminding him the strategies for reading. It is not automatic for him. We also stop after a couple of pages and ask questions to work on comphrehension. My son's teacher made some flash wors with some of the sight words he has trouble with and with some of phonics - especially the vowel dipthongs like ou, ow, etc and we practice saying what sounds they can make. another thing I try to remember to do is put the captions on when he watches tv so he sees the written. Like your daughter my son's reading affects his math, social studies, etc. I worry very much for him but I also 7 is the developmental age for reading - the kids are just pushed in reading at a young age and some children can handle it.

I'm assuming her teacher and you don't suspect any learning disabilities. You didn't mention if she enjoys reading which in my opinion is important. Keep doing what you and the teacher are doing and use the advice the previous M. gave. Let her choose a book and start a book club with you two as the members. Make reading fun and enjoyable for her. Incorporate reading into her daily life! Good luck!

Take your daughter to an optometrist who specializes in Vision Therapy for an evaluation. She's at the exact age that most kids start having problems if they have convergence or divergence problems. I don't know where you live, but you should be able Google "Vision Therapy" and find one near you. My daughter, and 2 of my grandchildren have had to go through the therapy to correct problems that put them behind in reading. Once they got the therapy, though, they caught up just fine. My daughter was even diagnosed ADHD and put on medication before we found out about this.

Your daughter is blessed to have you as her mother. You will find what is necessary to help her become a more fluent reader.

I homeschool and am planning to use Sing Spell Read Write with my son next year. Like you, I know if my children can read well the rest of their school work will follow eventually. I have done extensive research and this program is very solid. I have read reviews from Mothers who have children in public school and have used this program to help their child. There is a placement test so you don't buy what you don't need.

You can look on amazon.com for reviews and research it on the web. I have also heard great things about Sylvan Learning Centers but I don't know how pricey they are in comparison to purchasing Sing Spell.

Hang in there. My daughter was also in kindergarten at 5 (didn't turn 6 until June). She was in public school for K and we started homeschooling in 1st grade (we have our own business and travel extensively in the US). She is in 4th grade now and is doing well in school.

Blessings to you on your journey!

L.

For effective, convenient and affordable instruction using the Lindamood-Bell® programs, consider R.. www.readingboosters.com

My son was the same way too. He also had a problem with speach and I was told my the tutor that often the reason for this is the age (birthday) and when they start school.
I did 2 things to help him out.
1. We got phonix flash cards and instead of doing the whole stack at a time, I would make a game and reward out of it. If he got 5 in a row correct, then 10 more minutes of tv or something else he wanted more time on. He got to a point that he looked forward to me pulling the cards out.
2. For understanding the material he just read. After each page I would ask him to tell me what it ment. Instead of trying to sumerize the entire book 1 page is easier and not as overwhelming to him.

Hope this helps you!

We experienced this with my soon to be 8 year old son the last 2 school years. He zooms through everything else, but reading - he hates it. I've found that if he loves the reading material, and loves being read to, he will get it eventually. Our phonics program at school did cut it for him. I thought he was gonna fail a quarter, I swear! He ended up on A/B honor roll, but we have to work so hard. This summer we are reading a book per day, but long books we are doing a half book per day. These are the Level 2 readers. (reading with help). I sit with him. Also, he is going to 30 min of tutoring twice a week all summer long with our retired librarian. He responds to her and she is absolutely wonderful. I know we will have some great progress and amaze some folks when school starts. I want him to know he can do it. That is the most important thing to me.

So, stop with the testing unless you can do a casual dyslexia screening. Find someone he likes that teaches remedial reading and let them work with her. Then focus on reading every day. Go to the library and help her pick out books that she wants to read. Make sure she sees you read. And everyone else in the family. And turn off the TV! Those things are on way too much. Oh, one thing that we like is crossword puzzles with a word bank. Those were my son's first big successes in reading this school year and he was very proud of those 100s. Find things that support the reading that she can excel at and be proud.

Best wishes!

I agree with the M.'s that talked about vision about dyslexia.

As a school counselor, I have collected data to be turned in for testing purposes. Before we can turn them in, their vision has to be tested by the school nurse.
These students have both highs and lows in reading, so it wouldn't be unheard of to be able to read some. It can be identified as early as the 2nd semester 1st grade, so she's had enough time to be successful as well.

Our district uses the program from Scottish Rite Hospital and it's shown to be very successful so far.

Have you had her tested for reading problems like dyslexia. I notice my daughters decoding problem in 1st grade. She was struggling so much. I demanded a dyslexia test even though she didn't have all the signs...turns out she VERY dyslexic, she was just really good at covering up. She is now on the MTA program at school and in the 504 program which makes provisions for kids with disablities. She is flourishing in 2nd grade and her attitude towards school greatly improved.