Slow Reader

[Traci in NC]

Hello,
My 4th grader is a slow reader. He is very methodical in all that he does, has excellent handwriting, does fine in all of his subjects, but struggles with reading at a unusually slow pace.

Does anyone know of a good software program or any kind of program to help him read faster?

Thanks!

Traci

[BLT]

A question about his excellent handwriting: Is he very slow in writing, too? I ask because my dyslexic daughter had fabulous handwriting when she paid attention to it, but it was painfully slow - she had to draw each individual letter, rather than writing it. It took her several minutes to write a sentence. Either that, or her handwriting was close to unreadable - there wasn't anything in between.

[B&B]

I have a very slow reader as well. She just turned 9 but reads on about a 1st grade level. I have wondered about dyslexia. She also has very neat handwriting IF she takes her time and goes slowly. If she rushes, the letters are huge and sloppy. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Thanks,

Beth
DD 9 and 7
DS 4 and 2
Year 1 Unit 4 Redesigned

[Traci in NC]

Beth--Thanks for replying. I don't think I would say his hw is terribly slow. It used to be, but he has improved in that area.

T

[mom2four]

I have had two slow readers. They could do phonics/individual words but they had trouble with sentences/books. We found out that our daughter had troubles crossing mid-line. Her eyes would jump as they scanned across her body and she would lose her place making reading so much harder. This was fixed by doing occupational and vision therapy. My son also did vision therapy as his eyes were not tracking together. Reading 4th grade material was done at a 1st grade efficiency. Since he was already reading (just low on comprehension and it took a lot of time), the vision therapy fixed his problem. My daughter however was younger and had never mastered reading. She was a grade level behind (should be 4th), was doing 3rd grade work but reading at a late 1st grade level...after all the therapy. We tried Rocket Phonics which is made for dyslexics (which she is not) and it worked wonders! Over summer/1st sememster, she went from reading at a late first grade level to starting 4th grade level. She actually surpassed some of her friends and with that confidence, she has been reading things on her own and enjoying it! You can check it out at www.rocketphonics.com. They are wonderful to work with and are always willing to answer any questions that you have. I would also suggest that if you have any concerns, have your child evaluated by a developmental optometrist. You can read more information about that on the web or you can read the info on our doctors website, www.visiontherapykc.com.

[sixaresuper]

For possible solutions to this problem, also check out diannecraft.org and the struggling learners section of the hslda website.
Michelle

[Pat]

Just got my Timberdoodle catalog and they had a computer program that might be worth investigating:

http://www.timberdoodle.com/Ac...Deluxe_p/665-025.htm

[B&B]

Thanks for the suggestions. The Rocket Phonics program looks very interesting. I think my 5 year old might be dyslexic as well. I would love to know if anyone else has used this program with a dyslexic child. My 9 year old, who is dyslexic, wants to help teach her little brother this fall so I am thinking of using this program for her to "teach" him but she would also get some remedial help in her reading. It looks like it would work well for multiple children since there are so many games involved.

[heart4teaching]

Your son is the exact type of reader that fluency-building programs are designed for. My 4th grade son has moved from RL 1.5 to 5.6 and from 60 wpm to 100 wpm on cold timings this year. He has had phonics instruction since the beginning, but the fluency was just not coming. We have been using the Read Naturally program. You can see their process (I think) on their website: www.readnaturally.com. If you don't find it, let me know and I can tell you the process.

There are other programs. I have a program called Reading Fluency listed on Amazon. My store name is heart4teaching. These are both secular programs, so you may need to filter the stories used. (There are no Christian special needs curriculum).

Once you know the process used by these programs, you can use it with any materials, including the Tapestry readers, but you'll have to count the words read.

Although I like the auditory memory building aspect of the guided reading process like Read Naturally, the neurological impress method has been used for MANY years. It is often called choral reading, where you and your son read aloud at the same time. It is best if you sit on the side of his dominant ear and read just slightly faster than he usually reads now. As you do this more and more, he will pick up on not only the rate that you are reading, but also the inflections, and punctuation pauses, that goes with expressive oral reading.

BTW, I do NOT recommend these methods with children who are still learning phonics rules and how to segment and blend phonemes--they need to continue that practice until they have been exposed to and know the rules, but continue to be choppy, plodding readers.

I hope this has helped some.

[chrisg]

the neurological impress method has been used for MANY years. It is often called choral reading, where you and your son read aloud at the same time. It is best if you sit on the side of his dominant ear and read just slightly faster than he usually reads now. As you do this more and more, he will pick up on not only the rate that you are reading, but also the inflections, and punctuation pauses, that goes with expressive oral reading.

Wow -- thanks so much for that tidbit! It's just what we need to do next with my struggler.

Blessings,
Chris