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6 y/o reading struggles
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Hey there! My daughter is 6 and is having a hard, stressful time with reading. For example: today we were finishing a reading lesson and I asked her to read the word hat. She had already read that word at the beginning of the lesson perfectly. But when asked to read it again, she couldn’t remember what sound the letter h made. This is a constant struggle with us, she can’t answer things I know she knows. I’m not sure why this is happening or how to fix it. Any ideas? Please help!
My first instinct is to set aside reading lessons for a month or even more. Spend time reading aloud. Lots of good snuggly time reading aloud. Then come back to it slowly and see if she is ready. Six is still very young. My son had to take almost all of 2nd grade “off” from reading. He was so overwhelmed and stressed. He only read the “secret message” I put on the white board each day. Usually something like “Oreos for afternoon snack,” or “Lunch at the park today.” He only read it if he wanted to, but the messages were fun so he usually wanted to. In 3rd grade he was ready for chapter books right at grade level. I think sometimes kids get anxiety over learning a new skill and it isnt always something we can look back pinpoint. Taking a break can sometimes reboot that confidence and desire to try again.
I know that isnt a very technical response and maybe not terribly helpful. I am sure others will chime in with useful ideas.
The main point is dont let it stress you. She is still quite young and there is time.
I agree to set it aside for at least a month. My first child cruised through reading, and my second started strong and hit a block, which led to taking a few months off before she was ready again. My current 6.5 year old is just now ready to start reading, though she is still on the young side. I tried several times the past few months, but always had to step back. She would just guess words, and wouldn’t even look at the word while saying it. (It drove me a bit crazy in the moment, lol). After waiting a few months, we started again 2 weeks ago and she is so different with her attention to it. I know she may hit a point where we step back again, and that is okay. But, it would have been a waste of both of our time, not to mention frustrating for both, to have kept trying when she wasn’t ready. This may not be the same situation for you, but I would try to give her time and just read lots of books to her. 🙂
I wouldnt set it aside. I would slowly build a foundation. I would begin with making sure to base lessons in solid phonics. I have used several things including the popular All About Reading. My favorite in Foundational Phonics. I really recommend it. Begin with Letter Mastery and go as slowly and steadly as necessary. Review with flashcards and make up little games. (I have ideas if you want.) Do not go on to a new letter until she is really ready. Do not let her guess at all. Help her along and do not get frustrated. Set a timmer for 10 or 15 minutes each day. I really like the American language series readers for nice Christian phonetic reading practice. They are short and pretty. Add something like this in once she knows most letters. Do not start the next book Word Mastery till she is solid on short vowles. I have too much knowledge of dyslexia to wait too much;)
Best wishes
I would like to hear your game ideas for Foundational Phonics.
I bought Fast Phonics(imbedded pictures) to get my little guy started, but it doesn’t have worksheets or lesson plans. We may go back to FP later.
These are barely “games” I guess more like interesting practice I guess.
Put letter (or any known vowel teams) into three piles side by side. Put vowels in the middle. Put R in the first pile. T, m, s are good ones to put in the last pile. Read the resulting word, then take 1 card away at a time (or let the child take one card away each time) reading the new word real or nonsense each time. I think this is some of the best practice there is. So maybe you have /hem/ first then take the h away to reveal a c now child blends /cem/. This is different each time and really helped my readers.
If the child is not ready to blend 2 letters modify it to 2 ra, ba, ca, he….
It may also help to make simple alphabet cards that only have the lowercase letter on them and are in portrait orientation.
Put letter (later vowel teams and blends ect) cards up the stairs 1 card per step. Child sounds them as you walk up the stairs together. You can do the same thing with words by writing words the child can sound out (sam, cat, ham…)on index cards.
Take the above mentioned letter, blend, word….cards and scatter them on the floor. Stamp on them, wack them with a fly swatter, make them into a road and drive a car down it or turn them into lilly pads and hop from 1 to another. This path or road is even more fun if a mini marshmellow or 2 are at the end.
Write words on a white board or in sand or shaving cream for the child to sound out and erase.
Have the child “Write” words with alphabet magnets or wooden alphabets. Have the child write words (once he or she can form letters) in sand or shaving cream.
Don potter has some alphabet and word cards that correlate with word mastry which foundational phonics is based on
http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/WordMastery.html
I also highly recomend at least the first 4 books from American Language Series readers. Fun in the Sun, Scamp and Tramp, Soft and White, and On the Farm. https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/6704/American-Language-Series.html
I also have some of the montessori “pink series” words and pictures to match. I like these as well. It is more independent which is great with 4 other kids.
I hope some of these are helpful….most are not original with me;)
I wouldn’t put it aside. I think all of my children went through that stage. I use Leap Frog’s The Letter Factory for basic sounds. They loved watching it every day while they learned their letter sounds.
Then, we just stuck with our reading program. I use the program that goes with the Pathway Readers. The constant practice pays off.
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I was feeling extra frustrated when I wrote that and wasn’t quite able to best explain what was happening. She’s done phonics basics for multiple years and has read many learn to read books. It seems that anytime she stumbles a little/ can’t remember something fast enough/ gets a little frustrated/ etc., she shuts down and can’t remember anything.
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