Building Confidence in Reading

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  • October 12, 2010 at 4:03 pm
    Hope
    Member

    I would love some suggestions to help build confidence in my 6 yo ds reading.  He is reading well and I think probably right on target with most kids his age, but he gets very frustrated and feels he does not do well.  The problem is two-fold.  First is his personality. He is a perfectionist, very hard on himself, yet most things have come easily to him so far.  For example, he is a natural at numbers and all things math-related (at least so far).  With reading, if he messes up, he just wants to give up and then says things like “I stink at reading” or “I can’t read” or “I hate reading” (nobody has ever told him anything like this).  Secondly, I have a 4yo ds who is advanced and reads as well or better than my 6 yo.  The 4yo basically taught himself to read and has no fear in figuring out a new word and will sit all day reading if I’d let him.  This really upsets my 6yo.  We explain that it’s not a competition, it’s not a bad thing that his brother reads well, people have different strengths, etc. 

    My 6yo does do much better if he can be alone in a room with my dh or I reading.  If his brother is in the room, he won’t even try.  So, I work with him on reading mostly in my bedroom and that is helping.  I feel like he needs to see that he is reading since he thinks he’s not and that he just needs to keep working on it.  He does get very excited when he reads a story all by himself, so I do think he will enjoy reading once he has more confidence.

    I would love any advice, recommended easy readers (we bought  some BOB books to help with confidence, which they have some, but they are so goofy), or anything else you have to offer to help with this situation.

    October 12, 2010 at 5:35 pm
    LindseyD
    Participant

    Hope,

    I think your continued encouragement is going to be what helps him overcome his lack of confidence. I know you’re already giving lots of encouragement and praise, so just keep it up. I also think it is wise to allow him to read away from the 4yo, especially since that seems to contribute to his lack in confidence. I would feel pretty lousy if my little brother loved reading and could do it better than me too! Wink

    You’re right to want to find him some easy readers to build his confidence, and I know how hard it can be to find some that aren’t dumb and twaddle-y. In our house, we used Teach Your Child to Read, and started the Dick and Jane books immediately after. Those actually regress from the last lessons in 100 Easy Lessons, but I have seen my kids build lots of confidence just because they can make it through a book by themselves. It seems silly to go from Lesson 100 to “See Jane. Oh, see Jane. See Jane run.”, but I think it does something in a child’s mind when he reads a book from cover to cover. He learns that he really can do it! There are numerous Dick and Jane books, all of which we check out at the library. I love the simple illustrations too.  After Dick and Jane, I continue with the easy readers, but try to make each one a little more challenging that the last. We like the Biscuit books by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, Little Bear books by Else Minarik, Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel, and use the Pathway series as a final “See you really can read” transition into independent, chapter book reading.

    Be encouraged,

    LindseyKiss

    October 12, 2010 at 6:48 pm
    Gem
    Participant

    Like Lindsey, I agree with the idea of letting him read away from his brother – this must be frustrating for him to see the task he is struggling with come easily to a younger child. 

    I have been recommending these free readers to everyone – they are working wonderfully for us.  But warning – like the bob books they are goofy!  That may be the nature of a phonics reader.

    http://www.progressivephonics.com

    You have register with the site to get access to the printable or online free readers.  My son is six years old as well.  Last year he was in public school kindy – and there was indeed a lot of variation in the reading ability of his classmates.  i think there is a big “range of normal” here, but there was such an emphasis on pushing ahead with reading – and he soon was left behind many other kids.  He was feeling bad about not getting what ever certificate, or not starting the AR books.  It was really affecting his focus on just learning to read.  So I understand where you are coming from!

    Even Dick and Jane are too overwhelming for my son.  My ds6 needs to continue with simple phonics readers for a while – he likes these because there is not an overwhelming amount of reading in one lesson (short lessons!) and the reading is shared with the parent or adult reading partner.  We have moved up to the intermediate readers and he is really doing much better with this free program than with the expensive scholastic phonics that we have – and don’t use at all anymore LOL.  I can see progress and that he is developing stamina – if you can apply that word to reading LOL you probably know what I mean since you have the same type of little boy.

    Your son may be ready for some of the more advanced readers – I started with really easy stuff for mine to (as you said) build confidence.

    Note:  I don’t use any of the worksheet or flash card or any of the other stuff you can get from the site – just the readers.  I don’t want him to dread or resist reading practice, so we are just focusing on that, not writing or spelling.

    Maybe that will help some!  Stay positive!

     

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