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High School level, but slow reader. What do I do?
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I have a ds who is almost 15, enjoys school and reading. But, he is a very slow reader, silent and aloud. It can take him quite some time to get through material, even if he enjoys it, and asking for him to have material finished by a certain day/time is almost impossible. It’s not usually a matter of him not wanting to, or disobedience, or dawdling. At times it can be from a lack of focus, I’m sure, but mostly just the slow reading part.
I don’t know how to help him. Some ideas I have are: more audio books, less material (meaning, to NOT expect ALL of the lit/history books to fit into a school year that have been chosen), read aloud to him more, smaller chunks of material throughout the day (doing too much at one time may be too much). Honestly, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to lower our expectations…..I’m so confused.
Comprehension is not the issue, but the slow-moving reading is. The piles of books (which are not *that* high) can’t be paired down anymore than they are already are, IMO. I don’t want to force feed him “just to get through it” but we could spend all year in the same book! I don’t know if he needs a lot more practice reading (believe it or not!) or if his processing of the written word is just naturally slower.
I just don’t know what to do. I need to keep him at a high school level, but that will be at a much slower pace, then I just feel behind or that I’m not giving him a very good education.
Please help!
I don’t have a high schooler, but some ideas –
-definintely audio books. My 12YO DS, who is a strong reader, still loves audio books
-maybe supplement with some documentaries that will supplement your reading
-read history/historical fiction year-round (assign books in the summer)
-read 3-5 books at a time, but only expect a small number of pages from each book each day
my3boys…There is nothing wrong with modifying lesson plans, particularly for a child with a learning disorder. I hope I’m not being offensive, but when you say…. “It’s not usually a matter of him not wanting to, or disobedience, or dawdling. At times it can be from a lack of focus, I’m sure, but mostly just the slow reading part. ” and “Comprehension is not the issue, but the slow-moving reading is.”, it reminds me of our child. We have a dyslexic son and he’s very bright. His comprehension and vocabulary are phenominal, but reading is painful. I’m not saying this is your son’s issue, just relating to what you mentioned. Have you had any testing done or do you have any inclination toward a disability? Just wondering because I may be able to suggest a resource to help you.
At this point, our son is much younger than yours and is making huge gains with an Orton Gillingham tutor. I am hopeful one day he will read, though we’re not sure how fluently. In the meantime, I read everything aloud or use audio books.
Blessings,
Melissa
Yes Delta is younger too – and we suspect Dyslexia….
He does a lot of listening to an audiobook WHILE reading along. He can seem to read well enough to keep up (I know he does because he will pause it if he loses his spot…)
I think it is also improving his reading (well, I hope so, anyway….)
I know it is hard for us to make modifications…. but if he is truly working hard, it sounds like to be fair you need to.
You might want to have him tested – if he is going to go to University or College and he does have a LD, having that diagnosed (now, not when he is about to go) could help him get assistance there….
I hope you find what works for you and for him!
Thank you for your replies, I appreciate it so much!
@Melissa, yes, he’s been tested in the past. His results were a little mixed but he did some tutoring for fluency and phonics for about 6+ months but ran out of money. I can’t say it helped, just not sure, plus, that was about 3 years ago. We just kept practicing, reading aloud, and moving forward. To have him read a list of words, no problem, but in paragraph form was always the problem. We could go over phonic rules daily and have them down pat but add new words to read or familiar words in a paragraph and he just fumbles, not struggling, just fumbling, if there is a difference. I know words that are unfamiliar/familiar slow him down and I don’t have a pattern to follow. He is inconsistent with what he recalls and what he doesn’t. Spelling/dictation, no problem. His handwriting is very nice and he can transcribe fairly long passages.
Can you feel the uncertainty in my post?? My inability to know if I can help him?? It makes me want to cry when I just don’t know what the problem is.
Thanks so much for your help. And, yes, I’d like some suggestions re: the Orton Gillingham resource.
my3boys…I’m sorry you are struggling with this. I feel your pain and know how your heart aches. But please know you are not alone and that your son was perfectly created 🙂 You are the best mom for him and you are giving him a real gift by homeschooling him.
It’s interesting that spelling and dictation are not an issue. I’d lean more to some sort of processing glitch. Have you researched any of Dianne Craft’s site? She has a plethora of articles. http://www.diannecraft.org/ My SIL has had great success with Little Giant Steps and Dianne Craft resources. We’ve done some of the Dianne Craft exercises and supplements, which did produce little improvement. We are fortunate to have a Chidren’s Dyslexia Clinic in our area which provides tutoring services free of charge because we would not be able to afford private tutoring.
Prior to tutoring, I started All About Reading Level 1 with our son and am currently using All About Spelling with our dd. I think they are good solid Orton Gillingham programs, but a little slow going, particularly for an older student. Another resource I would recommend is the Logic of English. http://logicofenglish.com/ I really found her training videos extremely helpful. The course if a bit pricey, but looks great and allows a shorter amount of time for working with an older student.
There is a Yahoo Group of homeschooling families with students with reading disabilities called Heart of Reading. It’s a wonderful group of experienced moms. You may find some good information, answers to questions, and further support there.
We have not yet personally used Learning Ally, but I’ve heard wonderful things about this online read aloud service. I believe you subscribe. I know they have textbooks and living books to choose from. https://www.learningally.org/
These are some things that come to mind off the top of my head. Hope you can make some use of my rambling 🙂
Blessings,
Melissa
Thank you for the thorough replies, they’re so helpful to me. I have just now had a minute to reply and with all of the Christmas festivities behind us, and second semester in front of us, I can start working with my son to finish up some material that has taken awhile to get through. I hope you all know that I don’t mean to say that it that way.
Family needs me, gotta get back to this in a bit.
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