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reading practice is torturous
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Trying to drag my 6.5 YO DS through a reading lesson is just plain torturous. We did almost all of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons last year. I don’t think he really improved any in the last 40+ lessons, and I had to modify them quite a bit and read big chunks so it wouldn’t take 45 mins a lesson. He reads super slowly and still has to sound every sound out. We have not done much reading practice this summer because I was so over it by the end of the school year. I’m planning to use Blend Phonics Lite Reader (each lesson has them read a bunch of words with the same sound like short i, then a very short story using those words) and the first grade Pathways Readers this school year. It takes him at least 5 minutes to read one page, 4-5 lines, of the first Pathways book. He stares off into space, changes position 100 times, fiddles with the pages, and has to be reminded several times to look at the word he’s supposed to be reading every single time he looses focus (which is often!). This is exactly what he did last year too. I am just dreading having to do reading practice with him every day this school year. Would it be terrible to just take a year off of reading practice and hope that when he’s almost 8 it’ll magically click and he’ll read well?
Ha, not a bad thing at all! I’ve had kids all over the map when it comes to cracking that reading code. Currently I’m working with Oliver, my 6 year old. He stayed at the sound every sound out every single time even in the same story forever. (We used All About Reading 1 as a very loose guide last winter/spring, taking our time). We took some time off this summer. Picked things back up recently and he’s starting to recognize a word after he’s sounded it out once in a story. So still a lot of sounding out, but some progress. Instead of moving ahead and adding more new concepts (like long vowels) we’re lingering here and playing with words in as many ways as possible each week. It will come. And when it does it will seem like magic.
So if you think time off would be helpful – even just to keep you sane – then take time off. I would say check back in every month or every 3 months, and in the mean time play with the words/sounds he’s covered in lots of ways just for fun.
You could keep a reading time on the schedule but vary what you do. Some days my dd6 does a formal reading lesson with me, and other days she plays a computer game, usually Reader Rabbit, and other choices are the Ring around the Phonics game, or a read aloud. Some days I choose and other days she chooses. The older she gets the more often we will do formal lessons. There are many file folder games and simply games available, as well as playing with letter and word tiles.
I would encourage time off, too.
Also, I encourage you to start researching dyslexia – just because my 2nd daughter was doing some of those things – the staring into space, the taking forever to do even one sentence, etc. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was her way of communicating to me that she was not able to do what I was asking her to do. For three years, we beat that dead horse and she was not making progress like I thought she should.
Then I started researching methods of teaching reading, searching for a curriculum that would work for her. It was through that search that I started wondering about dyslexia, found Susan Barton’s sites, watched several hours of youtube videos, and figured it out.
We are now using Barton’s reading and Spelling Program – it’s not the only one out there, but it is a great fit for us. My daughter is making progress and no longer cries about having to read.
I think educating yourself about dyslexia can be so beneficial for your children, even if they are not dyslexic. Susan Barton’s website bartonreading.com and dys-add.com have lots of info that is so good to know about teaching reading.
So, take some time to let your son relax, play sound-games while living life (esp. things like having him rhyme words, have him say words that start with the same sound as a word you give him, etc.) And start looking into dyslexia – your son may not be dyslexic, but I am quite sure the info you find will aid you in teaching him.
Oh my, you are describing how my son was/is at times. I started using the bob books at an easy level for him. He loved having his own books and since I chose an easy level, he was able to have a sense of accomplishment and looked forward and receiving the next level of books. Then I moved on to the pathway readers. I know CM talks about having them work on a subjects for as long as they can focus, so I. Sit with him and we read for 5 min. I’ll gradually increase the time.
I would try mixing it up and on some days play word games. Also do you try reading the words slowly with him as he goes along? When mine were first starting out I did this. As they read a sentence I read it with them. It took a lot of the frustration out of sounding out for them.
You have lots of great advice here so I won’t repeat it. I have two 9yo boys who are starting Barton Level 1 next week so that’s my perspective. I just want to remind you to not do anything that is torturous 🙂 and to always nurture the relationship. And while you are taking a break and possibly reading about dyslexia or considering getting his eyes checked, etc, make sure to read a lot of yummy classics aloud to him.
I hope you will update this later in the year to let us know how it is going.
Best, Shannon
My oldest really struggled with reading. I would pull out some knitting to keep me from totally losing my mind (and my temper)! The knitting really kept me relaxed when she struggled to sound out the word cat for the 100th time. lol
I had her just read one page from an easy reader each day. That way we were consistent with practicing, but it wasn’t as overwhelming for her. She’s now 13 and loves to read.
I think taking a break might be a big help…we’ve done that with math by moving onto another (easier) topic before coming back to the more challenging topic. However, I think a year would be too much. When my DC are struggling with reading, I’ve giving them a month or two before retrying the reading lessons. Although with my DD, I think consistent lessons were more helpful than breaks would have been…I think it really depends on your child.
My son was wiggly too so he would stand and read (with his arm hanging over his head), or lay on his tummy with the book slanted…
I would tell him to get comfortable before he starts reading. I would move myself to where he was so I could help with the words as needed.
We also took a break at that age. We take a few breaks to decompress and then pick up again all the while continuing reading aloud good books to him.
I had forgotten that my oldest used to read while lying on the couch with his legs up on the back of the couch while wiggling, sometimes side to side at that age (6). He grew out of it, and was very thankful to have been homeschooled:)
I think I’m going to have him do Starfall for a while, and then maybe buy a different online reading program. He liked the “book” he read on Starfall yesterday, so maybe that will help him keep moving forward for a bit without driving me crazy.
I have tried having him sit on the floor, lay on the floor, sit on my lap…doesn’t make any difference in how well he focuses or how much he squirms. He’s a very active and very spacey child anyway.
I do not think he is dyslexic. He usually gets b’s and d’s right, and I looked at a checklist of symptoms and he doesn’t have very many. I don’t think he has vision problems either. I think he just needs to mature, or something. Probably doesn’t help that he’s a perfectionist and gets frustrated because he doesn’t think he can read well and then he doesn’t want to try anymore. The perfectionism is definitely an issue with his schoolwork…last year he got really frustrated because he was supposed to draw a square, and he couldn’t draw a perfect square like he thought he should be able to.
Sounds like a good plan. My dd is a perfectionist too. We had the same issue with drawing. I do not draw well, so all I have to do is show her how I draw, then she doesn’t feel so badly:) She likes to trace, sometimes using tracing paper, and she likes to trace the steps in the Draw Write Now books.
” The Right Side of Normal ” by, Cindy Gaddis helped me understand my dd a lot. She is also very active.
She loves computers, but we limit her time with them because she needs the active times too, or she gets grumpy.
She is a delightful child, and teaches me a lot each day about what she needs.
I am sure that you will figure out what is best for your son, and reading will smooth out eventually. Hang in there.
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