Skipping words when reading

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  • March 8, 2012 at 4:03 pm
    pangit
    Participant

    DD6 is a very good reader.  I had her take Sonlights reading placement test, and they would place her in the 5th grade level.  At home she is reading in the Pathway readers.  I had thought they they were good practice for her, even if below her ability, but have been trying to move her through them to get to something more challenging.  Currently she is a little more than half way done with the last 2nd grade reader.  But, she tends to skip words.  They are simple words like the, my, has, a, etc.   Very rarely (if ever?) does she come to a word that she doesn’t know.  If she stumbles on a word, it is more because she just didn’t pay enough attention to that word.  Do you think she just isn’t challenged enough and either has her eyes past what she is saying or just isn’t giving it completely concentration since it is so easy?  Should I just skip some of the next readers for a more challenging reader?  If so, where should I try starting her?  I think that I could easily assign her reading on her own and have her narrate it to me, but I don’t want to do that if she is going to be skipping words.

    Thanks for any thoughts.

    March 8, 2012 at 4:53 pm
    Evergreen
    Member

    I started noticing this tendency with my son in 4th grade. He’d learned to read at an appropriate time, but I started to notice his comprehension slipping, so I started having him read aloud to me again. I realized then that he was skipping simple words, just like your daughter, and that he’d frequently skip a whole line of text. I initially thought he was rushing, because he also had great decoding skills and could read and understand big words. However, there was a huge disparity between his auditory learning and what he gleaned from books in general, so I knew something was up with him.

    I had him checked out by our eye doctor, who recommended vision therapy, which we are just beginning. For my son, the inability to focus on things (convergence insufficiency) is to blame; his eyes would have a great deal of trouble working together to keep focus, thus skipping words and lines of text. We’re seeing some results even with the initial therapy and the reading glasses he was prescribed, and I’m looking forward to seeing how a whole course of therapy benefits him.

    Perhaps something to consider with your daughter? Not all eye doctors believe this is a real issue, by the way – if you feel it might be, you may have to search around a bit for help diagnosing and treating it.

    Blessings,

    Aimee

    March 8, 2012 at 6:05 pm
    pangit
    Participant

    Thanks Aimee, I will look into it.  Though DD just saw the eye doctor last week.  They said she checks out perfectly.  Her vision is 20/20 which most 6 y/o aren’t there yet.  They did the whole exam with eye tracking by themselves and together.  I will do some research on that, though.  I’d hate to ignore something that needing attention and fixing!

    March 9, 2012 at 2:47 am
    Britney
    Member

    Aimee- My daughter is in 3rd grade and she was just diagnosed similarly. I had no idea it was so common but according to our eye doctor it is. Our doctor also gave my daughter reading glasses and said that she more than likely will grow out of it and still could end up nearsighted, like both my husband and I, when she is older. I must say that her problems with skipping words and sometimes whole math problems have virtually disappeared as long as she wears her glasses during school. It’ sort of like her vision is even better than 20/20 thus causing problems seeing close. That’s the way her issue was explained to me.

    I guess I would have also said you may need to have her see an eye doctor. But if you already have, I would think they would have found that. Though like Aimee said some doctors don’t make that a huge issue.

    March 9, 2012 at 3:10 am
    Tecrz1
    Participant

    My DD5 does the same thing. She just reads really fast. She also has a 5th grade reading level but I am having her read through phonics readers. I have noticed that no matter what book she is reading she does it, regardless of difficulty. Her comprehension is fine, so I just explain that when reading out loud you must remember that the person listening needs to hear every word. I have to remind her frequently to slow down but she is doing better. I also read very fast and rarely read every word. Guilty! 🙂

    Tara

    March 9, 2012 at 3:16 am
    suzukimom
    Participant

    I mentioned a similar thing with my 3rd grader to our eye doctor this week (yearly appointment) – he just had him read out some numbers from a chart held in the hand and said that that was fine – so I’m still not sure if he tested for the tracking type problems I hear of.  2 years ago the eye doctor sent him to someone for testing if his eyes were working together or not – so I’m assuming that was the type of testing for tracking problems….  I just wish I could be sure….

    There is a huge shortage of pediatric opthamologists around here, that they are so busy, you hardly get to talk to them….   My youngest was refered to the same doctor 2 months ago, so I asked while I was there with the oldest 2 – and I was told that I could book her appointment…. for December!  So the waiting list is 1 year!   As my little 20month old has 1 eye turned in maybe 25% of the time, I asked if there was any way to get her in sooner….  and they said they could put her on the cancellation list (ie, if they have a cancellation…) – then said – wait…. bring her at this time and date… (next week!)  So I’m thrilled with that….  10 months sooner than she would be seen.

    anyway – I still wonder if my son has tracking problems – or if it is also a common reading issue.   The one that really bugs me with my son is how many times he jumps over  …n’t.  It changes the meaning of an idea to the opposite!

     

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