best way to help young kids improve their schoolwork?

[binny]

I had a meeting today about Kaylee she is falling behind in some areas and Im very concerned.

Her reading is top notch, she reads at a grade 8 level but her comprehension is not there. She is having language issues as well.

I want to help her through this but I dont know where to begin. They are writing an IEP for her at school and I want to support that at home with extra help.

Has anyone been through language/comp issues?

I could really use some advice. Its been quite the week here schoolwise

 

[Karel]

Reading comprehension is a very hard thing to teach someone and sadly, it permeates every other subject in school, especially social studies. How is her memory skills? That is a weak area for my daughter. She can't remember what she read.

A big thing is just have her read a chapter of a book and then discuss it with her. What's the main idea? Who are the characters? Don't have her read an eighth grade book either - how old is she? Have her read something that you may consider too easy for her but she can get a grasp of the information.

Teach her how to take notes on the chapter. Or how to read something, read the questions that she needs to answer and then go back and reread, looking for that information. My friend showed my daughter how to use sticky notes to mark the information, so it's easier to go back to find the info when she is copying an answer.

I'm trying to teach my daughter how to skim a story for info too. Such as 'this paragraph talks about Susie and her mom", so that when there's a question about what mom thinks about Susie, she can find that paragraph again.

Journal writing too is good to comprehend and write about what is happening in real life.

 

[RonnieJo66]

Binny

My DD has a similiar, but yet different problem. She has "expressive-responsive lanuguage disorder" in plain ole words...

She basically had 2 different IQ's...1 for the right side and a different one for the left. They competed with each other and she ended up not talking until she was about 4. Our neuro-cognitive specialist likened it to watching TV in a foreign launguage. When she was asked a question, you could tell she was processing the information but couldn't figure out how to give you an answer. She completed her specialzed training and has done wonderfully ever since. She is now at the end of 7th grade and has pulled straight A's since 1st grade! Now don't get me wrong...her reading comprehension is still a struggle for her. I go to each teacher every school year and explain her reading disability to them and we put a copy of her medical forms into her school files.

Reading is and probably will always be a struggle for her. She has to read each page anywhere from 2-3 times to comprehend it's content. This makes for slow progress in books. For the most part, all of her teachers have taken this into consideration.

It is a "fixable" problem, but every child will have a different resolve.

Good luck and keep on encouraging her

 

[Karel]

Oh, I forgot the language issue. We're struggling here because she needs something and the speech teacher is not sure how to help her! She was dismissed from speech for articulation problems several years ago but now she is back for language issues.

The speech teacher helps Katie with memory skills and study skills. They also work on sequencing. Luckily, Katie is very organized, which really is a plus for her. They work on organizing her written work for stories and essays.

 

[goofy's friends]

Have you thought about looking into one of the tutoring programs for the summer? yOU might check Kumon or Learning RX. Kumon and others like it are strictly tutoring, I believe. Learning RX and others like it are identifying learning styles and applying those skill to every area of learning. They are different in their purposes, so it would take some research into waht you were wnating for your daughter, but both could help her catch up by next year if the problem is already isolated. they can be very expensive though, but I would think worth it to nip it in the bud now.

Other ideas for at home: read picture books and have her tell you a summary. Look at just the pictures in a book she doesn't know and have her tell you the story as she sees it. Ask questions along the way as she reads to you in chapter books, and not just W ?s, but what she thinks and feels about things that are happening--this helps her to pay attention better. After a chapter, have her say the beginning, middle, and end. I used to tutor and these things really helped. There are also summer bridge books that are specific to comprehension--I would get one on her grade level, not reading level and have her do one page a day for the summer.

 

[rlovew]

There are lots of websites with games and such that help comprehension, what grade is your daughter actually in- it is easier to give you information with this knowledge. Is her lanuage problem actually a lack of vocabulary, an inability to speak in clear sentences, or an inability to write complete thought.

 

[binny]

thank you all. She is 7 and is in first grade.

She is a very imaginative child. She loves to act out stories and she can remember whatever she wants to but she doesnt seem to get that needs to remember school work.

They did an IQ test on her and it came back normal but on the lower side. They said it didn't make any sense though because they know she is very smart. She just isn't interested so she doesnt try.

She think shes stupid which doesnt help. I don't know who told her that but someone must have. that is NOT something we say here at all!!

I appreciate the help and Ideas I will keep looking into more of those. Does anyone know any specific sites that can help or maybe some computer games in addition to the reading.

She is really into Junie B Jones books right now so I'm trying to encourage more of those and anything that is more of a chapter type book and less of a story type book.

Thanks again I really appreciate it!

 

[golfgal]

One thing you can do with the books she likes to read is to read them yourself and then ask her questions after every paragraph, half-page, page or chapter. You could also write out 5-10 questions about things you find in the book and have her read the questions before she reads the book, then as she comes along the answers, write them down. These will help her focus on what she is reading. Start out with asking questions every few sentences at first and as she gets the hang of it, lengthen the amount of reading she does before the questions are asked. Make sure they are questions from the beginning, middle and end of the reading.

What kind of testing have they done with her to determine why she doesn't seem to comprehend what she is reading?

 

[Glynis]

Binny

My DD has a similiar, but yet different problem. She has "expressive-responsive lanuguage disorder" in plain ole words...

She basically had 2 different IQ's...1 for the right side and a different one for the left. They competed with each other and she ended up not talking until she was about 4. Our neuro-cognitive specialist likened it to watching TV in a foreign launguage. When she was asked a question, you could tell she was processing the information but couldn't figure out how to give you an answer. She completed her specialzed training and has done wonderfully ever since. She is now at the end of 7th grade and has pulled straight A's since 1st grade! Now don't get me wrong...her reading comprehension is still a struggle for her. I go to each teacher every school year and explain her reading disability to them and we put a copy of her medical forms into her school files.

Reading is and probably will always be a struggle for her. She has to read each page anywhere from 2-3 times to comprehend it's content. This makes for slow progress in books. For the most part, all of her teachers have taken this into consideration.

It is a "fixable" problem, but every child will have a different resolve.

Good luck and keep on encouraging her

Do you mind me asking what kind of test your daughter had to find this out? I have a nephew who is almost 7 but talks on a 2 year old level. It's embarassing for him as he is constantly teased about it. His doctor has checked his hearing over and over, and he's had a CAT scan on his brain which shows nothing abnormal. My sister is at her wit's end. If this is test that could be done easily, I want to mention it to her. Thanks.

 

[Lynn CC]

My DS who is in college now had a reading comprehension problem when he was younger. So, we brought him to Sylvan Learning Center from 1st. grade through 3rd grade. At over 3K a year it wasn't cheap, but he came out of there with 100% comprehension. He took AP classes throughout HS and is double majoring in college, Deans List.
It was worth the money. Do you have any programs like that in your area?

 

[rlovew]

Websites: www.funbrain.com, www.bookpals.com

Other Series: Babysitters Club Little Sister, Nacy Drew Notebooks, Young Cam Jansen

I will have to look back at some lessons and my school computer next time I am in (our school is out for the summer) to get a few more website.