DD12 unable to read - where to find KIDS audio books?

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Have you looked into something like this?

http://www.thereadinghelper.com/index.htm

It's the kind of thing that only help, not hurt. One of my girlfriend's sons who has visual processing issues (not vision problems, but a problem processing what he sees) usies an amber sheet when reading and he says it "makes the words stick to the page better so he can catch them".

Just wanted to toss that info out there!

Best of luck in helping your daughter become an avid reader.

 

[magik]

She did bring home "Totally Spies" and "Bones" graphic novels from the school library awhile ago but wanted me to read them as usual. Now I found the vocab too difficult there for her to read, but it's a good idea. There must be something more suitable. I wonder if she would like Archie comics. I have boxes full waiting for my kids to be able to read. I'll pull some out and see if she becomes interested enough to keep trying them with me.

The vocabulary might be a bit difficult, but you might want to try Shannon and Dean Hale's two graphic novels: Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack. They're wonderful stories, and they're written for her age level, although probably not her reading level. Maybe reading them with her, you read a page and then she reads a page, might work.

 

[crisi]

Another type of book that really encourages her to read is graphic novels. Really they're just comics with a more grown up name but she loves them. She loves the Babymouse books but if your DD is on target maturity-wise then she'd more likely prefer some more teen oriented graphic novels. Just make sure YOU check out each series before you let her read them because some are much more mature than others and the manga graphic novels do contain a lot of demon-lore which some people do not want for their kids. We get these from our library as well. The way I look at is that as long as the content is acceptable then whatever gets them reading is a good thing. Reading comics and graphic novels is reading and I like that my DD feels like she's reading something age-appropriate instead of little kidish which encourages her even more to read.

My daughter adores Bone and Beanworld.

 

[becauseisaid]

My daughter's school librarian has a rule for the kids when they check out books. Randomly pick a page and read it. Every time you come across a word you don't know, put up a finger. If you get to 5 fingers, put the book back.

Perhaps something like this will help your daughter in picking out books and NOT becoming frustrated with them.

BTW.... to the poster who suggested Captain Underpants. My DD (6 years old going into the 2nd grade) adores Captain Underpants. Though I cringe at the spelling, even I giggle at the stories. Another cute/weird series on the same level would be Frannie K. Stein, Mad Scientist.

 

[luvthemouse71]

I agree that getting audio books at this point may be counter productive. Reading is something you have to practice

 

[tasha99]

Try comic books. Visually appealing, age appropriate, quick, condensed story lines, and hip.

Yes, comic books are great. BUT--just like regular books, they're written for many different age ranges. Some of the comics I've read would in no way be appropriate for a pre-teen kid (dark themes and violence, or sex scenes and nudity, not just written about but also drawn). So if you do get comic books, be sure they aren't for mature readers!

 

[MomToOne]

If you are getting "mixed results" on her testing, I suggest at least looking into Auditory Processing Disorder. Read up on it, and see if it seems to fit your daughter. If it does, find an AUDIOLOGIST that can screen her for it (some speech pathologists say they can screen for it, but really only an audiologist has the proper tests to truly diagnose APD and the specific flavor you may be dealing with).

My daughters first psycho-educational evaluation test results were interpretted such that she was "within normal range" on everything and so they wanted to just write her off as a not-so-smart kid. But if you looked beyond the basic rankings, the wide ranges in her subtest scores (called scatter) showed that something wasn't right. When I pushed that issue, they reluctantly referred me for a language evaluation. Those test results were a bit clearer in showing that there was a problem, but didn't really identify just what the problem was. But they were enough for me to seek out the APD evaluation, which I happened to know about because my daughter is internationally adopted and this is one thing those kids are at higher risk for. I paid for that testing, because I was tired of fighting the system, but boy was that money worth it! During that testing, the audiologist turned to me halfway through, looked me in the eye and said "There IS a problem, and I know exactly what it is". I wanted to cry - with relief! I walked out of there with a recommendation for a very specific therapy (down to page numbers in a specific book!), and a promise to talk to the speech pathologists we were working with about it.

After a year of therapy, my daughter has gone from scoring a 0 on one test - yes, a 0!!! - to just one point short of normal range. She still has work to do, but it's getting easier.

And I'm sure there are other disorders, with plenty of parents who can tell similar stories. It's not normal for a 12 year old to not be able to read at something closer to grade level, when they've had proper exposure. Not like to, yes. Not be able to, no. You need to advocate for your daughter (which it sounds like you are!), and push the schools to figure out what the problem is.

Good luck!!

 

[zurgswife]

I agree that getting audio books at this point may be counter productive. Reading is something you have to practice

Unless you have a learning disability. Per the Dr. of Child Educational psychology (they deal with the educational testing) if a child has severe enough learning disabilities....practice will cause more harm then good with a child that needs an alternative way of learning.

My child is severely dyslexic and one of his teachers kept insisting that all he need to do was practice and it would get better....the Dr. said maybe if he was without disabilities that would be a proper plan but not for my son....the Dr set the teacher straight.

My son is now headed to college and wouldn't have gotten there without books on tape/audio....reading books and text books.

 

[clanmcculloch]

The recommendation that some of us are making for audio books is to read along with the books. My daughter does this and loves it. After reading along with the CD she sometimes goes back and re-reads the book again and again. It's a tool to aid in reading, not replace it.

For some of our kids with learning disabilities, the visual information just isn't processed correctly. My daughter can put together the sounds of the letters to form the words but they're mainly a series of disconnected words. Her brain does not connect these words together to form sentences and therefore doesn't absorb the meaning of what she's reading. When she hears the material, she can process the information. When reading to herself, she'll actually read out loud so that she can process the information.

Thanks for the graphic novel recommendations. I know I'm not the OP but I'm going to have my DD check them out at the library to see if she might want to read them. She really enjoys graphic novels.

 

[pklein09]

I agree that getting audio books at this point may be counter productive. Reading is something you have to practice

My son is an aural learner....having his books on an MP3 player helps him process the information more efficiently.

Unless you have a learning disability. Per the Dr. of Child Educational psychology (they deal with the educational testing) if a child has severe enough learning disabilities....practice will cause more harm then good with a child that needs an alternative way of learning.

My child is severely dyslexic and one of his teachers kept insisting that all he need to do was practice and it would get better....the Dr. said maybe if he was without disabilities that would be a proper plan but not for my son....the Dr set the teacher straight.

My son is now headed to college and wouldn't have gotten there without books on tape/audio....reading books and text books.

My son will probably head to college with his books on audio as well.

The recommendation that some of us are making for audio books is to read along with the books. My daughter does this and loves it. After reading along with the CD she sometimes goes back and re-reads the book again and again. It's a tool to aid in reading, not replace it.

For some of our kids with learning disabilities, the visual information just isn't processed correctly. My daughter can put together the sounds of the letters to form the words but they're mainly a series of disconnected words. Her brain does not connect these words together to form sentences and therefore doesn't absorb the meaning of what she's reading. When she hears the material, she can process the information. When reading to herself, she'll actually read out loud so that she can process the information.

Thanks for the graphic novel recommendations. I know I'm not the OP but I'm going to have my DD check them out at the library to see if she might want to read them. She really enjoys graphic novels.

I also want to reiterate that my son is reading along with the audio book, not just listening to it. By following along in the book while listening, he's getting the information in two different ways. When there was one book that the English teacher could not get on audio, I read it with him. I noticed a huge difference while reading this book as compared to when he read aloud before having books on audio.

 

[3boymthr]

The best place to get audio books for kids for cheap is e-bay. I was able to get a huge collection of books on tape with a book to go along with each for about $1/book. The ones I bought were picture books but I'm sure you'd be able to find a collection of easy readers on there.

ETA - I want to also recommend that you ask your school if they have the Lexia online reading program for your child to work with over the summer. My middle DS had huge issues with reading comprehension and made leaps and bounds with this program. It's both a game and a reading program at the same time. He really liked it.

 

[BBGirl]

My son has a subscription to Audible.com his is 12. We find this works well for him. It's 2books a month for $22 and I get a free subscription to the NY Times. Sometimes I will use one of his credits and sometimes we will use one to get a book for school work as he has to read 4-5 novels a year. We can find most for free or borrow from the library sometimes but sometimes not. He listens to the book then he has to read the chapters as assigned in class in the book. He grades have greatly improved as he is enjoying the "story" more. It's less like work.

 

[MomToOne]

I think what you can learn from all the stories here are that you need to know what problem you are dealing with.

If your child has visual processing problems, audio books may be something your child can comprehend better. But if your child has auditory processing problems, audio books may actually be harder for your child to comprehend than printed books. And we can all go on and on over each different technique...But the fact is there are many different problems, and different things work for different problems.

I'd say just go with whatever your daughter picks out for herself for the moment, and then spend your time doing whatever you need to to get a clear, complete evaluation and some real answers.

 

[Disneylush]

I was were you are and then a wonderful teacher suggested going back to the start of reading and learning zoo-phonics.
http://www.zoo-phonicsathome.com/
My son is a visual learner so seeing letters as animals with sounds made a world of difference. He now loves reading and is ahead of his age.

 

[Disneyliscious]

My DS 10 has always had trouble reading. He failed it in school most years. I tried reading to him, with him, you name it. Ironically, he discovered the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series and I seen a whole new child.

He would check out the books at the school library and read an entire book in 1 or 2 nights. It was amazing. What I discovered in the end was that he just had to find something he was interested in. Needless to say, we bought the entire series of Wimpy Kid books and we blasted through them with ease. He also is very into sharks and lizards and will read those books with ease.

Give him a boring story from a school chapter book and he just won't do it.

When kids have an interest in something, they will try harder to read it and be able to understand it. I really would look into testing her though. Discovering the root of the problem would be most beneficial to her.

 

[NotUrsula]

To make things simpler, when you call your Library ask if they have any Hi-Lo books. (High Interest/Low Ability). Public libraries commonly DO stock them, especially in areas where there are a large number of immigrants; we mostly buy them for adults who are practicing reading in English. Normally these are adult novels, not YA, but at 12 most kids are moving into adult novels. Graphic novels are also very popular with kids who have learning issues with reading.

At the same time, go ahead and get her the audios, because you still need to try to instill a love of books. (Listening to a book is different than watching a video; it stimulates the imagination more, because you form pictures in your head.) This is important because if she doesn't think books are interesting and fun, she won't bother to try to improve her reading. If you have an MP3 player of some sort, she should be able to use her library account to download audio books.

 

[PollyannaMom]

...I keep trying to get her to practice reading, because I do believe that once she gets past the hurdle of learning to sound out words, her reading level will advance and she'll be so much happier.

In the meantime, I read her chapter books. And lately, it hasn't been that often... I need to kick it up and read more to her...

I think you are right on target with both of these statements!

There is definitely a tipping point at which reading goes from an "output activity" to an "input activity" (at first, it mostly costs more energy, and later, it gives more rewards). But it takes practice to get there, just like you said. And I think it's fine to sweeten the deal in the meantime by providing an extra reward for time spent reading. - It doesn't have to be expensive, or even "stuff". Special time works too.

I also think it's great that you're still reading to her. Comprehension is as important as fluency (maybe more so!), and by reading to her you are letting her practice comprehension at her age level, and fluency at her reading level. You're also (and this is very important, too) keeping books from being a totally negative thing. She probably thinks of the time she spends practicing as unpleasant, but she has that balance of pleasant reading time with you.

I've read some of the other posts, and you are getting lots of good advice. What someone said about the e-reader really did help DS. We discovered it on vacation, when DH downloaded a children's book for DS on the Kindle. He had so much more stamina! We noticed that the glare of a white page tired him out much faster than the grey screen. And even though his eye test was normal, he liked setting the print larger. - I think it was because it let him "turn" the pages faster, and that encouraged him.

The couple of things I didn't see (or just missed) are:

to write shorter things for her to read in smaller doses - little notes, etc. - things where reading does not overwhelm her and has a positive outcome. DS's favorite were treasure hunts. I would write clues that led to the next clue, which led to the next one...and leave a piece of candy or something at the end. He would be reading without it feeling like work.

and also to make practice time pleasant in other ways - like both of you take a book and go to the coffee shop to read, or read outside together, or wherever she might like.

 

[no capes darling]

Check out this page and look at the animations especially and perhaps ask your child if what is happening on the animations is what they are seeing themselves- http://www.childrensvision.com/reading.htm There's more to vision than seeing clearly. If your eyes dont' work together, it makes reading, math, sports and other things difficult. The therapy is time consuming and expensive, but it's worth it for a lifetime of things being easier. Short term bad for long term good.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I am a certified reading specialist (well, the license comes in June) and just finished my Master's specializing in Adolescent Literacy. Here are my thoughts:

Please, please do not resort to audio books of children's literature. Audio is good for content area learning but the only way to improve reading is to practice reading.

Find out her Lexile score (school should do this). Then, you can find books suited to her Lexile score (independent).

Everyone has three reading levels- an independent (he/she reads alone), an instructional (he/she reads with support from a good reader/teacher/adult), and a frustrational (he/she is not able to make any meaning even with support). For example, a student may only be able to read at the 3rd grade level independently, but can read up to 5th grade with support and completely maxes out at the 7th grade level. This is all valuable information for determining what a student can accomplish in his/her classwork (higher level) and what he/she is capable of reading independently.

The best improvement program allows for students to keep up with content knowledge using audio tapes or other methods, but to read as often as possible using both independent and instructional settings. So, please read those books with her or find others who will but also get her books she can read on her own that are high interest. Yes, comics or graphic novels are great. If you tell me what she likes, I can make some suggestions as well.

Does your school have a Reading Specialist or Reading Coach? It is possible to have reading problems without being Special Education. However, as a parent you always have the right to have your child tested.

I hope this has been helpful. If you'd like other resources or links let me know.

 

[monsterkitty]

OP, I see you are from Ontario. How do the public schools in Canada work in regards to testing a child for learning disabilities? In the U.S. parents can request their child be tested and the school is required to test. Your DD should be retested and I would force the schools to do so.