Reading help for 6 year old--games, software,...

[ckmommy]

Hi all,

I have a 6 year old who is in 1st grade. He struggles with reading. I sent him to Kind. last year, when I should not have. He is the baby of 5 kids and has a late July birthday. He barely met his standards last year, so I could not hold him back. Now, he is really struggling in 1st grade. I read nightly with him and he goes to school early for tutoring sessions. I am so sad to see him have such difficulty.

We are buying our kids a laptop (more for my oldest who is in 6th grade--the district is trying out not having textbooks and just putting the textbooks online). I am wondering if anyone can tell me about some great reading software or a great reading system. The V-tech things look really young, but maybe they are the way to go. I was looking at reader rabbit--any opinions??

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[TruBlu]

Not much advice, just big hugs!

We struggled with this for YEARS. We tried everything we could think of - we bought it all - games, software, etc... We did Sylvan for big $$$... NOTHING worked.

We finally had his eyes tested and found out he had weak muscles (no "real" problem). We tried vision therapy with GREAT results!

I also kept pressing the school to test him for a learning disablilty - which they finally did in 4th grade and found that he DID have one.

With the combination of the EC classes at school and the vision therapy, he scored a 98% on his EOGs (End of Grade, State Mandated testing) in 5th grade!!!

He is still in the EC program in 6th grade, but his scores are so high they are probably going to remove him from the program soon.

My advice to you would be try it all and never give up!

 

[cari12]

There is a website www.starfall.com that has lots of educational games for kids. My kids love to play on that. I find the V-tech type stuff is somewhat difficult and does not hold their interest when they are not reading yet.

Also, have you asked the school to test for a learning disability? If this is the case there may be more focused help that he can get.

 

[fakereadhed]

I have lots to say on this subject, because we've been there. When I clicked on your post, I thought let's see, bet it's a boy. After having two girls, I see how most boys are behind the girls. My girls spent most of their time doing fine motor play and talking to each other. My son is more gross motor play, and like my DH, gets annoyed when someone wants to talk while tossing a ball or playing. They are wired differently for sure.

My son wasn't ready for K, but I was reassured he was. He was miserable, in way over his head, and I was told they'd get him more help. They said he didn't need time to develop and I couldn't hold him back. I pulled him out of school. I sent him to another district which had a K readiness program and bought every workbook, computer program, book I could find for learning letters and pre reading skills. What good did that do? Honestly, not much. It did help to send him to a class that met him at his level(he was less frustrated) but he still wasn't ready.

This year(at 6) he's in a private Montessori school in K that meets him at his level and individualizes for him. He is reading and writing sight words, writing ABCs and numbers, and doing addition.

Bottom line is- if they're not ready, they aren't going to be able to do it and you will both be frustrated. Sounds like you are doing all the right things already by getting him individual help and reading to him. My advice is save your money and give him a little time.

 

[*pixie*dust*]

My son is in Kindergarten but they use a web based program called Raz-kids that has been wonderful for my son. The teacher gave us a password and log on and it is full of online book activities and help. Students earn "points" for every task and create their own environments (like a forest or planet) where they can "purchase" items to put in their environments. My son loves it and it gets more advanced as they go. Check with the school and see if they offer something like this.

 

[mamaLori05]

My 5 yr old dd is in K right now and I bought her the BOB series books. they are an easy reader series that start with learning the letters and move on to easier words they can read (like Cat and Mat) because they only change one letter. (they are available at most book stores. Found ours at Barns and Noble) They seem to really be helping her reading skills as well as building her confidence, which I think is super important and a major key in success. We've had the TAG reader system for a few years now, and before the BOB books she wouldn't really play with it much. Just once in a while. Now that she is "reading" and feels like she can read (thanks to the BOB books) she is playing with it all the time and it seems to be helping as well.

Another series we have that seems to help with sight words anyway is the Preschool Prep Meet The Sightwords series. It's a DVD series the kids LOVE to watch. Personally I find it boring, but something in it seems to attract the kids. Even my 3 yr old will ask to watch it and will actually sit through the entire dvd. My dd5 as well as my dd3 have learned words from that show as well.

Out of all the series we have, I think the BOB books are the best. They are teaching more phonics, which is what they need to be able to sound out the words. She gained the most confidence from that series as well.

Hope that helps!!!

 

[simpilotswife]

Request that the school district test him for a learning disability. You might want also want to have them do a speech evaluation (to evaluate his language processing) and an occupational therapy evaluation (to test his visual tracking). The school district must do the tests if you put it in writing, don't let them talk you out of it.

It may seem to be a little early to look for these things, however, the sooner you identify a problem, the sooner you can work on it.

 

[ckmommy]

Thanks so much everyone!! I can not tell you how much each of these comments mean. I will ask the school to test him for a Learning disability after Thanksgiving. I think I will check out some reading game sites. I will not be buying the leapster. I think I will be putting in another large order from Scholastic.

He is trying--we will succeed!!

 

[Robmom]

I also recommend the BOB books. I just got them for my DS 5 and he is finally learning the sight words.

 

[rusty4]

Amy,

I volunteer in my DS (6) first grade class twice a week. I work with all of the lower level readers to try and bring them more up to speed. These are kids that are struggling but do not have a learning disability.


We work with sight works alot. I mean alot! Almost everyday. More than reading. It is mainly to get them to progress with their reading. The Teacher reads with them on the days that I am not there. Now when I work with kids that are on level we do more reading.

I would suggest working on the sight words. The have your DS find those words in the story you are working on.

Here are some of things we do together.

1. memory games with the sight words
2. go fish with the sight words
3. bingo (make your own boards with words he is struggling with)
4. today we played baseball. A baseball field on a ditto sheet. 3 games pieces and then flash cards. 2 letter word 1st base, 3 and 4 letter word 2nd base, 5 letter 3rd, and anything longer was a homerun. They loved this game today.
5. dry erase board (write the word down, find it in a story, count the letter and write it again)

Start with the kindergarten sight words. Once he masters those he will be feel more confident to keep trying.


Then when we do read we right down the words that they struggle with. The words go on sticky notes and stay on the page where the word was found. Then the Teacher know which words to reinforce.


What are some of the books you are working with right now? They may have too many words for him right now. The less the better when they are struggling. Lots of repeat words and rhyming words to help them sound them out. Like mat, cat, hat, that.

HTH!

 

[labdogs42]

My 5 yr old dd is in K right now and I bought her the BOB series books. they are an easy reader series that start with learning the letters and move on to easier words they can read (like Cat and Mat) because they only change one letter. (they are available at most book stores. Found ours at Barns and Noble) They seem to really be helping her reading skills as well as building her confidence, which I think is super important and a major key in success. We've had the TAG reader system for a few years now, and before the BOB books she wouldn't really play with it much. Just once in a while. Now that she is "reading" and feels like she can read (thanks to the BOB books) she is playing with it all the time and it seems to be helping as well.

Another series we have that seems to help with sight words anyway is the Preschool Prep Meet The Sightwords series. It's a DVD series the kids LOVE to watch. Personally I find it boring, but something in it seems to attract the kids. Even my 3 yr old will ask to watch it and will actually sit through the entire dvd. My dd5 as well as my dd3 have learned words from that show as well.

Out of all the series we have, I think the BOB books are the best. They are teaching more phonics, which is what they need to be able to sound out the words. She gained the most confidence from that series as well.

Hope that helps!!!

My son loves the Meet the Sight Words DVD's. He's 5.5 and he asks to watch them all the time! It cracks me up that he likes them becuase they seem so incredibly dull to me. I also just bought the BOB books and he seems to love those, too. I would get both things for sure. They are great!

 

[jeepgirl30]

My DD10 has struggled with reading and school in general. School wanted to hold her back in K and again in 3rd but couldn't give me solid reasons other than she was younger (june bday). She was a slow reader. I had them test her for everything and she was fine.

I bought her any book she showed an interest in and would read to her/with her, etc. She hated to read and didn't want to read aloud.

We used to have major fights over homework and she would end up in tears.

This year she moved to the middle school and is a completely different child. She does her homework at the afterschool program and I check it later. It is always correct! No fights! She is also reading fluently. I think she is still a bit below her grade level but she is reading! She seems much more confident and happy as well.

I understand what you are going through, hopefully your child will get this "click" too! The teachers told me so often they see it but until it happens it is hard to believe. Hang in there!

 

[rusty4]

http://www.amazon.com/Sight-Word-Bingo-Ladders-Easy/dp/0545220637

http://www.amazon.com/Sensational-S...3575/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1290018195&sr=8-2


I had bought some of these books for my DS. It really helped him learn the sight words.
http://www.amazon.com/Sight-Word-Re...7650/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1290018195&sr=8-8

CD. also has a web based program that you pay for

http://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Wan...9M/ref=sr_1_37?ie=UTF8&qid=1290018615&sr=8-37

 

[clori]

besides starfall another website to check out is http://literactive.com/Home/index.asp I think you have to register but it is free.

 

[mrsmav]

You have gotten lots of good advice here.

You might want to check out Readingeggs.com. I like their systematic approach to teaching reading. You have to pay for access to the site but they do have a 14 day free trial.

Good luck.

 

[MomToOne]

After struggling for a few years with my daughter reading below grade level due to a subtle learning disability that affects her language processing, I've learned:

1. Don't ask the child to read above their level. Let them read things that are either easy for them, or that challenges them just a bit. Asking them to read above their level is just a recipe for frustration and disaster. They will take in nothing this way, and therefore learn nothing - except to hate reading - and not improve.

2. Get the teacher involved. Let them know you expect them to individualize for your child wherever they can. I know teachers are overburdened, but they can at least encourage your child to read books at the right level for him during free reading time, etc.

3. If comprehension is the issue, as opposed to sounding out words: Encourage him to "make pictures in his head" when you read. This is something many kids today don't know how to do, because they are overloaded with visual stimuli all day long. Read a descriptive sentence or two to him, then encourage him to describe the picture he made in his head for it to you. Or even have him draw it!

One basic question I asked my daughter after I read some sort of book on reading issues: "Do you think in pictures or words?" Turns out my daughter is a visual thinker, as opposed to an auditory thinker. That was an important key that allowed both myself and her teacher to tailor how we give her information so she can take it in better.

 

[gillenkl]

homeschool mom - we have used starfall.com - it was actually recommended by a spec ed teacher I know. I would try out all the free sites mentioned before purchasing something that may or may not work for your child.

 

[encinc]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! My almost 6 yo DS is struggling to learn to read, so I'm always looking for suggestions to help him. I know he's only in K, but he wants to read, just isn't quite ready yet.

 

[bellebud]

I don't have much advice, but wanted to tell you I've been there too. My ds left K not even fully being able to say the abc's w/out messing up a bit. I asked the teacher about it, she said it was fine. Others in the class were like him, others were reading well, and some were in the middle. He's a late July bday, btw.

In 2nd grade, the best advice his teacher gave me was when ds and I sat and read together, to NOT correct him too much on a word, unless it totally changes the meaning of the sentence. Just let him go w/ the flow of the sentence.

He was simply a late reader (he's 9yo now, and we homeschool now too, but he reads just fine now). I did get his eyes checked too (they were fine).

OH, and he would complain about books that the words were too little and spaced too closely, but his vision was fine. What was ok for other kids in his grade bothered him. He just had a preference, so I always get books HE choose at the library.

He'll get there, but it's hard to not be worried in the moment.

 

[quentina]

There is a website www.starfall.com that has lots of educational games for kids. My kids love to play on that. I find the V-tech type stuff is somewhat difficult and does not hold their interest when they are not reading yet.

Also, have you asked the school to test for a learning disability? If this is the case there may be more focused help that he can get.

I was just going to post the same site!