Reading Help

Hi there, I have an 8 yr old also. I just attended a 3 day workshop in Ventura on becoming a Learning Success Coach (I want to learn tools to help my children in public school, because I know they treat everyone in a cookie cutter fashion and teach to the test, blah, blah...) It was a great course and eye-opening for me.
http://www.learningsuccessinstitute.com/

Please get their book DISCOVER YOUR CHILD'S LEARNING STYLE. Every parent should read it. Do the profile for yourself and your family to figure out what kind of learner he is. You can do the profile online ($25 I believe, I'm going to do this because it's more detailed, with more tips) or do the profile through the book (free).

But here is what I learned in the class about reading and spelling:
- a child needs to be developmentally ready to learn to read
- each child's readiness time clock is set differently (some rare children are reading books at age 5! My son age 8 is just beginning to "like" reading and I have not pushed it at all until now. He's got a girl in his class who was reading Harry Potter books at age 7!!!! That is not my son and not most children.)
- Vision is learned
- Everyone sees differently (reading the Learning Styles book will help you understand this POV)
- Vision is the LAST of the senses to fully develop.
- The rods and cones of the eyes aren't ready to differentiate between the page & the writing (for most children) until the age of 7 or 8 years old.
- In Sweden, they do not teach reading to children till age 7-8 because THEY KNOW children aren't typically ready for it developmentally, until they are older.

So there you are, frustrated because perhaps you did not know all of that and frustrated because it's so "expected" although many children are not developmentally ready. That does not mean they won't be ready one day, they will. (And there are things you can do in the meantime to help him.)

Vision Readiness Skills
- Focusing
- Convergence
- teaming
- tracking

Teaming and tracking (being able to put things together and track them through space) is learned through PLAY! (Him playing with small cars, following them with his eyes in space, etc... never punish him by denying him play time. That is a big mistake schools make.)

One thing I came away from with the workshop was to NOT CORRECT MISTAKEs when he reads aloud. Let the dopamine flow. I did not push him reading 20 minutes at home (required by homework in 2nd grade) because I wanted to wait. He was already practicing reading at school. Fine, enough. Now that he is in 3rd grade and he's 8, I'm pushing it more. Now imagine you are just learning how to be comfortable with reading and every 8th word, an adult interrupts you (EH!!!!!!! - pretend that is the sound of a TV show game buzzer - wrong... say it this way.... EH!!!!!!!! .... EH!!!!!!!!!!) How do you think you would feel? Wouldn't you want to give up? Throw the book down and say, "forget it!" I would. So now I know to not correct and just let him read. At first he was complaining that he didn't want to... then once he got into the groove... he wanted to keep going!!!! He WILL learn those words, but just give him time. And like Mindy says below, we've chosen books together that he wants to read and he is happy about reading.

The first thing in learning is feeling emotionally safe. Does he? Or has he shut down?
- Does he feel emotionally safe when he is reading with you? (or will he be berated and criticized? I'm NOT judging you. We are all human and we all make mistakes.)
- Does your son know that his efforts will always be appreciated?
- Does your child know that he will not be reprimanded for his reading performance?

Also, in the book, you'L. learn about VISUAL MODALITIES. There are 2 types of Visual Learners - Picture and Print. (The Print learners are the ones who read way early. I remember a K student - a girl who was already reading chapter books! My son was still learning with sight words!) But there are tips (resources listed) to help the Picture learner.

I saw this website yesterday and it might help your son.
http://www.preschoolprepco.com/h/i/index.php

Ignore the word "preschool." This is not just applicable for "babies." (Rant: I'm very anti-TV for toddlers and would never buy this set for my babies. There are researchers who argue, despite what DVD marketers are trying to sell me, that TV before the age of 2 is bad for brain development. Read Jane Healy's book ENDANGERED MINDS if you are interested in learning more. My 4 year old daughter knows her letters and numbers and does so because we "play" in school and at home. She did not need a DVD teaching her that as a 2 yr old.)

Anyway, this could be very useful for an 8 year old. If my son was having difficulty, I would buy him a MEET THE SIGHT WORDS DVD.

On second thought, you might need another sight word set that has more words and is more fun that the one above. I did a google search for "sight words & picture learners".
http://www.child-1st.com/new_site/SW_Sets.html

Be patient and loving with him and continue to seek out help and support for him quietly, without making him feel bad about it. I don't want to pay $50 for tutors either. I figure if my homeschooling friends can teach at home, I can also help support my son if I know what tools to use. That's why I took that course in Ventura last week. A mom drove from Nevada to take the class. :)

Here is the good news, if you are on "this journey" with your son, you will (fingers cross) find tools (learn more about learning styles) that will help him and YOU become a better teacher. Win win.

E.,
You have had some great advice so far. Many boys this age simply do not enjoy sitting and reading, leading to a delay in their skill development. They would rather be more active! I recommend acquiring some fun materials that will make learning to read more like playing. There is a company in Ladera Ranch, www.playbooks.com, which produces reader's theater books that allow the reader to play various parts in a story, depending on their level. As the reader progresses, he can play a more advance role in the story. Schools and home-school programs across the nation use these books to unify students of various reading levels, but they are great for home use as well. You can involve siblings, parents or neighborhood kids too. (My son was a reluctant reader too, but is now a honors college student.) I bet your son will do fine with the right resources and support!

Hi:

My sister had the same problem with her son. She started taking him to the library and letting him pick out books. She made it a nightly ritual to read with him and picked a book that they could only read a few chapters each time so he would be excited to read the next night in order to find out what happened next. Soon he started reading on his own. It was amazing how much better a reader he became once he started practicing. Don't give up, you may have to start at a level he is comfortable with and as his skill improves, find more challenging books.

My kindergartener likes to play games on this website:

http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/play.htm?f

I'm not sure if the level may be too basic for your son, but check it out.

I so feel your pain. Last year, when my daughter was in kindergarten, she told me she didn't like reading because it was too hard. When she'd read to me, I could hear her difficulties. I, too, became frustrated. I'm a writer, so reading is very important to me. I don't remember learning how to read (my mother says I knew how at 4), but from all the research I've done, reading is not actually a natural thing humans do. It's hard. Finally, I realized it was becoming a power struggle between us and I completely backed off. She read no books aloud over the summer. Instead, I would write out a few easy lines, like "Abigail is a bat. Abigail is a mat. Abigail is a cat" and then she drew pictures to illustrate. She loves this. Also, I read to her every night, and anytime she asks for it (if there's time!). She also picks out a chapter book that she wants me to read to her, and if she reads one of her phonic books, I read her a chapter. I've also made up games with simple three letter phonic words, and for everyone she reads, she gets a point. Somehow she always wins. When she's reading and comes to a word she doesn't know, I give it to her. She also uses the pictures to figure out what the word might be, and I give her clues like "This is the character's name" which seems to help her remember. We also go over the phonic alphabet. Rather than A,B,C, it's ah, bu, ca (the sounds the letters make). Now in first grade, she says she still doesn't like reading. Instead of telling her about all the great books she gets to enjoy in the future, or giving her incentives like Disneyland or stickers, I tell her reading is her job. Somehow, this makes her feel more grownup and she takes it seriously and will do it. Her reading has gotten better, she can breeze through her phonic books now, and we still have our creative reading time (cutting words out of magazines, making words into pictures, giving her words on index cards that she then puts on the object in the house, etc). Making reading as fun as possible has been a big help. Taking off the pressure was key. And tracking (moving your finger along the words as you read to him) has also been a big help. I've also found that on days when she's just too tired to do it, we don't do it. Again, the pressure is off, and she's improving. One other thing - I took my daughter to a developmental eye doctor to make sure her eyes are working together and that there were no physical problems with her vision. She was fine. Good luck to you and your son!

I'm thinking that since you are a teacher and getting frustrated working with him, that maybe you should not go there. Leave that to his school teacher, but instead, make him listen to you read to him for a long time each night at bedtime (something really cool, maybe Treasure Island, you know, the classics). This activity shows a lot of love and he will slowly begin to learn that there is some really great stuff in books.