Reading Help for 5Th Grader

Hi! Try these:
http://library.thinkquest.org/J001156/index.htm
http://www.gcflearnfree.org/reading
http://www.starfall.com/
http://www.funbrain.com/

There is a ton of stuff out there. This is kind of a general mix without knowing what your nephew's problems are. The key is to figure out what they are interested in and be sure they have lots to read about it and make sure you take the time to listen to them tell you about what they read.

I had reading problems in the 5th grade. My parents sent to a speed reading class in summer school. It was six weeks long.

I went from reading 50 WPM with a 10-20% comprehention to a 300 WPM and an 80%. My wife and I worked with our slow reading kids and i showed them how to do speed reading. It helped a lot.

Why does speed reading help? Our brains work on 300 to 500 wpm. Our mouth workes at about 60 wpm. That is why reading a bed time story helps our kids to fall asleep. When we read books at 50wpm, our mind tends to wander and we loose comprension. If we read at 300 wpm we read at about what our brain can handle without wandering to other subjects.

Good luck to you and yours.

His school should have a literacy specialist on staff. They typically pull students and work with them in small groups or one on one depending on how much help is needed.

Our school also offers FREE tutoring after school for those children who need it. Small groups work with the teacher.

Lastly, a one on one reading tutor. The school Guidance counselor should have information onwho would be a good match. Many school teachers tutor on the side for extra money. Around here, an academic tutor runs about $50 per hour, plus it is usually a teacher who knows the style of teaching that the district prefers.

Our school system is not crazy about the tutor in a box places (Sylvan, Kuman, Huntington) because they are a business looking at bottom line profits and the don't always teach the same way the teachers do and some children get frustrated and end up worse than they were before. They also do a lot of testing and you spend a lot of extra $$ because once you sign on, they know they have that profit locked in.

Best wishes.

Ask his teacher, as she knows what his specific issues are and will have the best recommendations. Also make sure he's getting extra support at school. If he's still struggling with reading in 5th grade he should be working with a literacy specialist.
And of course, practice, practice, practice. But again, check with his teacher. You need to know what level he's reading at to make sure the books he's choosing are neither too hard not too easy.

I don't have any websites - but havinga son with reading problems I can tell you it's not all that uncommon. His parents should be pushign for an evaluation at his school and reading help in his classes. Federal law says that upon written request from the parent the school must respond within 60 days to a request for special ed evaluation. My school got back to me in less than 2 weeks.

Raeding issues is not uncommon for boys - some of it has to do with the fact that they'd rather be in motion than sitting still reading. there is a website called guysread.com that list books and authors that are typically attractive to boys. His teacher should know his reading level (in letters - so at 5th grade it would be somewhere between N - S) I had alawys read to my kids at bedtime but when my son was in 4th or 5th grade we began taking turns reading to eachother. First we'd do paragraphs, then pages, eventually chapters. It is tough listening to someone read who has problems sounding out words, etc. BUT it helps them - and they are far more willing to read to their mom who loves them than to read in front of kids in their class who mightmock them.