2Nd Grade Reading Homework

Silvan learning center or private certified reading tutor, it will cost you money, but reading is essential for all learning and if you don't want them held back its worth the investment in your child.

As a former teacher I want to add (SEEING THESE PREVIOUS COMMENTS), the teacher usually has 22 students, and the school is public, there are resources such as reading programs in 1st Grade as well as small group reading instruction for your child. Some teachers do give up their free time to help an individual child, however that usually is their free/planning time for all the students. A teacher is not a bad teacher if your child isn't interested in reading, your child isn't a bad child either, its just finding that individual instruction is what is important. Parents have a large role in teaching reading and it starts with before they go to school, because your child likes to play outside and seems uninterested in books doesn't mean you shouldn't read and get them excited about reading. What happened in first grade, was your son in special reading groups that were available at his school?

Whatever it takes is what is important blaming a teacher is not an answer its avoiding the issue. The issue is your child's reading needs to improve. Work with the teacher, find out if there are any tutoring options available, programs and such. Your child's reading shouldn't depend blaming teachers,or making excuses of not interested, Second grade is reading comprehension and fluency(reading speed), Third grade is Science and Social studies vocabulary added in and writing creative stories. Theres no time to waste.

I have used reading rabbit, jumpstart games to motivate children to read, I do not use them as reading tools however they are good practice for skills, I used them as rewards for their effort with me during my reading instruction time. Praise, motivating and keeping it fun is essential. A Positive attitude is everything as reading is a big milestone and thought to be something in the Schools hands but actually they can't do it without the number one teacher their parents encouragement, instruction, and praise as well.

Best Wishes

My son did not fight me too much on reading, but in first and second grade writing homework could bring him to tears and would take him so long to finish. I was not concerned about his reading, but his teacher wanted him tested for dyslexia because of his difficulty with writing, spelling, spatial organization in writing, trouble with blending sounds and the fact that he did so much better in math than language arts. We found out he is dyslexic. It is a good thing we had him tested because at about the time of testing he stopped moving up in his reading level. We are in the Leander school district and they have an excellent dyslexia program. My son is in the 4th grade and doing very well after being in the program.

Hi M.,
I feel your pain. I have experienced that with a couple of my boys- and it really seems to be Atypical with a lot of boys in that age group.
I am sure you have done all the right things- like getting his eyes checked- testing to see if he could possibly have deslexia but if not of these are the case then I would think it would have something to do with the teacher and her methods- He may need some extra turtoring at a lower level until he gets comfortable with the words..........one thing I would not do is push him too hard to excell- and if he is too frustrated it will damage his learning skills for life-
One of my boys went thru the same thing- hours and hours were spent at the table working with him and all along we thought it was him- in the end we discovered it was his teacher who was putting too much pressure on him and not letting him learn at his own pace- he was damaged for the rest of his school years in his reading area-it was a struggle- He how has two sons and they have gone thru the same thing- they have extra tutoring during the summer months and one on one with their teacher at school- the 14 yr old hates to read- and does not do well in school where a lot of reading is required- the 9 yrs old- they just held hm back one year and he did much much better.........better to hold them back a year in the early grades than to have them struggle the rest of their school years.
Some teachers, especially younger ones do not have the patience to work with the kids who are struggling- so if none of the above exist- you might consider putting him in another class where he is not so frustrated.
I know this is a long message- but I feel so much for your child and his struggles.
Good Luck
Blessings

My daughter had similar problems in 2nd grade and was able to get a reading specialist at the school. In third 3rd grade that same specialist tested her for dyslexia and we found out she had it. Because she has it she sees the specialist weekly at school and is able to get assistance for the TAKS test. The school should be able to help you in some way. Hope this helps.

My son also struggles i asked for him to be tested for dyslexia then the school started giving him more help and just now are they finishing up the testing i asked at the beginning of the school year good luck

Have you had him tested for Dyslexia? All the thing you mention reading, abc order and writing can be more difficult for a child with dyslexia. How is his spelling? 2nd grade is a good time to find out, they can teach him ways that will help him.

I have had the same problem with my son he is now 9 and still has a little problem with reading... it turned out that it was his eye's. it seems that he wasn't able to see the letters very well. Once we got him a pair of glasses his started to read on his own some. but then we ran into the problem of kids given his a hard time of his glasses and he got up set and broke them. but I bet it would be worth a try to get his eyes checked out.

Reading specialist. Someone who can do a variety of diagnostic exercises, games... to figure out what the underlying problem is.
Then you can take the recommendations from the specialist to the teacher so she can assist in those ways. Ya'll will probably have homework to do--parents too---to help out at home.

Teachers are so swamped these days with all they are expected to do in the classroom, and before and after school, and on days off...that specialists can really be helpful.

My 2nd grader also gives me a hard time doing his 15 minutes of reading every night, but it isn't because he is having a hard time, he just thinks it's boring and tedious. My son is a great reader so I finally relented to letting him read silently for 15 minutes.

For your son, is it possible the books are a little too difficult? Maybe try some 1st grade level books until he masters them.

Some other suggestions, get a kitchen timer and let him set it, offer a small reward for every reading assignment completed and praise him when he's done.

With my son it seems like getting started is always a hassle but once he's done he feels better.

Some kids are just not good readers, so the only thing you can do is work with him on reading every day. Maybe instead of books try magazines, readers digest, comic books, or even pokemon or superhero cards. (My son loves to read his cards.)

Just hang in there I am sure he will get better!

I understand what you are going through. Our daughter also struggled with reading and no matter what we did it didn't seem to help. I had several conferences with the teacher and that in our case was no help. She told me not to worry about it because my daughter wasn't failing yet. (I know most teachers love kids and want them to succeed but I never really got that feeling from this teacher.) If you can't get the teacher to be concerned about it, it is hard to get the school administration to believe there is a problem. If you gave her a single word or two it was usually no problem for her. But if she was trying to read a paragraph, she would jump from one line to another and then back again, or just skip over a word or two, or just say the first couple of sounds of one word and then go on to the next word. It just made no sense to me which is hard because I am an avid reader and her older sister was a fluent reader before she started Kindergarten. We had her eyes checked and they said she was severely far-sighted. We thought great we've got the answer but they did little to improve the reading. I then went in search of a pediatric eye doctor. I thought maybe they would test her for dsylexia since she did confuse her b's and d's (she's in 7th now and still has to stop and think about those two letters). I called the office of Child and Family Eye Care and told them what she was going through. They listened and said that there were tests that they could do to see if she needed more help than just glasses. It turned out that she needed vision therapy because the muscles in her eyes did not work together. (Her glasses were useless and were the wrong presciption for her eyes.) A simple tests that you can try on your child to see if this might be his problem is take your finger or a pencil and put it about 12 to 18 inches in front of his eyes. Ask him to focus on the finger or pencil with both eyes. Then move the pencil to the right and left and up and down slowly and a little faster. Watch his eyes and see if they follow it in a very smooth motion. When we did this with my daughter one eye might be following and the other one would jerk then catch up. The doctor said that every time that happens her brain was getting confused messages because one eye was seeing one thing and the other eye was seeing something else. Or if she went to where the jerky eye was she may not be on the same line or on the same word that she was on before the eye jerked. Also her eyes could not adjust to looking at distances and then looking at something close up such as going from looking at the chalkboard and then looking at her paper. To test for this, we took the pencil and held it about 12 to 18 inches in front of their eyes at eye level. Then slowly move it towards their nose. Tell him he needs to keep both eyes focused just on the eraser and to tell you to stop when he starts seeing 2 erasers instead of just one. Do this several times. He should be able to force his eyes to concentrate enough that you can bring the pencil to his nose while only seeing one eraser. It is hard to do this but it is a great exercise to make your eyes work together.

They of course do a lot more extensive tests in the office but these are two tests that parents can do at home to see if this might be the problem.

Our daughter ended up needing therapy so she saw the therapist twice a week for twelve weeks. We saw great improvement after just a couple of weeks. It seems like she did have to have a couple of follow up visits that first year but since then everything has been fine.

We went to Child and Family Eye Care in The Woodlands. We have seen both of the doctors and have thought they were wonderful. Their website also has a lot of information about vision therapy on it and a checklist to see if you think your child might have visual problems.

http://www.childandfamilyeyecare.com

But most importantly whether it is a vision problem or something else just keep encouraging him and reassuring him that one day it will get easier. And make a really big deal out of any improvement. They tend to really beat themselves up over this issue especially since it seems to come so easy for everyone else.

P.S. My former reluctant reader has finally discovered the joy of reading this past summer and actually asked for several series of books for Christmas. These were books that she had already read before Christmas and I think she has finished reading them all again since Christmas.

does he like computer games?, my son will play educational computer games like reader rabbit and jump start all day long and not even realise he is learning, start at the kindergarten level if he is having trouble, then work up a grade at a time.

I have the same problem with one of my boys. We have found out that he enjoys comic books. He also likes Captain Underpants. Overall, comic books are the best way for me to go. He loves the pictures and it doesn't seem like there is a lot of reading to him. He feels like he's getting out of doing a lot of work, but it's working. I am a mom of twin boys, and they are complete opposite from each other! I understand! Good luck-C.

there's a series of books called captain underwear that boys seem to love

What school district is your son in? Some teachers are not as patient as others. Why not make it into a game or race for the abc's.

An IEP is for students that qualify for special education, it isn't something that you just "go request." Your child has to be tested in order to receive an IEP. It is a long process and he will be under the umbrella of special education, so be aware of that before you request teasting. (if you start testing now, he will probably get a little help towards the end of the year but most will be in 3rd grade...long process).
With that said, talk to the teacher again and see if she sees a processing problem. If she is unhelpful, then procede to the counselor. They help to get the ball rolling with testing. The counselor also has a list of private tutors in your area that might be able to help. I tutor after school, but I am unsure where you are. We live in San Antonio.
Talk to the teacher again and go from there.
Good luck!

Have you considered there is a possibility your son may have a reading disorder? Often (not always) children who dislike reading and writing are that way because they have difficulty with it more than your average child.

For instance. My daughter is dyslexic. Because I happened to recognize the signs from gorwing up with a brother who is dyslexic, I caught my daughter's problem early. She received a special class in school to help her out and while she reads really well she sitll has some difficulty with comprehension and understanding new/big words. She HATES to write though...The level of concentrationit takes for her to set her thoughts to paper upsets and frustrates her.

A few signs to be aware of, on the off chance that dyslexia is contributing to the challenge of teaching your son to read and write. If he is still writing several letters or whole words backwards (mirror image). If he seems to cover one eye while trying to read (this helps his brain not to get confused by to many signals). IF he complains of a headache while he reads but the optometrist says his eyesight is fine.

If you are experiencing any or all of these signs it wouldn't hurt to have him tested(be prepared to fight for it though, schools do not like having to pay for it and push it off until their grades are poor - I disagree with this practice as I feel it set the kids up to fail and to hate school). Often tey will not test til the second grade or later as the most common sign (one that most parents notice) is also a developmental step that most kids grow out of (bacwards writing).

As your son is the 2nd grade now, it shouldn't be too big a deal and they should be willing. If your son tests as dyslexic, do not despair. It is merely a challenge to reading and writing. He is not disabled or stupid. He merely needs to learn how to read in a very specific way designed to decrease his frustration and increase his success level and possibly his joy in reading.

There are other reading challenges out there, though I do not have personal experience with them and do not know their signs...Dyslexia is the most common and affects more kids and adults than you would imagine. Most school districts now offer special classes to teach kids with dyslexia and to give them extra time to process what they are reading.

Good Luck!!! ;-)

If it's bad in second grade, it's going to get worse. Tackle it now. Under the No Child Left Behind act, schools are required to do what it takes to get children to learn. You need to take this to a level beyond the teacher and get an Individual Education Plan (an IEP - that's an important buzzword) set up for your son. Talk to the school counselor and the principal (if they have an assistant principal, start there - I find they're often more helpful)about how to go about this. Ask people in the PTO - they can probably tell you at least who would help. Good luck!

Have you tried something computerized? I know I would prefer books, but at this point it's the learning process you need to be concerned about. There are many great programs out there. I would go look for one that I could buy to make sure I get a good one. But, to start off: www.starfall.com is one that the teachers recommend at our school. They even have hand-held computer games that are focused around sight words, etc. Go to the library and let him pick out something that he's interested in!!! Like comic books or something, anything to spark his interest.

Instead of getting him books he would/should be interested in reading, let him pick the books out for himself. Also, get him evaluated to make sure there is not some sort of learning difference or cognitive issue that is interfering with his ability to learn how to read. The fact that he gets upset argues for an evaluation sooner rather than later, since it seems that he wants to learn but is having a problem doing so.

If you think he is having a hard time ask the school district to test him. There may be a problem that is being overlooked.

Sorry for writing at such a late date. My kids loved books on tape where they could read along from the local library. It also helped them "feel" the flow of reading, instead of reading one word at a time. Good luck

Something that works with some small children is for YOU to read to THEM. Have him point to each word as you read. You will be suprised at how much they learn by doing this. You can also take turns reading page by page or sentence by sentence. They love the attention and when they see you enjoying reading it may extend to them. Good luck!

Are these required reading books, or ones he chooses himself? My mother has been a middle-school librarian for years, and has told me countless stories about kids who "didn't like to read" suddenly becoming avid readers because they found a subject they liked to read about. Ask him what he's interested in, then find books on it, either in fiction or nonfiction.

I know you probably have gotten alot of responses already. I just wanted to write and encourage you, as I am sure others already have, to get the school to test him for dyslexia and learning disabilities(LD). My son is getting the help and remediation he needs and has increased his reading level. Also encourage your son to try reading anything he is interested in - Pokemon cards, back of cereal boxes, street signs, whatever. My son is not interested in books, but he loves to read his Pokemon cards -go with whatever works! Good Luck-

Hi M.,
I know exactly what you are going thru. When my son Michael started second grade he did not know how to read at all. Thank God he had an awesome teacher that took the time to tutor him during her free period and then he was tutored after school as well. Michael is now 15 and LOVES to read. We now have Noah who is in the 1st grade who was the lowest reader in the class the beginning of this school year. We with the teacher and assistant principal have worked with Noah and he is making progress. With Noah we have to make it fun and praise him over and over. Hope this helps you in some way. You need to stay on the teacher and if she doesn't seem too interested in helping your son, you should consider putting him in another teacher's class.Talk to the principal, assistant principal and bug them until they understand that you are not going to just let your son slip through the cracks.

Maybe if you allow him to choose a book from the childrens section at the local library,that may help. I ordered highlights magazine which creates a reading habit and it stirs thier imagination a little to see how the story ends...maybe this would get him interested.since adults read magazines...children need something that makes them feel important----there are very many good books for young children...this is just a thought for you i am not only a grandmother,but a great grandmother. 73 yrs old..hope this helps in some way! E. s.