Daughter Struggling in School, Low Test Scores Please Help

Have you considered that she might just have test anxiety/difficulty with testing formats?

The best way for kids to get better at reading is just to read. Find great books that they love, and have them read those books. Talk to them about the stories. Read with them (you read a page aloud, and then have them read a page aloud). Reading with them will really help you to get an idea of where they are struggling.

Some kids struggle with reading comprehension because they lack vocabulary. So work on vocabulary. It's hard to understand what's going on in a book if you don't know what all the words mean. Context clues are difficult to identify without a good vocabulary.

I think you're doing the right thing by having her evaluated. And I do think that she'll catch up with some time and effort.

Did you have the eye doc do an evaluation for learning issues? My grandson had to wear special glasses and do exercises every night for months. When he was done his eye's were totally retrained and his brain was receiving the information correctly. At the beginning his processing was so bad his brain was no longer translating the information his right eye was sending it.

Another friend did this too and her son has learning disabilities. He was reading 2 grade levels ahead when he finished with the glasses and exercises.

I can honestly say some people just hate reading. She may never enjoy reading and will struggle with it for the rest of her life.

If she reads every day for an hour and has a tutor, has there been any progress? What is she reading? Where is her main deficit? Is it comprehension or is it vocabulary? Or both? Is there a structured program with the tutor or just reading? My friend's SD did Kumon (or Sylvan) when they were in a similar boat and the girl caught up. Is she an auditory learner? Can you pair her skills to the type of learning she does best? For me, if I want to learn something, I need to hear it and talk about it. For my DH, he needs to see it, manipulate it and make lists. After she reads, do you follow up with a discussion, a project or maybe check out a movie that was based on the book? Can you try a family book club?

Another thing my FIL does (to this day) is write down all the words he doesn't know when reading. Then he goes back and looks them up so he knows what they are next time.

Does this reading level impact her other classes, like social studies and math? I ask in part b/c it may be a clue if she can grasp concepts like word problems in math, but struggles with plots.

Another thought - friend's DD can see just fine, but has a condition where the words get all jumbled up. The spaces on the page get jumbled up. I forget what it's called. She has had her DD in therapy for it for a year but it was really hard to figure out and diagnose.

Maybe something like http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/library/pediatric_healt...

I'm so sorry you are going through this. It's difficult to watch our kids struggle. My only question back to you is to ask if you have taken her to an ophthalmologist to have her tested for eye function difficulties, as these can sometimes present as learning disabilities/developmental delays. If there is an issue, eye therapy can help either through correcting the issue or giving the student good biofeeback exercises to retrain the eyes. (My son struggled with this, but in a social capacity; it was diagnosed before he started kindergarten).

You very obviously care about your daughter. I hope someone is able to give you some direction which works for your family. Good luck.

I'm so glad you are pursuing this. The reading required next year in all her subjects will be significant. She absolutely will need support to do her best, and the system needs to provide it. That may be adapted assignments, pre-teaching, etc. I'm not sure how the school has not pinpointed her learning deficits, whether they be learning disabilities or something else. While you are pursuing outside testing, may I suggest that you consider a full battery of tests, not just ones a psychologist may give? For example, has she been tested by a licensed speech/language pathologist? I don't have any answers for you, but I wanted you to know that we are all pulling for you, and wish you the very best.

Does she read?

I was a late reader. I hated it, but around your daughter's age, I found the sweet valley high series ,and I loved it. My reading took off, and I even started reading a few grades above my level.

In fact, I was never academically promising, my brother was the gifted one. I had learning disabilities, etc. Here is the thing, I went on to graduate a big ten with second highest honors, got a PhD from a 2nd ranked program in the country, etc. You never know whats someone is capable of.

My advice to you is to stop the testing and find her books she loves to read. Let her read, don't question her on comprehension, just let her find her love of learning.

I am glad that you are going to have her evaluated outside of the school district. They normally follow a regular regime of tests that are helpful. Sometimes a child has a learning disability that is not pinpointed on those tests. Do you have a Scottish Rite Hospital in your area with a dyslexia center? They provide excellent testing and evaluation at no cost to the parents (you need a referral from a Mason) . My daughter was tested and diagnosed by the school with mild dyslexia. We had her evaluated at the Scottish Rite and got a much more precise diagnosis which showed other problems. They made recommendations and I provided that to the school to help her. It is frustrating- and hard to see your child struggle. She is lucky that she has parents that are educated and willing to support her and want her to be successful.

Have you had her eyes well tested? My daughter has vision issues that are different than what glasses fix. Reading the testimonials in the doctor's office from kids (of all ages) about how much vision therapy helped with their reading speed, comprehension, spellling etc is amazing. Your daughter could have tracking issues, focusing ec that don't show up in a simple eye exam. Seems like a fairly new field as my daughter's school didn't really have a clue about it. Good luck! I know this is stressful and frustrating. We did also have our daughter fairly extensively tested before this eye thing as reading was a struggle for her when she began. Are you getting a really thorough workup? We had an IQ test and a series of other tests. The IQ from an MD/Phd type, the more academic was a Masters type. They work as a team.

I was a child that had reading problems. Mine was the comprehension of the words. I also had a vision problem.

My parents had me tested and I felt like they thought I was stupid, which they didn't. I was insecure with myself regarding academics. I actually tested above average which then made my dad think I was just lazy which I wasn't. Thank goodness my Mom who was a teacher saw my struggle and hooked me up with a great tutor. She worked with me all summer and when I went back to school I was above grade level in reading!!! I did continue to have a tutor for a couple of years. Just helped keep me on track.

Please don't wish for your child to have a learning disability. Just keep working with her and find out what area of reading she is struggling with. Once you identify that, she will make tremendous strides.

I'm a college graduate, have an above average comprehension of words and I read ALL THE TIME! Please don't get discouraged!!

Fight for services in the school. If it's a public school, you should do some screaming (not literally) and get the services she needs. I would think that reading at a 3rd grade level is enough to warrant help.

And of course, if you can afford it, get a private tutor. Even a high school kid who wants to be a teacher can help over the summer.

Have you figured out what part of reading is giving her trouble? Is it sounding out the words? Figuring out the meanings from the sentence? Retaining the information she is reading? Does she read everything quickly concentrating on just finishing the reading but not taking the time to understand what she's reading?

You can't work on solving an issue until you understand exactly where the disconnect is. My son started 2nd grade and he couldn't read at all. School's suggested fix was to put him back in 1st grade. Mine was to treat him like a new reader starting with picture books with words and moving onto easy readers until he could read. By the end of the year he was at grade level. Since your daughter is older and struggling I'd suggest having someone test to see where she's having trouble so you can know how to tackle the issue.

I recommend Kumon. My dd has been doing it for 2.5 years and she's always ahead of her classmates. She doesn't have learning problems but I don't think our school has a very good curriculum. We do both math and reading - the reading is more than just reading, they teach spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, comprehension etc. It gets the kids used to paying attention to what they're reading in a step by step systematic method.

You are going to need to meet with middle school,counselor s. middle school is a whole new ball game. She needs help desperately. How could they let her go on to middle school with a third grade reading level. Hate to say it but she will find it beyond difficult.

I suggest putting her back in the kumon reading program. It may seem like "busy work" to you, but there really is a method to their madness. You really have nothing to lose.

Please, please listen to Patty K's post -- you must see the middle school counselor and teachers immediately. Do it right now, in the summer, first thing Monday before all counselors disappear for the summer break.. Do not wait until school starts. You need to have a plan for her in place the second MS begins, not a few weeks (or longer) into the year. Keep on working with her as you are doing now, but be VERY aggressive with the school about getting services for her through the school.

It is terrible that she was allowed to progress through school with a third grade reading level -- not terrible on her part, but very lax on the elementary school's part. They should have had her in intensive services, for reading at least. It's tragic that they claimed she didn't need services! Nail the MS to the wall about having services ready for her. I would also insist that they point you toward summer programs to help her NOW.

I also agree with the person who posted to have her evaluated in detail by an opthamologist -- I would add she might also need some other neurological or other evaluations to see why processing written language is so difficult. Time to get very aggressive with doctors as well as schools.

Check into to Kumon. Our daughters have both struggled on Math and Kumon has been great for them. I've heard great things about their Reading program too.