Helping My 7 Year Old Read

Just a thought:

My husband has mild dyslexia. He knows his phonics but cannot to this day sound out a word. His parents had him take extra reading courses but never diagnosed his dyslexia. I noticed it shortly after we met at age 25. He does switch numbers around - not too often though. As a police officer he always has to read a license plate twice to make sure he hasn't switched around the letters and numbers.
He often looks at a word, reads the first few letters, sometimes sees the last letter or two but then makes up the middle.
His reading aloud is quite choppy and just can't read smoothly. (He gets frustrated when our first grade daughter corrects him on some words)
I don't know what would have been done differently if his parents had him diagnosed as a kid. I'm not even sure what kind of therapies are out there for dyslexic kids.

I am not saying by any means, that your son has dyslexia but maybe research it some, talk with teachers, others with experience to see if there are any similarities to your son. Or just keep this thought in the back of your mind. I would hate to see another kid like my husband, not get the appropriate help he or she needs.

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Mallory hit the nail on the head with her post. When my oldest son was in kindergarten, the teacher approached me about holding him back because he was struggling with reading. I told her that I was sure he would catch up. His first and second grade teachers had the same story...."He isn't reading at the level he should...." He once told me in second grade that he didn't see the point to reading. "It seems like a waste of time." Hahaha....good memories.

Then, in third grade, something "clicked" and he loved it. He wanted to read everything. He loved the Harry Potter series and read all of the books. He is in 9th grade and English is his best subject. He can read and comprehend a book in no time and crank out an essay like it was nothing.

My second son had similar struggles in kindergarten, first and second grade. He didn't care much for sitting down with a book and reading. He is in third grade this year and I have noticed a dramatic increase in his willingness to read a book without prompting from me.

I had the same feelings of despair with my first child as you have with your son. I thought that he would never read well. Keep your head up, read with him consistently and wait for that "click" because it is coming.

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I also suggest getting him to the eye doctor. I love to read but had a problem with both needing glasses and dyslexia. No one figured out the dyslexia until I was in high school, but it would have been a lot easier on me if we had caught it sooner.

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Some of our family favorite 'reading' activities include:

-playing Boggle, help him a lot in the beginning until he gets the hang of it, allow him to find 2 letter words, older 'kids' have to find 3 letters or better.
- play Scrabble, also assisting with his letters there, showing him how to start with either endings or beginning sounds. We let the kids put their words anywhere on the board and are especially happy when we can connect them to other words
-read lots of rhyming, fun books, like Dr. Seuss, don't finish the sentences, have him finish the second rhyming word, etc. He'll catch on and hopefully enjoy waiting for his turn to complete the rhyme.
-get books that interest him: legos, star wars, trucks, construction, bugs, insects, tornados, science, etc. Keep them readily available, in the car, by the john, next to his bed, read a page during dinner...
-have him make your errand and grocery lists, including store name followed by items to purchase.
-I recently went on line and made free word searches with all of our family names, places we've lived, meaningful words for our family, birth month, etc...my kids LOVED solving this one.

Once he starts to make the connections, reading becomes enjoyable and not such a chore. All my kids are avid readers and test at the top of their class....OK, even at the top in the nation on standardized tests. They've all tested at 99.9% nationwide. So something above is working. And I have dyslexia, big time....

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Ask the teacher (assuming she has some experience and is not a first year teacher). My daughter could "read" pretty well in kindergarten and first grade because she had been read to so much she knew how all these kid stories were supposed to go. She would look at the first letters of the word, look at the pictures, then guess-usually correctly-at the words in the stories.
Since she was my second I knew there wasn't something quite right-that she was faking it. Her kindergarten teacher was old and I think maybe a year past retirement so she didn't notice. Her first grade teacher was new and said "probably developmental". By second grade when the reading assignments got longer and the pictures fewer, I KNEW there was a problem. Her experienced teacher put me off for the first part of the year but finally agreed there was a need for testing. Truthfully they don't like to test until the end of second grade.
Turns out my daughter is dyslexic. Dyslexic kids are very smart so they can fake it well. For the rest of elementary school she got 20 minutes of tutoring every day and it made a HUGE difference. She reads on level and is an A-B student without any extra accommodations. (She's now in high school.) The schools have excellent programs to assist these kids in learning the tricks of reading and spelling. For my daughter, she doesn't have trouble transposing letters or trouble with right and left-but she CAN NOT blend sounds. Dyslexia comes in MANY forms.
But, talk to the teacher. Maybe even request a meeting with the reading specialist. Be pushy. The schools aren't over anxious to do this testing because that means one more child to put in their special program which means more money spent that the schools don't have. But they are required by the state to service your child if he needs it. It may turn out that your son is just slow at getting it. My oldest (a boy) was and then it did truly click for him in second grade. He's a fabulous reader, always scored high on Iowa Skills tests and TAKS for ELA. But there is a difference in the developmental delay and the learning difference delay. Get someone qualified to help you determine which you have.
Good luck.

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My brother had troubles reading until he discovered the "Peanuts" comics strip. My mother went to a used book store and bought every bound collection she could and he devoured them. As his reading skills developed by reading these simple cartoons, his interest in reading other things grew over the years; from "Superman" comic books to books about sports to American history. Find something that your son is interested in and get easy to read books about it so he can learn some more and have fun sharing it with you.
(By the way, my brother, who some people actually thought was retarded, is now a lawyer. My mother's having the last laugh on that.) Have patience, everyone develops differently.

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My middle child also had had issue with reading well as far as tv the reading teacher had us use the caption so he could read as the tv was on she said it would help with site words....it did. Tv isn't all so bad. Reading has to be fun and reading isn't all sitting down and reading that's old fashion yes believe it or not it's part of it but not all. Many reading teacher's use games it's not all flash cards and sounds. Also using tapes to read along with a book is something that they use. You need to meet with the reading specialist and ask what they would like you to use to assist him rather then come up with your own stuff, most schools will provide somethings to help you help him. You will get less frustration if you work as a team with the school rather then alone.

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There is an online programe called Headsprouts.com that is very good but it is aliitle but pricey. It's designed with boys in mind and it is self paced so it reduces frustrations. It really helped our son.

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Am going through this right now ... Am reading a book called The Gift of Dyslexia and even if this isn't what you are dealing with you may get some ideas about how to avoid triggers for problems with reading.

Totally understand frustration! Do know that some kids read later than others and that some of mine didn't master until age nine and are flying along.

I like Explode the Code practice books for phonics reinforcement (the child I started with on these has been my quickest reader thus far, and my child who started in fourth grade corrected some problems and also started flying, child in between is the one for whom we're learning about dyslexia)

The symptom you described, and then being able to read larger words, but then guessing at small connecting words lead us to start investigating. One of the things this particular author suggested was that dyslexia can be triggered by feelings of frustration which causes a child to make up "wrong rules" about the words he's trying to read. Instead of correct ways of seeing what's on the page, the child actually has distorted perceptions of the words, that the brain has created to deal with confusion.

I taught for 5 years in a private school before homeschooling the next 10 years, and thought I understood about dyslexia. After reading this book, I realize I had no understanding of this, nor of how the reading process works.

This has been a blessing to research. Think you are early enough to prevent difficulties for your child. Bless you!

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When I taught struggling readers, I required them to memorize the sight words also called Dolch words. We started with the preK words and worked up to the current grade.
This helped it go faster, though doesn't help with blending.
Also, there are charts at the dollar store that have the blends with pictures
CH chair cheese church
This helped my daughter and playing games like I spy something that starts with CH.

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If your son is struggling with whole langauge, start asking if he qualifies for a reading intervention program at school that is alphabet phonics based. All children can learn to read that way, but they cannot all learn with whole langague.

What you are seeing is a difficutlity wtih manipulating the sound symbol relationships and his phonemic awareness. If the issue continues, don't wait on it, keep presuring the school to evalaute him for this program and get him in as soon as you can. He does not have to fail in order to qualify for this program. There is preference for something called Response to Intervention, or RTI. He can qualify for this so that he is never found to have a reading disablity, which is the point of these programs, which are spelled out as the preference in IDEA. It is a prevention program for learning disablities, especially those in reading. Start asking, and don't stop, even when they pretend that they do not know what you are talking about.

M.

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Has he been tested for dyslexia? When was his last eye exam?

If these are fine, then you will know it is a learning situation..

Can he go back and practice with easy books at the beginning of your reading time?
Like BOB books? This will give him success..

Then let him read with a ruler or piece of paper under each word to he can focus on one line at a time.. This will help guide his eyes so they are not wandering around the page.

Then find a good joke book and have him read jokes to you.. This will give him some enjoyment of reading..

What does his teacher think is going on? What has the school suggested about how to help him with id reading? If you have not met with them, make an appointment and let them know what you are noticing.. They will give you some special ways to help him.

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If your school rules are the same in TX as they are here in VA then , my son was at the same stage as your son at the start of first grade , he really struggled putting the sounds of letters together to make the word and I really thought he would never "get" reading , then all of a sudden he could sit with a book and read , his reading and spelling now is very good but he struggles with math. Keep doing what you are doing , and also talk to his teacher and see what he/she suggests you do to help him at home.

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Find books that are at or just below his current level on topics that he enjoys. Take him to Half Price Books and let him pick out some books. If he likes sports, help him read articles in the newspaper about his favorite team. If your school is like our school, any reading counts toward the daily total. My daughter reads whatever she can find - her father's hunting magazine, etc. We just write down whatever she read.

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Reading is one of those things that can seem scarey to kids, but once they master it, they just go! I've known a million children, did daycare, helped kids including my own and the thing is to not put too much pressure on them reading. Let them see YOU read, share what you're reading.
My grandfather was very integral in my love for reading. He read the newspaper to me every morning and showed me things he thought I would be interested in. He read and showed me the words....following with his finger....everything from the weather to what tomatoes were on sale for at the local market. I didn't even realize it, but soon, I was reading to him!
I did the same thing with my kids. (My grandfather was a very good teacher, indeed).

The other thing....get your son a library card. Take him to the library and let him choose books. Read the books with him. Show him as you read what the words look like as you read them. Reading is about sounding out, but a lot of it is also about recognition and it doesn't matter what you are reading, so many words are always the same. The, be, is, am, are, I, you, we, he, she, it, they....
Even the hugest book is full of very simple words. If you can help him to understand that, it doesn't seem so hard.
I highly recommend you try to find the "Nate the Great" series of books. Both of my kids absolutely loved them and the stories are so fun. They are easy to read and introduce new words but aren't too advanced. Get your son hooked on a neat character like Nate so that he has interest in learning more about his adventures and his friends. Talk about what you read and ask what he thinks will happen next. No pressure.....reading really is awesome and I'm so glad I love it and passed that love on to my kids.
Get excited about reading. The library is a great place to start.
I know you don't watch TV, but do you have access to Reading Rainbow on PBS? It's all about kids recommending books to other kids. You might be able to find Reading Rainbow excerpts online.
And....get a library card. Let your son pick things out and read together.
I personally think the greatest lessons about reading come from home.
Have him help you read the recipe for baking a cake together.
Eggs, milk, water, flour, butter, bowl, mix, bake....
Lots of simple words can be learned and easily understood in fun ways.

Best wishes!

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You and I are sharing the same 7 year old. My son also makes up the word or tries to figure out the story by looking at the picture. I kept saying to myself he is lazy and just dosn't want to assert himself. Part of it is being a boy who would rather be running around or playing a game and the other part is he is not interested in what he is reading. So 3 things we did. Only books he likes , like sharks or marine animals if school sent home a book and he didn't like it we would read it but of course not easily and then go to a fun book he liked,, starfall.com, this site I started him reading at the Kinder level and it is so much fun, becasue the kids interact and an build words and get to pick a like, maybe like or do not like smiley face at the end of the story they just read plus since I started him at kinder kevel he knew the words and it built his confidence and lastly we put him in the early morning program at school where he gets an extra 1/2 hour of reading with his teachers. Is he an avid reader now?? NO!!!!!! But he is at level now and getting better and doesn't always whine and complain that I am torturing him when I ask him to read. Patience even though I know you are worn thin, is the name of the game. He would so push me to my limit that I would have to leave the room and come back, so I get it, but it'll get better. Promise.

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I read once that reading has to "click" for a person. All of the sudden you will understand how to do it and it will make sense. We all "click" at different times. Some much earlier and some later. It could be that he just hasn't had this happen yet. This article also went on to say that early readers and late readers would all even out in about the third grade with none having an advantage.

Last year my son could theoretically read (could sound out words) but I didn't think that it had really clicked yet for him. He absolutely hated to do it with me and would really complain. About halfway thorugh the year all the sudden he was OK with it. He came light years in a really short time. He still is not the avid reader my 9 yo is but he doesn't pitch a fit like he used to. He just doesn't enjoy it very much.

Another thing to keep in mind that many of the books for this age are geared for little girls. They are boring to boys. Try to seek out books that are a little more edgy. My younger son liked comics nuch better than books.

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Don't worry about it, he's only in first grade. If you are frustrated then can you imagine how he feels. I'm speaking from experience. Don't push, your doing the best thing for him just by sitting and listening!

Good luck,
DH

Hooked on Phoenix books, Sylvan workbooks, or Kumon workbooks. They are all colorful and there are great ideas in the front cover for assisting them.

I got mixed up fairy tales (video game) for my barely reading 7 year old. Her younger sister could read very well and she was angry and jealous but didn't seem to want to try, either. That video game changed things though.

She forced herself to read so she could play the game. When she beat it she picked out "Pet Vet" which is much harder (such as injection of an antibacterial substance and disinfection of the affected areas.) She can now read anything she wants to. In fact, she is reading chapter books, one series was geared towards 9-12 year olds, she'll be 8 the end of January.

I assume you are also reading to him. That's just as important. And don't just make him read assignments. Give him a comic book or or something fun, such as a topic in which he's interested and will want to read. It's important to have him see you read for fun, not just required reading. Don't be too stressed out or he will sense the tension. My husband read all the Harry Potter books to the family while were on family vacation. By the time the last one came out our son was in high school and our daughter in middle school, but it was a great bonding experience for the family. Boys mature later than girls, so that may be in issue, especially if he has a spring birthday. My son didn't read well until second grade. He has a summer birthday. My daughter, who has a fall birthday, was always above level. Just keeping on reading to him so he can hear words and surround him with books and magazines. We used to do word games in the car when our children were little, i.e. someone says a word and another person comes up with a word using the last letter of the previous word. My kids were always looking for words that would challenge the other. (Fox was a popular one!) Have a little patience. If he's not at level by third grade then have him tested. Good luck and have fun!

We have imaginary spelling gum that helps my boys with sounding out words. Give him a piece of imaginary gum; tell him to chew it 3 times to make it work. When he comes across a word he can’t read tell him to put that word on the gum and slowly pull the imaginary gum out of his mouth, sounding out each letter. Also ask his teacher is if you can sit in on one of her spelling/ writing/ reading lesson, she may be doing something that you can use to correlate home and school lessons. Maybe try an reward system for getting the word , I give my boys a poker chip for positive behavior, ( but don't take any away for negative behaior)and we have a mini store that can buy from, or 15 chips= one item for Target $1 spot or Dollars tree lot of good stuff. Boys are fun but need good guidance,:)
Good luck!
A. H. Mom of 6 yo, and 9 yo

There are sight word flash cards sold at WalMart. Just cost a couple dollars, review those with him until he knows them well. The kindergarten teacher passed them out at our school, you might be able to get them from her. Have him pick a book and everynight at bedtime have him read a page, you read a page etc. A few pages at a time only. Correct or help him if he needs helps. He will be reading in no time, just nuture him!

There is a website called starfall.com that has short books that sound out all the words when you click on them. I think it might be geared towards beginning readers, but it may build his confidence in reading. My daughter loves it, and it is a free website. I'd say it is perfect for PreK - First graders to practice reading. Keep having him read to you as well, but this is more interactive for him.

Lakeshore Learning has some great flashcards and teaching tools that we've used that helped a lot.
My youngest son was struggling and then we learned he needed glasses. He was seeing just well enough to fool us into thinking he was fine and it wasn't caught for a good while. Now that he has his glasses he's flying.
My boys love the DVDs made by Leapfrog. They are very well done in helping then with their sounds and blending of words. I know you said you don't watch TV but I found that the way these were put together really helped my oldest son especially. He is now reading books above his grade level. He was barely reading at grade and we had to help him to get to that point before.
My oldest has started having to read a book, do a book report of what he did and did not like in the book then we watch the movie and he does a report on how the book was different from the movie. This has gotten him fired up about some really great books!
I home school them so I'm always looking for ways to make things different and fun to get them to learn.

I can't tell you anything at all about reading or vision disorders, but I had lots of similar questions when I worked in a children's bookstore. If there's not a physical problem, there might be simply a need to find something that sparks his interest. It's out there, somewhere. The suggestion of Peanuts comic strips was great. Also the Captain Underpants series is popular with kids getting the hang of chapter books. I don't like them because it's potty humor, but if it sparks his interest in reading, it might be worth it in the long run. There is also the slightly more advanced Geronimo Stilton series - it has a sort of comic book feel. Regular chapters and paragraphs, but every time the word "pow" or "bang" comes up, it will be written the way an old-fashioned comic book would have it. (Geronimo is a mouse, so "cheese" is treated the same way.) There is also the Wayside School series by Sachar. If you aren't familiar, it's a chapter book - a little older, maybe second grade - about children in a class at the ficional Wayside School, and every chapter is very short, and about a different kid in the class, so he can put the book down at the end of the chapter, and not feel like he has to remember where he left off when he comes back. Sachar has a lot of other books other than that series, too, so he can move on to more sophisticated books a little more comfortably after he finishes those. That's the sort of thing I recommended, back while I was still working.

I hope you get some help for him or find something to spark his interest - happy reading!

do whatever you can to keep it fun and light. let him choose his own books or magazines. magazines are great because the reading is in small chunks, which is a lot less threatening than a whole book, and a lot more interesting than flash cards or workbooks. find some kid magazines about stuff that he is interested in. comic books too. even flipping through catalogs, like toy catalogs. just gets him to like the "language" of books. write secret notes to each other. put sight words up around the house with the names of things. try to enlist family and friends to send him short cards once a week, kids loooooove to get their own mail. my son got mail with little gifts from spiderman when he was younger. there are lots of games too, you got lots of suggestions below. and if he does watch tv, super why is a great show for reading. and you can put on the closed captioning so that the words are on the screen with whatever he is watching, they cant help but look at them. my son is 7 and loves reading, thank goodness. and now they are doing the reading log in school and he has to fill in what he read and for how long. so now, my son who has looooved books since forever and lays in bed reading every nite till i yell at him or he falls asleep in the book,now is timing himself while he reads and stopping as soon as his time is up. this is what happens when you make it into a chore. (im deciding whether i want to rock the boat with his teacher this early in the year..... and just for the record, i think reading logs are great things for kids who dont love reading so much, my daughter will probably benefit from it, just not for everyone)....anyway, do what you can to make it fun and to show him whats in it for him....oh, my son also loves those non fiction books about different things he loves, dinosaurs, reptiles, weather, all that science stuff. find some about whatever your son loves, at a low reading level that is easy for him, and let him just enjoy it. nice books with big cool pictures, and again, those fact books tend to have the material in small chunks. good luck :)

what does his teacher think? she has the training and experience? she should be giving you advice and ideas to try at home, she should have some idea if he might have a learning problem or not. talk with her you dont have to wait till parent teacher scheduled on the calendar

Go to the Library and get the books WITH tapes so he can read along. This also helps with how the senctence sounds and reading rhythm. Lots of books to enjoy and can take some of the pressure of him. Then see if he cand read the story to you(as best he can). Some of it might be memorization, but isnt that what we do anyway?

Good Luck,

I noticed you're in Houston, just curious what school district because I'm in Houston in Spring ISD and I cry everyday...I've even talked to the superintendant's office...from bullying, teachers, reading help, stolen sweaters, literally begging the teachers to communicate with me and work as a team...this may not be alot of help but sometimes just knowing you are not alone.

It's been years, but I still remember the frustration. I spent hours working with my daughter and flash cards trying to get her to learn her site words.

Some things that helped...
Try to make the connection with family/group words. If you add an "s" to it, you get "sit", add an "h" and you get "hit".
When reading with him, have him read the pages on the left and you read the pages on the right.
My daughter did not respond well to me working with her on reading, (she loved for me to read to her). Have someone else (dad, grandparent, older sibling/cousin) work with him.
Stick with it. Our school system has them read for 20 minutes a day. That does not include "teaching" time. Set aside a period each day, make sure you have a quiet area with no distractions.

It's worth all the time and the frustration. My daughter has been at the top of her class in reading since 4th grade.