Just a bit of background: My daughter is currently enrolled in a private school. She has a class of 14 kids and is struggling with reading. For the past 2 years she has fallen thru the cracks and hasn't been helped as I feel she should. My husband and I are contemplating homeschooling her next year. Reading is her weakness what should I be looking for in a curriculum?
First, I'd try to figure out why she's struggling with reading. If you haven't ruled out physical factors, such as eyesight issues, I'd do that first. If there's no obvious physical issue, you might see if you can have her tested through your school district. I know a homeschooling friend of mine was able to get her daughter recently tested through the district due to her reading delays. If there doesn't seem to be any reason that can be found for the delay, then I'd look for a curriculum that has a focus on phonics. You might even let her spend some time on the site www.starfall.com. It's a free phonics site that is lots of fun for kids. Fun stories that are colorful and engaging can also go a long way with struggling readers.
www.literactive.com is also a free reading program for emerging readers. I prefer starfall.com, but it gives some variety to have other options. I think I would just focus on books.. very easy readers, and subjects she is interested in. Let her pick books she wants to read. There is a book many like called Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I haven't used it, but I know others say it's good. There is also a program called Explode the Code that many like. I have the phonics program from readinga-z.com (in fact they are having open house next week on all the learninga-z.com sites and one day you will have access to readinga-z... so you could download all of it for free on that day), and like it, so far my little ones show no interest in it, so we haven't used it much, but it's a good layed out plan. They also have leveled readers there for every reading ability. It's a site that is worth it's money if you can afford it.
She has been tested by the school district for any learning disabilities etc. They can't find anything. She has an very high processing speed!? They are wanting to retain her and I'm just beside myself. One person says it is what is best for her and the next person says not to do it.
Oh.. and I agree with Shelly.. maybe you should make sure there isn't a reason that she is struggling. But also wanted to say, my oldest went to public school for K and 1st grade. He entered K being able to read, he finished 1st reading on a 5th grade level... but there were kids in his class who still could not read which required the teacher to read every test/assignment to the class. So I don't think it's very uncommon for a child to not be reading by the end of first grade.
I completely with what you have said. Though they are wanting to retain and that is my biggest problem
I've had two struggler readers. My daughter struggle at first, but glasses that corrected her far-sightedness fix that. So, I agree that the first stop is the optometrist (a good one can also look for signs of problems other than vision accuity). Glasses were not the answer for my other struggler. He is a bright young man, but he has been slow to catch on to reading. Some kids just take longer than others. I think the most important thing for those children is for parents and teachers to let them know that it is ok, that they are smart and that they will "get it". I've written this here before, but the research I did to help my son has really impressed upon me that pressuring a child to read faster than his or her natural development dictates can actually prolong the delay. Homeschooling would be a great way to help your daughter. Her progress would be based upon her own personal improvements, however big or small, rather than on how she compares to her peers. As for curriculums, a special ed teacher recommended How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. I didn't take her advice, but it worth examining to see if it is a fit for you. For my son, I switched to Explode the Code. It is perfect for him. I recently signed up for Explode the Code online which has been a great help to him. You can get a subscription at a reduced price through http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/ right now. That membership is good til March 2010, or you can go directly to explodethecode.com and start a year membership for a little more whenever you wish. Good luck.
If it were me, if they are definately not going to pass her, then I would definately homeschool her. If they are willing to work with you and let you tutor her over the summer, then have them see if she has progressed enough to move on.. then I would go for that option FOR NOW... only because you may find that you are not a fan of homeschooling (the summer tutoring would show you that), or you may find that you love it and want to pull her anyway to homeschool her. The decision to bring them home is a hard one! I had considered homeschooling from the get go, but then had some major life changing events and didn't think it was going to happen. My hubby (who is not DS's bio father) had to be fully supportive of it before I went this route.. and I wasn't sure he would be so I enrolled him in a school that essentially squashed him educationally. I was so happy when hubby brought up homeschooling.. because I didn't feel it was his job to support me in it since DS wasn't his bio child.. he has since adopted him... so I don't feel guilty about it now, but it was a hard step to take.
The best reading program I have ever come across is A Beka. I think it is complete in the lower grades. We had great success with it.
www.starfall.com My two oldest have learned to read using starfall. I'm getting ready to start it with my 4 year old this summer. It's fun, it's interactive, and it's engaging. Whether you decide to homeschool or not, it's a great supplement too.
My kids aren't old enough for any kind of formal curriculum so I can't help you there...but as an avid reader who is raising avid readers...I think it would be helpful to read to your dd for enjoyment as often as possible, maybe before bed every night. Maybe you could have a book that you simply read to her, and then another book to read together...they have some decent ones at the library where you read one part thats longer with more vocab and they read a shorter, easier part. If its special time alone with you, she will cherish books and see reading as a fun thing...and if its fun, she will want to do it more often, and if she reads more often she will get better at it. I never did anything special with my daughter except read to her OFTEN (she was my first and sometimes she would get read to for well over an hour a day, all kinds of books) and she is already a strong reader...and she's only 4.
Bring her home, and concentrate on letting her ENJOY books. Do you read much to her at home? If not, start. Some kids start reading early, some later. The slower readers are NOT "stupid" or anything; they just take longer to get to the place where they're "ready" to read. And once they do, they "catch up" with the other ones very quickly. Trouble is, in our "one size fits all" education system, these kids are made to feel they're "slow" and "behind", that reading is something "too hard" they really have to work at, and no fun at all. As a result, they are defeated before they ever begin! Now, that's not to say the programs the others mentioned aren't good. THEY ARE!!! Yes, pick out one of them and have her work on phonics and all, but try to take the pressure off of her. Let her develop at her own pace. That's the biggest advantage of hs'ing!!!
Expanding on what Jackie said (and this is more relaxed, so may be more difficult as a beginning HS mom): with my kids, we pick out "themes" from the library each month, their pick, and I put books on hold from the internet from various libraries across the county; they are delivered to my local library. I wind up with books at various stages. I have been amazed at how my 4 yo picks up books I checked out for his 7.5 yo sister, and my 6 yo does the same. My younger kids wound up moving ahead as readers because even in the subjects they chose, I had books at various levels. They WANTED to know the information (in my 4 yo's case, WANTS, LOL) and so they push themselves even beyond what I might challenge them to do. But they also know they can take a break from harder books and head back to the easy, level 1 and 2 books if they need to. Caveat: this is, of course, barring any physical cause of reading. Something else to keep in mind: some kids are just not developmentally ready for reading until they are at a later stage. Not because anything is wrong with them, just because they are not "there" yet. Our school system doesn't really allow for this. I believe it is Raymond & Dorothy Moore who wrote about this, although I could be wrong? So you might read some things along that line that may help you, as well.
Another thing to consider is that she's just not ready developmentally to read yet. Schools tend to push reading very early when many kids just aren't ready. I'd bring her home, spend lots of time reading with her, playing on starfall.com and maybe working a bit with a phonics program. The problem is not that your daughter can't keep up with her schools expectations; it's that your daughter's school won't adjust their expectations to fit your daughter. Bring her home, relax, fill her up with lots of stories and family reading time and she'll learn to read when she's ready.
Not disagreeing with Patty, Abeka is a great program. It is important though to see how your child thinks. I know my son would not have done well with Abeka but did wonderful with Hooked on Phonics. The only difference was the way they started. My son thinks more in "word families". For example....r-at, m-at, s-at. Abeka does it sa-t, ra-t, ma-t. For some reason, this just didn't click with him the same way as the HOP. Neither is wrong of course, all the sounds are there in both but if you know she "thinks" about letters/sounds one way versus the other, go with what matches her way And for some kids, either would work the same way.
Wow.. I never knew that about Abeka... that seems backwards to everything I have ever seen, how strange.
I'll chime in from a slightly different view point.... my dd was held back in first grade. She was a young first grader (we put her in PS because of speech problems and they wouldn't treat her unless it inhibited her ability to learn and that wouldn't happen unless she was in school). Holding her back was AWFUL on her. Looking back at it - though she had fun in first grade - it just wasn't worth it. She saw her friends move forward and she didn't. I pulled her out after the 2nd year of first grade and started homeschooling. Her reading still isn't the best - but she learns more by listening to something than reading - so we are STILL (age 9 here) working on strengthing her reading but at her pace and no special curriculum....though she loved starfall.com - we just read. BUT she's learning more because she is listening to books and even her vocab is increasing because she is not listening to "dumbed down" books - but the real deal and LOVING the adventures in them. We started homeschooling in the summer and within 1 month I was committed to doing it with them. 2 years later I don't see us going back at all. They are better adjusted moving at their own pace than the school system.
This is a good point. Every child is different and figuring out your child's learning style is the most important thing to do for all subjects. Now I could be wrong, A Beka could have changed since we used it but when we used it it wasn't simply ra-t, sa-t, and so on. The blends were being pointed out. This is just a part of it and a small part of it if I remember correctly. A Beka is big on special sounds and blends. This is why they use a lot of blend ladders so the child can see and relate the sound to whatever word they are using. For example: tu ta ti to te ba be bi bo bu Once the child knows the ba blend, they can add ll to make the word ball, or ke to make the word bake and so on. But A Beka is not retricted to this alone. I am looking at A Handbook For Reading and this is also used. a da dad i di dill a ca cat u cu cub For the special sounds like ay, they teach it as Jay, way, May. This way the child memorizes the special sounds and blends and can read and recognize the sound no matter what letter comes before it; assuming your child takes to this method. For Ems, it was perfect. It made sense to her but again, every child is different. This is another example. amp lamp damp camp ear bear swear pear
I think this is probably the best place to start; before any curriculum is picked. I think it is worth its weight in gold.
Rhonda, I was reading over my previous post and I hope it doesn't appear as though I am disagreeing with you either. I think what you said is true. I just wanted to share what A Beka was like for us and what else it offered. Whether the op uses it or any other curriculum doesn't matter to me as long as they use what works for them.:love:
