Jumping off from Sommer's thread: Xander (ds6) really WANTS to be able to read, but he is just not ready. We've been working on it all year and he sometimes doesn't even remember what letter makes what basic sound ("what letter says 'fffff'?" "E?"). I'm not worried; I know he's just not there yet. But he desperately wants to read! Any suggestions?
www.starfall.com He can play for hours and it will just stick in his head accidentally. This was my (last year) Kindergarten phonics program. My son (4) watched his sister do it enough that he wanted to do it to. Now he is sounding out words. It is an awesome site!
Yeah, he's been playing on Starfall like a crazy person. He's getting irritated that he isn't 'getting' it.
awww....poor kid. Is he just using the letter and sound section? My slower learner wanted to skip ahead to the reading lessons, but would not do well until she had those letters and sounds down pat.
Have you ever had him illustrate a familiar story, and then write simple sentences under his pictures? Kids are usually highly motivated to "read" them. Also, have him make his own "BOB" type books. Pick a Word Family, have him draw or glue a picture from that word family on each page. Then he can read this "book", or he could write a sentence on each page. Just some thoughts!
I am tutoring an eight year old who just learned to read. I found a free online program that helped him a lot. http://www.learntoreadfree.com/ It is a very gentle program. Also, I found that making flashcards of the words that were being presented in that program helped him. I made the cards by printing the words in a large red font . I started with the words "yes" and "no". I had read that some kids have underdeveloped visual pathways. They find it much easier to recognize and learn words when they are presented in a large red font. It worked amazingly well for this young man. He had spent tons of time on the Starfall site with no real progress. He is now reading phonics readers and devouring the content on Starfall. The greatest thing was to see him have success for the first time. When the light went on, he was off and reading----lol. He gained so much confidence from the built in success of the "Learn to Read Free" program. I hope this helps your child as well. Blessings, Susan
Letterfactory!!!!!! They have some new ones out too that are on Netflix watch it now!!! We still play the Leapfrog videos all.the.time.
Even at this age I might not presume that he is just not ready - if he wants to do it then usually they can and will. I would probably get firstly his vision and hearing checked and then try to determine what his learning style is and work to that. If he is not remembering the letter sounds after working on it for a year then there is most likely a problem - it will not become easier as he gets older - it is usually easier to remember these kinds of things at younger ages. You may have better success however teaching with the big red writing suggested above, teaching words he choses and wants to read and reinforcing the letters in those words (don't worry if it is hard phonics - just teach the rules that come up in those words) Don't present the whole alphabet - just work on one word a day with its letters and then try to get words with similar letters in them so he is not overwhelmed. Has he done any sight words? I would probably also give him a few and see if he can remember these - yes, he needs phonics, but you also need to know how he learns and you may find he picks up some sight words easier - then you can teach phonics backwards (you know this word (eg see)- these are the sounds in the word you already know, now look at this word (eg tree)- it has the same sound at the end)
This makes me think about how crazy ds made me when he was learning letters/sounds. I was teaching preschool from home and the other kids seemed to "get it faster". I was using letter flash cards that had a letter and picture on each card. We always did the letter, the sound, and a word with an action. So, the other kids picked up on letter first, sound next. It took some time, but I realized ds worked backwards. He picked up on the word associated, from there figured out the beginning sound, and later could tell me what the letter was. He would see a letter in a book and he would have to remember what picture was on that letter's card and then could tell me the sound. Not sure how that could help you, but just what my experience was.
Check your library for LeapFrog DVDs. They do a good job teaching sounds. Readingbear.org is also a great site - free too.
