Im wondering if any of you ladies may be able to help me, my daughter who is now entering 2nd grade seems to be having problems with reading and writing, we are making such slow progress. When she reads she will say each letter first R-E-D then i find myself saying put it together now. Is this normal for a 7 year old? as im not sure where she should be in these subjects. I have only completed one year of schooling, i keep trying to tell myself it will all come together, but still worry. Thanks for any advice given. Rebecca
Is she actually "putting the sounds together" when you tell her to? If she is then I would encourage her to not sound it out or spell it out first. Explain that the listener would not be able to follow well if she sounded out all the words. She can do that in her head. Some children learn to read at a slower pace than others. I think reading is just that way. Some kids pick it up extremely early and others are a little late. I am not really sure what is "normal" for a seven yo. My dd is entering into 3rd and she is 8 now. Last year this time she was starting to read chapter books. My ds is four and has learned letters and sounds but isn't quite at the point where he is trying to put them together (my dd was doing that at four). So, I suppose she was a little early for her age to be reading. I wouldn't worry too much about where she is according to other 7yos. Just make sure she is making progress and learning along the way. Are you using any phonics programs with her?
reading My boys have just turned 8 and beginning to read. I tried everything but they just didn't get it. I have spent money on phonics programs. Give it time and just keep trying.
She was using leap frog reading programmes, but to be honest i think she was memorizing it, more so than reading the words. Not sure if this is good or bad, im wondering by memorizing surely the words are going in her head lol, even though i have heard its a bad thing i also forgot to mention she has problems with her speech,and at times is very hard to understand which im sure doesnt help with reading. I did get the book Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons but some of it was babyish and letters she had already learnt in PS, so we are going through this now. Thank You for the advice though. Rebecca
I ran into this problem too when my kids were learning phonics. When I was confident that they knew the letters and sounds, I told them that now we need to work on putting them together smoothly into words. Sounding things out is a tool we use to figure out words we don't know, but it isn't how we read. We don't say mmm-aaaa-ttttt, we say mat. It took only about a week of reminding them that they transitioned into reading. I think they just get used to sounding things out that they do even when they don't need too. It became a habit for my kids that they just needed to become aware of. I don't think they even realized they were doing it! However, if you aren't confident that she knows all the letters and sounds, that could be the trouble. She has to focus so much on the letters that just getting the sounds right takes precedence over putting the word together. It takes practice, and every child is different. I used the Horizon's phonics and reading program with my kids because it wasn't too easy. It goes over each individual letter and corresponds it with words and finally a story you read to them. This could be good as she already has knowledge of letters, and the lessons will show her how to use the sounds in short, easy words. Just a thought. HTH. Sorry I ramble!
Thank You Homegoddess i never thought of that, almost every words she comes too she will almost spell it out, even at little words, i will give this ago. The only word i have noticed she says off the top of her head is "The" and i know she knows some of the words, maybe she is like mom lazy lol
Speech and reading/writing all go together. So, if she is having problems in one area then it may be affected the other. Have you actually sat with her and gone through each letter and the sound(s) it makes? If she is having speech problems then she still may not know all the letter sound (or atleast how to say them correctly). Was she getting speech classes in ps when she attended? You may want to see if you can get her into some sort of speech classes again. You may be amazed at how her reading improves with her speech improvement. Just some ideas. Oh, also I still use a phonics workbook with my dd and she is reading chapter books. There are so many phonics rules out there that they need to know to become excellent readers. I, honesty, still don't remember all the rules in phonics. I'm hoping my children will use them so much that they stick in their heads!
She has never had speech classes, her problems i have been trying to solve myself, she is getting there very slowly, and i have to keep reminding her she seems to have the most problems with the letter S, if she comes across a single S we are fine, but in a word (snail she will say nail) Mind you when she is sick she makes me laugh she will add a D lol. I think maybe phonics is worth at least a try, I have at least some ideas from you all and thank you for your time to help with this issue
I would contact the local ps and talk to a speech therapist to get her evaluated. They can be a big help. At her age if she is still hard to understand she should really be seen, and sooner is always the better. Trying to solve it yourself isn't always the best solution. And if it turns out that she is on track it will only put your mind at ease. Knowing is always best rather than second guessing yourself, for your child's sake. If it makes you feel any better, my neice had a problem with her r's up until she was about 7 or 8. It just seemed to disappear after awhile and we really don't know when. It just went away one day, and that's very normal for many children. However, even in most Kindergarten programs, children know simple sight words like "red" already, so talking to someone will at least help you evaluate the situation better and figure out what is best for your daugther.
Thank You Jen, I think i may have to start looking into this, as you said though my brother had speech problems too, and that just cleared up on its own one day. Funny thing is though i know she knows some of her reading words, and on her own she will write them too. I will try some of the tips given and let you know how we get on. Thank You Everyone. Blessings Rebecca
speech I had a friend who is a speech therapist test my boys who are 8. She said they should out grow their problems by 9 or 10. She said it isn't uncommon to have problems until age 10. After that there is a problem. She also said to correct the mistakes instead of looking over it.
My son is 11 and still has troble sounding out words. I also have different phonic games to help. When he was little I bought phonic flash cards, from Dollar Tree. I still use them today. They seem to help him understand the basic sound of the letters, and how the different letters make differnt sounds. Like the long a for ape and the short a for apple. He does have a reading disability so thats why we are still using them. Along with every thing below. A speech teacher that used to help my son gave me a few things to try at home. 1. Write the letters on paper and go over sounding them out, with them every day until they can do it well. Also write down differnt words that the child can come up with using that letter. Everyday write down 2-5 new words that the child comes up with. Keep all words on that sheet of paper with the letter. 2. Make a book using different letters and pictures that use the different sounds of that letter, from coloring books. This will also help them to understand the sounds and being able to color the pictures helps with remembering. 3. Sound out words that are in the books you are reading to them. This is wonderful to help them to remember how some words look and sound. Espically when they have a silent letter. These are easy and very inexpensive to do. And she can help you. Number 2 was so much fun for both my son and myself. Hope this will help.
Thank You so much, yes it has helped, and i have lots of ideas to work with now. I will also look around the dollar stores for things to help her. I have a younger son so maybe get her involved in reading and writing with him too. The speech problems i do correct her with the "S" its only the single ones, if its a "SH" we have no problems. Ill just keep my eye on her speech and see where it goes for a while.You have all been so helpful and once again thank you.
I know I'm joining this conversation a bit late (I was on vacation last week). I just wanted to second what Missy said about continuing with phonics instruction even after your child is reading fluently. My younger dd just turned 5 a few weeks ago. She is already through kindergarten level work and is eager to start on first grade. I started her out with phonics- teaching her to write each letter and know it's sound. But, when it came time to start reading, she wasn't one bit interested in sounding things out- she just wanted to read by sight. This was a very different approach for me (one I honestly didn't like- ask Jackie!); but, after awhile, I just sat back and more or less watched, and she took off! I'm sure she's reading at, at least, a second grade level now. However, in another post I answered about the Pathway Readers, I said that I purchases some of the First Grade Readers for her. I know she'll be able to read right through the stories. But, they come with very nice phonics workbooks that we will work on after the stories. I want to really cement the phonics rules in her head. That way, when she does come to harder words that she can't just read by sight, she will know the phonics rules and be able to sound them out. On another note, I've been reading alot about relaxed learning....... I've seen so many people posting that they use no formal curriculum to teach their children. Some have said that their children didn't actually learn to read until they were 10 years old; but that they love reading and have excelled in college. Every child is different~ only you know what is best for your child and how she learns. Sounds like you've got alot of good advice. I'm sure you'll do what's right! HTH,
P.S. Both my girls have had some mild speech problems. WIth my oldest (now 11) I used to be sure that she'd need a speech therapist. And, then one day, the problems were gone! With my youngest, people still have trouble understanding her sometimes. I've made the comment that the poor kid had to learn to read so that she could make us understand. I, for the most part, understand her; but sometimes I'll say to her "can you spell that word for Mommy because I can't understand" and she'll spell it! Poor kid! It's funny to listen to her read because sometimes I can't even understand all the words but she knows them, because in her mind she knows the sounds each letter makes, so even if she can't properly pronounce them, she knows the words. Sounds like your daughter is much the same, especially since you said that she can write the same words that she's often sounding out when reading.
