My dd turned 7 in May and is still reading on a K level. She has been making progress, but it is REALLY slow. I am begining to get nervous. She can read 3 letter words, but as soon as it is time to blend she gets lost. She can tell me what sound "sl" makes if I write it on the board alone, and what "ip" sounds like alone. But if I write the word "slip" she gets all confused. I took all of last year and all of this year (up until now) to go over letters and their sounds, word families and vowels. She can do that all really well, because we took a long time to make it stick. But now I am stuck, I don't know what to do. She doesn't need to go over letter sounds,or phonics families again. Do you all have any idea's, or has anyone been through this and can assure me it will be ok :cry: I am begining to seriously doubt myself as her teacher. Last year we used BJU K5 phonics/reading. This year I started her off with the first level box in Hooked on Phonics (the 5 box sets) and explode the code workbooks. Plus she plays reading eggs and jumpstart cds on the computer.
I would have her practice blending the sounds orally, without looking at the written words. If you said to her /s/-/l/-/i/-/p/ could she blend them and come up with the wod slip? Practice that for a while, then have her try it with written words.
My oldest had the same problem and what worked the best for her was playing The Phonics Game. It is a card game in which they have to sound out the words on the cards to keep them. The decks of cards get progressively harder as they introduce new phonics sounds or rules. We started playing the game with her in K and since there are several decks of cards we are still playing it on Fridays and she is in the 5th grade. We found our set really cheap on ebay and have even seen them in thrift stores. I wouldn't be too hard on yourself. Some kids have a much harder time learning to read and it just doesn't click until they are older. Others like my oldest turn out to have learning disabilities that make it take longer. I think slowing down and letting her work at her own speed the way that you have is the best thing you can do for her. My oldest still has days that she goes back to the old Hooked on Phonics sets from 2nd and 3rd grade to practice words that most kids already know as sight words, because she still forgets them. Keep up the good work and try hard relax. It sounds like you are doing a wonderful job.
I know it seems like it is only for younger kids, but have you looked at "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons?" It really focuses on how to put the sounds together to make words. Since she already knows the sounds she should be able to work through it pretty easily. I like explode the code also! My oldest was also slow on picking up reading, I remember a lot of moments of frustration on both of our parts, but one day she just "got it" and started reading. (I think she was about seven and half at the time) Your dd will also! I wouldn't doubt your teaching at all! You sound like you are doing everything you can for your daughter.
my dd, 6, also struggles with reading. When I first started teaching her, I took a wide strip of construction paper and folded it in half length-wise. Then I cut slits in it up one side and wrote letters on the other on the inside. It's hard to explain but what I ended up with was a flashcard that I could flip up a section for each individual letter or sound, so she was only looking at one at a time (so she didn't get overwhelmed). It made a huge difference with my dd. Once she'd sounded out each part, I'd flip open the entire thing so she could do it again while looking at the entire word. Since she'd already made the sounds, it wasn't nearly as scary. I also do it occasionally if I want her to focus on only part of a word at a time (we especially do this when the words are two little words stuck together like 'into') We also sound out words verbally a lot, or she'll spell it and I'll write it down as she sounds it out.
Meghan that sounds like a good idea. I think I understand how you cut it :wink: I just took a peek at the phonics game and couldn't find a whole lot of info about it. I noticed it is made by HOP, how does it differ from the HOP programs ??
http://coloring-page.net/parents/phonics.html Here's a link to The Phonics Game. Maybe this will help.
Just to set your mind at ease, you might want to look at Raymond Moore's "Better Late than Early". His research showed that formal learning was best saved for age 8-10 and that it was perfectly normal for kids(boys especially) to not be ready for reading until then or even later. Our modern school system has convinced the public that all children should be reading at 5 and I personally don't see the benefit of that. You are doing fine! If kids sense that we are stressed or panicked, it may actually make them freeze up and quit trying.
The main difference between HOP and the Phonics Game is that hooked on phonics is just like another class. You sound out words and read stories. The Phonics Game is a card game you try to win. You can luck out and get cards that let you take cards from other players (which you can only keep after sounding them out). My girls enjoy it more because it is a game. We usually will set a timer and play until it dings. Then we count the cards to see who won.
This! My almost 7 year old 1st grader can't read either-he went to PS for K and it stressed him out sooooo bad being forced to read when he wasn't ready, that he didn't even want to see a book at all anymore. Don't push-she's not 'behind' she's just not ready yet and that's okay. I glanced through the other responses, I didn't see anyone ask, have you had her eyes checked? She may have a tracking issue. (I think this might be a problem with my son) My son sounds just like your daughter, does great with his phonics work, but put a book in front of him and he can't do it. This is a GREAT site to learn about some eye issues she may be having and the examples show you what your child would see with each problem so you can better understand the problem http://www.childrensvision.com/reading.htm HTH
My son went to private/public schools until 7th grade. When he was in Pre-K they tried to teach him how to read. He could very painstakingly read short words. Then the teacher wanted them to write sentences from a list of 20 words or so. I ended up just telling him what letters to write. He still struggled in K and it finally clicked somewhere in first grade. When it clicked it just flowed. When your daughter is ready, she will be able to do it and not a minute before. There is no way to artificially speed up the learning process. Also, I have read numerous accounts where kids didn't catch on to reading until they were much older (even as late as 12 or so), but once they did, they did fine and "caught up" with others.
I was also going to suggest having her eyes tested (specifically for tracking... NOT just a check up at the optometrist... that's not the same thing). I didn't see anything about learning disabilites mentioned, either. If she's fine with parts of a word, but can't put together an entire word, she might be reversing letters in her mind. (Dyslexia)
