My brother is going in the 9th grade at ps. This school is supossed to be ranked the #1 school in our state but this kid cannot read! They keep saying he is just lazy but that is not the case. Last night he was trying to read his summer assignment ~ To Kill a Mockingbird. It took him 1.5 hours to read 25 pages. When he was finished we asked what the book was about and his reply was "I have no idea." Does anyone have any suggestions on how to help him improve on the speed and retention of his reading??
9th grade? That's tough. Have you asked him what he thinks the problem is? I'd do a little diagnostic testing with him. How does he do reading it aloud? Is it a decoding problem; he struggles to make out the words? In that case he needs some phonics study. Is it a eye tracking problem? There's to many words crammed too close on a page and he can't keep his eyes running along the lines without loosing his place? If that is the case, then he needs larger print books or needs to use an index card to guide his eyes. Maybe he needs to hear the book to comprehend it; in which case, he needs to read aloud to himself or listen to it on tape. If you narrow down the problem, you could then get ideas for helping him by doing a search on dyslexia. Even if he isn't dyslexic, the methods for improving the reading skills of those with dyslexia would be helpful to any struggling reader. Maybe he just doesn't like To Kill a Mockingbird; I have no solution for that except for Cliff Notes!
