Hi, I'm looking for a little advice! Our son is in 1st grade this year. Last year he was in a Christian kindergarten that used abeka and he basically wasn't getting it- he's not an abeka type kid! So, this year we're homeschooling and I switched to Scaredy Cat learning system to try and make reading more fun and not just learning long lists of special sounds. Well, we're about a month into this year and he's still just not really getting it, or else he's not willing to try and get it, I'm not sure. He can read 3 letter words fine but anything beyond that, or trying to make him read a whole paragraph, is just really overwhelming and he puts on the brakes in his mind and I just have to pull him along, know what I mean? I've talked to him about going back to kindergarten but he is very against that idea. He does great in math and other subjects. Thanks for your help/ideas/advice!!
Three things that may work. An entire paragraph may look too overwhelming. Try covering the bottom with a sheet of blank paper. It will help him keep the line he is reading straight & allow him just one line at a time. Incentives. Sad to say my dd was very motivated by something sweet. Try scattering jelly beans or other small sweets randomly over a page. If he reads as far as the bean he gets to eat it. lol. Chocolate was dd's weakness; it worked wonders. Games. All childen like these. Write out a sentence. Cut it into it's separate words & have dc reconstruct it & read it back. You can do this with an entire paragraph. Play *find all the *the* words in this paragraph. Memory using sight word cards. Take turns reading sentence by sentence. Word Bingo. Send him on a word hunt round the house ie 'find a box that says *right side up*' Cooking ~ help him read the recipe. Some children need a practical reason to learn something & just need to see it is useful to them. All the best.
Here's another thought: I never discuss "grade level" with my son. He is officially finishing "kindergarten," but his work level is not kindergarten. He is all over the board - ahead in some areas, behind in others. I just don't talk about it, I say, "This is what's next." And we don't move to the next skill until he's got it down. It can feel very demanding on me sometimes to come up with the umpteeth way to work on the same old skill, but it has paid off with his learning. When he's ready, he learns it, and he learns it solid.
I think eyeofthestorm is right. Kids do things at different rates. Your son sounds like mine. My son is in second grade now. I've had to adjust and adjust and adjust some more for him. I found that if I went too fast, he'd get frustrated and shut down. He's great in math, but reading has yet to click. BTW: My husband remembers when reading "clicked" for him. It wasn't until the summer after third grade! He's prolific reader now.
Thanks so much for the good ideas and encouraging words, I needed that! I think it could be that he just needs to see how reading is necessary for life. He loves to have books read to him and we do that everyday too but it's not something that he has to have, you know?
Back off from "teaching" him to read. Drop all formal reading programs, and get a bunch of Easy Readers from the library. Read these WITH him (he reading one page and you the next). Get lots of good literature and picture books and read to him constantly. Take him shopping with you, and give him charge of checking things off your grocery list. (Can you find BREAD? It's the word that starts with a B....) If he does AWANAS, write all his verses on cards and go over them.
