Word Attack skills

was a Phono-Graphix intensive. (We had done vision therapy and PACE first.) Her word attack score went from something like grade 3.5 on the pre-test to something like 10.5 on the post-test.

A certified PG tutor twice a week is even better than an intensive. You can call the company (see http://www.readamerica.net) to find out if there are tutors in your area taking students.

Or, you can use Reading Reflex and one of the company’s $39 support manuals to work through the program yourself. Many parents have done this successfully. (I would have, but my daughter and I really needed a break from each other at the time.)

Mary

If I knew a little bit more about your son, I could make some detailed suggestions. What level of reading has he reached? What sort of difficulties does he have? Has he had a phonics program or the usual school guess-and-hope teaching? What phonics program and for how long? I’d be glad to sugggest books and materials and methods if I knew a bit more.

this year my son moved into the resource room for phonics,spelling and writing.He does Saxon Phonics some type of remedial kind I think this is where is spelling comes from.He is just about to turn 10 but only reads on a middle of the year first grade level.However his comphrehension when read to is that of a High schooler.He stays in the reg. classroom for reading which he has a lot of things read to him.He confuses similar words like place for piece and letters too d,b,p,q.He also writes other backwards such as k,f,c,r,s,h.He does have speech difficulties and has come a long way with his speech in the last few years.As long as things are read to him he does fine but cant read things on his own too good and as things are getting more complex and not having pictures on every page he is having more trouble and getting more fustrated.We have done vision therapy and he gets speech therapy and OT in school.

deb,
take MaryMN’s advice, go buy Reading Reflex and help your son get some sound to symbol correspondence, he has no idea how the code works,

try reading these words, enough, brought, vouch, touch, etc,
see how hard the code is, he needs to learn how the code works, and you would be wasting his time with more sight word memory
do not make it harder than it is, follow the steps in the book and get him reading, you are perfectly capable of teaching him to read,
libby

Sometimes students need a lot of tactile-kinesthetic experiences to help them remember how to create letter forms correctly. If you go to my website, , click on *Free Resources*, then on *Teaching the Child to Print*. There I’ve written instructions for printing each letter in ways that the b, d, p, q are all formed differently. This really helps them recognize the letters when they come to them in reading and hesitate, especially if you say, “Trace that letter on your clothing.” Even if this mode of handwriting/printing doesn’t match the one taught in his school, you must make the decision on which method will really help your child and explain to the teachers WHY you are teaching him differently.

You can also provide letter cards on which he can trace the letters. You can find these under Supplementary Materials on the site. The letters are large enough that there is some larger motor involvement. You can achieve a similar effect by writing the letters on textured wallpaper or by running a bead of clear glue (Elmer’s?) over them. Sometimes just getting over the reversal hurdle can make a big difference. Anything he learns to do automatically will make the next task easier. Grace

Yes! So far, the Reading Reflex manual is the simplest, cheapest program for parents to use on their own. It doesn’t have everything I would like it to have, but it’s the only program (for parents, anyway) that I know of that starts at the right place: sounds to letters. Anything else is going to be more of the same-old, same-old that hasn’t been working for him.

and the fact that you have already done vision therapy, I would also recommend some cognitive training. Both PACE (http://www.learninginfo.com) and Audiblox (http://www.audiblox2000.com) have exercises that work on directionality. Both programs are good at taking vision to the next level of development — visual processing skills. They would not directly impact word attack, but would develop the underlying skills that help with reading fluency.

Mary

Saxon Phonics in school is a start but almost certainly not enough. The advice you’re getting about Reading Reflex and proper printing techniques is definitely going in the right direction.

I’ve previously posted several long long detailed posts giving suggested methods and techniques for tutoring and reasons why certain methods work and others (ie what the school has done with your son) don’t. You can use the search option on this board to look up my old posts, and you can read things by Mary MN and Shay which certainly apply to your kind of problem. Please feel free to email or post with more questions.

Deb sounds like your son is dyslexic, I am ,and I an 41 yeare old. We are also seeing this in my daughter who is 9. I an trying some things that I have found on the internet for her.They say for letter reversals people who are dyslexic need a 3-d immage in there brain,I am going to try this thing where you take the alphabet and mold it out of clay then the child has a 3-d immage to reffrence in there brain. There are over 70 diffrent trates that a dyslexic can have so if this dosent work keep trying. Some times phonix no matter how hard you try will not work for dyslexica. Chris

Yes the school did say last year he was dyslexic but wont write.His doctors have too.He has days he has no reversals and days he has many reversals.This confuses his teachers how he can have such a good day and can complete almost everything one day and then not the next.My son has alao been dx with a form of PDD on the high scale highly functioning though.He really has poor motor skills and his teachers say this gets in his way of reading too.I am going to try Reading Reflex with him this summer if he will work with me .We have done work every summer with him since K and nothing has really helped neither has 3 years of summer school.HIs math skills are that of a high schooler but when reading is involved in it is way below grade level.

Kids who are LD are very erratic in their performance. It is almost a hallmark of LD. We have found that sleep makes a big difference with our son so an early bedtime is critical. This doesn’t completely eliminate the variation but has made a big difference. Basically, kids with LD spend a lot of energy coping that others do not and when they aren’t up to snuff, it is very noticeable.

Beth

Deb,

Another thing to consider is diet. You mentioned some days your son has reversal problems and some days he doesn’t. I have followed the Feingold Diet for years with my kids. I have heard from parents and teahers about kids whose reversals went away while following the diet which eliminates food dyes and other additives. Checkout www.feingold.org.

Helen

We have done the diet thing for his behavior and other things too nothing has made a difference.Sleep he actually does better on little sleep than he does when he sleeps 12 hours.

What have you actually done diet wise?
Sometimes kids are worse the first few weeks on a diet that eliminates the problem substance because there body is going through withdrawal.

Helen

Mary,
What exactly is “intensive” Phono-Graphix? Approximately how many hours or days?

Can someone tell me where I can preview this program? I’m actually thrilled with the progress my students are making with SRA Corrective Reading, but I’m always interested in new programs. Is it expensive? Does the company let you preview some materials first? Is extensive training involved? Is is simply for decoding or comprehension too?

thank, lisa

itself is a book that costs $16 in most bookstores. This book is written specifically for parents who want to tutor a child in reading. However, many teachers have found it extremely useful also. I believe the company’s WorkWorks 3-ring binder (written for classroom teachers, and includes reproducible worksheets) can be purchased by anyone. The company’s tutoring kits (contains a large number of manipulatives) are available for purchase by those who become certified in the program.

The website for the company is http://www.readamerica.net. They offer certification programs at several training centers in the U.S. and the U.K. The training is a 5-day affair. The home office and original clinic are near Orlando, so it can be combined with some vacationing. The workshop prices, locations, times, etc. are all published on the website.

The program is strictly for decoding skills. However, they also have a Language Wise program (parent book is called “How To Increase Your Child’s Verbal Intelligence”, also commonly available in bookstores) that works on a variety of language skills other than decoding. There is certification available in this program also.

Mary

jeesh!

What grade do you teach? Delivery of Phono-Graphix is different depending on the age of the students and if you are using it as a beginning reading program or for remedial work. The problem with most children concerning comprehension is their ability to decode MS words. Unfortunately, we have not realized this. Whole language has been instrumental in placing the emphasis on the ability to comprehend print not realizing that the ability to comprehend is directly related to their ability to decode. If a child can’t decode five out of seven words in a sentence and has to guess at those words, the deficiency will show up in comprehension. Generally if you give the student time to practice their reading skills, to gain fluency, comprehension will improve. After having said this, the ability to comprehend also has to do with the age of the student. The lack of vocabulary development is a major detriment to comprehension in the older student. But first and foremost, you have to teach decoding and then go from there. I am sure that you know this, but I am writing this for others who may be reading this post. If you wish to email me personally, I can help you in teaching PG to a class. My specialty is the older student, but I have taught students of all ages.