I have posted alot here recently about my son and his reading but that is because his skills seem so uneven. His Woodcock reading mastery scores were actually pretty even though with grade equivelants of 1.8-2.6. I ordered the audioblox system and was seeing what I needed to do to get started. I checked to see if I needed to do step 1 of recording the story to help with vocabulary. I took the 1st set of flashcards (yellow) and had him read them to me and tell me what they meant. He was able to read 90 percent of them, and tell me what the words meant He even caught on that the some of the words presented both starting with a capital and with a lower case letter. He asked “do they do that to see if you know it is still the same word?” Some of these words were ones he has not seen before. He read the words “cold”. I found this interesting because when we do the Dolch site words on flashcards he can get 90 percent of them but when the teachers has him do them off a list he does not do as well. He also has difficulty with them when he sees them in text. Do any of you have thoughts on this?
Re: words in isolation vs text
Hi Lisa. When the teacher asks your son to read words off of a list, is the list on an overhead projector screen or on the blackboard? If so, then this may be part of his difficulty. You can request in the IEP that the teacher make an individual list for your son at his seat.
If he is having difficulties with an individual list, then perhaps the font style and font size could be changed. I had to enlarge the font and change the type of font with my son until he was doing better. I gradually decreased the font size and introduced him to various font styles. He can now read off a list and from a book with a typical font size and style.
Perhaps you could convince the teacher to give him flashcards instead of a list—put it in the IEP. It doesn’t mean it will be forever. At least he will learn his words and have less stress. Utilizing a pencil as a pointer will help in tracking problems. There are several posts below about it. I strongly recommend doing the pencil technique. Good luck. Val
Re: words in isolation vs text
Have you taken him in for a developmental vision evaluation? Being able to read words individually but not in text often indicates a developmental vision delay.
A website with good information is http://www.childrensvision.com. You can find developmental optometrists in your area at http://www.covd.org.
Mary
Re: words in isolation vs text
Is the print on the flash cards bigger than on the list presented by the teacher? Does he hold them at a different distance? You might want to experiment with different sizes and distances to see see if you are dealing with a kid who needs glasses. Make up a list similar to the teacher’s to see for yourself how he handles it.
Re: words in isolation vs text
The print on the sight word flashcards is bigger, but the print on the audiolox flashcards are regular size print. We have had him to the eye Dr. because his dad has lazy eye, and we both wear classes. His eyes tested out fine. The teachers theory is that since he just this year is learning to read that too much text on a page overwhelms him. She is testing this theory out by having him read text that is not visually overstimulating, ie.-only a few words to a page that are spaced out. She will do this until he gets comfortable and slowly increase the number of words on a page. I am glad she is going to be his main teacher again next year. I am also glad that my district believes that although inclusion serves a purpose not all children can be mainstreamed all the time. He recieves most his instruction in a cross categorical spec ed class. He is included for social studies, science, PE, music, lunch, and recess. This has been a good fit for him, he has improved so much this year. Their hope is that after this up coming school year he will be able to be included more but they dont want to push him.
Re: words in isolation vs text
Hi Lisa,
The particular problem you describe would suggest the possibility of a vision problem. When you combine that with your husband’s lazy eye, it increases the odds significantly that your son has an undiagnosed vision problem. Check out the websites that Mary recommended above…..Rod
Re: words in isolation vs text
Hi Lisa,
My son has the same problem (he can now decode just about any individual word. He even quickly decoded “Transmission” and “Brioche” the other day!), but he struggles with reading text. Particularly if there is a lot of text on a page! And he’ll pause on even the simplest words like “a” “the” and “was.”
We’re currently looking into vision therapy. Like your son, my son tested with 20/20 vision when we brought him in for a “regular” eye exam, but a developmental eye exam is different. You might want to consider learning more about developmental optometry and vision therapy.
Good luck! :-)
Could it be tracking? That is the only difference I can think of reading words from a list versus flashcards. Or maybe size of the text—flashcards are likely to be bigger. You could experiment and see. Try enlarging the text on a list and see if he can do it, for example.
Beth