improving reading rate and accuracy

Hope things have slowed down a bit for you. Miss your expertise on the board.

Beth, NOT pushing meds, but it might be worth a try. My daughter after 1-1/2 years of therapies, was put on Concerta and the difference was like night and day. I would suggest the absolute Lowest dosage. I have heard alot about the Strattera, but am not too keen on trying something new and getting her “out of whack”. She’s doing so well, I hate to mess with it.

As I posted somewhere else, she said, “The medicine makes all the noise in the room go away, so I can read better”. I personally notice she does get distracted as in b4 if we were reading about a horse, she would stop reading and say, “Hey , mom, remember when we went horse back riding in Orlando and blah, blah, blah…” I would have to say, “Yes, honey, that was great fun, now back to the story…” (On a GOOD day :-) ) - She still does this, but not nearly as often when she’s on meds. THAT’s one of the biggest things I noticed with reading itself and the meds.

IF you decide to try the meds, let us know what difference it makes.

My son always finds something else to talk about when he reading!! I am not sure if it is he can’t control his mind or if it is a very conscious strategy to talk about something else and not read. Is there any way to tell?

We really saw the inattention when he was preparing for FCATs. I think the stress brought it out.

I have been thinking about a med trial again. Someone just told me that IM got him out of intensive care but he still needs hospitalization!! I think that is an apt description of him. He is soooo much better now but as the year as gone on, the novelty of the change has worn off. I am comparing him now to “average” rather than how he used to be.

If I decide to give it a try, I’ll be sure to report back.

Beth

Yes, Susan, we NEED you! I know you are busy but your expertise is greatly needed on this board! Thanks for all you do!

Janis

In all honesty, I can’t tell if it alone is making a big difference. We’re moving very slowly with the program (1 page per week read daily, although I move through sections to work on different vowel patterns each week). It’s difficult to focus on any one thing because we do A LOT of other stuff too (like reading “way above level” which gives tremendous decoding practice, reading “below level” which also helps with fluency….and, in addition to this, long division!!! :-o). The best thing about these fluency drills are that they are easy to incorporate into a busy schedule.

Hopefully in the summer we can do much more.

One interesting thing has been to see how my son will sometimes “latch onto” a word incorrectly (for example he’ll want to say “whip” for “wipe”). By repeating the page throughout the week he eventually learns to correct it. Another thing, he’ll sometimes move relatively quickly, but then slow down or pause at times (like he has run out of energy or motivation?).

Another idea I got from these drills is that I could create my own for sets of words he has difficulty with.

Overall, with every thing we do, I think my son is “moving along.” I wish this were easier and he could move more quickly, but I’ve come to accept that progress may be slow, but hopefully ongoing. Sometimes he’s a little depressed about his reading skills. I guess one girl at school made a comment to him one day saying, “How can you not read that? That’s so easy.” And yet, I think he’s doing quite well — and I always let him know that. Right now he’s preparing a report on Abraham Lincoln. I’m having him read a very difficult book (he only gets through 1-2 pages a day) and write an outline about the main idea on each page. It’s a good challenge. He’s having to wade through words like “emancipation proclamation” and figure out what might be the main idea on a page of text he can only sometimes read (I break down words with my finger and sometimes, when necessary, help just a wee bit with decoding). It’s a huge push.

Good luck on your decision! I know it’s a difficult one. I have the latest Conner’s ratings in an envelope (mine and the teacher’s!), but keep putting off making any Dr. appointments.

I do believe that everything we put into our children makes a difference.

The reason I am looking into the computer game idea is because I have parents who want me to send MORE homework home. HOmework for kids who already struggle with the existing work that is given. I am looking for computer games and board games that allow for that extra practice and boost of those basic skills.
Spelling
Reading Fluency
Reading Comprehension
Sentence Structure
Grammar
Adding
Subtracting
Multiplying
Dividing
Fractions
Decimals
Percents
Money

Yes, It would be nice if the whole family would sit down together and enjoy the time..but that isn’t always reality. I am just attempting to reduce the amount of paper and pencil work at home..and possibly school.

Thanks!

Double post.

Deleted by Jessica.

Double post.

Deleted by Jessica.

Laura,

For any child struggling with reading decoding issues, I highly recommend Earobics (E1 for developmental ages 4-7, E2 7-10) www.earobics.com. Fluency and comprehension will not develop until the underlying phonemic awareness and phonics are developed.

Janis

Way to go Janis! I completely forgot about Earobics! The school I student taught in…used Earobics! Good one!!!!! Keep sending ideas! I would like to have a huge list for the parents to choose from:)
Laura

Laura,

Here’s one more for you. I have not used this personally yet, but I have one on order. It is a CD-rom called Read, Write, and Type!. I saw it recommended on the Schwab Learning site which only gives research based recommendations. Here is the article on the Schwab site which has it listed:

http://www.schwablearning.org/Articles.asp?r=318&g=2&d=5

Janis