Wilson reading program

Don’t know whether they’re calling them the same thing as what I’ve got, but there would be 12 levels. Two is pretty basic.
Different kids spend different times at each level, so I really hesitate to make a judgment over where a kid “should” be — but it would be unusual to be still at level two based on your description. *If* there’s a whole different “level” after the 12 levels I’m familiar with, that would be more my expectation, and there may well be such an animal. However, multisyllable words *are* introduced early on.
My other question would be — has he been in the Wilson program, or are they just starting him in it? I could see wanting to start very near the beginning with the expectation of quickly plowing through the skills, just making sure he understood them in the context & organization of this program. I have certainly known students who tested out at a “solid third grade” reading level — a pretty common “got these words memorized and I”m STUCK” level — who, no question, needed to learn the sound-symbol connections from the ground up.
However, it’s equally or more likely that this is a school that teaches a program, thank you, this is where we are so this is where you are.

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To be placed in Step 2, the student would only need to have a solid knowledge of cvc words; and the following welded sounds: all, am, an.

Step 2 of the Wilson Reading System consists of the following skills:
2.1. Reading and spelling welded sounds with ng and nk (ang, ing, ong, ung, ank, ink, onk, unk
2.2 Reading and spelling closed syllable words with up to four sounds (stop, camp)
2.3 Reading and spelling words with closed syllable exceptions (ild, ind-kind, old, olt, ost-host)
2.4 Reading and spelling closed syllable words with up to five sounds (clamp, blend)
2.5 Reading and spelling closed-syllable words with 3-letter blends and up to six sounds (strand, string)

<<…and how long would you “expect” a 5th grader - with good rememediation in reading - to be at this level?>>

It depends on the child. I have some students who fly through Step 2, while I have others with significant sound sequencing deficits who take a couple of months to go through it. Nothing is written in stone.

Also, “good remediation in reading” is not necessarily enough for a severely LD (and/or dyslexic)) student if it doesn’t include a multisensory approach. After using this program for almost two years, I am finding that most kids are on Step 4 by the end of the year.

Marilyn

Anise:

<> I meant at the end of the first year in the program. I wanted to make that clear.

And Sue is correct when she said that there are twelve steps in the program. I have heard from several teachers and parents, that when the students complete Step 6 of the program, they should be pretty decent readers.

Also, in my groups students advance at their own pace, even if they start out together. With practice, a teacher should have no trouble doing this, if she knows the program well.

Marilyn

well, i feel very naive and very frustrated and angry - like the wool has been pulled over my eyes…

my son had private lm bell remediation; at age 8 his phonemic awareness was SO low (32/100 on the LAC test); he received 200 hours over 2 months and then 350 hours 8 months later. AND he was reading very, very well (at a late 3rd grade/early 4th grade level) when he left. he worked very long hours in the LIPS program to train his p.a. and then moved on to the symbol imagery program.

it sounds like he has been “stuck” in the Wilson program level 2 at his current public school NOT because he needed to stay in this level for 1.5 years, but becasue, as was said by sue, that that is what the school has , not necessarily what he needs. he has been so terribly frustrated with the resource room.

fortuneately, he is still reading at a good solid early 4th grade level - about the same as when he left lm bell almost two years ago, so i am very glad he has not lost that, but it sounds like this past 1.5 years has been a waste for him. he should have been moving on. he cannot do well at all with multisyllable words and i have asked repeatedly why he is not working on them more. he was actually working on them a lot just before he left lm bell.

do teachers not know that maybe a particular program isn’t working and they need to try something else? isn’t there a point where as a teacher you think/realize that and move on? i am very confused as to why he has been in this level 2 for so long…

thanks marilyn for your description of level 2. could you explain what is worked on in level 3 and 4?

When my son was tested on long vowels and short vowels by the school he had no idea what they were talking about. He didn’t learn these concepts with the program I used, phonographix. There is also no silent e in PG so he didn’t understand those worksheets.

I think it is a mistake to mix programs because the different approaches and labels for the sounds is confusing.

If your child can read and comprehend what he can read then don’t allow them to put him in a lower program than is appropriate.

You may need to get an LMB tutor to help him extend his skills or just get some of the workbooks yourself and work with him. You should probably try to opt out of the schools remediation and tell them you would like to work with him on the program that has been successful for him in the past on the outside.

Also, see if there is any LMB trained teachers or speech therapists at the school that could work with him. It is worth a shot.

I was talking to the middle school ESE cooridinator the other day about my son. She told me they use Wilson for the lower level readers (below fourth) and the Rewards program for those reading at 4th and up level. Several people on this board have also recommended it. I have ordered it but haven’t received it.

My son is in fourth grade and doing regular fourth grade work with some support in the classroom. He reads about as well as your son. He does reading with the regular classroom and then again in resource room. However, if I thought what was being done in resource room was ineffective, I would not hesitate to totally take him out and work with him at home (which I do as well).

Beth

Hi Annise,
My son’s school uses Rewards for multisyllable instruction (beginning in 4th grade). I’ve heard very good things about it here on this board. Unfortunately, we may loose our reading intervention program next year due to state budget cuts (which I will be very angry about since I really wanted my son to be taught with Rewards…especially because the our school’s intervention materials prior to 4th grade were basically useless! And it seems like to get any quality intervention I have to do it all myself :-(.

Maybe you can talk with your school about Rewards (I think a lot of schools use it). Perhaps they’d be interested in implementing it. It’s probably a long-shot, but might be worth trying.

Hi annise,

If your son is not relatively comfortable with MS words, he’s not reading at a fourth grade level. These are second and third grade challenges. Fourth graders should be adding to their MS reading vocabulary, not having difficulty with the MS concepts.
I want to take another shot at trying to convince you that you should have your children checked out for vision problems that cause reading problems.

I posted something like this to you several months ago and I think you replied that you had seen no research on vision issues and you were going with LMB for your younger child.

Since I last posted to you, I’ve become even more convinced than I was before that 1) vision problems underlie many reading problems, 2) vision problems are genetic and 3) until you address the vision problems with vision therapy you are not likely to get such a child reading for pleasure….and if they don’t read for pleasure, they will continue to fall farther and farther behind.

You’ve had to have spent a bundle on LMB by now. A trip to a competent behavioral optometrist who runs a vision therapy dept will be a drop in the proverbial bucket by comparison. It may even be covered by vision insurance, if you have it…please try it……Rod

Rod, Another notch in your belt. For spelling my dd has a PG tutor, who teaches at a public school for kids with severe emotional problems. She had told me about a 15 year student she had could not read despite PG and LIPS. Based on your previous posts, I suggested perhaps there was a vision problem. She was willing to try anything as the school was coming to the conclusion that the boy was just one of those kids who would never learn to read. Today she told me that over the past week she had done some simple homemade tracking exercises with him, and the PG suddenly started to click. Unfortunately, VT is out of the question due to budget, but she is going to order some of Kenneth Lane’s workbooks to use with him.

I have to say, after 11 weeks in VT my son is now a child who likes to read.

I was really waiting to say this to be sure. For the past week he reads whenever he gets a chance, all the way home and back in the 40 minute car ride to and from vision therapy. He battled with his brother who wanted to listen to his book on tape. He said, “Why can’t I just read in quiet.”

He was really upset the other day when he couldn’t find his book. This is a very big change for him.

My son has a severe ocular motor issue. They said it was one of the worst they had ever seen which says alot since they have been doing this forever. I really did not know he had anything close to this. He is improving on the exercises and we have seen a big jump in spelling too.

I had signed him up for a reading class at the local college that works on higher level reading skills and I am thinking of canceling it.

If you are going to do VT you have to commit to doing the exercises every day and work at it. It has been well worth the work.

Kudos to you Rod for helping me and others see the light.

I really like Dr. Lane’s book (and workbooks). I think they are worth using if one doesn’t have the finances for vision therapy, or if they are uncertain about it.

Hi marie,

Thanks…I hope the workbooks do the trick. I haven’t seen them, but will look them up and show them to the vision therapists I know……Rod

Hi Linda,

That is really, really great!!! Thanks for posting. I know what you mean about waiting until you were sure….but eventually it becomes so obvious that something has changed….”Why can’t I just read in quiet?”…*s*

I could cite similar stories from over a dozen other mothers, but it sounds a lot better coming straight from the source…thanks again and good luck…..Rod

Rod, Thanks. If the VTs have a better suggestion for the teachers to use please let me know and I will pass it on.

Linda,
The long vowel sounds are in the advanced code in PG. I am sure that your son learned this in PG. The silent ‘e’ is also addressed in PG when studying the different “long” vowel sounds such as the sound, “oe”. This is just addressed in PG without rules and exceptions which are very confusing for a child when the rules don’t ‘work’ most of the time. Didn’t your son learn to read?

Hi Laura….I am sorry to jump in here but can you tell me what are Dr. Lane’s workbooks for vision therapy?

Thanks, Phyllis

Hi Phyllis,
I originally ordered Dr. Lane’s “Developing Your Child for Success” which is a thick book filled with visual perceptual and visual motor activities organized in different categories such as: balance and gross motor, eye-hand coordination and writing, occular motor, laterality, directionality, sequential processing, simultaneous processing, focusing, eyeteaming and overall visual skills. It seems pretty comprehensive.

Dr. Lane also has work books available. I’ve only ordered one (reversals), but mostly I’ve been using the exercises from the book. Eventually I do hope to take my son to a vision therapist, but the doctor is quite far from my home so we may need to wait until summer — or we might start earlier and try to come up with a schedule that will accomodate the time and distance. In the meantime I’m just using this book. My son did have vision testing, so I have a fairly good idea where his deficts may be and what exercises might be most helpful.

The vision therapist we went to was familiar with Dr. Lane’s book and said it was very good.

Here are a couple of links with more information:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1878145002/ref=ase_naturalvisioni0a/103-1477249-2839016

http://www.lanelearningcenter.com/products.html

He learned to read but the book reading reflex does not use the term silent ‘e’.

The worksheets handed out in school would use the term ‘silent e’ and the term itself was confusing. He could read words that had the ‘oe’ sound or another sound but did not understand that term because he didn’t learn it and didn’t need it.
The school is into worksheets and rules for reading.

They also don’t use the term long vowels and short vowels. They just teach the sound of each sound picture. There is even a little cartoon that says something like, “Hi, I’m short e,” it kind of pokes fun at those terms.

My son can read the NY times but couldn’t figure out those worksheets.

Your son should not be “stuck” in level 2 (step 2) as you describe your son’s abilities. Is it possible that nothing is being done to follow the Wilson program? I use LMB and Wilson together. Step 3 begins with two-syllable words (closed syllables) and teaches ct blend. Step 4 teaches Vowel-Consonant E Syllables (v-e), and also combines the closed and v-c syllables. By book five (open syllables, y as a vowel, all three previously taught syllable types combined-ex. amputate, indicate), most students are reading/spelling with success. I question if the teacher was trained or just “ordered the material.” I wish you success with your child.

I’m interested in speaking with you about Wilson and LB. Do they complement each other? or will it be confusing to do both ? What about Phono Graphix ?
I heard that it is very computer based. HELP!!!!