Stevenson Language

I should also mention that my son is 8yrs old-9yrs in Sept. He has been diagnosed with dyslexia, adhd, bipolar. He has had vision therapy and he is also on medications.

I will tell you that I hated this program and my son hated it even more !! He hated the nonsense stories and stupid sentences. He hated all the stupid rhymes.

I find it interesting that your child likes it. I guess someone has to or they would be out of business.

We did much better with PG.

Beth

My son’s school uses Stevenson.He is almost 15yrs. old and can’t read multi-syllable words.Teachers say it takes time,we’re out of time.I’m using PG,it is simple and doesn’t use the silly mnemonic clues which might be ok for younger kids but not mine.He also uses simple math by Stevenson,so far in math he has gotten thru adding,subtracting,and most multiplication but remember he is getting ready to go to HS next year and I doubt these minimal skills can even slightly compare with those of his peers.It is slow,which is ok if you have the time.My son started getting Stevenson in 3rd grade maybe if he would had gotten it sooner it would have worked but by then he was already into the guessing and looking at the pictures and those are bad habits to break.Sorry so long,this is my experience with Stevenson.If your kids like it and are learning that’s great,might be ok since they are younger.Robin

What is PG?

I have used Stevenson and Semple with my daughter for a number of years. She started with the programs when she was in 2nd grade and is now in 6th. My daughter who was having a great deal of difficulty with understanding basic letters—using Stevenson opened her world. She went from struggling with individual letters to decoding full words and more advanced language than her peers. As we advanced through the programs and as she grew in age, I feel she has outgrown them. However, now she does still need help with fluency and some more advanced decoding as well as with comprehension. I do not feel that Stevenson provides good comprehension growth other than through silly stories. Does anyone have any suggestions or curriculum that has worked successfully for them? Has anyone had experience with the Lindamood Bell programs?

Thanks! Susan

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Lindamood Bell programs are often discussed on Teaching Reading board; many people speak positively of these programs, and there are some that cover comprehension. Also V/V (Visualizing and Verbalizing) is often recommended. Do a search on the Teaching Reading board for lots of info.

Robin — I work with kids like your son. No miracles, no magic bullets, but yes he can improve. It takes time and hard work, but it can be done.

I have a bunch of things I have written over time for this board; instead of reposting the same things over and over I am offering to email them to people who want them. I have all the reading stuff at hand, and I can answer more questions about that and also about math. Email me and ask for the downloads, or email me and ask specific questions.

In case you’re new on the board, you connect to me by double-clicking on my name above. Or, if you want to save it, the address is
[email protected]

from Sopris West. This is a set of 20 lessons designed for readers at about 4th-8th grade level. The first 12 lessons or so focus on multi-syllable word management skills. The last lessons work on applying the skills to develop reading fluency and comprehension of varied writings. Website is http://www.sopriswest.com

You would need the teacher’s manual and a student workbook for this program.

I love PG, but it focuses exclusively on decoding skills. It is not designed to develop fluency and comprehension once decoding skills are in place.

Nancy

do you know about lindamood bell? and i went on phono graphix web site and i have no idea what it actually is . Why did you like it?

do you know about lindamood bell? and i went on phono graphix web site and i have no idea what it actually is . Why did you like it?

do you know about lindamood bell? and i went on phono graphix web site and i have no idea what it actually is . Why did you like it?

Nancy,

Thanks for the information on Sopriswest. Does the child need to be on the 4th grade level for comprehension to utilize this program? My daughter decodes on a 4th to 6th grade level but comprehension is still around 3rd grade.

Thanks again. Susan

The book “Reading Reflex” by McGuiness explains Phono-Graphix. The book is widely available in libraries and bookstores.

Lindamood Bell has been around for 20 years. Actually, Phono-Graphix is somewhat derived from LMB. Basically, the PG authors wanted to find a faster and more efficient way to teach reading. In my opinion, they succeeded.

Nancy

I think it depends on the cause of the poor comprehension. If it is a visualization problem, then you would want to do something like IdeaChain or LMB’s V&V rather than Rewards. Those programs teach visualization techniques. Rewards does not.

If, however, the poor comprehension is due to poor fluency, then Rewards should help. This would be the type of comprehension problem that is caused by slow reading, not by lack of visualization.

A visualization problem will show up as poor comprehension even when material is read out loud to the child. If your daughter has good auditory comprehension of material, and the poor comprehension is limited to what she reads, then Rewards would be the ticket.

Nancy

If decoding is significantly better htan comprehension — and not just from some kind of testing anomaly, but what you see in her reading from day to day — then you don’t need programs that focus on decoding, unless she is reading accurately but it’s taking up too much mental focus for her to get the comprehension.
For comprehension issues, I’d make sure she’s reading with expression (“listening” to what she reads) first, maybe do a little work on phrasing — see http://www.resourceroom.net/beyond_decoding/phrasing_dec2001.asp ), and figure out what the problem is (vocabulary? concentration? that connection from words to the concrete world that Visualizing and Verbalizing addresses so well?)