Questions about fluency programs

Just another option for you to think about. I teach and use Read Naturally which I like. But, for my son who has also had quite a few decoding programs, I made another choice. We selected Read Right. It is not really a fluency program…selections are not timed, but the goal is to read with excellent flow and pace. What’s more this tutoring is done over the phone, two days a week for an hour each session. After a pretest to determine level and needs, we received a set of books, tapes, and a recorder. My son calls his tutor, practices with the tapes and reads. He started in July in 3/4 grade level materials. In 5 weeks he moved up to 5/6 and in another 5 weeks he is reading 7/8 material. We may be done by January. I have noticed a big difference in the fluency and level of his reading. He does still have reading at school for continued work on decoding, but he does Read Right at home. Check their web site and see what you think. www.readright.com

The middle school level of Great Leaps cover several years worth of reading levels at just over $100. Read Naturally may be good, but it is $100 per reading grade level. So I’d certainly recommend Great Leaps for anyone buying a fluency program for home use. If the child is not decoding single words fluently, then I’d probably start out with Phyllis Fischers’ Multi-Sequence Speed Drills first.

http://www.oxtonhouse.com/Fluency/SpDrills/spdrills.html

Janis

Angela, can you give me an idea of the cost of Read Right?

Nancy

When did your son complete LMB and VT? I’m thinking that even with decoding and vision remediated, fluency can still take some kids a long time to develop (like writing). Although then there’s the question, what is an average or reasonable time frame for fluency to develop when there’s a daily reading schedule in place and plenty of practice?

The length of time is based on many factors and they vary for each individual. But practice makes perfect and the more one reads the better they get at it. But I strongly feel the more one integrates the sounds with the symbols through auditory stimulation i.e., echo reading, read naturally, books on tape the more fluent a child will become in reading.

One man I know who is a slow reader. Since he was good at math, he became an engineer. Years later he decided to go back to graduate school and become a lawyer. It has been a major ordeal for him, to keep up with all the reading that is required. He stated that the more he reads the easier it is for him and he wishes that he had read more as a youth.

I tried to do Great Leaps with my son 2 summers ago, but it really was too soon. The program however was easy to use and it did help somewhat, even though he still needed help with decoding.

He is now enrolled (4th grade) at a special school for children with reading disabiltiies (also mentioned in Shaywitz’s book - in fact the school specifically cites her ressearch when they explain how they chose their curriculum). The program they use is called Preventing Academic Failure (http://pafprogram.com/)

My son brings home reading homework everyday that is very similar to what we did in Great leaps. Word lists, phrases and short stories that build on what they’ve done in school. He reads these pages in school and then again 2-3 times at home every day. While we don’t time him (ala great leaps) its clear that the repetition of words he can easily decode is designed to make it more automatic and help him achieve fluency.

Long winded answer to your question: I’d defnitely look at Greap Leaps. And also maybe the PAF materials to see what they offer even though we don’t hear much about PAF on this board.

How far behind is your son in fluency(tested at ? level)? How much time does he spend reading aloud? My 7th grader has so much homework that we can spend little time reading aloud, but he does read articles aloud from Nintendo Power, etc. to me, that’s about all we can do, but for yrs we read for 30minutes a day and it helped fluency climb to the 20% percentile, far far below other reading scores. It’s a battle with middle schoolers because the amt of text book reading is growing, and their enthusiasm for reading with someone else is low. Great Leaps is a helpful program and my son liked the stories. I think fluency is a life long struggle for some.

Read Right - The initial consultation was $90, books and tape recorder (ours to keep) was $222. There is a $100 refundable deposit on the tapes. Then the tutoring is $38 per session for dual tutoring $48 for one-on-one. So roughly it has been $100 a week since July, but he is almost finished and reading on a 7th/8th grade level. I have not had any testing done since we ditched the public school. But he was only reading at a 3rd-4th grade level. I was at a conference and heard the founder of Read Right speak. Like us, she is a mother whose son couldn’t read. Her research led her the methods she uses. One analogy they use is an iceberg. All the decoding we have done is above the surface…then there is so much the brain does that is unseen to us. I use a bicycle analogy. My son know about handlebars and pedals and how to move his legs. Now he need to get on the bike and ride. We just never had much success reading anything of length. With Read Right he reads for an hour each lesson and on the other days on his own. He reads three and four page stories when before I could only get a few paragraphs. Plus, it is all in his own hands. I listen from a distance. Now, keep in mind that he is 16 and has had many interventions, including my own attempts. This is our last deal. In all honesty, his problems are complex and I guess I am accepting that reading will never be that easy. The amount of reading required even in his special ed school is beyond the hours in a day. So we still use books on tape, etc. Still, we feel that Read Right has given him confidence and fluency and he is reading more and more things on his own. We expect that Read Right will end soon and then we’ll see how he does. I do think it is worth looking at and with their money-back guarantee, a better risk than some of the programs we looked at. Even my very skeptical husband is happy with the results he has seen and our son likes his lessons, too!!

I use the SPIRE program readers to do fluency work ( repeated timed readings) with my almost 11 year old son. Have been using them for about 1 1/2 years. The controlled readings are high interest, and the decodable word lists can be used if you want to do timed word reading as well. I just count out about 100-150 word passages, mark them, and we’re off. This is the only part of his ongoing reading instruction that he claims to sometime enjoy!

I thought SPIRE topped out at 6-7th grade reading level??

SPIRE may top out at 7th grade level, I’m not sure. The author claims the program is appropriate through 8th grade. My son is in 5th, but his independent reading level is 5th grade only on his very best days (he has moderate to severe dyslexia, but high IQ and very advanced vocabulary).

You’ll see many fluency instruction interventions stopping at about the 7th grade level. Once one becomes an independent reader (according to behaviorist theory) the environment takes over. It becomes the mentor’s job to motivate….Hope that helps, Ken