Hi, need information and your opinions 2nd grader

I think you need to push those tests sooner than later. The more time you waste, the more she will fall behind.

Problems in reading stems from inefficient and disrupted decoding. A large body of world-wide research completed over the last 20 years suggests that one cause of reading (decoding) and spelling problems lies in the inability to judge the identity, order and number of sounds (phonemes) in spoken words in the first place.
In the act of reading, you have to be able to decode and to comprehend. If you can’t decode, you then can’t begin to comprehend.

Children have to be able to link mental images to language (dual-coding) when they read or listen. Instead, a lot of our children with reading difficulties are “just remembering” the information, or memorizing words. It can be helpful for the younger kids, but once you start getting into the older grades, remembering the words just won’t work anymore. You have to be able to have an automatic decoding ability.

In the area of decoding, if a child has difficulties in this area, they need a highly structured program which will stimulate phonological awareness, sound/symbol links and then help them apply that knowledge to the development of word attack, word identification, spelling and contextual reading skills so that it can be on an automatic level.

There are so many great programs out there, but you must have your daughter tested ASAP. Please don’t wait ….you are her mother, you know her best. Go with your gut on this.
Are you in the US? You do have rights if you suspect an LD. Keep pushing it, don’t take “no” or ‘in a few months” for an answer.

If you want to get started on her reading abilities at home, keep reading to her of course, but check out “readamerica.org” or Lindamood Bell has some great programs. Phono-graphix is one that I am using right now, and it is making a huge difference.

Thanks for the information, I hope more will reply to give me some feedback.

Post under Teaching LD, Victora, Des, and lots of others are very very knowledgable here. They have helped me out so much with my struggles.
Or go to Schwablearning.org, and go to their message board. There seems to be much faster response, like within mintues you will get so many parents in your shoes asking you questions or giving you some advice, and probably some parents who live in your area. It is a great message board.

Good luck, but remember, look into testing soon.

I forgot to tell you yes that I’m in the U.S. I think Allison’s teacher was trying to feel us out as so many parents are quick to jump the teacher if they mention that their child might have a problem.

I agree, I’m going to jump on this and thanks for the website, I will check it out.

The best information is right here on this site under LD In Depth. Look under Reading and you will see a lot of great information. I agree with the others, I’d have testing now, but I’d go to a private source that tests for reading disorders or dyslexia. School testing in eary second grade rarely results in the LD label because of the discrepancy requirement. But the child needs help now, not later.

Janis

i would also look into having her vision tested preferebaly by a developmental optometrist and her auditory processing by an audiologist. These are 2 areas that the schools are limited in their ability to test and these are very important to identify or rule out. You will have to have these done privately. Good luck
Lisa

Yes, do something now. Two months more of failure is not going to change anything for the better.

Do not expect much from the school. To put it bluntly, teachers are often completely uninformed about effective methods of teaching reading. Strange and shocking, but true.

Go on the top of this page to LD In Depth, go to Reading, and find the National Reading Panel — Teaching Children to Read report. It explains clearly what is needed and how it should be done.

If the child *can’t* read, just trying to read more is a recipe for failure. Unfortunately this is what teachers are told to do, and look at the reading problems that are so widespresad to see how well it (doesn’t) work.

There is no one program that has a copyright on effective teaching. You can go for varying levels of cost, intensity, and parental effort.
Some that come highly recommended are:
Lindamood Bell — very detailed, very intensive, and very high cost
Phonographix — if done in a clinic, intensive and high cost
Reading Reflex — the home version of PG — you choose the intensity, low cost but a lot of parental or tutor work; needs supplementing with other reading
Orton-Gillingham — the “granddaddy” of effective programs for learninrg disabilities; there are several different OG based programs — ask des for guidance here. These programs may be offered by a school or by a private tutor. One-to-one tutoring is expensive but very effective.
Do-it-yourself — the lowest cost but the most work for you. You can use RR as part of a good do-it-yourself program. I will send you my how-to-tutor notes/book-in-progress on request, just email [email protected]

Start now and work on effective methods, and you may be able to avoid an awful lot of trouble down the road. Good luck and feel free to ask me for help.

wait and see what? your child struggling on and on? If the current methods aren’t reaching your child, more time isn’t going to do it. I cant speak to the private/school testing but do find a quality educational psychologist. Ask, ask, ask. I ended up with a school district psych testing my child privately for a fee on the school grounds because the ed. services director didn’t want my daughter tested. Ask the reading specialists, the spec ed people, the pediatricans, the local ld schools, ida branch. ask everyone you can think and when you find the same name over and over, go for it. I find shopping for good practioners to be immensly timesaving in the end.

dont wait. The sooner your child gets the help she needs the better -for her self esteem, her scademic success and the simple wear and tear on your child.

Good luck