The tutor and my child are on book 8 of “Explode the Code”and we are having troubles with prefixes and suffixes. We are going over it verbally so she has an understanding of the words before we go further. Any one know of some computer software that will help with understanding and reading of prefixes and suffixes?Also, my tutor was going to use the “Wordly Wise”series but thinks they are to heavy and wordy for my child any suggestions?
Re: Materials to get from 3rd to 4th grade reading level
Sometimes you can have the basics but need to reinforce and practice a lot, much more than any single workbook can provide. Something I do with all students, which really helps over these transition levels, is massed practice.
Get some graded readers — school book closet or used book store or Amazon.com zshops — get approximately levels 3.1 and 3.2 and 4.1, maybe even some 2.1 and 2.2 in more difficult series — and have her read orally to/with you (she reads all if it’s easy, alternate pages when it gets challenging) a *minimum* of twenty minutes a day.
It’s important to use graded readers and not novels. Novels include whatever language the author guesses appropriate for the readers and tend to more simple sentences to carry action along with unusual vocabulary that raises the reading level rating. Planned graded readers are carefully designed to introduce and practice one or two new ideas at a time — one section will have a lot of word games with prefixes, another will increase the number of three-syllable words, etc. You don’t always see these things until you work with a kid having trouble with a particular topic and see how the book inserts that practice. If you are lucky you can get out-of-print workbooks too (photocopy, don’t write in them and other students can use them later.)
You start with a level she has good mastery of, hopefully 90% accuracy on the vocabulary on a “cold” (unprepared) read. Then you read through the stories, usually one story or section/chapter a day. Track along with a pen and watch her eyes on your turn to be sure she is still with you. At first the stories will seem quite easy to her (if not, start further back), but in a good graded series she will reach her level of challenge shortly (usually planned for one or two stories a week, so one a day moves fast.) As you read, stop for a second and examine new words and sound them out etc., but don’t break the story line; this is practice reading. Stop and discuss content naturally after a page or a section. Skill lesson comes in another time slot. Just the practice effect of reading a few thousand words a day (*with* guidance!) usually improves word recognition and fluency. Things like prefixes and suffixes make much more sense when you have a few hundred examples of them in your memory.
When you reach a level that is getting too challenging for her — she will tell you when it gets tiring — hunt up another series or two on the same or slightly easier level and read both/all in parallel. This keeps up the massed practice but slows down to a standard rate of progress.
One of the big problems with a lot of planned programs is the transition to new levels. Broadening your approach as above makes the transitions smooth, sometimes almost invisible.
Re: Materials to get from 3rd to 4th grade reading level
Rewards from Sopris West is an excellent way to develop multi-syllable word attack skills. Multi-syllable words are usually the “big hump” at the end of 3rd grade that inhibits moving on. Your tutor would find Rewards very easy to use because of its scripting, and Rewards includes prefixes and suffixes (and their definitions). Website is http://www.sopriswest.com/rewards/
My preference for vocabulary work is the WordSmart CD’s (http://www.wordsmart.com , although used are much cheaper on eBay). “Vocabulary for Achievement” from http://www.greatsource.com is a very good workbook program, but the first book is at a 6th grade level, which is probably higher than what you want. The first Megawords book is at 4th grade level and that would be a reasonable option. What I dislike about Megawords is that the workbook pages become very time-consuming; however, the tutor could get around this by picking and choosing worksheets, and focusing more on the vocabulary words in each lesson (which are quite good).
Critical Thinking (http://www.criticalthinking.com ) has two computer CD’s on Greek and Latin roots that you may want to look at. Seems that parents either find these CD’s really useful or have children who find them boring. I have not seen them in action but suspect they are more “work” than “play” — which means that they will probably be just fine if you assign 20 minutes of them daily, but will not work if you expect your child to do them “just for fun”.
Nancy
You might want to check out Lexia Learning (http://www.lexialearning.com ) which does a lot with assorted syllables.