Need more help again

as his main strategy for spelling and reading but he doesn’t have a real grasp on the phonological processes he needs for reading.
About 6 years ago I was in a similar boat with my daughter. She was failing all her subjects because she couldn’t read. The school didn’t know what to do for her, I was the one who said enough is enough and decided to get trained in Lindamood-Bell processes to take care of the problem. I ended up teaching her to read during the summer.

Many parents can’t go to those extremes so an inexpensive alternative would be to try Reading Reflex, do the assessment in the book with him to see what he knows and that will give us a better picture of what you are dealing with. Once we know that then we can assist you in helping him yourself.

The bottom line here is you are going to have to become your own expert and you can’t rely on the school district to give your son the remediation he needs.

Thanks

I just finished reading that book. I am going to try it. I hope it works!
I am just worried I will mess him up. I have my own LD issues. But the way I see it I can’t do any more harm than they are.

Michele

I think you are on the right track with Reading Reflex but I also think you should put a request in writing to the school to have your son tested for a learning disability. You can not always count on a school to provide the remediation needed but at least testing would give you a baseline to his current level. My older son who is now 18 and in college could only read two words on his first spelling list in 2nd grade. Testing showed he had very deficient decoding skills. Luckily, the Special Ed. teacher was trrained and believed in Lindamood Bell and he got the remediation he needed.

Put your request in writing and the public school cannot ignore your request.

Helen

Michele,
The nice thing about Reading Reflex is it’s relatively simple to use, so I don’t think you have to worry about making any major mistakes. Also, if you have any concerns or questions you can ask here or on the Read America website.

I am not LD but have weak auditory processing skills. I never had trouble learning to read but any sort of phonics was a mystery to me, a fact that became clear when I started to help my son. I just wanted to tell you that I learned the code along with my son using PG. I initially had my husband do it with him (he has superb auditory processing skills which only one of our three children inherited). But after awhile I took the plunge.

Beth

Hi

You sound alot like me. I am going to give it my best try.

I was looking on the read america site under materials. What other things did you buy to start Reading Reflex? All I have is the book.

Thanks
Michele

with the manipulatives on them and make up a bunch of envelopes to hold them or you can use ziplock baggies and file them in a shoe box. I am an SLP so I can help you if you need help with understanding some of the phonological stuff. You can do this…I did it and that was way before I became an SLP.

You might want to invest in the company’s $59 parent supplement. This includes worksheet pages for both basic code and advanced code, and a set of cardstock manipulatives that you can cut up.

If you go this route, understand that most children do not need the basic code worksheets. Use them only as reinforcement when the child really needs them. Otherwise you can spend way too much time on worksheet activities and slow down the entire process.

Patti’s suggestion is what most people do, and it works perfectly well. In that case, wait until you get to advanced code and then order just the $39 parent support manual (which is just the advanced code worksheets from the parent supplement).

In either case, be sure to invest in a small white board and colored dry-erase markers. You can lay out the manipulatives on the white board, and I have yet to meet a child who didn’t like using dry-erase markers (low odor).

Nancy

Hi, Michelle,

Sorry I missed this post! But my friends here have given you the exact advice I would have! I very much like the $39 parent support book to use with Reading Reflex. You can make copies of the pages that need cutting out so you don’t have to cut up your book.

I would just say that you need to be certain you know the sounds for the sound pictures (letters or letter patterns). If you were never taught phonics, I think you should either order the audiotape that gives the sounds or else talk wth someone who can go through them with you. But I am sure you will do fine! Do ask us if you have any questions.

Janis