reading remediation

I work with kids like this and I teach them phonics directly from a phonics series, rather than out of a total program that may not match all their needs.
I often end up doing phonics at a Grade 1-2 level at the same time as reading a book at a Grade 5-6 or even higher level — just going to work with one of these kids this afternoon. They appreciate not being bogged down in the beginning reading, while at the same time learning the basic skills they need to move ahead.
While reading, I teach them how to sound out new words on the fly, by helping with vowels and syllables and modelling. I insist on accuracy so that they do not go off practicing mistakes and making up nonsense. It takes time but the results are worth it.
If you want the packet of how-to outlines, you can email a request to [email protected]

Victoria has given you one good option and another that would be pretty easy for you to use since the manual is scripted is REWARDS Intermediate or regular REWARDS (from Sopris West). I am thinking with the low nonsense word decoding level, he could use the intermediate, but Nancy may chime in and have an opinion as she has used the regular and I have not.

I agree with Janis that Rewards would be a good program. Since he has a good working vocabulary, I think Rewards Secondary would be fine even with the low pseudo-word decoding ability. Both Rewards programs are scripted and very easy for a parent to do, as there is no prep. These programs teach multi-syllable word attack skills very efficiently.

Rewards Secondary consists of 20 lessons and takes perhaps a total of 25 hours of one-on-one to do. The vocabulary quickly moves into high school level. Rewards Intermediate has more lessons, but works on the same skills as Secondary. The vocabulary in Intermediate is easier.

If you go to http://www.rewardsreading.com you will find a sample lesson from both programs. I would take a good look at the difference in vocabulary before deciding on which program to purchase.

For either program, you need the teacher’s manual and a student workbook. These programs are pretty popular on the homeschool swap boards at half price. If you plan to sell the program this way when you are done with it, be sure to purchase an extra workbook.

To order, I always advise calling the company as I have found their website ordering system to be absolutely awful.

Thank you all for your help. I think Rewards secondary will be right for my son since his vocabulary is advanced. It will hold his attention and challenge him.

Now about my daughter age 9 grade 4, she is doing well with Wilson system. We just finished level 6. Her reading has never been as good as my son’s but she does not have the visual=spatial and graphomotor problems he has.

On recent testing with CTOPP her phonological processing seems fine except for RAN where she scored at the 5th percentile. On NEPSY she also scored very low on the rapid naming items.

I want to continue with Wilson but is there something else I could be doing to help her with this particular deficit? Since getting the above psych testing I am emphasizing the sound-symbol review parts of the Wilson lesson.

She also has problems with math and we have ordered Math U see alpha level to give it a try. For my son too.

I have read about RAVE-O, for example , as a program to help here. However I do not know how to obtain the program and whether it would be right for her now.

I am so happy to have found your expertise. I want my children to receive the remediation they deserve and realize I need to take charge of the process.

Thank you

I’m going to disagree - but not because I *know* differently, just to suggest a different approach. YOu know the kiddo better so you’ll be able to make a good judgement (tho’ I know we second guess ourselves anyway!)

I would be hesitant to go with Rewards for this student; her profile is so much more complicated and the decoding issues are severe (especially compared with her comprehension. One of the many strengths of Rewards is that it moves quickly… but I strongly suspect this is a student who needs a more intensive intervention focused on her complicated issues. Rewards is designed for students who already have a foundation - and my experience has taught me that an older student with such excellent comprehension who scores that low in pseudowords really has *no* foundation.

On the other hand, I’d want to have been the one who gave her that pseudoword test. I have tested students who simply did not believe that these were not words, so they used their intelligence to come up with a word that the pseudoword “must” be. They scored **horribly** because by their definition, reading isn’t saying nonsense, it’s saying things that mean something. They weren’t going to say a pseudoword… therefore, they were going to get it wrong. Sometimes these students also really struggle with the sound symbol association because their brains aren’t naturally wired for the process, but sometimes they can learn it well enough once they know what they are supposed to be doing.

I’d spend some time on basic words doing “letterbox lessons” per http://www.auburn.edu/~murraba. You should start very, very basic phonics-wise - but you can make it interesting by using interesting basic words (‘lam’ and ‘jest’ instead of ‘hat and ‘band’). If she struggles with it, start with words that only use short a so she knows that one (and come back and ask for suggestions ;=))

A short time each day on this - 15 minutes to half an hour - with much more review and practice than you should think necessary built in, so there’s a *****HIGH***** level of success - can make a significant difference in a few weeks.

I think, however, that I would spend as much or more time - and make it the priority - with the areas that you’ll be more comfortable it. There’s a serious danger that she’ll lose that high comprehension level (the “grade level” generally doesn’t mean he understands what a tenth grader would, but rather that on the test she took, which would be somewhat easier, she did as well as tenth graders would do on that test). Right about now, students’ vocabulary increases are doing a major shift from oral language to written language. If she’s not being exposed to books, she’s going to fall behind.

Get her in the habit of books on tape. What’s she going to have to read next year? Or, what kinds of stories does she really like? Or, what non-fiction topics is she interested in? Make the arrangements to get things from Reading for the BLind and Dyslexic. Often at 11 this stuff is “cool” - and at 13, it’s “retarded.” Therefore, now is the time :-) (I don’t know her, though; obviously that matters!) Share good books. Then you can both enjoy words… instead of words being a daily drudgery. Talk about interesting words… uses of language… all that stuff most people get through reading.

But… again… these are thoughts worth every penny you’re paying for them -

For the younger child, I would stick with Wilson (or some other Orton Gillingham program. SPIRE is one that is laid out in a way that a parent can use it at home without training).

Slow RAN is a neurological issue. There are two approaches you can take simultaneously.

One is to work on rapid automatic naming of sounds and words. You can use a flashcard approach. For example, make up cards with words your dd can read. You lay down a card, she reads the word, you lay down another card below it, she says that word and then reads the first word and second word again, you lay down a third card below the second, she reads this word and then reads the first, second and third words (always top to down). At that point you randomly place the next card on top of one of the three cards and continue the routine. If she is slow on a particular word, you leave that one displayed for a longer time. You would do this for 10 minutes or so every day (or even twice a day). There are variations on this type of approach too, so you can vary it a little. Basically this is working specifically on RAN as related to reading.

The second approach is to work directly on the underlying neurology. As far as I know, the only way to work on RAN this way is by means of bodywork exercises. The best one is NeuroNet (http://www.neuronetonline.com) but it can be difficult to find a provider. (NeuroNet can be done long-distance, meeting with the provider just once a month and returning with videotaped exercises to do every day.) A home program that can be helpful, but is not nearly as thorough as NeuroNet, is Balametrics (http://www.balametrics.com). BrainGym exercises can be helpful too (purchase the white teacher’s manual for these exercises).

Concerning Rewards for the older boy, the basic pre-requisite is that the student be able to sound out one-syllable words easily (without guessing). This would include CVC, CVCC, CCVC and CCVCC words. (C=consonant, V=vowel). Rewards Secondary starts out with a review of short-vowel sounds so, as long as the student is solid on consonants and can blend sounds together without hesitation (and without guessing!), it should be okay.

Sue is right that the low score on the pseudo-word decoding is a warning flag. What you might want to do is borrow the book “Reading Reflex” from the library, read the first three chapters, then give your son the easy assessments in the book. If he scores badly on one or more of these assessments, then you may need to back up and do some basic work on segmenting, blending and phoneme manipulation skills before tackling Rewards. It really sounds as if Rewards Secondary is the right program for him if he has those basic skills in place.

Nancy

I don’t think RAVE-O is going to be the answer, although I’d be interested in the training if it wasn’t $1500 plus travel for two days! I’m just not sure the evidence is there that it can fix the most severe fluency issues.

I was thinking the same as Nancy, Neuronet. But you pretty much have to be lucky to live in FL or near one of the few other providers.

Nancy, have you by any chance taken any of Nancy Rowe’s training? I would really like to, but she doesn’t have any basic workshops scheduled at this time.