7 year old struggling with reading...help!

[MommyInTraining]

My son just turned 7. We have been using The Reading Lesson and are on lesson 8, but a lot of the time it is me reading the word and him following along. He still doesn't easily pick up on reading the words on his own. I know some children read later than others, but it is becoming a source of frustration for both of us. He doesn't want to do his reading lesson and it is hard to get him through it. Should I just keep plugging along and wait for it to click? Should I stop for a while or do something different? I hate to stop as I feel like, since he is 7, he should be getting it by now.
Any advice or wisdom?
Please share!

[starlashine]

I have had a lot of success with The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. But, I had to take a break from it for awhile when we were first starting, cause he wasn't liking it. When we started again, he had a lot more progress. My advice would be to take a break from reading "lessons" for awhile, and substitute with time each day for him to peruse books that go along with his interests. Comic books, science books, whatever it is that he likes. If he wants to be able to figure out the words, it can be very helpful. Go back to formal reading lessons in a months time, or when he seems ready. Sometimes kids need some time to process.

[Beth in Central TX]

You know, Terri, I think I would stop the formal reading program for the year and pick up again when you start school in the fall, but continue to read aloud during the summer. If you think it's a maturity issue, then I wouldn't change programs. However, if it's a combination (maturity plus program), then I might research other options this summer. I'm not familiar with The Reading Lesson, but I'm having success this year with The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading along with Phonic Pathways. Good luck!

[Josie]

I would keep plugging along, but in short sessions. Ten minutes a day may be all he can do at this point. I wouldn't want to make him hate reading by doing too much too soon. Find a program that you like and stick with it. It will click at some point.

Do you read to him? Do you "popcorn" read with him? By that I mean you read the harder words and have him fill in the easier ones. I did that and it helped a lot.

Do you insist that he try to sound out the word? Do you sound it outs slowly so he can model you? I am not familar with The Reading Lesson, so I don't know how it presents things.

Also, have you had his eyes checked? Do you see signs of any sort of special learning issues? (Big note, just because he isn't reading at 7 does NOT mean he has learning issues!)

[Dayle in Guatemala]

My son just turned 7. We have been using The Reading Lesson and are on lesson 8, but a lot of the time it is me reading the word and him following along. He still doesn't easily pick up on reading the words on his own. I know some children read later than others, but it is becoming a source of frustration for both of us. He doesn't want to do his reading lesson and it is hard to get him through it. Should I just keep plugging along and wait for it to click? Should I stop for a while or do something different? I hate to stop as I feel like, since he is 7, he should be getting it by now.
Any advice or wisdom?
Please share!

Is he not getting it or is he just not wanting to work through it? My son was a little bit of both. He didn't get it at first, and because he was discouraged, he got to the point where he didn't want to work through it. He would just say, "I don't get it" without even trying.

All I can tell you is what we did. It got to the point that he was dreading reading. I would pull out his books and he would get so agitated right away. It really was frustrating. I felt that he just wasn't trying hard enough, but, I realize now that that wasn't the case. He really was trying to understand and couldn't. I don't know why, exactly, it just was a hard thing for him.

I put away the curriculum and just read with him. I would let him pick out what he wanted to read and I just read aloud with him. I let him listen to books on cd from the library. We watched Reading Rainbow. Anything to help him relax with reading. After about a month, we picked up the curr. again and slowly started working with it. I didn't push. If he didn't seem to get it, we slowly worked on that phonics concept. If he did get it, we moved on after praising him a LOT!

I also tried to find books that interested him. For him, it was Calvin and Hobbes that got him interested in pushing through his difficulties to learn to read. He was motivated because he wanted to read it himself. When he could, he devoured it! He loves to read now.

I would just say, take it slow. I dropped history and science and just did math and reading for awhile so he could focus more on those skills. It was a good choice for us.

Good luck!

[Camy]

Terri,

I have taught 5 of my children to read, so far.

It seems that all of them have reached that point your are speaking of. I call it the "reading plateau."
They know the sounds and most of the sound combinations, yet when it comes to reading from instructional texts, they struggle and read w/ exhaustion.

When we began homeschooling, it was a goal of mine that our children would read fluently and learn to love books. The reading plateau made me think that we would never get there!

However, I put my nose to the grindstone and tried a few different things. I cut the lessons shorter (the ones we were doing from an instructional texts--for us, this was Reading Reflex). It became more of a goal to read aloud to them daily from both a chapter book (like Little House on the Prairie) as well as a good picture book (we used Five In A Row). I also introduced copywork of very short sentences at this point.

I spoke with my children about their need to work hard for just 5 minutes in their reading text. The timer was set to have them realize it would eventually be over.

During read aloud, I would have them read one or two words per page. This helped to keep them working on reading skills w/o using the formal teaching text.

For copywork, we would use extremely short sentences. Your boy may or may not be ready for this. My boys complained and whined every time they had to do it, but their antics did not phase me. I told them that it didn't matter to me that they whined, and that it would still have to be completed. They were not allowed to get up from the table until the copywork was finished. If protest was still their choice, discipline was the next step. For us, that meant standing w/ noses on the wall for 5 minutes or until they were willing to do the work to completion.

I did not worry so much about neatness w/ the copywork. Mostly this was a time of instruction about sentence structure and grammar. SWB's writing tape was a great teaching tool for me on using daily copywork.

It seems that my boys have given me the most trouble in this area. My daughter would write all day if she could! I only have one daughter, so I do not have a lot of experience to speak of when it comes to boy/girl dominant characteristics and habits with reading and writing.

However, I do not allow my boys to become lazy slackers. I ask them for their attention and effort for a very short time, and I do not back down from my expectation. This also needs to be done habitually and daily, if possible. When they know what to expect, they will suck it up and do it.

A patient, smiling mother helps, yet she mustn't let go of her expectation and firmness when it comes to little boys' learning. That's my imo..for what it's worth :o).

Blessings!

Camy

[Camy]

One more note....

My children are brilliant readers. I have to put restrictions on reading or they would do it all day!

Blessings,

Camy

[mcconnellboys]

I don't know anything about the curriculum you're using, but we just checked out Phonics Pathways from our library and slowly worked through it, reading one page per day (we did no written work). It was a very slow and gentle approach, with all the words on a page really relating to each other and to the same rule, which made it very easy to follow. After we had gone through, oh, I'd say the first 10-15 pages, we began to slowly add in Bob books, from the first set (reading each book twice before we moved on to the next set).

This worked well for us, but some children learn to read more from sight than phonics. I generally tend to think that these are the children who read earlier and more on their own,
so maybe that doesn't apply to you. Some children just need more time and will read a little later, so I wouldn't push too hard if you try a pure phonics approach and he still doesn't get it. However, if difficulties continue to persist for another year or more, then you might need to think of looking at the possibility of a dyslexia, etc.

[Kathy in MD]

As the mother of a child who PHYSICALLY couldn't read without a doctor's and therapist's intervention, I have a very different perspective on "plateaus" in reading.

For several years, I was told "it's just a plateau", "he's almost over the hump", "He'll get it next year". These were individuals working with my child in a one-on-one situation and they had taught many children to read. But for my ds, it wasn't true. And now, 8 years later I have a very relunctant reader. He spent too many years wanting to read, trying to read and failing to read.

Because of that I urge you to to check into the two biggest physical causes of reading problems, vision and auditory problems.

Many children pass a typical, 20 minute vision test yet their eyes still can't handle the physical stress of reading. A developmental vision test will spend around 2 hours testing many other vision factors and it will do it for a sustained period of time because many individuals can perform certain visual tests for a minute, but can't do it for a sustained period of time. See HTTP://www.childrensvision.com.

The second is auditory processing problems. Some people can't distinguish the various sounds, such as telling the difference between short I and E. So if they can't hear the sound differences in spoken language, learning how to apply different sounds to abstract symbols and then combining them into words they know is a struggle. The first 3 chapters in Reading Reflex can help you with minor problems (phonemes, the precurser to phonics). A speech therapist/pathologist can help you diagnosis more severe problems. BTW, if your ds had speech therapy when he was younger, not all speech therapists do more than teach pronounciation. My ds had one such ST who brushed off my remaining concerns with his language skills. Luckily I think this type of ST is rare now.

So it may be that your ds is just at a temporary plateau. But for too many children it's not temporary and waiting to get help can leave many bad scars. So please get your child tested. If he has problems, you can start therapy quickly. If not, you're reasured that he's hit a temporary plateau you can work through.

[MicheleinMN]

My youngest is 6 1/2. He's still struggling to read 3 letter words. I've made it my summer project to work with him for 6 minutes (he's 6) twice a day. I was using the Reading Lesson book, but have recently switched back to the beginning of Phonics Pathways. I'm seeing a big jump in his ability to actually *read* the words by sounding them out now that he doesn't have a picture to use to guess what's there.

I'm planning on doing phonics lessons/reading time twice a day until July, which we will take off from school. I think the 6-8 weeks of twice a day practice with a month break will give him a good base for when we start back to school mid-August. (I can let you know if it worked then :001_smile:)

Just a note: I have taught 5 out 6 of my children to read so far, so I'm pretty sure I can get this one reading too. (Though this child is older than the rest were when they learned to read.)

[tsuche]

Hi Terri,
My 8 yr.daughter was having alot of trouble reading. I used Ordinary Parents reading, Samuel Blummenfeilds and a friend suggested that I use 100 Easy Lessons, this has been a life saver,her confidence is great! We are on lesson 40. I am thankful we switched. I do know that sometimes it is good to slow down and especially with boys.
Blessings,
Terry

[NHDeb]

I am another vote for Reading Reflex. I discovered it when researching methods to help remediate my dyslexic son (oldest) after several years of PS IEPs that didn't help.

I then used it solely to teach my younger 2 (DD, DS - neither one with learning issues) and they just TOOK OFF with this program. They both read far above "grade level" now and love it.

It is SO hard to watch them struggle and fail with reading - it takes away the joy and for many kids I think it makes them dislike reading because it is always such a struggle.

I would vote for putting away the 'text' and finding some books he enjoys reading, read with him, let him read things that he can find success in and then stretch him slowly out of his comfort level.

[covenant.christian]

My oldest son struggled to really begin to read until he was nine. It was a really tough time for us, because I kept feeling like I wanted him to get it earlier, but he got to the point where he would cry when I brought out the curriculum. This was when he was nearly 8. It was a super hard decision, but we decided to set it aside for a full year.

I believe children need to love reading, and I could see that he was going to hate it if I forced it. Not that I think you are forcing it (it does not sound like that at all), I just mean that was our experience.

A year later, it took him less than three months to catch on, and by the time he was 10, he was reading J.R.R. Tolkien. He is now 17, and an avid reader and writer.

[Mrs Mungo]

My youngest just turned 7 in April and I *just* saw the switch flip a few weeks ago.

My eldest was reading before she was 4 and was reading Stuart Little and such at 5.

Some of them, yes, need some help but some just need a little bit more time from a developmental standpoint.

[In The Great White North]

None of my dc read at 7.

I have to drag them away from their books now or nothing else would ever get done.

In the absence of any other physical indicators, I would just read to him until you found what really interested him. For my first (at (9), it was the Magic Treehouse. For my 2nd (at 8), it was Nancy Drew (older). For my 3rd (at 10), it was the Famous Five. Before they hit their "favorite," it was like pulling teeth, sounding out each word, usually wrong. Then, like magic, they could read practically anything.

You'll notice that none of those are really early readers.

Eliminating physical concerns would give you some peace of mind in not pushing the reading. My sil discovered her ds had tracking problems and could not look at the board, then down at his paper. This is something the pediatricians checked for routinely in MI but apparently didn't in Texas. The physical therapist figured it out, totally as an aside to what she was really working on.

[Anne]

I agree with Kathy. If you're not seeing progress, I would look into various types of testing to be sure there's not some problem that can be treated. Only you can know when the right moment is - I just encourage you not to wait too long!

Anne

[moosemomma]

Terri, Don't stop or switch just yet --just adapt a little.

Play with your words. Go to the library and internet to find games and activities to play with your child. Go to websites like http://starfall.com (http://starfall.com/), watch pbs shows like Super Why and Word World - visit their sites. Some really useful books I've tracked down were 365 Phonics Activities, Phonics A to Z by Wiley Blevins, and Reading Games by Peggy Kaye. These all had tons of activities to play with your child to develop reading skills. I also got the book The Three R's by Ruth Beechick at someone's suggestion. In the sections "A Strong Start in Language" and "A Home Start in Reading", both have great ideas to improve reading and langauge skills.

I tutor a struggling 7yo in reading and the first 15 minutes of my tutoring session we playing games or do an activity to reinforce concepts.

Here is a game I created:
I made phonogram tiles on the computer and printed them out on heavy duty card stock. I color coded them - blue for consonants, red for vowels and vowel digraphs, yellows for consonant digraphs and blends, orange for r controlled vowels, etc. Then, we play games - we each get six consonant cards and three vowel cards. I build a starter word then we took turns putting a letter tile down over another tile to create a new word. The game ended when one of us couldn't create a word. The last person to laid down a tile got the point. The first to get five points won the game.
I only use phonograms that we have studied and she knows. As we study more phonograms - I'll add them to the deck.

If after the summer, you aren't seeing any gains. Then examine your options - get a vision and hearing test, look into another phonics program, etc - something more intensive.

Jill

[laure]

My third child is 8 yo dd and still struggles with reading. Her two older siblings did not have these problems. One taught himself to read at 2 1/2. However, she has auditory problems and possibly vision problems. We are starting occupational therapy (OT) as soon as we can get in for the assessment. We're on a waiting list for OT that specialize in sensory processing disorder. Take a break and just read and play games with him. Also, Happy Phonics is a program that is not very expensive and has lots of phonics games that makes the process of learning to read, less stressful. For some children's learning styles, it is much easier for them to succeed using this program. Best of luck.

Laure

[Another Lynn]

I don't have any real advice.... didn't read all the other replies..... don't know when to consider testing, etc.... but thought I would share my experience. It may relate or it may not.

With my oldest ds, I began with a phonics program that started in word families. I thought he was doing well enough - but really once he knew which family it was he was just rhyming. When I tried to move on to simple readers it was a disaster. I decided to try Phonics Pathways. We played one of the games it suggests (making cards with only 1 vowel on each card, turning them upside down, drawing one out and making it's sound, etc.) It was then I realized that he was struggling with vowel sounds, especially i and e. It seems obvious to me now, but I hadn't figured it out before this. So we worked on that. Phonics Pathways also helped us with blending which was a real struggle before. Then Explode the Code helped with reading skills without the pressure of "reading" a book. (In the beginning the page with two sentences and a funny picture was really frustrating and sometimes we only did half of that page/day)

At seven and a half I saw improvement. He also started losing baby teeth at the same age. I know it sounds crazy, but I've heard/read somewhere that there may be a relationship (hormonally?) between losing baby teeth and the maturity it takes to read successfully.

One other step in our journey has been Spell to Write and Read. I switched to it (just after he turned 8) in an effort to help his spelling, but it first helped his reading level jump several grades in one year. Now I'm using it with my youngers to teach phonics and I really like how logical it is. (Although it *does* take awhile to figure out how you want to implement).

To summarize - whether you stick with your current program or switch, you might want to consider how he's doing with vowel sounds and how is he doing with blending and how you can help him with both of those. I remember those days when I was reading to him more than he was reading to me, and in hindsight we weren't making any real progress. Switching programs was more helpful to *me* than to *him* because I began to learn more about teaching - that may not be the case with you because you're more experienced than I was.

Best wishes in your journey!!!

P.S. I also remember playing "Spell-Lingo" from Play N Talk (they might be out of business now?) to help him read single words without the pressure of reading a full page, or a full book.

[Jean in Wisc]

We worked hard at phonics and reading. But my first and my last child benefited from a summer break. It took the pressure off. My 3rd child didn't start reading until 4th grade. In 3rd grade, about January, he started being able to do some phonics and understand what he was doing. We got part way through 100 Easy Lessons and then quit for the summer (we'd been doing phonics for 4 years!!! We needed that break!). When school started in the fall, he picked up Hillyer's History of the World and started reading it out loud to me.

I just about fell off my chair.

Taking a break can be beneficial. Sometimes children learn just as much or more when they are not being pressured to "perform" and they have time to mull it over in their own brains.

Jean

[Mom2MLA]

Hi,

We went through this "worry" with our middle dd, who entered 1st grade as a non-reading 7 yo. We spent the entire year working on reading. It was painful but we persevered and it worked. I tried never to push her too hard, but I felt at that point that some pushing was required for I feel that if I had waited, she would never have shown an interest in reading! She would have been perfectly happy to continue playing with her little figurines all day. :) But, we did push forward. She just finished 3d grade, is reading above grade-level, and, as of this year, does read for pleasure. However, we now know that there WERE reasons for her delay, and she is currently participating in "vision therapy."

So, here are some things to look for that might indicate a vision-related (not necessarily dyslexia) problem: dropping small words when reading out loud, losing one's place when reading more often than the average bear, difficulty copying from whiteboard to paper (this sort of task will take a child with visual weaknesses much longer to perform -- the going back and forth in focus and finding one's place is extremely challenging), disdain for coloring or up-close work (in our dd, this morphed into what I would call an "unnatural" dislike for board games), poor handwriting, a lack of sense for how to use space on a page, general clumsiness or lack of coordination, difficulty remembering left from right. Then, there are also the obvious vision clues like headaches, red/teary eyes, double vision, etc. In general, also, I would say that my dd simply had to work "too hard" for what she was accomplishing -- particularly with anything that involved writing, I'd say that things just took much too much concentrated effort on her part.

If these signs ring true to you, you will need to see someone who specializes in vision therapy for a proper evaluation. A regular optometric screening will not necessarily recognize the existence of these sorts of vision problems. My dd consistently "passed" annual vision exams yet our visual therapy "self-evaluation" score placed us at 2X the level of impairment that warranted therapy.

It is hard to know what is normal and what is not at this juncture. I offer our experience merely for comparison and hope that the information is helpful to you in some way.

Warmest regards,
Meredith

[Jill in Maine]

I went through a similar situation this past year with my third child. My other 2 children learned to read at 5 years old using a combination of The Writing Road to Reading and Alphaphonics. When my last child entered Kindergarten I started introducing the phonograms....with NO retention at all. (The others could do 2-4 new phonograms a day and retain them) Needless to say, Alphaphonics was a disaster without the ability to recall the sounds of the first 24 phonograms. Last summer I picked up an old copy of The Handbook for Reading. We limped through this all summer...still getting no where. Finally, last October my neighbor lent me her copy of 100 Easy Lessons. On first glance I did not like it....being a trained teacher myself, I did not like all the "crutches" that the program used. However, out of desperation I decided to give it a try. My daughter, being EXTREMELY visual, ate it up. She flew through the first 30 lessons at times independently. (I rarely used the script provided..and she got tired of waiting for me to finish working with my older 2 to get to her lesson.) At the same time I did some read-aloud books with her kind of "Five in a Row" style. I would read a book 5 days in a row and do fun activities with them...By the end of the week, once again tiring of waiting for me, she would pick up the book and begin reading it without me. By the time she was on Lesson 70 she was picking up books and reading them (without the crutches). When finished, she immediately went into the Pathway Readers and is now half way through the 2nd grade readers. Now, I am actually going to go into The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading to cover many of the phonograms that were missed in the other program. I find she reads VERY well, but relies heavily on context clues when she gets to words containing the more advanced phonograms...ough or augh. If I were to give her these words out of context I am sure she would struggle with them. Looking back, I think two key factors were at play. The first was "readiness"....she just wasn't. the second was that my first two were (and still are) VERY auditory, and she is NOT AT ALL. (I could barely get her to sit through a read aloud in the beginning...but discovered that upon repetition she gained interest.)

Hope this helps...every child is SO different! Sometimes you have to keep trying new methods until something clicks. Good luck and don't lose heart, it will happen eventually.
Jill

[prairiegirl]

We are experiencing the same thing with our ds who turned 7 in Jan. The reading thing just isn't clicking for him. But for him, there are other signs that indicate that this isn't a maturity issue. He has severe speech problems, his writing is atrocious, he has an awkward pencil hold, to name a few things. Due to all of these things combined, the bell has been ringing in my head that there is something else going on here. So we have our first appointment with a reading specialist on Mon. morning. Since talking with this woman last week, I am very encouraged about our situation.

If your child doesn't have any other issues, then it just might be a maturity thing. In this case, I would think that taking a break might be beneficial. When you do start up again, you might want to look at Games for Reading by Peggy Kaye. I use this with my ds as well as OPGTR. He loves the games. It just puts a different layer on the whole reading thing. We also use the Starfall website. It might help to use various resources rather than just one.

[AngieW in Texas]

I would do some testing.

My youngest is dyslexic. Even after vision therapy (which definitely helped), she still wasn't picking up reading. I talked to her VT about it and she said that my dd was probably dyslexic. I took her to the local ps for testing.

In my state, the ps is required to test if you request it in writing. I was actually able to get the testing with just a phone call, but they don't have to respond to you unless you put it in writing. My local ISD just happens to be accomodating that way. In Texas, getting an LD diagnosis doesn't affect your ability to hs at all.

My dd tested well into the gifted range on the IQ portion of the testing, but average to well below average for the achievement portion of the testing. She was diagnosed with a severe learning disability that affected all academic areas, but was most severe in reading and written expression.

I posted her test scores on all the dyslexia email loops I found and was able to pinpoint her diagnosis to dyseidetic dyslexia. I also got feedback on programs that worked for other kids like my dd. My dd finally started to make progress.

My dd is at the end of 4th grade now and is actually working at grade level. She is and always will be dyslexic. She has to work a lot harder to have the same end result as other kids.

She's actually getting retested by the ps on Monday next week (and that's after I called them just two days ago to find out when they could do the testing).

I highly recommend you read a post that Laurie4b wrote called Heartbreak Cake / Celebration Cake. I'll link it below and also cut/paste the beginning of it, because it's too long to put in one post:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=187663#poststop

This is an appeal from the heart to my sisters and brothers in the homeschooling community. Many children and families in the homeschooling community are needlessly suffering because of some of our widely accepted beliefs that are closer to myth than to reality. The children that I ache for are those with learning problems. You may prefer to call them learning differences or disabilities, but these are kids who are not learning at the expected level for their age group even with adequate instruction. The advice often given by the homeschooling community when the mother or father begins to search for answers can lead to heartache.

To simplify, I d like to use the analogy of a cake recipe. Often there are variations that change the flavor of a basic recipe. To keep this simple, the gender of the parent will be female, and the child male.

The basic recipe calls for:

One child, somewhere around the age of 5-6 eager to learn. Unbeknownst to anyone, he has specific learning disabilities.

One homeschooling mom, wanting to provide the very best in education for her child, eagerly looking for curriculum suggestions, reading books, optimistic about what she can provide. Like every loving parent, she wants her child to be normal and it will be sorrowful to her to find that her child has an actual problem, that he is not just like other kids.

Please note: mom and student are the same in either variation. It s the way the homeschooling community responds that changes the outcome of the cake.

Variation 1: Heartbreak cake

Once the mother begins to notice, or even intuit problems, she begins to ask around for help. This particular cake calls for a homeschooling community that will add the following:

2 scoops of advice such as better late than early, or many kids don t click till age 10-11

1 cup of mistrust of professionals; for those who like a less spicy version, this can be the do-it-yourself-ism that is a strength at times of homeschooling;for a spicier version, add fear that that CPS will end up involved if you pursue help

Make sure the homeschool community bowl is free of any oil of early warning signs of learning disabilities. Even a small pinch of this can result in celebration cake instead (see below)

7 teaspoons of encouragement to switch curriculum as the answer

If the batter begins to bubble, continue adding reassurances that her kid will eventually get it and be just fine; if that still doesn t work, add a few more tsps. of encouragement to switch curriculum

Add one scoop of fear of formal labeling. Natural labeling will occur as the cake bakes over the next few years. (Choice of flavors is typically determined by the child; most common variety is stupid )

Bake another 4-6 years or longer if desired, until age 10-12 or longer, waiting for the click.

If there is no click, you ll have heartbreak cake: a child who has labeled himself stupid, bad, and /or weird and who feels so bad about himself that the original LD is no longer the major problem; a child who may have passed the optimal window for remediation; or who has given up. This cake will likely be glazed by deep parental guilt. * (Note: if you ve baked this cake and didn t mean to, good news at the end. I am in no way condemning you as the parent. I am trying to prevent other heartbreak cakes.)

Variation 2 : Celebration cake:

To the same basic recipe, as the mother begins to notice, or even intuit problems, and begins to ask around for help, this cake calls for a homeschooling community that will add the following:

10 scoops of affirmation to trust your own sense of things as a mother and teacher that something is wrong, even if you can t put your finger on it

1 scoop of information about early red flags of learning disabilities

3 cups of networking about effective therapies and strategies

2 spoonfuls of encouragement that seeking help is not a sign of failure, and that professionals can be a homeschoolers best friend

No traces of better late than early or late bloomer myths oil in the bowl; this can cause celebration cake to not peak to its highest potential and to revert to heartbreak cake.

If you see traces of the myth oil above, add one Pascal s wager: if there is nothing wrong, and you get an evaluation, you will have wasted only time and money, and gotten some reassurance. If there are specific learning disabilities present, and you wait till it clicks, you cannot give your child back those lost years, your child will likely have emotional repercussions, you may well have missed the best window of opportunity for remediation, and your child s future may be negatively impacted. Which is riskier?

If fear of labeling begins to emerge in the batter, add 1 scoop of reality: if your child is different, he will be labeled, by himself and his peers, at least. His labels will be stupid, bad , and/or weird . Adults may throw in lazy or disobedient . The formal labels of learning disability, sensory integration, Asperger s etc. explain what is happening, help the child know he isn t uniquely defective and help you identify strategies.

(((hugs))) to a parent who may be facing the grief of acknowledging that her child is not normal

Baking time: no longer than age 7 to begin the process of seeking help; bake for shorter period if problems show up in preschool; after this initial period, turn the heat down slightly and bake as long as it takes, using all the strategies gathered formally and informally, professional help and whatever else it takes

Voila! Celebration cake! A child who would have struggled through life under other circumstances, but who in the very special oven of homeschooling has had his strengths emphasized, and his education tailored specifically to him. He may have totally overcome his learning disabilities, or he may have been helped to learn effective strategies to navigate around them.

**There's more to this, but it exceeds the maximum length allowed for posts.**

[GretaLynne]

I haven't read the other replies so I don't know how my advice will compare. But I was just where you are not long ago! We were using Phonics Pathways, and it was like pulling teeth to get her to do her reading lesson every day. So I decided to try something different. We went to the library and I told her: pick out whatever you want, and you can read that to me instead of Phonics Pathways. I was amazed to find out that she was reading better than I thought she was, and she ENJOYED it when she got to chose her own material (which in her case, is always books about animals!).

I will admit that she still does poorly with phonics, and she's not a natural speller (though Sequential Spelling is helping tremendously). But she is reading very well now, growing by leaps and bounds, and she likes doing it now. So we are both soooooooo much happier! She tests below grade level (we just finished 2nd grade) in terms of phonetic decoding and encoding. But she tests late 5th grade as far as reading comprehension and vocabulary goes. So I decided not to worry.