[keeksmom]

Advice please! DD, age 11, learned to read on her own, but not really until last year (age 10). She vehemently resisted any help along the way, insisted she did not want to read. I read to her constantly and she listened to tons of books on tape. A few times along the way I panicked and tried to guide her through phonics, which ended in tears. She is the type who reads whole words, she still says she doesn't "get" phonics. Anyway, I let her go at her own speed and she did learn to read.

So here's the problem. I know she does a lot of guessing when she reads, and I think this is screwing up her comprehension. She will often comment on a newspaper headline or read something out loud to me that makes me realize she is getting the meaning wrong... for example the other day she was looking over my shoulder at the paper and said "Why are they having a CHEESE tournament?" - the headline was CHESS tournament. This kind of thing happens ALL the time.

She enjoys reading magazines and the kind of books where she does not have to follow a story - quiz books, non-fiction with lots of pictures, etc. I know she does a lot of skimming and guessing.

How do you help a reader who CAN read but can't read fluently? She would like to be a more fluent reader, and is already developing a negative self-image and tries to hide what she doesn't know. I don't want that to get worse.

 

[zeldamomma]

Have you had her vision checked by a developmental optometrist?

Sometimes kids have trouble reading because their eyes don't cooperate correctly, and a doctor isn't trained to look for it will often miss the problem.

GL!

ZM

 

[waiflywaif]

Do you think it might be time for a tutor? Just a few sessions with a literacy specialist might get her over the hump.

 

[Lillian J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeldamomma Have you had her vision checked by a developmental optometrist? Sometimes kids have trouble reading because their eyes don't cooperate correctly, and a doctor isn't trained to look for it will often miss the problem.

That's exactly what I was going to say! - Lillian

 

[Lillian J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by waiflywaif Do you think it might be time for a tutor? Just a few sessions with a literacy specialist might get her over the hump.

And an outside party might be easier for her to deal with under the circumstances of wanting to look capable after declining help for so long - so that could help all around. I'd definitely look into also getting her vision skills checked out though.

 

[UUMom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lillian J And an outside party might be easier for her to deal with under the circumstances of wanting to look capable after declining help for so long - so that could help all around. I'd definitely look into also getting her vision skills checked out though.

I think those are both good thoughts. Hsing means we are free to use whatever resources we want to use.

 

[Dar]

To me, it sounds like this is just her process, and better comprehension will come...

If she seems to be misreading something, I might ask her about it - like, "Hmm, a cheese tournament? What do they do there?" and encourage her to check further. She may eventually realize that cheese wouldn't make sense and chess would... if not, you could throw out the relevant phonics - "Oh, two e's together generally sound like 'eeee', and but one is usually 'eh', unless there's another e at the end." I don't know if that will turn her off, since she had a frustrating time with phonics already, but you could try being very low-key, just giving her the relevant information and going back to whatever else you were doing.

Dar

 

[4evermom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dar To me, it sounds like this is just her process, and better comprehension will come...

If she's only been reading a year, I agree it's part of the process. It's how my ds has been progressing. He found a bunch of stickers that said "to pay" and put them on the calendar announcing they are the days "to play".

But that's not to say that some of the other suggestions, like an outside tutor, might be not helpful.

 

[MsChatsAlot]

I like talking to my kids and asking them what they want. I'd ask if they want some outside help or if they feel they just need a bit more time to grasp it themselves. I remind them that we all need help with things from time to time...as well as reminding them that often, with a little more time and practice, things get easier.