7th grader

How is her vocabulary?

I think, even with good decoding skills, it is easier to ‘get’ a word if you have heard it before and it has that familiarity. This could explain why she does so well with Science and Social Studies.

I am homeschooling my 6th grader who tested as average in vocab when he was in school, but, being able to question his word understanding as we go along, I have been shocked at the words he doesnt understand. If I pull a vocab list off the net for a certain book, he never knows a single one, and there are numerous other words not considered age level vocabulary needs that he is clueless on.

This has got to be a big stumbling block. I read about “The Matthew Effect” the other day on a site and went, Yep, thats my boy!!!!

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/test.matthew.effect.htm

I am requiring him to listen to books on tape. He enjoys coloring in adult style coloring books(craft stores) so I set him up with headphones, a coloring setup, and a 30 minute timer.

I read to him during homeschool too, but this takes some of the pressure off me. I have a part time job and 2 other kids. Im sure reading to him is always best, but this has been a workable substitute. I use whatever tapes I can find at the library-sadly, even if they are below grade level, they will probably have new vocab for him.

Is it helping? It is hard to say. I have caught him using some ‘bigger’ words in his everday speech so maybe????

Can’t hurt!

Meanwhile, it sounds like your dd is doing great. DS still cant get close enough to the correct spelling to USE a spell checker!

Sometimes I think we need to remind ourselves that their weaknesses are a bigger deal in school than they will be in the real world. DS still cannot correctly sequence the alphabet(which his older brothers find laughable)but what purpose will that serve in the real world. Might make a file clerk position a bit rough, but with the dividers in front of him, even that job would be manageable

She sounds like she is doing an excellent job of “managing”

Marycas,
My ds too has problems with vocabulary—which is a subject at his school. For $7.99 I purchased at Staples Reading Blaster Vocabulary. I think this comes out of inventory and am not sure it’s being produced anymore, but you can also find it at on-line software sellers. It is billed as vocabulary for 9 to 12 year olds. If you use it on “explore” mode rather than game mode, there are three games that are very helpful in building and reinforcing vocab. You can add your own words in 20 at a time, but you have to provide the definition and two sentences using the word. (You can cut down on time by cutting and pasting the first sentence into the second sentence slot.) I have been doing this for his vocab lessons and it is really helping—although putting the words in is of course just more work for me. OTOH you are homeschooling and so you could go with the premade lists and have your ds stick to explore mode doing the 3 games that directly affect vocabulary. The lists are pretty good at introducing words kids that age should know but my son doesn’t necessarily—I’d have my ds do them if we had time.

The other great vocab resource which I haven’t been able to induce him to do is “Vocabulary Vine.” This was highly recommended by Nancy and was put together by a hsing mother. I think it’s pretty much the most integrated approach to teaching Greek and Latin root words out there. Very step-by-step and logical. If only there was a fun computer game to go along with it! Don’t know of any systematic product for teaching Anglo-Saxon words, but wouldn’t it be great if there were?

Thanks for the suggestion-Reading Blaster sounds about the level he needs AND, based on their other games, ‘gamey’ enough

I purchased “Word Roots” from Critical Thinking.com and have not been impressed. “game” is definitely an overstatement. Its essentially workpages on the computer and you win a building block so can build Roman cities. The words are not everyday usage for a 6th grade(I learned a few things though)

There is a card game out there with word roots, etc. I dont recall the name but that might be another option for me to look into. I just never know where to draw the financial line(but 8 bucks I can handle ;))

Have you gotten a developmental vision evaluation? There could be an undiagnosed vision problem holding her back. See http://www.childrensvision.com for more info, and http://www.covd.org to find developmental optometrists in your area. It may not be a vision problem, but I’d sure want to rule that out.

If vision is not an issue, you may want to consider PACE (http://www.processingskills.com ). This can help the processing and mechanics of reading considerably, even without MTC.

Nancy

We did have a developmental vision exam back in 1999 (her age then 7.10); the low findings were 1) Visual sequential memory 9% 2) Developmental eye movements- unable to complete test 3) Test of reversal frequency - age equiv 5.8. My husband then contacted Dr. Gibson of PACE to inquire if Vision therapy may help (since he is a develomental optometrist), his opinion was that it would NOT (can’t remember the details, it’s been almost 5 years). He didn’t recommend it.

We also looked into PACE, but think that she’d likely do well/ improve on *their* ‘training exercises’ but that it wouldn’t affect her reading. She catches on to and usually masters most of what she comes across in life now; whether it’s computer games, games using fine motor, learning the concepts for her school tests… and then does well. So we think PACE would be the same.. a good exercise but wouldn’t translate into improved reading.

Your thoughts??

Much like you, we had done a lot of decoding, but it still did not translate in anything approaching automatic or easy when he had something to read. We have been doing READ RIGHT since July. He is tutored over the phone (yes, phone) twice a week for an hour each time. The premise of Read Right as I understand it is that so much of the reading process takes place automatically in the brain, the person needs to read and reread. My son was pretested, materials were sent to us. He spent 5 weeks in 3-4 reading level materials. Then he spent another 5 weeks in 5-6 reading level materials. He is now reading 7-8th and the pace has slowed. My husband listened in and said he is struggling, but working hard. Anyway, check their website (www.readright.com). We are all happy with the results we are seeing. I can give you more details if you would like.

Angela,
I was hoping you would give us an update on Read Right. Congratulations on your ds’s progress. I have decided to do Read Right with my son based on your enthusiastic posts and my son’s view that doing tutoring over the phone wouldn’t be too terrible. (He has gone through 3 live tutors, all of whom he didn’t like—a good tutor is hard to find.) He is currently in eighth grade and tested at sixth grade level. We are waiting for the supplies to come in before starting. I’d love to get him up to at least grade level before he starts high school so he won’t sink. I’ll also try to keep people posted on his progress as you have done with your ds.
Mariedc

I hope I am pointing you in a good direction for your son. Read Right has worked for us on many levels, but we still question if we made a good choice. But, our son practices reading intensively for an hour each session, something he would never do with me. He works independently and only now is asking when he’ll be ready to stop. He read his driver’s permit test by himself and passed the test. He reads his video game magazines himself rather than asking me to read them to him. I just took him today for IEP testing and in a month or so should know what reading level he tests at. Then we’ll keep encouraging him to read more and more on his own. I wish you and your son success. Keep us posted!

That word recognition is *awfully* low especially when compared to her knowledge base!! I would absolutely, definitely get her doing books on tape and textbooks on tape and see if she’ll start getting in the habit of scanning other reading into the ‘puter and getting it read that way. (If I ran the universe, I’d probably work a lot more on those decoding skills — though that’s one of those long distance diagnoses. It’s just that most of the kids I”ve worked with with that classic profile — lousy reading words by themselves, tolerable in any context at all and significantly better in any kind of familiar context — have had a weak link in the sounding-out process.) Right now is when the ol’ Matthew Effect kicks in because she’s not going to be reading the way good readers read, that helps us get used to what kinds of words and sentences “sound right” and increases our vocabulary. However, she can develop strategies and habits to keep that from happening ;)

We did try some books on tape, she didn’t like the rate, the impersonalness.. she much rather ME read to her.. so I do— often— her school books and anything else she’s interested in. But I won’t be around forever so I will look into scanning. For decoding, what do you recommend?
Thanks!

karen,

I’m never one to argue with more decoding, but have you considered that her problem is also with automaticity/fluency? Does she know the “code” but takes a really long time? If so, maybe she needs fluency practice (repeated timed readings) with controlled word lists and controlled text. Also, has she been taught formally how to break down longer, unknown words into chunks (syllables)? If not, and if she has dyslexia, she probably needs explicit instruction in this.

I’ve had great luck with my 11 year old dyslexic son using the SPIRE program. It is OG based. It has phonemic awareness and decoding lessons, linked with related word lists, linked with sentences and (best of all) with very high interest controlled text. You can use it for decoding review and fluency practice at the same time. I use the word lists and the controlled texts for fluency practice. It also teaches syllabication directly. It is available from EPS now, and the teacher’s manual is very, very user friendly.

My son has a great vocabulary, but I’m still going to weigh-in in favor of books on tape. He and his dad listen to all kinds of fiction in the car—from Harry Potter and Holes to the newest Larry McMurtry. They both have dyslexia so it is really great for them to enjoy fiction this way.

Good luck and sorry for the long post.

Spire is good; so is Patterns for Success by Marcia Henry (which can be had from http://www.rlac.com ), which is a “for all ages” book so it doesn’t look childish (I don’t know what SPIRE looks like :)). Another option is Anne TUley’s Never Too Late To Read from York Press (http://www.yorkpress.com) .
I’d be tempted to start listening to audiobooks in the car (and it would be interesting to see whether she gets “sucked into” the story, or if she doesn’t have the auditory language automaticity to get drawn in). Then, gosh, you’ll be at home — but hey, maybe for another 10 minutes or so, inside…
It’s something to build up with practice — but it would put her at a HUGE advantage later. It’s a whole lot harder to develop the active listening/ attention to language when you’re suddenly expected to be doing things at a high school/college level.

Sue makes a good point. My son didn’t like books on tape at first. One thing that worked for us was to find a story he really liked and for awhile listen with him. My son soon found the advantage—he could listen longer than I could read. Now he loves them—has listened to all the Harry Potter tapes twice!!

And I do think it helps build auditory skills. I see a difference with him.

Beth

I am a huge supporter of books on tape. It allowed our daughter to experience literature at her level when her reading level was poor. A rich background in language usage and vocabulary has defintiely been an advantage for her.

having said that- she was picky about what she listened to - not just the book but the reader also makes a huge difference. When she was younger there was no way she would listen to the Junie B series because of the reader but she loved the Narnia series- a BBC production. The harry potter series has a brilliant actor as reader and can do all the voices. It does make a huge difference. We were fortunate that our library started to purchase classic literature on tape. We own Harry Potter on tape and now on cd. Anne of green gables, Narnia series, the lemony Snickets, Sherlock Holmes, Secret Garden, and recently Dick Francis (we are a little horse crazy) have all been big hits.

We have read aloud many titles but the favorites have been classic literature - Bridge over terabritha, holes, Indian in the cupbpard, etc.

Give ‘em the best literature and langage experience you can. it pays off forever .

Definitively start with books on type while driving.

My son still will not listen by himself, but he loves to listen when we are driving.

We did many books this summer; during “Walk to moons” - he had sit with me in a parking lot to finish listening to a chapter (this was a great recording I should say). He also liked a lot Sid Fleischman’s (?) silly books (like “The 13th floor”).

On my Child-LIt email group there’s a consensus that the Harry Potter reader almost spoiled other books, he’s so good :-) Seems they’re not the only one swith that opinion.
It is a skill *well* worth acquiring — and can lead to some really good habits. Imagine ‘em listening to audiobooks instead of Top 40 on road trips…