Hitting a wall - reading

[Tulip]

Hi, all, hoping for some insight, please. I have a very bright 5 3/4 year old. I am used to special needs (delays), so I’m at a loss with this academically gifted son. Orally, physically, memorizing, inferring, recognizing patterns everywhere, mathematically, spatial reasoning, drawing, etc. I feel inferior at time

But! He can’t read. We’ve hit a wall at CVC , CVCC words. He hasn’t progressed in 8 months. Every single word is laboriously sounded out, even words he’s been exposed to for years (can, God, bat). He often memorizes a story, or just guesses at the next word - that’s when he “reads” smoothly. If I stop him and point- he has to slowly sound out the word. I’m constantly reminding him “look as you read” because he looks at me when he sounds out the word. He can glance at a sentence and then looks elsewhere (or fidgets/wiggles) as he sounds out a few words in a row. He’s growing impatient with himself, and we just recently got over a major perfectionist hump with him.

He does not need glasses to read, and his hearing and healthy are fine.

should I double down on phonics/reading? Back off? I’m very confused because I really thought his memory skills would easily translate to reading skills.

[cherylswope]

When you say you are familiar with special needs, is this within your family or elsewhere? Specifically, so you have any family history of dyslexia on either side? This could be helpful to know.

Some children with significant reading difficulties, even dyslexia, have above average intelligence or excellent visual-spatial abilities. As you probably know, giftedness, perfectionism, or above-average intelligence does not rule out specific learning disabilities.

You have already looked at visual and hearing acuity. He is nearly six. Do you think a more thorough evaluation might be warranted?

You mentioned that he has been attempting CVC words for 8 months. This means he began formal reading instruction while still age 4. This may sound silly because he is so bright, but does he know all of the sounds represented by letters? I wonder if his giftedness prompted reading instruction prior to reading readiness. If you think this might be the case, it might be worth backing up to sounds/letters.

If he knows all sounds/letters, then it might be good to consider something else interfering with his ability to read. I would not double down. This is not due to lack of effort on your part or his.

[enbateau]

First of all, remind us which programs you have used up to this point. Did you use any programs prior to FSR/MPK?

I know my little guy's path started a little later than is traditional, but he has been slowly ramping up his reading over time. Progress forward is good no matter what. A child can be bright in other areas and still lack reading readiness. My youngest is a math whiz, adding and subtracting numbers in his head way above what we've taught or exposed him to, but he is still perfectly placed (at 6.5) in FSR C. He has done really well because we followed the Simply Classical placement tests and waited for readiness for each subject. That might be a good place to start. For reference, last year my little guy started independently sounding out simple CVC words because we did a thorough explanation of first sounds for each letter. A year later, he is still only reading common words, CVC and CCVC/CVCC words, but that is because we haven't taught him anything else. So, if your son learned CVC words last year when he still wasn't ready for mastery, he could still be perfectly normal (for his pace in learning to read) in needing more time to master CVC words. Not even 6 is still young. My neighbor's son is NT, and he just entered public K at 6.1 years old. His father is from Europe, and over there they don't start reading instruction until closer to 7 (so they say), so they made that choice, and he is doing very well.

I love the Simply Classical plans (from SC 1) for phonics and reading. If you haven't watched the videos from Sodalitas yet, the K ones are packed full of goodness. One of the techniques that helped my child immensely was the way they drill the alphabet flashcards every morning: "A says a-a-apple, B says b-b-ball, C says c-c-cat, D says d-d-dog, E says e-e-egg," and so on. Then we drill consonant teams and read every word on the back. This takes less than 10 minutes. I have heard a lot of parents say they would never do that, but it has been exactly what he needs. Then he reads about 60 common words. I started with ALL of them at the head of the year. Then he reads 1-2 stories he has read before. Reading the same stories instead of new stories can really help. I'm laughing at how your son looks at your face to sound out the word. I just said that yesterday to my son: "The word is not on my face, buddy. Put your finger under the word and let's sound it out together." This is usually met with frustration because of his perfectionist ego, but I like to redirect with his favorite stuffed animals encouraging him to read it for them, and he usually consents. No joke. Stuffed animals! Also, my little guy needs more space between each letter. I retype word lists from Classical Phonics into MS Word and go into the font settings to expand the spacing between the letters (usually by 1.2-1.5x). It always helps. The eyes need constant training in the muscle memory of where to go next when reading. Alternately, I write the word with more space between letters on the whiteboard in our schoolroom. I will also write chunks like digraphs and consonant clusters together and in a different color (red for vowels and blue for consonant teams to prep him for Traditional Spelling). That helps, too.

I might hold off on an assessment at 5 3/4. I thought my eldest had dyslexia at 6 because she had a protracted stage of guessing (predictive reading), transpositions, etc. Thousands of dollars worth of tests later, she was 100% normal (and in fact quite gifted). But I had never taught reading before, and in my mind all learning was linear, steady and progressive.

Also, don't be afraid to drop other subjects and just do reading, writing and math. If the reading exhausts him, do it early, give a hearty break and reward, and get to his favorite part (like math) later and call it a day.

[Tulip]

thank you both so very much for your Input!

he did Modern Curriculum Press K last school year (plaid phonics). He did great, except that the lines were far too large for his writing, so I had to cross/white out section for his smaller handwriting.

I ordered MP 1st grade for him in winter/spring because he was a year “ahead” and his pediatrician recommended to not hold him back - as long as he was eager and willing, give him all he wants. Okay. But now I see he’s no where near ready for FSR E.

I have begun R and S 1 phonics sheets with him, which he enjoys So I was thinking of maybe getting their readers.

we had already begun R and S math.

we had also been more Charlotte Mason homecoming, which I now see was just free flowing in the wind - the kids don’t remember all those projects and museum trips!

also, we are returning to “real” school after nearly 3 week break due to passing of FIL (grandfather) so I’m being extra gentle.

When you say you are familiar with special needs, is this within your family or elsewhere? Specifically, so you have any family history of dyslexia on either side? This could be helpful to know.

-my oldest twins are on the autism spectrum, with so many issues that have come with it, including being non verbal til 5, mental health issues, non specific learning disorder, insert all those fancy letters
-my 9 year old has global delays including speech/articulation, dysgraphia
- son in question only sometimes writes a 2 backwards or U as N, and this is only when he hasn’t had a ‘warm up’ or visual reference

Some children with significant reading difficulties, even dyslexia, have above average intelligence or excellent visual-spatial abilities. As you probably know, giftedness, perfectionism, or above-average intelligence does not rule out specific learning disabilities.

- yes! I suppose I’d rather hear I’m doing something wrong than to admit My kid is impaired


You have already looked at visual and hearing acuity. He is nearly six. Do you think a more thorough evaluation might be warranted?

-I’m wondering that, too. Unfortunately our insurance doesn’t cover assessments, and our area is not homeschool friendly (the public schools only provide Services if child is more than 1/3 delayed in an area...they always “recommend “ enrolling the child in public school to meet his educational needs. Gets ridiculous. Have had to hire a lawyer in the past)

You mentioned that he has been attempting CVC words for 8 months. This means he began formal reading instruction while still age 4. This may sound silly because he is so bright, but does he know all of the sounds represented by letters? I wonder if his giftedness prompted reading instruction prior to reading readiness. If you think this might be the case, it might be worth backing up to sounds/letters.

- not silly. Yes, he knows long/short vowels, all consonants, but forgets soft g,c often, knows but not mastered H teams, slow with blends. Have not gotten passed silent E.

- he is very aware of sound/symbol I really don’t think I pushed him, but maybe he was eager to do school like brothers, and we started before he was ready. Very likely.

If he knows all sounds/letters, then it might be good to consider something else interfering with his ability to read. I would not double down. This is not due to lack of effort on your part or his.

- okay, so I’ll stick to our regular 10 min chunks throughout the day.
- I hadn’t thought of doing the simply classical assessment, but that sounds like next stop on this journey

[Tulip]

Gosh, sorry! My replies are within the quote.
thank you again.

[cherylswope]

No problem. I see the responses. Thank you!

Before jumping to an eval, or at least while you wait to obtain one, you can follow enbateau's good suggestions of scoring the Simply Classical assessments. Score SC C, SC 1, and SC 2.

If he passes SC C with flying colors, you might bsck up to teach reading with the SC 1 plans.

We have the SC 1 Phonics & Reading Intensive that might serve him well. (See the "Best of ..." Sticky threads at the top of the forum.)

SC 1 comes with Phonics from A to Z, which will be a great resource for you.

If you have any questions after scoring the assessments, feel free to ask. I'll check back Monday morning but the wise women on our forum can help over the weekend!

[Tulip]

Thanks so much!

enbateau, ha ha! The word is not on my face, yes. Sweet idea to read to plush toys.

as far as purchasing additional resources, I’ve never bought directly through MP. I see that packages can be customized, but even so I’ll end up with a lot of doubles. Is there an individualized sales lists?

[enbateau]

Absolutely call and create a custom order on Monday...they have been amazing at working with me. We already had a lot of material at home, and they were great at getting me a package price. Usually I just said: I want all of Package x (except for x, y, and z). You can also email [email protected] to complete a custom order.