Advice needed for dd3 who has reading problems.

[mommy6]

Dd3 is 8.4 and in year 4 at school.She has always found reading and spelling difficult.
I have just done a test i found on-line to find your childs reading age.Her results have shown her to have the reading ablity of a child aged 6.10.I feel this is about right to be honest.
So what can i do to help her.Also what should the school be doing.In the past they have always said dd is slowly improving.(i'm not so sure)She hasn't got thatlong left before she goes to high school,so i would like to get help sooner then later.

Hi Mommy6, was just browsing and came upon your thread. Am SEN co-ordinator (or have been since returning from maternity leave 10 months ago) and when looking for resources was introduced to Toe by Toe a reading scheme a parent had researched for her own child who she felt was dyslexic. The scheme had done wonders for him. Bizarrely a course was being run locally for it by the authors son so went along and heard what he had to say.... apart from an uncharismatic man... was still curious, although slightly sceptical. Anyway worth a go I felt so convinced my head to trial it with 6 children.... the results have been amazing.... 6 months plus increase in reading ages within 1 month of using the book! Now bought more in. It can be bought over the net (as the original parent did) and it should be used daily for approx 10 mins. If you decide to give it a go don't be put off by the formality of the book. We are using it with children from Year 3 upwards although I have a parent in Y2 who is using it with her child. And the kids love it. If you'd rather go through the school, ask the SENCO to find out about it. To buy privately I think its £25 per book or if the school buys 6 it works out at £20 a book! I'm obviously aware it won't work for every child but think for that price its worth ago. Also doesn't work on comprehension but I've always thought if the de-coding is made easier then the comprehension has got to come more readily. And that has certainly been the case in my school. Good luck anyway.

has she has her eyes tested?
Ds2 is struggling with reading and writing, school thought he may be dyslexic, turns out he needs glasses.
He has been wearing them for 2 weeks and I can see some improvement already.
Worth doing even if to rule it out!

Thank you OlaMamas,i will do a search for that scheme.

LoveMyLapTop she does wear glasses for reading.She had her last test just before christmas so i know her glasses are alright.
But thanks you are right eye sight makes a big difference.

Hello...

Another mum with a child who struggles to read. I used to have to say with two children who struggle but ds1 is officially a book worm.

I am NOT advertising and I will not promise miracle results but I swear by the materials available through the Promethean Trust. www.prometheantrust.org/

My older two are 11 and 9. The eldest has nearly completed book D of the spelling program and despite finding it a slightly tedious slog, even he acknowledges that it has taught him to spell. He now fully understands the spelling rules in English and does not have to guess at how things might be spelled.

The only part of the reading program that I do not like are the stories as they are somewhat silly. DS2 (now nearly 7) has learned to read, write and spell using these books and it is amazing to watch him flourish and write without hesitation.

I have to fully agree with the mums who have told you not to accept that she will learn on her own time. In my experience this will not happen without hard work and commitment from you or a SENco who is willing to work with your daughter.

Regardless of the diagnosis, your daughter deserves to be taught to read.

Cadmum you are very right my dd deserves to be taught to read,and every other child.I think schools need to realise not all children will be able to learn to read in the same way.So they must start to have to back up plan,which i don't think my dc's school has.
I will take a look at your link.Thank you.

The teacher had no idea how much she was struggling? When she has been in her class for over a term?

I say it again -quite pathetic.

Have you asked to see the SENCO at the school?

mommy6, read this website about how mixed methods of teaching in the UK are potentially confusing for children: Reading Reform Foundation

Ginn (my dd's school uses it too) is based on word recognition, as contrasted with a phonics scheme like Jolly Phonics that teaches pure synthetic phonics. If your dd is struggling, the way forward IMO is not to give her easier books, but to grill her in the basics of phonics in a systematic way. The site explains why this is so.

Can you hire a tutor that specialises in teaching phonics?

What I am doing is DIY going through the Jolly Phonics workbooks with dd. There are 7 workbooks, teaching about 42 sounds, which you can probably get through in a term or two with your dd. Order them from WHSmith - only £7 or the Jolly Phonics website.

They are really helpful in decoding the English language for a learner.

My advice is similar to that given by tryingtobemarypoppins. Other things you could do:

1. Make up flash cards of high frequency words for reception, year 1 and year 2. go through 10 every day until your child has learnt them by sight. Remove the ones learnt and add new ones. make verbal sentences with them, write them out, type up on a computer in different colours and fonts. The key is to do this daily for no more than 10 minutes.

1. Ask to sit in a class at school to see how they teach.

1. Request for a formal statutary assessment from the school inwriting and if you get no response then contact the education department at the local council. If its in writing they have to respond to it.

1. have you tried Kip McGrath?

Yes I would definitely recommend kip mcgrath.

Kip McGrath is good (my ds went there) but for dyslexia (if she is indeed dyslexic)the dyslexia institute is a better option as they provide an individual programme of work structured to your child. Or a specialist dyslexia teacher could do the same thing - many work free lance.

Flashcards don't work for majority of dyslexics, just add to the frustration.

Hello Mommy6 and others, I have also found some useful information here as I am now keen to see how I can help my son to learn how to write and spell correctly. He is doing great with the reading at the moment so think we've got that one sorted but he finds it hard to remember how to spell words. Saying that, the English language is not the easiest (I can say that as I'm Swedish and had to learn it from scratch). If anyone has any other good ideas with regards to work-sheets or spelling exercises etc I would greatly appreciate that. My son is in year 2 and I have been told that his level is a 1B, i.e. "bottom of the class" as expressed by his teacher. I have set out to prove to her that he will improve beyond belief before summer. Such a pity that we have to do all this work at home though when I think this is the school's job.

Just wanted to say as an ex-teacher I have used toe-to-toe and it is fantastic! great results!

For spelling Stareway to Spelling by Keda who do Toe by Toe is very good but quite intensive.