Kumon and reading recovery intervention

[castlesintheair]

I had a quick search and there seems to be masses of stuff on old threads but I feel too stressed to read through it all at the moment. So, does anyone please have any experience that they can share of these programmes? My DS is 5 and I've just received a (private) ed psych report that recommends he follows these 2 programmes. If anyone can tell me about their experiences I would be very grateful. Costs etc, as well

I'm surprised that an educational psychologist is suggesting so much for a child so little. Its not unusal for a five year old child to be unable to read. He has only been at school a short time.

My son has a five year old friend who does Kumon. The parents pay about £49 a month and the little boy does maths worksheets every day and attends a Kumon maths class every day. I believe the homework is very simple things like counting or drawing letters to build up the child confidence. What surprises me is that parents have to mark the worksheets inspite of paying £49 a month.

I don't know much about reading recovery, but I thought it was for older children. Learning to read is not a remedial activity for a five year old. It is extremely common that five year old boys can't read.

This article might be interesting if you are considering reading recovery

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/education/2006/11/11/eanyq11.xml

This website has some cheaper suggestions you might try.

www.dyslexics.org.uk/

Thank you frances. I was also surprised at the advice especially as DS can read a bit. Pretty average for his age I think. I'm not in the least bit concerned about his reading (or maths for that matter) ability at the moment. Our main concern is his poor language processing ability which is affecting his speech and classroom "welfare". When I read the report I presumed the programmes might help his speech but obviously not. Thank you for clearing that up. I feel a lot calmer now! Thanks for the links to the 2 websites as well, will have a look at those.

Its horrible if your son is unhappy at school.

Have you had your son's hearing tested? Sometimes glue ear can affect speech and understanding at school.

Prehaps an assesment with a private speech theraphist might help. You should be able to get it on the NHS, but it will be long wait.

Thanks frances. DS has had his hearing checked & it's fine. He's also been seen by a SALT and he does have a language processing problem. We are trying to get a statement for some 1:1 in school and in the meantime I am just about to start him with private speech therapy. It's taken me a while but I think I am finally working out the system

I was wondering if any of the Hanen project books would help you. My son had speech problems due to deafness and I used ideas out of an excellent book called "It takes two to talk". I was able to get the book from the library.

There are different books depending on the nature of the speech problem.

www.hanen.org/Hanen2002/pages/LanguageAndLiteracy/TurningResearchIntoPractice.htm

Thanks so much frances. I've saved that link and am going to look at it over the weekend. How are your DS's speech problems now?

His speech isnt too bad and usually adults outside the home can understand him. He has a good vocabulary, but still makes grammatical errors. For example he says "sheeps" instead of sheep and uses "he" for "she". My son's speech really improved when he grommets, but they fell out. Now he has hearing aids his speech is improving rapidly again.

castlesintheair,

My DS1 had speech and expressive language problems. We had a private speech therapist who used Jolly Phonics with him and it taught him to read as well as speak clearly!

I found these websites very useful:

www.jollylearning.co.uk
www.rrf.org.uk.
www.syntheticphonics.com (f you post here you will get a reply from Debbie Hepplewhite who is extremely knowledgeable)

I have no personal experience of Kumon or Reading Recovery but I have read reports that suggest that Reading Recovery is no help whatsoever. At his age I think he needs good Beginning Reading Instruction, not Remediation.

You could use Jolly Phonics with him yourself at home. The Instruction Manual costs £20 and tells you all you need to know.

Best of luck.

Thanks ChocolateGirl. How old is your DS? They use Phonics at DS's school and I've noticed since he has started to read his speech has come on enormously. Maybe that's just being at school as well. Thanks for the web links. Think I'll get jolly phonics for home use as well.

I think that Jolly phonics is brilliant. I used it with my son. To make it work you need to follow the Jolly Phonics handbook as closely as possible.

You can do a reading test if you want to see how your child's reading skills compare with those of children of his age.

www.rrf.org.uk/burtinstructions.html

I agree with ChocolateGirl that Debbie Hepplewhite is an excellent person to ask for advice. Unlike me, she has had loads of experience of teaching.

Just thought you be interested to know that you can get the Jolly phonics handbook for around £13 from amazon.

Thanks I'm going to order it. Just been looking at the website

DS1 is in Year 2 now, castlesintheair, but he is one of the youngest (still 6) because he is a July birthday.

The Speech Therapist started using JP with him around the beginning of Reception but only really got on to word building with him at about Easter. I made a big effort to help him after this time and he was reading quite well by the end of Reception.

I'm currently teaching DS2 to read. He is in Reception and will be 5 in May. I've been doing little bits now and then with him since Christmas and he is coming along well. As well as JP, I use the Ruth Miskin readers and there will be a link to that site on the RRF site/Debbie Hepplewhite's site, if you are interested.