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Kathryn
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| Posted: Aug 23 2010 at 9:30pm | IP Logged
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DS 10 reads about a mid-upper 2nd grade level but so many books/readers at that level are still a bit too...babyish for him? He's definitely still learning to read as opposed to reading to learn.
Last year we did Seton readers and he did ok with the Level 2 but from reading around old posts, someone mentioned they're really not great "teach to read" books.
I found Book 3 & 4 of the National Catholic Readers and LOVE the format w/ the new words written phonetically, dictation sentences, discussion questions and readings...it's the all-in-one laid out for me. Plus, it helps pull out and discuss vocabulary words and even use some for spelling. However, he's struggling and gets sooo frustrated. I was thinking about stepping down to Book 2 but don't have one readily available and am wondering if there's something else that would better serve him right now.
Then I have American Cardinal Reader Book 3 but it's not laid out like the NCR.
I guess I'm looking for something like NCR but on a lower level for him. Someone else had mentioned the Little Angels Readers but I saw those at a convention recently and thought they seemed too below his level. ?!?!?
Thoughts?!
ETA: I have The Father Brown Reader but CHC calls for that in 4th grade...could this be too above his level then?
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Kathryn in TX
(dd 16, ds 15, dd 8, dd 5)
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Erin
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Kathryn
I empathise greatly. I was in the same situation with my ds11 only last year.
Beginner readers are geared to the five year olds. Ds read alot of DK readers although as they are not phonetic it was harder. He really took off when he began reading Encyclopedia Brown books, in the beginning he would only be able to read half a page to a page.
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Erin
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JennGM
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There's an old Cary Grant movie that has a boy who couldn't read even though he was in 5th grade. The beginner books were too babyish for him.
It wasn't until the subject matter was interesting that he in earnest took up reading and wanted to read. It was a Boy Scout manual that pushed him over the edge. I always think of that scene. Readers are fun when read as fun stories. I used to sit and read the old Faith and Freedom. But classroom reading of the readers was so tedious and painful.
See if you can find any old Edward Dolch stories in your library. I particularly recommend "Stories from..." series. Those are captivating stories, wonderful illustrations, and the books always have a list of words that aren't common and new to the reader.
They aren't insulting. I read these over and over again even into junior high.
There is the "Step-Up" series by Random House (that's the old name). Most of the books are readily available. The illustrations are good, the stories aren't dumbed down, but it's a good level
Some titles
Insects Do the Strangest Things
Baseball Players Do Amazing Things
Meet Abraham Lincoln
Lots more.
Also, the Childhood of Famous Americans is a good series for "remedial" reading.
and some of the older "I Can Read" books are interesting (like the Science ones).
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Jennifer G. Miller
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ekbell
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If you live in an area with a reasonable number of ESL students, I'd suggest looking for hi-lo (High interest low reading level) books at your library.
This website gives links to a number of hi-lo reading lists http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/hi_lo_books.h tm
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Kristie 4
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The Animals do the Strangest Things series
Nate the Great (quirky enough to engage even the older readers!!)
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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joann10
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I am so watching this post....the recommendations are wonderful, for this is right where I am with my ds-10....He started reading last year and I, too, am having an awfully hard time finding books for him....
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JennGM
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Here's a nice list and preview of the Step-Up books.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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joann10
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JennGM wrote:
| Here's a nice list and preview of the Step-Up books. |
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What a great list!!!! 
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Kathryn
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| Posted: Aug 30 2010 at 9:04pm | IP Logged
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Do you think the Little Angel Readers are too babyish?
I'm torn b/c I really want the *one* go-to reader book in his daily "to do" instead of having to hunt, find and pilfer thru a bunch of individual reader books each week.
I brought back out his Seton Reader book from last year that we hadn't quite finished and at least it's more readable for him at this point. I'm trying to pick out the vocabuary, spelling etc. but right now I'm just running on empty which I guess is why the NCR was so appealing. Still hunting for book 2.
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Kathryn in TX
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ALmom
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Kathryn:
Many of mine did not take off reading until the age of your son. There is something about sensory integration in my family at around age 10, I think. All of my boys have been far sighted at young ages, some remain so even into their teens. Mine are all very fond of reading, read extensively and have no problem learning. Some did have vision issues that we corrected and the reading literally jumped at least 3 grade levels doing nothing but therapy. I share this to give encouragement. Of course vision is not the only possible challenge - but working with whatever challenge at home as you are lets them grow at their appropriate pace and you will see fruits down the road. It was extremely tough when I was dealing with an almost 10 year old who was struggling to sound out cat. It was scarey to step back and not overtax their eyes wondering if we were just putting them further behind. The other thing, which you are probably doing, is read aloud - and do so across a variety of interesting disciplines. Reading a chapter a night, well, they aren't stuck thinking that the only reason to read is to answer dumb questions about stories that are babyish. If it is particularly interesting, then 1 chapter per night is far too slow for them and they are motivated to learn so they can read ahead. If you see the strong desire to read and write - but no progress then suspect something else is creating a challenge and become your child's advocate and sleuth. Investigating the possibility of vision issues is probably a good first step in that regard.
My strategy with these struggling readers was (once the vision issues were resolved - some things I tried before the vision was resolved particularly with my first 2 with vision issues because I didn't know they had vision issues at first and then it took 2 years to get diagnosed and nothing worked very well, we made extremely slow, tedious progress and they either had melt downs or became houdinis according to tempermental tendencies - these folks are doing just fine, despite me so do not despair at all!!!) to go through a reader long enough that they had figured out the basic phonics, then we moved to a "Spelling" program and let them practice reading on interesting books. I have used any number - CHCs, Little Angel Readers, Sing Spell Read and Write ... and probably one or two others. I chose to stick with the phonics readers at the very beginning and chose according to what the child responded to best. We didn't bog down in these, nor did we spend endless time with them - just tried to achieve quick success with beginning to read. Some were chosen based on the number of words crammed on to one page and print size. Once we were moving through the basic short sounds, if the child was particularly older and bored,I moved sooner to the spelling program and we just read stories from whatever we wanted - CNR was one of the ones I liked just because of the literary level if they didn't just pick books and start reading at first. If they had tastes for books, then real books took priority. I picked up the CNR when were ready for the 2nd grade one, I think but my editions were the first off the press and we had problems with contrast and smudged letters and print size and thus quickly moved on to Bethlehem books just to read and did phonics with our spelling. The spelling I used was a very old version of Writing Road to Reading with the Sanseri book and instructions on how to use things from St. Thomas Aquinas (without St. Thomas Aquinas's instructions, this would have been too difficult, with the instructions we were able to taylor it and make it work without undue stress). We probably realistically alternated the spelling and the reading - not trying to do both on the same day. I stayed very much in tune with the child and the degree of eye strain. We kept seat work sort and interspersed with plenty of physical exercise (if we didn't it was usually a bad day).
With one of mine, I literally did no reading, spelling or writing with them for a good 6 - 10 months while we focused on therapy (basically therapy became their language arts program that year). I was determined I was not going to overtax the eyes. It was the best and the most frightening thing I ever did. About 2 months after finishing therapy, we tried to jump in where we had left off - only to discover that spelling, writing and reading had all moved many years ahead and I had no idea where this child was. St. Thomas Aquinas did some informal testing for us, we followed their advice that year and used the WRR as a spelling program and to make sure we had phonics in place (this was the first year we used WRR succesfully and then I followed this pattern with the rest - postponing the start of school until we had completed therapy). She learned to read overnight without teaching hardly. It was so unbelievably amazing. She also corrected all her reversals without teaching, begged to learn cursive, which I allowed with a great deal of fear and trembling (at the time the last time I'd seen her print, everything was reversed) and she did wonderfully with it.
What I learned - when I was dealing with a vision problem, really nothing worked all that well. I even went out and bought big wooden letters that could be felt and ..... Print size when first reading, was critical unless the vision issue was so bad that they could barely track at all, in which case it didn't matter at all, couldn't read small or large print. Anything worked once we had the vision resolved as long as we did not overstrain the far-sighted folks with too small print.
Be encouraged, pray and follow what you and your husband find best. If it does turn out to be a vision issue and you want to talk to me more, then just PM me. I think I get notified if I have a new PM - if I don't respond right away, it is because I don't get on this board a whole lot anymore, but I know that one of the folks who moderate these would send me some sort of notice that someone wanted to ask me something.
We will remember you in prayer as you discern what is best for your child. Be encouraged, God will bless your efforts in some amazing ways.
Janet
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rose gardens
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I have a hard time getting weblinks to work here, but you can copy and paste following website address for some syllable divided books. They're available free online and the topics would likely interest a 10 yo boy. Since the bigger words are divided into syllable, they're easier remedial readers to read.
http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/syllabledividedb. html
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: Sept 22 2010 at 10:48pm | IP Logged
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Kathryn wrote:
| Still hunting for book 2. |
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Have you tried Kolbe Academy this is where we got our set when we first started hs. We were given a word of caution that it was considered advanced reading for a second grader (I think it was) so this might be a good fit. My dd did enjoy this very much, there are some great stories with lots of good moral lessons as well.
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Mom to dds(00,03) and dss(05,06,08,09)
Grace in Loving Chaos
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Kathryn
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I found a new website I really like with high interest/low readability books and I wanted to share it:
We've read a couple of these from my son's tutor and it did hold his interest and he didn't complain about it being too babyish. I think I'm going to order a series myself and the workbook as well as possibly a vocabulary book.
High Noon Books
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Kathryn in TX
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momtomany
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Kathryn wrote:
I found a new website I really like with high interest/low readability books and I wanted to share it:
High Noon Books |
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Thanks for this link! I'm going to try a few for my son.
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Mary Ann in PA
wife to MIchael, mom to Elizabeth, Becca, Tim, Peter, Andrew, Sarah, Matthew, John, Leah and Joseph
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: "Remedial" Readers?
