how are your kids doing with reading?

egpitt22

Doing some benchmarking here, specifically to those moms with kindergarteners, but moms that have been through this, please feel free to chime in!

How's the reading coming along?  Jake isn't reading independently yet, but is doing fairly well with sight words and can sound out most basic words.  The feedback we got on his recent progress report is that sometimes he seems to have trouble transferring the sight words to the context of a story, meaning that unless he's given a list and said "these are sight words, can you tell me what they are?" he doesn't just say them, he sounds them out in the story.  So even words that the teacher has tested him on many times and he always aces, when he comes across them in stories, he sounds them out instead of automatically reading them. I just got this report on Monday, so I haven't had a chance to talk to her about things I can do at home to help this. 

My concern that I'm having right now is that he doesn't seem to be interested in reading.  Not to say that he doesnt like to be read to, he LOVES that and will happily sit and let you read book after book to him. But when I try to get him to read a few lines to me or even a word here and there, he clams up.  When I asked him about why he doesn't want to try, he said it's because he can't read and knows he will make a mistake.    I try to encourage him and tell him that as long as he's trying, he's still learning, and that's ok. I showed him the book that I'm currently reading, and how many words are in it, but told him that when I was his age, I didn't know how to read either and it took me a long time and a lot of practice to get to the point where I could read all on my own, but that I did it.  any other suggestions?  how do you encourage your child?  I hate to make mandated time where I force him, because I don't want him to end up resenting books, you know?

Luckystar2

Dd can read ok I'd say. She is able to read easy books meant for their age. She stumbles over sounding out some words still. She has little books from school that focus on sight words that she does well with.

Honestly the sight word thing to me is weird! Her teacher is really focusing on them right now. I get that it's good to practice them and just know them. But I don't see what's wrong with sounding out those words? That's what learning to read is all about. She was sent home with a list of all her words and we are using flash cards. She knows about half on sight. The other half she either mistakes it for another word but immediately corrects it or she sounds it out. Teacher wants them working on writing them which is more of a challenge

Dd was really stubborn for a while about reading back before she could read anything. She would get very frustrated. Then once she had a breakthrough and started sounding out words she got excited.but she can still be stubborn and is easily frustrated. Dh has been working with her at home since last year with hooked on phonics. I wasn't sure about it at first but it is a nice program that takes things step by step.

Oh dd's school also using an online program called Raz kids. It has ebooks and the computer reads it to them first, the they read it and can take a little comprehension quiz on it. We do it at home and I really like it. Dd does much better reading if we read through a book once first and I like that the program does that.

And we read to her chapter books every night. That is supposed to be the biggest thing is just reading to them.

MrsAmers

Unless the teacher has specifically asked you to work on it with him, I wouldn't be concerned. Certainly let him know that it is ok to make mistakes, but I would ask him to read out loud less often until he's more confident. Maybe suggest that he read to himself or look at books quietly.

Heather didn't want to read out loud to us much at all in K and wasn't good at sounding out words until late in the year. She mostly didn't seem very interested in reading, though she learned sight words well.

This year she is reading a lot more, although it is only her activity of choice when she can't do other things. She'll happily read when she wakes up in the morning on weekends or during quiet time at school. But if there are toys to play with or art projects at hand, she doesn't choose to read.

Hope that helps.
Amy

AmandaJLewis

I think Eleni's reading ability has really grown this school year.  They are learning to read using this Letter People program so they get a visitor each week or so, the letter person, and focus on that letter by writing it, learning the sounds it makes and then the letter person has "mystery words" aka sight words along with a small book to practice which gets sent home.  When I read her chapter books she often asks me to use a book mark to show her where I am at, and in the summer before school she would want to say the characters names while I read (as they were capitalized and easily recognized). But she really has taken to sounding out words more recently now that she feels more confident with it. 

Emmy, I would follow up with Jake's teacher to see if there is anything you can do to help or if his reluctance is still normal at this age. Eleni can easily give up if something doesn't come easy to her.  So I understand your concern.  It is hard to encourage them, without pushing so much that it becomes a chore to them.  We have a game that may be fun for him too - Zingo sight words edition.  EJ enjoys it and still not all of the words it uses are quickly recognized by her. But it is a fun way to use the words without drilling them with flashcards!

lishie

Jake sounds exactly like Jackson. He's beginning to journal in school, and I can start to see/understand the words he's writing, and he's learning sight words, but he has little desire to read to me at home, though he's all about me reading to him and Michael.

egpitt22

Thanks, ladies.  As always, I'm comforted by the experience of others!  Our school also uses the RAZ program and just sent home the log in information, so I need to install that on our computer and let him use it. 

Amanda-we have Zingo for numbers, and a game called Spelligator that's similar for reading.  Maybe I need to push that game a bit more often, rather than being subjected to playing 29 rounds of "who shook hook"

8-|

northhillsbride

I think Gavin only started "getting it" in first grade, because of the spelling quizzes that go along with learning the sight words.

Hang in there - you got great advice from others, so need for me to yammer my similiar advice!

BethieB

Cori does great with sigh words, but shows zero interest in reading on her own.  Like Amy's Heather, if given the choice of something to do, reading isn't near the top of her choices! She still flips through the pictures and tells her own story. I think it's really normal!

waltsgirl102503

I think it's normal, too.  Did he "read" a lot prior to this?  Noah "read" books all of the time before he could actually read.  It was already something that he did, he would pick a book over playing with cars or coloring any day.  When he'd go outside to play, he'd take a book with him and look at it and pretend to catch the animals in the book, or act like he was that animal.   But, I would think that if reading wasn't really a favorite way to spend solo time before, then it's not going to automatically become their favorite thing to do because they know a few words now, you know?