The ongoing saga with ds's reading

LisaTX · **Posted:** Wed Jul 24, 2013 4:59 pm

You're too nice, Anna! But I don't want to take your copy! Actually, we were at the library this afternoon and I asked them how much they charge for the loan and it's really cheap, so I put in a request for it. I guess that's one benefit of a small town library. I had been meaning to request it for awhile now, since you mention this book often.

Anna1111 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm **Posts:** 8115

Okay - but if something doesn't work out, keep in mind that I'm quite willing to loan it : )

Let me know how you like it!

Pam in Colorado · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:58 pm **Posts:** 1095

Lisa, our son was thought to be severely dyslexic. We opted for vision therapy to help correct the brain/eye (he had 20/20 vision, no issue there) connection/tracking issues. When he had completed his vision therapy he had jumped 3 reading grades, was able to track moving objects... He never had dyslexia at all, but would have been labeled as such, if he had been in the school system it would have been their course of action. Everything indicated dyslexia. We are grateful that we had him tested through a specialized optomologist beyond his regular eye doctor. It made all the difference in the world. Martha has some links/information on they route they went with vision therapy. We went through an actual program in and out of home. I know there are options out there. Also, I do know that kids can show some signs of dyslexia who do not really have it, and that with time and more maturity of the brain, all signs and symptoms disappear. Your son is young, some of what you are seeing presently may no longer be there within the next year or two.

LisaTX · **Posted:** Thu Aug 01, 2013 3:50 pm

Thank you for that info, Pam. That is good to know!

LisaTX · **Posted:** Thu Aug 01, 2013 4:04 pm

Anna, I am only on chapter one of the book and it is making me MAD! Mad that it describes what my ds went through until halfway through 1st grade, when we took him out. Mad that I trusted them to teach him to read and they didn't. Even more mad when I went to the first and last conference with his 1st grade teacher and she flat out tole me "Your son can't read" with a disapproving look on her face, like it was MY fault! At the time, I thought he was reading great! I told her that he was reading the readers that she sent home with him just fine. Now I know he was just reading memorized words and using the pictures for help. The readers were just as this book describes. Lots of repetition and big pictures of the words, so that there was almost no way for him to say the wrong word. Ugh! They failed him. Just makes me even more motivated to fix their mistakes.

The online curriculum I use teaches sight words first, then phonics. She does the sight words for preschool and does the phonics for Kindergarten and says it was successful for her 4 kids and they read great. I asked her why she does it this way and she said that phonics is harder than sight words, so after learning sight words, by the time they get to phonics, it's easy because they can already read. She says you read by sight and it's an important skill to have. I just left it at that because I didn't want to argue with her. Other people were saying that there are more exceptions to the rule, than there are rules. I love all of the curriculum, but definitely won't be using the sight reading part when the baby is older and learning to read. I've seen how it has messed ds up.

LisaTX · **Posted:** Thu Aug 01, 2013 11:15 pm

So I've been reading this book whenever I get a chance and the chapter that shows how they're teaching reading in schools broke my heart. It perfectly described my poor ds. The blank stares as he's trying to guess the word, not even looking at the word. Sayig another word that has the same meaning, but is a totally different word. No wonder he hates reading! Here I'm thinking HE is the problem and it's really the school and me that failed him. I know there may be other factors, but I now realize that we need to go back to the beginning and he needs to really learn how to read. Then, if there are still problems, other things can be looked at.

I told ds tonight that we are going to set his books aside for awhile because it is not working and we're going to do something new. He remembered learning sight reading in school and that it was hard and he didn't like it. I said I am going to teach him how to really read words, so that when we're done, he can open a book and read it and understand it and like it. He was so relieved. I wish I had read this book sooner, Anna. It's going to take awhile to get him to stop guessing, but it will be worth it.

Anna1111 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm **Posts:** 8115

Lisa, I can't tell you how delighted I am that the book is helping you! : )

It IS angering to think that they've been doing this to kids for nearly a century now - resulting in a 20% illiteracy/"dyslexia" rate, when intensive phonics produces almost no illiterates or "dyslexics."

People laugh when I tell them that this book is a real "page-turner" but the fact is, I couldn't sleep till I had finished it.

Just so you know "Why Johnny STILL Can't Read" (the sequel) is an equally worthwhile read.

And, about your online teacher who says sight reading is "easier" - I'd love to see her "sight read" Greek (which is perfectly phonetic - like Spanish). Trying to memorize what words look like without the sounds is incredibly frustrating - and not at all "fun." And, there's no reason at all that normal (non-genius) preschoolers can't learn phonics (mine did). It's not about being "ready" (except one does have to learn things in order - you do have to memorize that S says /s/ before reading)- it's about being taught properly. And, our schools - as well as many packaged curriculums, are failing our kids.

What's really sad is how many *teachers* learned to sight read, don't understand the basic phonics rules, and don't even know that there's a better way. And, in teaching school, they'll mention "intensive phonics" and even "Why Johnny Can't Read" only to tell the students that "we're more modern than that now!" or "That was a bunch of uneducated propaganda" - leaving their future teachers just as uneducated about reading as their students (except that they've memorized more picture-words)

It will make me SO happy if this book can help you fix Christian's reading frustration & help him enjoy reading!

(BTW - I read your first (recent) post last night, but then our company arrived and I didn't want to be rude by typing. I was so delighted that I woke up early (before the company gets up : ) to reply!)

Tory · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:58 pm **Posts:** 5828

Lisa!! I'm so happy this is opening you up to new ideas of how to help your ds! I think he has a great mom and he's soon going to LOVE reading!!

LisaTX · **Posted:** Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:52 pm

At first I didn't understand what she meant when she said that sight reading is important and she said "You're reading this right now by sight". It confused me until I read some more of the book and found out that people who believe in sight reading think that it makes you read faster. I was insulted when I realized that she was insinuating that I am reading things by sight reading. They think that if you read phonetically, you have to read slow and sound out each word. How do they not understand that, just as with everything else in life, the more you do something, the better and faster you get at it. A young child will slowly sound out words, but someone who has been doing it for years and perfected it and reads well, will read a lot faster. But that doesn't mean that we do it by sight reading, that we just memorized a bunch of words.

I am thankful that I somehow escaped sight reading. I don't know what I learned in school, but apparently sight reading was being used in most schools even when I was in school, and even when my mom was in school! Somehow I learned to read using phonics. I don't remember ever struggling with reading and I even remember when I was reading out loud from a textbook in 4th or 5th grade and sounded out a word I'd never read but had heard many times. I remember the little thrill I felt. It's funny the things we remember, lol. I loved reading so much, I remember sitting at the kitchen table reading book after book out loud to my mom as she listened while doing chores. So, you can imagine how painful it is to watch my ds struggle.

Thank you for saying that, Tory. I don't feel like such a great mom right now. I wish I had realized sooner what I needed to do with ds. I really didn't know what I was doing. I just thought I needed to give him books and help him with words he didn't know and that he would eventually get better and faster. I didn't realize how much of a problem the guessing was with him and how I needed to go back to the beginning and teach him phonics. I mean, we did some phonics here and there, but no where near enough emphasis on it. How did I expect him to learn to read if I told him to sound out a word and he couldn't so I just told it to him, expecting that he would remember it the next time? I am kicking myself over the wasted time. I feel like I should have known this is what I need to do. I guess the only thing I can do now is move forward and I think he will catch up quickly. With everything else I've tried, I wasn't confident that it would work. It was, "Well, lets just try this and see what happens." This is the first time I feel confident that it will work. I know it will. Patience is not one of my virtues, but I'm going to start at the beginning and not move forward until he grasps it. I am actually excited to see things finally improve for him.

Anna1111 · **Joined:** Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:14 pm **Posts:** 8115

You're a GREAT Mom, Lisa! Troubleshooting a learning problem is something that maybe 5% of parents and 1% of professional teachers EVER do. Going counter-cultural to do what is right & what works - when everyone tells you the opposite, is VERY good parenting.

I'm so delighted that there's a light at the end of the tunnel for you - it may take about a year to remedy these things (that's about the norm, I understand), but from other things you've said, Christian is bright, and he'll be able to make up for lost time academically easily.

And, I'm convinced it will work for Christian - like you say. I wish I had understood these things better when the boys were little. We live & learn - none of us is born knowing all this stuff. If you're learning, you're being a great parent! : )

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