Lexia - can students opt out in APS?
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Anonymous
he/she is probably not progressing because learning without a pencil/paper for younger grades and live instruction doesn't work. don't make it about the student here -his/her attention span for learning online is probably 5 seconds. |
Anonymous
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My 2nd grader hated it last year because she was reading 6th-8th grade level books and her Lexia was initially set to 1st grade content. She found it terribly remedial and repetitive. It took forever to get through the too easy material, and if she started rushing she'd accidentally hit the wrong thing and get sent to remediation. It was dreadful.
She's caught up to something closer to her level now and it's better, though she still hates it. She says all it covers are spelling rules. I'm assuming that's because she aces all of the reading content and then gets stuck on spelling, her Achilles heel. In short, the app measures kids by their weakest skill, so if they are behind in only one area then they also have to do remedial and repetitive practice in all other areas until their weakest skill improves. It doesn't meet them where they are for each skill, which is very frustrating. OP, I don't think there is a way to get out of it, but your child can certainly do the bare minimum. |
Anonymous
I mean no, it doesn’t mean the whole app is bad. It is excellent for literacy! Absolutely excellent! 
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Anonymous
Pretty clear why the kid is having issues... |
Anonymous
That is exactly true. Never question the app. 2+2=5 Lexia is excellent for Literacy! |
Anonymous
I'm guessing Lexia isn't the only issue... |
Anonymous
Anonymous
Yea, OP you seemed pretty unhinged about something your kid spends 15 minutes on a day.. |
Anonymous
Well, OP’s kid is perfect, so if they’re not performing perfectly academically the problem must be elsewhere. |
Anonymous
| My kid (1st grade) hated Lexia last year. To the point of screaming and crying. I asked the teacher and the teacher said to just take a break. My kid rarely likes it, but will do it with less frustration now, sometimes. My kid is kind of a perfectionist and gets really frustrated with remediation because they don't like to be wrong. Personally, I think the sound the program makes for a wrong answer to be completely unhelpful in this regard. My younger child (in kindergarten) similarly hates it. Maybe this is because they've seen their other sibling hate it. I just don't sweat it. They do it, or they don't. Its not my hill to die on right now. I do find that when I sit with my kids as they do it I think Lexia does a really poor job of explaining concepts. The remediation has decent explanations, but its almost like the kid has to get it wrong before being taught how to do it right. Not exactly setting kids up for success. |
Anonymous
| If your kid understands the material, the software funs excruciatingly slowly. Each question takes too long before you can click. It's beyond frustrating. |
Anonymous
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So it's totally my kid. He's to blame, so I'll let him know. Lemme call school real quick, and write an apology to Lexia for besmirching their good name this last year. He started using Lexia in the 3rd grade last year when things were virtual. He hated virtual and by extension he hated Lexia. He reads several grades ahead, scored in the tippy top percent on his SOLs, his comprehension is great (yes I know some early readers struggle with comprehension, not the issue), spelling is hit or miss but usually hit, we regularly sit and read together as a family. But he's apparently still on a Lexia level a grade and a half back. He's literally been at the Russian circus for over a year now. He also has ADHD, mental health diagnosis, tutors, a therapist, meds, accommodations in his 504... so yeah he's to blame, if you need to blame the kid and the parent. Sure. So am I. I should have quit my job last year and told him to love Lexia like he loves reading! Darn it! Bad mom.
But he gets nothing from that app. He has to do it. His teacher has to make him. She's incentivized him to try to get out the lower grade level on it by giving him his own special middle grade books to read on the side. I'm glad to know that it helps some kids, and I hope they continue to enjoy literacy, reading, writing... But if your kid hates it and they sincerely don't get anything out of it, then fine. Just stop sweating it. |
Anonymous
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My 2nd grader struggled with it a lot last year, but not this year. Mainly because this year she is getting the focused instruction on concepts she has a hard time with. Last year she was able to basically BS her way through several levels without actually knowing how to read! She go reset at the start of this year, and it was a bit demoralizing for her. But we had a talk about how actually understanding each concept was way more important than moving quickly, or just guessing to answer it right.
She's doing much better with it this year. I am still wary of it actually teaching her how to read, but I am also trying to not stress about it. I did find when she was resistant, that having me sit next to her while she did it, and help explain little things or what the question was asking, would help a lot. We would only do this for 10 minutes at a time, because anymore than that and she was over it. |
Anonymous
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My second grader absolutely hates it. Last year during virtual school, I let her do the absolute bear minimum Lexia, because it led to meltdowns, whereas she was fine working with me with paper flashcards, actual books, etc.
Overall, I think it's a glitchy, not-very-useful program. My kid does it at school when told to but still hates it a lot. She hates doing things on screens (after last year especially) but mostly just hates Lexia. I don't know that it has helped her literacy at all. If a kid misses a question, they are punished (yes, that's how they see it) with having to answer a bunch more questions just to get back to where they were. Kids find this demoralizing and frustrating (wouldn't you?). OP, you can probably opt out of just about anything. Just say that your child will read a book during that time if it is part of the rotation at school. |
Anonymous
I’m not OP but thank you! I’d never make my kid do Lexia. It sucks for just the reasons you say. From what I understand kids learn reading comprehension by learning more content and just plain reading. Once you have phonics down you don’t need more time learning words in isolation. I’d be interested to see if there is actual evidence to show that Lexia actually boosts reading comprehension. |