Why has the school not said anything? My daughter (who is 7 and a rising 2nd grader) was identified in Kindergarten as having a speech problem primarily, and was offered reading support as well. Then, when the Speech Therapy wasn't helping the reading, they added supports and set her up with LD supports even though she's not yet diagnosed (they want to wait another year for diagnosis, but it's already in her IEP).

Your child should not struggle. You should not have to pay out of pocket for support. Yes, if you need to, you should do it, but the school should be helping you and, if they're not, I'd look for another school. My daughter's school has been all over this. Your child could have a variety of things going on, or nothing at all specific, but you need to know so that it can be addressed properly. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all so much! I reached out to the school and got connected with a summer tutor, starting next week. The Reading Specialist at the school is also going to meet with me to discuss tips and DS's specific struggles. I'm going to ask her about what she sees with him, and will talk about doing an evaluation with DH. I'm not averse to getting him tested and getting outside therapies/instruction, but it will be a real financial struggle for us, we may have to ask the grandparents for help.

Another issue is book selection. All the books he wants to read (about Star Wars, Ninjago, Chima, etc) are way above his level. When I get out "One Fish Two Fish" he protests that they are for babies. I told him they are like training wheels, and the other books are like two wheelers. He needs to practice with the "training wheel" books first. That seemed to pacify him for a day, but I'd love more suggestions on "cool" books that are in his ability level!

Thanks again.

So he reads "one fish' to you, and you read star wars to him. That covers everything.

And best advice I got: don't ask him to read to you when he is tired. Achieves nothing good.

Audio book are your friend. While I hate Amazon for a lot of reasons their whisperync system is very helpful. Essentially you download the text of the book and then purchase the audio, for most books this is only a dollar or two more. Their is a dyslexic font out there you can convert the text to and that also will help your son. Have him follow the text along with the audio, it will help him connect both words, sounds and his self esteem.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all so much! I reached out to the school and got connected with a summer tutor, starting next week. The Reading Specialist at the school is also going to meet with me to discuss tips and DS's specific struggles. I'm going to ask her about what she sees with him, and will talk about doing an evaluation with DH. I'm not averse to getting him tested and getting outside therapies/instruction, but it will be a real financial struggle for us, we may have to ask the grandparents for help.

Another issue is book selection. All the books he wants to read (about Star Wars, Ninjago, Chima, etc) are way above his level. When I get out "One Fish Two Fish" he protests that they are for babies. I told him they are like training wheels, and the other books are like two wheelers. He needs to practice with the "training wheel" books first. That seemed to pacify him for a day, but I'd love more suggestions on "cool" books that are in his ability level!

Thanks again.

So he reads "one fish' to you, and you read star wars to him. That covers everything.

And best advice I got: don't ask him to read to you when he is tired. Achieves nothing good.

My son loves Star Wars leveled readers we get at the library. Plenty of books to appeal to kids; they won't appeal to you.

How about an evaluation from a reading specialist and honest advice about whether he should just be in a single language, English, school at this time. He is having a hard eough time with English and trying to keep up in two languages seems to be too hard right now. Couldn't you consider a tutor for the secondary language.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone whose smart kid struggles with reading should look into vision therapy. The school won't recommend it and a regular eye doctor visit won't show the need for it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. http://www.vlca.com/

Quackery
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/3/e818

Ha! That article is ridiculous. Of course vision therapy won't help with learning disabilities or dyslexia, it's for vision problems. That's like saying vision therapy won't help with my sprained ankle. Right it won't.

There are different reasons why children have difficulty reading. One of them is dyslexia. One is that they may have a vision problem (that may or may not be related to visual acuity- ie they could have 20/20 vision but still have a vision processing difficulty...)

Would you like to trade journal articles? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3261761/

I have LOTS more.

Also, I know several adults who had vision therapy as adults and have personally attested to its life-changing results.

OP, I'm a PP with a 7 year old son with Dyslexia. My kid was also at Hop On Pop level for most of first grade, but HATED Dr. Sues. One just fantastic set of books are the Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie books. They are slyly hilarious, and sweet, too. My son just loves them, which means he'll happily read them over and over, which is great for fluency, as a PP pointed out. The Star Wars and Ninjago etc. books were attractive to my son, too, but they are really hard for a struggling reader. Lots of names, big words, and potential for frustration. Another possibility is to find something he does like, and read it to him a few times till he knows the words really well, then let him read it. You can also use a sheet of paper to cover all but the sentence your child is reading, as that helps focus and stem the panic of having too many words. And poetry meant for kids is great, too, especially when it has disgusting humor...

Anonymous wrote:Anyone whose smart kid struggles with reading should look into vision therapy. The school won't recommend it and a regular eye doctor visit won't show the need for it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. http://www.vlca.com/

Quackery
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/3/e818

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all so much! I reached out to the school and got connected with a summer tutor, starting next week. The Reading Specialist at the school is also going to meet with me to discuss tips and DS's specific struggles. I'm going to ask her about what she sees with him, and will talk about doing an evaluation with DH. I'm not averse to getting him tested and getting outside therapies/instruction, but it will be a real financial struggle for us, we may have to ask the grandparents for help.

Another issue is book selection. All the books he wants to read (about Star Wars, Ninjago, Chima, etc) are way above his level. When I get out "One Fish Two Fish" he protests that they are for babies. I told him they are like training wheels, and the other books are like two wheelers. He needs to practice with the "training wheel" books first. That seemed to pacify him for a day, but I'd love more suggestions on "cool" books that are in his ability level!

Thanks again.

Excellent. There are star wars and the rest available for nearly all reading levels. Look at Scholastic - they are inexpensive and have many different reading levels. The reading specialist may be able to give you some books from her libary to use over th summer too - or at least recommend some. Good Luck!

Anonymous wrote:Get him some summer tutoring. Not every kid (or probably not most kids) who struggle in a subject has some disorder. And given that your child is in a dual language program, he isn't getting the same amount of time in English reading instruction as most kids his age. Learning to read in two languages with two different sets of rules and possibly alphabets is not easy. He may need some extra help. He doesn't need a diagnosis.

This. Go with him to the library, and let him pick easy, short books. That will help. Find him a reading tutor for the summer.

Anyone whose smart kid struggles with reading should look into vision therapy. The school won't recommend it and a regular eye doctor visit won't show the need for it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. http://www.vlca.com/

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you all so much! I reached out to the school and got connected with a summer tutor, starting next week. The Reading Specialist at the school is also going to meet with me to discuss tips and DS's specific struggles. I'm going to ask her about what she sees with him, and will talk about doing an evaluation with DH. I'm not averse to getting him tested and getting outside therapies/instruction, but it will be a real financial struggle for us, we may have to ask the grandparents for help.

Another issue is book selection. All the books he wants to read (about Star Wars, Ninjago, Chima, etc) are way above his level. When I get out "One Fish Two Fish" he protests that they are for babies. I told him they are like training wheels, and the other books are like two wheelers. He needs to practice with the "training wheel" books first. That seemed to pacify him for a day, but I'd love more suggestions on "cool" books that are in his ability level!

Thanks again.

Good for you OP! Your son is really lucky that you care so much and are getting help for him. Are you in FCPS by any chance? Last year my son attended a really fun program at the library called easy readers which was for boys in k-2 and he LOVED it! They had it on Saturday mornings.

OP here. Thank you all so much! I reached out to the school and got connected with a summer tutor, starting next week. The Reading Specialist at the school is also going to meet with me to discuss tips and DS's specific struggles. I'm going to ask her about what she sees with him, and will talk about doing an evaluation with DH. I'm not averse to getting him tested and getting outside therapies/instruction, but it will be a real financial struggle for us, we may have to ask the grandparents for help.

Another issue is book selection. All the books he wants to read (about Star Wars, Ninjago, Chima, etc) are way above his level. When I get out "One Fish Two Fish" he protests that they are for babies. I told him they are like training wheels, and the other books are like two wheelers. He needs to practice with the "training wheel" books first. That seemed to pacify him for a day, but I'd love more suggestions on "cool" books that are in his ability level!

Thanks again.

PS: I agree that you DO get him summer tutoring or make sure he reads daily--even if it's just a page a day. At this age, do not stress him out over it. Start slow--1 or 2 pages a day then increase. I'm also a huge fan of Huntington Learning Center. They worked miracles.

The Empathetic Mother

BTDT.

DS was also in an elementary school immersion program and struggled in both languages. He's preparing to head off to college in the fall with a merit scholarship for what major, you ask? ENGLISH!!!!! (with a plan to go to law school) He just got a letter in the mail today from the editor of the University newspaper inviting him to join based on his expressed interest in them. No one would've seen this coming when he was a struggling reader at 7.

It was hard watching him struggle to read. Worse, I didn't know how bad it was until one day parents were invited into the class to hear their children read. Every other kid in the circle read fluently. My son struggled with each word. I also noticed him becoming more and more nervous as it got closer to his turn. I could see the wheels spinning in his head as he tried to guess where he was to pick up and brace himself. While the other kids read loudly and with confidence, his voice was low and shaky as he stumbled over the words.

I was shocked because he read just fine at home. He'd race through his reading homework in seconds. That day I realized that he was simply rereading at home what had already been read in class that day. That evening he struggled to get through his reading homework. The next day the teacher emailed to tell me he'd done an amazing job in class that day. He read fluently and couldn't wait to answer questions about the story.

I share that with you OP to suggest that 1. You let him struggle through the reading the first time, but let him read over it again for fluency and to boost his confidence. And/or 2. YOU read it through the first time then ask him to read it the second time.

Finally, take heart. Struggles in reading at age 7 do not mean dyslexia, a disability or that your child will be illiterate for the rest of his life.

Signed,

An Empathetic Mother Who's So Glad to be on the Other Side of It