Penny finally dropped

[Malika]

Hi! Since I'm on the bleeping phone lately I didn't ever see this ....gosh, I'm gonna dig around and see if I have some fun stuff for you guys. Soooo many developmentally appropriate reading sites out there .....I have some CD's buried too. Let me dig. The memorizing and using context is fine ....part of the process. Around here we work with patterns and in many cases high frequency words ....tying the sounds to a characters name like Bobby bunny is fun and don't do more than one new sound or pattern per week. There could be an underlying question about working memory given your examples and once in long term memory he seems to have it. So not overloading that short term new memory system (at least with things like this where there is not a deep pool of knowledge stored yet for the information to connect to ) could be something to try to see if it could help.
Here he would probably not be considered behind but at risk given all the other issues I imagine ....you only have what's available to go by. I bet he will be a guy who needs things to match his overall learning style using touch and movement. OK ....I have my reminders set to sort thru the unpacked boxes ...

Thanks, Buddy. What a shame you are not round the corner for us to come and have consultations with you And thanks for the ideas - J is learning to read in French, of course - I am leaving English well alone for the moment!
On the advice of J's child psychiatrist, I am teaching him to read, and with the old-fashioned syllabic method... which is rather boring but seems effective. I feel there is probably no way round this hard graft stage of reading. He himself is beginning to spot letters... yesterday he pointed out the OU and the S of the "Soupes" written on the microwave... crazy how proud and gratified that made me feel!! No pressure, no stress, keeping it light but I think if we don't get the alphabet acquisition sooner or later, he will NEVER get it and will struggle and struggle.

 

[buddy]

I think some of the sites let you pick the language. Esp some of the Canadian sites ....

 

[Malika]

Thanks. I've just ordered a DVD that more progressive teachers use here, involving lots of fun characters for the letters. I've realised, "working" with J, that his main problem really is retaining the sound of certain letters, and habitually confusing some of them. Other than that, his cognitive reading skill, if it makes sense to put it like that, is fine. He knows all the vowels and when you ask him to read two-letter syllables of a consonant followed by all the vowels, he does so without difficulty - gets the idea of letters combining together to make a separate sound.
I'm only doing this because the public schools here have abandoned the old-fashioned syllabic method for this strange "global" method - apparently lots of parents are teaching their kids to read alongside the school Someone I know with an ADHD son taught him to read in a method that uses gestures for each sound - do you have a similar method in the States?

 

[InsaneCdn]

that his main problem really is retaining the sound of certain letters, and habitually confusing some of them

Read more: http://www.conductdisorders.com/forum/f6/penny-finally-dropped-50491/index3.html#ixzz280WtxA4J​

Which MIGHT be related to a form of Auditory Processing Disorders (APD)... I believe it's called "auditory discrimination". Even here, he'd be too young to test for it yet. But I wonder what kinds of interventions might work?

 

[Malika]

Yes, I don't know what it is, IC. It's strange. Well, strange when you don't understand the cause of it. It would be hopeless talking to anyone here about APDs - that really is a step too far. J will remember what sound goes with what shape eventually, I am sure, it will just need lots of repetitions. But then his language generally is very stuck - for years, literally, he has been saying "I falled the cup" instead of "I dropped the cup" and "I did go" instead of "I went" and despite the hundreds of times I must now have corrected him, he never says it the right way. Sounds like I'm a maniac... I might be a bit of a linguistic maniac, lol. Taking my responsibilities as J's sole source of English very seriously

 

[Ktllc]

There are whole body methods here. The one that come to my mind is ZooPhonics.
It did not work with V: too much information to store. And V cannot remember people's names, or funny charachter's names... But I'm glad I tried it, because the idea behind it is pretty good. Maybe it will work with Sweet Pea. lol
What works: printing flash cards with the letter and the sign language (the hand making the specific letter). I actually have to start doing it again so V keeps making progress. I always remind him to sign as he tries to remember the letter. The movement helps him a lot.
As far as working alond side the school: I believe it is quite typical. I've done it with Partner when he was in preschool and I am getting ready to do it again this year. Yesterday, we did math for about 1 hour at a higher level. Partner likes it, it's like playing games for him.
From what you mention, J is increasingly becoming interested in letters. And you are right: it can be very gratifying to "work" with your child. It might not be what you had envisioned about childhood, but why not? As long as you keep it fun. And you will learn SO MUCH about J, his learning style, etc... Good bonding time.

 

[BusynMember]

Through the years the schools have experimented with various "pop" reading methods. My sister was taught to read completely by sounds (for example in her books phone would look like fone). It is not a good thing for your spelling or reading skills in English (which has so many exceptions). My mother was really upset with that method and made the school put her into the one classroom that taught phonics.

I don't know why they keep experimenting with new ways to teach reading when phonics works just fine. I feel your frustration. However, if J. were in the US, children are not expected to read at five nor do math sums. He would be considered doing quite well if he could do both.

If J. has trouble remembering colors, have you thought of testing him for color blindness?

 

[Malika]

J has been tested for colour blindness, MWM (twice, no less ) His vision is normal. I think he just doesn't relate to the concept of reading yet, it's not really meaningful to him. This will in all probability change with time. Certain things have to be repeated so many, so many times before he gets them - and yet he is quick and intelligent... We are slowly working through the old-fashioned reading book I have, doing a little bit each day, and he doesn't dislike it - mainly, I think, because I shower him with praise and hugs/kisses when he gets the right answer. This is definitely helping him. All his classmates learned all the alphabet in the last year of kindergarten - he didn't, knew just a handful, and there's no way a child who doesn't know the alphabet can learn to read. And I agree, Ktllc, it's a satisfying thing to do. He is getting a bit more interested - this lunchtime wanted to trace some of the letters on his bike and on my hand. I don't know why (and no-one is going to help us find out right now) but he needs a lot of one to one work to learn the alphabet... once he has learnt the sounds of letters, he is away really, because he has no problem actually decoding what he knows.