I stuffed up badly today.I need some reading help

[Grover]

I wrote this in my blog ,but figured you might have some ideas on helping me.Nathan is six.We have finished The Reading Lesson.He can read-if he wantes to and he doesn't
.
Today we got back to our usual routine.We paid the price for allowing the schedule to slip.Reading five pages of Sammy Sloth took an 40 minutes.It was long slow and painful.Nathan missed his favourite show-backyard science and instead we tearfully got straight on to math.I have no idea if that was the 'right ' thing to do.I have no idea how much of his ADHD he can help or control .I have no idea how much the aspergers is involved in his reluctance to have his day messed about with.I don't think anyone 'won' although at the time I think I was trying to make the point that we have to do the best we can and not deliberately mess about ...sadly I think all he learnt was that reading is misery.Today was one of those days when I felt the professionals would do much better at this and Dh even made the point [although I think -maybe that was a way of threatening Nathan].As I said .It was not a pretty homeschooling picture.





We then read from Jerry Muskrat.I decided [afew hours after the dreadful lesson] that I should read all of Sammy Sloth,while he pointed at the words.He had invented a lego pointer by this point and we used that.I figured that if he was familiar with the story and enjoyed it[and he did -its a funny story] that the reading lesson tomorrow would go better.He is a real perfectionist and easily gives up in himself and thinks he cant do something[I see now that this morning just re inforced his own ideas on that :yes2]


We have nearly finished our curriculum and I plan on taking a break over the summer anyhow .We have already finished The Reading Lesson
I need a few suggestions here.......

I can just finish off the rest of the Curriculum and do no reading lessons and then we will have our summer break but wont he 'forget everything??' .I hear that tecahers say that children can drop back a few reading levels after the summer break......

I can continue the reading over the summer and try and find thingsthat he likes

[Mama Calidad]

:hugheart

I wouldn't "stop" reading over the summer. Games for Reading by Peggy Kaye may have some ideas that will reinforce the lessons he's learned this year without being "school".

Or, here's an idea that I picked up on a website somewhere when Sissy was at the beginning stages of reading. Take a common nursery rhyme. One he's familiar with - like Little Boy Blue or whatever he likes. Make one little card for each word. I just made a table in Word, printed it on cardstock and cut them out. Along with the words that belong in the rhyme, print cards for some :shifty words that don't belong. When we did Little Boy Blue, I printed other color words and other animals. Whatever strikes your fancy.

Now that you've got a mess of cards, you can play. Mix a couple lines worth up and ask him to put them in order. Read it to him. Then, make it goofy. Change out one of the words that belong with one of your :shifty words. Ask him to read that to you. This was great fun for Sissy. Somehow Little Boy Green is a riot. :shrug3 :giggle

This does result in an insane amount of little cards. Clasp envelopes are great for keeping sets together and he could decorate the outside of the envelope to match the rhyme. :)

[ShangriLewis]

How old is he?
How much can he read?

If he can read, do not stop over the Summer. Reading is vital to learning. Don't give up, just change your plan.

[richesabove]

I would prolly just read aloud to him some books he finds fun and interesting...That is all I would do right now.

and , yes, I have read that aspergers children have a problem with any change to their "routine".

honestly, didn't you say he is 6? That is still so very very young. I would keep lessons short, painless as possible (I know it is hard sometimes), and I would let him have a break over summer with just you reading aloud to him like I mentioned earlier. When the school year starts back up, I would have a routine and I would try to teach diligence, but I would keep lessons short and try to remember he is still so young.

[Grover]

How old is he?

How much can he read?

If he can read, do not stop over the Summer. Reading is vital to learning. Don't give up, just change your plan.

How old is he? ---Nathan is 6 and a bit
How much can he read? Nathan has just finished The Reading Lesson.Here is him reading

http://stanleysmagicgarden.blogspot.com/2009/05/we-finished-reading-lesson.html

[teamommy]

FWIW here's what I did when we hit road blocks and ds resisted reading lessons and practice. We played games. Treasure hunt, where he would have to read messages to find the next message, and so on. This would be mainly to practice the new sounds he was learning.

I made up stories using the sounds he knew, and wrote them out for him, either on a sheet of paper, or made a little book. Or I would take the lesson that was in the book, and write it out a little larger on another piece of paper, or on a whiteboard. I have seen the Reading Lesson, but I don't remmber the size of the font. We used Ordinary Paren'ts Guide some of the time, and my son would just get overwhelmed with the big page full of words. But if I wrote it out separately, it wasn't overwhelming. Something else that might help, is getting a sheet of white paper, and covering over what he is to read, only revealing one line at a time.

I used to make him finish until he was done, too. But looking back, there were times when I probably should have cut lessons short, more often than I did. But not let it seem it was because he fussed. :shifty Or push through, but then the next time, cut the lesson in half, and do a little bit in the morning and a little in the afternoon. Or the next day. I wouldn't drop the lessons entirely if he is getting it. I imagine it must be so frustrating for them, and it is hard work for some kids. He won't always hate reading. My son used to get frustrated and tell me he hated reading. What he hated was not being able to read anything he wanted. He hated that it was work, and probably that it was work that I was requring him to do. But once he turned the corner and everything clicked, he was picking up things on his own to read and there was no stopping him.

[Singingmom]

Love the Lego pointer idea! :heart

Short lessons and reading sessions are much more valuable than you might think. Even if he's not getting as far, he's getting good practice. If you let him stop after a good session of 10 minutes (or when he tires) and he's proud of himself, you're a lot farther along than with the other scenario. And they do tire at that age, even without ADD and even if they're good readers. :) :hug

[ShangriLewis]

He is doing just fine for his age.

My oldest is an Aspie and the others are wiggly boys. My youngest has a ton of energy.

I don't think you should have spent 40 minutes reading. Just aim for a sentence a day. In two weeks shoot for two sentences. Try reading back and forth. "I'll read one sentence and you try the next one."

He seems to be understanding and that is awesome. Continue to encourage him and reward him for his reading time. If he looks forward to something everyday, then do it right before then. Set aside 15 minutes before that favorite show and give it go. Then you can say, "Wow you did so well and it's time for your show." That way any frustration will be overlooked and forgotten.

[Grover]

Right we will keep it really quick and make it fun.Today we read the questions/answers on the Larryboy DVD quiz.I will look and see if the Library has that book Laura.