My 1st grader is having trouble with reading - any suggestions on how I can best help her?

Answer 1

Read to her often. Play a reading game, you read first, then her.. Flash cards.. or get a tutor.. good luck!

Answer 2

Make reading fun for your child.
First, you could start by taking turns reading with your child-- you take a paragraph, and allow the child to take a paragraph, and then you take another paragraph, and so on...
Second, you could find books that are grade specific, but are centered around your child's interests-- if your child likes dinosaurs, then you could find a book for your child to read about dinosaurs.
Third, make reading not seem like an assignment. Make it fun, give the child a relaxing chair to set in while reading, and allow for no distractions while the child is reading.
Fourth, take the child to a library, and allow them to get their own library card, to get whatever books interest them-- they will be more likely to read them if they feel like it is their books, that they borrowed on their own special card.

First graders are at an age where they soak everything up like a sponge and should always have fresh, new books to read, and be encouraged to find out what happens next-- it should never been seen as a chore or an assignment-- reading must be fun for a child and must be something they look forward to-- they have many years of reading textbooks ahead of them.

Reading is also like math problems though-- the more they practice, the better they will become at it-- so encourage, encourage, encourage...

Good luck to you.

Edited to include:
I would not suggest that it is possibly a learning disorder, until you find out if the child continues to struggle-- like learning other things, some children just master it sooner than others, and far too often, children are diagnosed with disabilities they do not actually have, because it provides a "quick answer". I myself have dyslexia, and am now almost a Junior at a major University (majoring in psychology, specializing in child psychology). Being diagnosed too early on, or misdiagnosed too early on can sometimes hold children back from their full potential. Parents say "it is the disability" so they do not encourage the child enough for fear of making the child feel like a failure, and children see it as a "I have this or that, and therefore can't learn it anyway, so why try hard?"

Been there, done that :-)

Answer 3

Have you worked in your child's classroom? Working in the class is a great way to see two things: 1) How does the teacher teach them? and 2) Is my child really far behind?

My daughter has speech and language difficulties, so I was very concerned about how she would do once she entered Kindergarten. Working in the class allowed me to see that, yes, there are some kids that came into Kindergarten reading, but there are also some kids that still couldn't get the simple sight words by the end of the year. And thankfully my daughter is right there in the middle.

That being said, any time you have a concern talk to the teacher. If you still feel unsatisfied with the help or information the teacher is giving you, ask to speak to the Student Services coordinator for your school or district. Better to have your child tested and find out nothing is really wrong than wait too long and have your child held back (my worst nightmare!).

Good luck!

Answer 4

Oh boy, My son was like that....so frustrating. (this was 15 years ago) In NY ths schools don't recognize learning disabilities unless the kid is 2 years behind grade level, this means they blew it off until 3rd grade. In 1st grade I hired a tutor, but at 60 an hour, I could only do so much. So when he was test in 3rd grade he was 2 months shy of 2 years behind. At the end of the year he was tested again. In 4th grade, he got 1 hour or help a day. At end of 4th grade, he was still at a 1st grade reading level, they wanted to pass him to 5th grade.

I had to get a lawyer and make many threats before he got the help he needed.

Work on phonics.----Learning company came out with some excellent learning games that made a difference in a few weeks. The neighborhood kids would come over to play them cause they were so much fun.

I remember one in particular was going over the C sound, there was a picture that had flowers, as you touched each flower, it said a word with a different C sound. The last one was cannonball...and the flower would explode all over the screen. He remembered the hard C sound after that. The program was 100-200 dollars, had a bunch of books in it. Worth every penny, we then purchased the whole series.

His reading progressed so that in 9th grade he was on grade level.

He also wrote backwords...printing as well as cursive.

Work on phonics, start with the word at.... then build ---cat, bat, rat, sat, hat,mat . The -at sound is learned as well the consonant sounds. When I was a kid they were word families, or rhyming words. See if you can find the old spelling lists they used 40 years ago, before whole language became fashionable. Her teacher should be able to help

Can your daughter rhyme....I read somewhere where that is an indicator of learning problems if by a certain age they can't

Now from one Mom to another, if she had learning problems, you MUST be her advocate, remember each teacher her has her for 1 year, you have her for life. The teachers only care to a certain point, your caring goes way beyond. Do not be afraid to talk to principals, guidance couselors and psychologists. Pay for independent evaluations from psychologists, if they say your child is in serious trouble, get it in writing. Make sure it goes to the principal, the school superintendent, the special ed people. Be assertive!

Answer 5

The fact that you are willing to help her is half the battle. One suggestion would be to have her practice picture cards, getting familiar with the spelling of each word. Also, you can ask her teacher for a list of words required for her grade level and every day practice a new word while continuing to review the one(s) from before. Also, let her read to you or do shared reading having her follow along by pointing at the words as you say them. Is your school using the "Open Court" program? If have her read that book to you 2 or more times daily. You might even by a "Practice Counts" work book appropriate for her age. It should include words ending in "at" "it" "et" "ot" "op" etc and she adds a letter(s) making a new word. If you don't have access to this, check with your local library or email me back and I will get you a list to start with....Good luck. Be patient. She'll come along.

Answer 6

Try reading taking turns reading to each other before bed. The more you learn before bedtime, the better she'll remember. When she needs help, help her out, but make sure that you're not reading it for her. (I had this problem a couple years back with 'reading buddies' in school- this little second grader would always pretend he didn't know words, and eventually I'd be reading it for him. He never got better until I let him figure it out on his own.) But give it time, remember. Also, once she gets better, she'll want to read more, and she'll learn more!

Answer 7

My daughter had the same problem at first..this is a new new thing for them....take it slow...do not force her or over do it. if you do it will cause her to dread reading when it is time. Choose books that she has an interest in. Make it fun, read signs as you drive along. when you go to the supermarket, pick out things to read as you shop. Get her to like reading and you will see an improvement because she will want to do it all the time. Good Luck!!

Answer 8

Alternate between you reading to her and her reading to you. The more she reads and hears you read, the better she'll get. If she has a problem like dyslexia, reading will always be difficult, but she'll get better with practice. Make sure reading is a fun experience for her and try really hard not to get upset or impatient around her. At this age, it's fairly normal for reading to be difficult, so don't worry.

Answer 9

This is a simple technique I use with my special ed. reading classes. (Your daughter doesn't have to be special ed. to benefit from this... ) Take a simple book with lots of repetitive words, and while you read, follow the words with your finger. Read slowly, but not so slowly as to lose meaning or make it sound robot-like. After a few times with that book, have your child do it with her finger. She will begin to recognize the words. Then move on to another book and instead of YOU starting out following along with your finger, still read slowly for her and have HER follow along. This way she is seeing and remembering new words and each time you start a new book she will see words that she remembers from the book before.

Answer 10

I totally agree with the flash cards. Get a list of sight words from her teacher and practice, practice, practice. Have her sound them out. Learing beginning sounds is the key to her reading success. You can also find pictures to go along with the words. Once she learns with the picture, try just the word. Good luck!

Answer 11

Practice, practice and practice. She has to sound out the words at this point. My daughter was the same way and with lots of practice (at least 20 mins a day), she scored above her reading level the following year.