Reading Games? Speed Reading and Comprehension?

Question

My son is having troubles with speed and comprehension. He is a slow reader and this has cost him grade wise...

ANYYYYYYYYWAYS I was wondering if any of you homeschoolers would know of any reading games, speed reading software or flash memory type of things... that I could make him a stronger reader..

I am looking for FREE things =)
I thank ya in advance,
Sharon

I forgot to add that he is 13 years old ... but still I want to try a wide variety of things with him ...to build his confidence some =)

I dont wanna just teach him speed reading I just want to use speed reading exercises to get him to break the sentences up in groupings etc etc ... :)

Answer 1

Personally, I tend to think too many people focus on speed, instead of on comprehension. But if one works on reading comprehension, one's speed necessarily increases. (The reader is no longer stalling, re-reading, becoming frustrated, etc. -- all things that tend to get worse if one empahsizes speed too much. Moreover, the skilled reader can pick up on subtle clues in word choice that tip him or her off to where the text is going, and this enables more productive "speed" reading.)

So I'd focus entirely on boosting comprehension. Try word-based riddles: "I know a word of letters three. Add two, and fewer there will be. What is the word I have in mind?"

Or this classic: "A man is looking at a portrait. He says, 'Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man's father is my father's son.' Who is featured in the portrait?"

Once you start looking, you can find hundreds of these gems online, all for free. And to conquer them, the reader has to slow down and pry apart the wordings. Ironically, by doing this, he or she will probably become a faster reader overall.

Good luck.

Answer 2

We did the Hooked on Phonics program. Not free, but check your local thrift stores or on ebay. Their older program sells cheap. I got ours for $10. Another thing to try might be to get him books that are at his level from the library. Look for hi/lo books. (Ask the librarian) This means that the reading level is lower, but the content makes it interesting for older kids. This may be hard, but finding a GOOD librarian can help a lot. They may be able to recommend books that are easier to read and still exciting and interesting. Look into the area of the children's section where all the babysitters club books are. (NO, I'm not saying he'll like the babysitters club books!!) There are action and adventure books there that he might like, and the reading level is lower. Speed and increased comprehension will come with greater confidence and more practice.

You could join a homeschooling club in your area. Even if you don't homeschool, you could call around and find out if they might be willing to talk to you. Maybe one of the families has a Hooked on Phonics program or something similar that they would be willing to sell you.

Our library also has the SRA Your Reading Power program (which was included in my Hooked on Phonics) that you can borrow. I would also recommend looking in the library for computer programs that can help reading. Again, a GOOD librarian can do wonders for you.

I'm not sure if this is allowed, but you could email me if you want more info. I feel I'm getting longwinded here.

Answer 3

It's probable to invest a lot of time and money searching for methods to show your young ones how to learn and enhance their examining skills. Is hard to instruct a tiny kid how to learn, and also tempting them to see is difficult in itself. However it doesn't need to be like that as you got assistance from this program https://tr.im/Ij4Zr , Children Learning Reading program.
With Children Learning Reading you will show your youngster how to split up looks and separate words into phonemes, an essential thing when your child is simply learning how to spell.
The reading program from Children Learning Reading program makes it easy for kids to read easily and precisely, from simple phrases to sentences till they learn to learn stories.

Answer 4

My son was having a problem readingand a friend said to check out starfire.com and it worked!! It's great for learning to read group.