Help! Please! My nephew is driving us crazy. Does anyone know how to help teach reading to a 7 year old?

Question

He has been in tutoring for two years. He is intelligent and capable of learning anything. He is not hyperactive he is just stubborn and frustrates easily. His grandfather on one side was the same way and did not learn to read until age 18 when he taught himself because he realized he could not make money without the capability to read. The same for his great grandfather on the other side. So it may be some sort of attitude or genetic link as to not wanting to learn to read?

some people pointed out he may be dyslexic because he does write his letters backwards sometimes and this can cause problems but I did it at a young age the problem is he only does it with the ones that are like b and d which I had problems with when they are the little letters

He can read some he just gets up and leaves when he has to do homework. When I make it fun he does it more and laughs then remembers it he has a great sense of humor but I do not work with him all the time unless I go over to get him. I have other children I work with. He is very smart he just frustrates easily and I have run out of ideas
Thank you for all the responses I intend to print them out for his mother.

I am not calling him names I am simply making a comment on experiences and observations.
Oh he is stubborn it took me about 6 years to teach him not to run in the road. He kept doing it until a car got close enough that he remembered what I said and it scared him so he does not do it anymore.

He has a new tutor he is no longer using Sylvan as they use old archaic methods I went and observed what they are doing that is how they taught reading when I was a child very outdated. He is now being tutored at his elementary school by a teacher after school.

He was held back in Kindergarten and they almost did it a second time for not grasping the concept of rhyming well enough but his mother refused. Now he has it because I got the other kids in on rhyming with him etc.

For the most part other than the sorry I cannot help I am not a teacher comment which was nice for this person to answer but surely this person had some ideas but did not value them enough to share them..these are excellent concepts I intend to print out and share with Logan's mother. Thank you. I cannot pick the best answer because they are all so helpful so I am going to put it up for a vote. Thank you all very much.

I wish I could give everyone points for helping thank you all so much for responding and helping.

Answer 1

at 7, you should be able to find something he is interested in like a book on dinosaurs, If not , start him on comic books. they worked for my brother.

Answer 2

No I think hereditary really has nothing to do with this if the child can sit down long enough (two of our kids are diagnosed ADD/ADHD).
Two out of the three of ours was reading at this age, one was reading quite well. This might have to do with the way we like to read and grandma being a teacher and they went to school with her.
I feel it is the person teaching. Give the child a opportunity to pick out his own stories to read. Take him to the library get him his own library card (this is a huge thing for a kid by the way). People can even access most libraries by the internet now.
The one that is a really good reader is 14 now and reads books like crazy.
Even making cookies or a favorite treat with the child helping him read the directions I feel is promoting reading. Comic books, street signs if the child like cars, trucks etc. These are things to read for a child (the child reads). Reading the back of cereal box's, toy boxes. Anything to get that child to want to read. Then when you are at the library the child can pick out books. Let the child be supervised on the computer, it is all reading.
These are things our children did when they were young.

Good luck, get him interested in reading with no excuses, turn them on and you will never be able to turn there brains off :0)

Answer 3

First of all he is not stubborn. No offense, but if I was learning to read from someone who calls me names and thinks I have an attitude problem, then I wouldn't perform either.
It is also common for children to reverse and confuse the letters b and d up to the third grade.
Second, what have his teachers said? Are they concerned? Is he reading below, at or above grade level? Has he been tested for poor eyesight, or learning disabilities? Does he get enough sleep, nutrition etc.
Third, who is it more important to for your nephew to read? The parents/family or the nephew? A lot of the time if there is tremendous pressure from a child's family to perform, then the results may not be to the satisfaction of either party. Give him a break! If you've had him in tutoring for two years (basically since he was 5) then chances are you are pushing him too hard. There are more productive ways to encourage healthy reading habits in a child than coercing them.
Now that I have basically given you what for, I will tell you there is hope. My suggestions:
1. Fire the tutor - unless recommended by the school.
2. Talk to his teacher, find out what he/she thinks. Also talk to the guidance counselor. Testing for LD may be suggested, but be open to and try their suggestions before you throw in the towel.
3. Talk to your nephew. Create a reading interest inventory together. If he has more control over what he reads, he may be more responsive to your "help".
4. Ask him to read to the dog, a younger sibling, cat, hamster, fish. Sometimes it helps to have a non-judgemental audience to read to.
5. Invest in computer games that focus on reading. There are many age appropriate devices that help children read. (LeapFrog, Reader Rabbit etc)

My best wishes to you. And remember to give yourself and the kid a break. Don't force him to conform to your standards because he most likely won't reach them. Instead, allow him to discover his own with your guidance, acceptance and encouragement.

Answer 4

Try playing word games with him. Take a board games like Life, Trivial Pursuit, or Shoots and Ladders place words on squares in order to advance through the board he has to pronounce the words and maybe use them in a sentence. Then give a reward at the end either an edible treat or points where he has to collect so many points to get a toy or go somewhere he likes.

Try to make learning fun. You may also want to look into products from Leap Frog or other educational games and videos. Wal-mart has some learning DVDs (not the name brand ones) for under $5.

Answer 5

LEARNING DISABILITY!

Have your nephew tested for learning disabilities. Tutoring is fine, but if he has a mild neurological problem, all the tutoring won't help.

Neuro problems can be addressed and he can learn to read when the neuro problems are diagnosed and treated. Learning disabilities in otherwise bright kids are often caused by mild neurological problems affecting vision.

He may have a neuro problem that affects his vision. There can be vision problems that cannot be spotted with standard eye chart screenings.

HE's NOT STUBBORN. These mild neuro problems can run in families just like blue eyes and even orthodontic problems!

Don't automaticaly think his problem is due to stubborness or "bad character". My brother-in-law had severe learning disabilities and didn't really learn to read until he was eighteen. He still has problems, and if the schools back in the 1950s and 1960s realized he had a learning disability caused by a genetic problem, he wouldn't have had to suffer much humiliation and embarrassment growing up. Sadly the genetic problem wasn't discovered until he was almost thirty years old.

So, please have your nephew tested for neurological problem before you go after him for "stubborness".

Answer 6

First...stop comparing him to those other people who had trouble reading! He is only 7 and shouldn't even be aware of that stuff. Now, turn off the televisions and read to him. Read books with repetitive rhyming words. Point to the words as you read and enunciate clearly. Make a game out of making the letter sounds individually for a few minutes a day. Then make a game out of pointing to objects in the house that begin with the sound you make. He will catch on and when he does you will literally see it. One day he will be sitting there with you and he will say...Oh I get it!

Answer 7

Hi I thought this might help start by not telling him about the other people that he looks up to and then start with a book that has two words on each page and then every night have him read that book and then when he does it then go on to find a dick and Jane and go real slow and when he reads the simple books and gets more confidence that will help .

Answer 8

It's called a learning disorder,
often known as dyslexia, where the letters look backwards sometimes.

When he spells his name if any of the letters are backwards it's a sure sign of dyslexia.

Unfortunately the only cure of it is to read lots of books til you train your mind to see the letters properly. For most people it never goes away due to the fact that they refuse to read out of frustration.

Answer 9

The English language was created by a complete crazy person.Let me guess he's really good with math and learning anything with rules.Truly to English language has no rules because usually be contradicted.

Answer 10

Has he been tested for dyslexia? That can often frustrate children and make them detest reading. Try using flashcards and buy him a leapster. The leapster has programs in in that will help him recognize words and sound out things with phonetics. Flash cards help with sight words, like cat, dog, fish, bird, house, mother, father, etc.

Answer 11

The tutor probably already knows this - but the most important thing is to give him things to read that he is interested in.

For example - if he is interested in Spiderman - then give him Spiderman stories to read. If he is interested in baseball - let him read stories about baseball.

It truly sounds to me like a learning disability. Have you had him tested?