7 year old with reading problems?

Question

What is the best reading program on CD(or not) for a 7 year old with reading difficulties.

Answer 1

You need an evaluation to find out why your child is struggling to read. Is it a memory issue? Is it a phonological difficulty? Is it visual? Auditory?  Is it language comprehension?  Reading is an incredibly complex process; its sort of amazing that any of us ever figures it out!

Without knowing what area of reading is hard for your child, you really can't plan the best treatment. Ask your public school to do an eval.

Answer 2

Talk to her school teachers/counselers. They should know.

Answer 3

Reading is difficult. Learning it is even more so because it is not a skill that you can just choose not to do like skiing.

Rather then a quick fix computer program, I suggest setting a certain time each day for about 20-30 minutes with the child when you and the child can read together. Read anything, it won't matter, but soon he or she will let you know what he or she wants to read.

Make him or her do only what he or she can, encourage him or her to try new letters, sounds, or words, but do not let him or her lose heart or give up. Give help when needed, but do not do the work.

Kids learn a variety of different ways to read: sounding it out, sight reading, context. All help them decode the language. Use each type, engage the child with the text, and soon it won't be so hard. Soon, the child will be able to do it well, and be proud to show it to you.

Be patient, supportive, and understanding.

Answer 4

I agree with everything everyone else suggested, especially Nathan.  If you continue to be concerned with your child's reading when the school year begins, I would ask the school to complete a case study evaluation to determine whether your child has a specific learning disability.  As far as computer reading programs, I would suggest going to the website www.starfall.com .  I'm a special education teacher and we often recommend this website for parents of students who struggle in reading.  It's a great website!  Good luck!

Answer 5

Tutorials-http://tutoringsite.info/

Answer 6

I had a son that had reading problems and I am also a teacher. I tried it all, but I honestly think that the best thing is to read together often (every day). A child needs to hear language being used correctly. Read a page and have read it back to you. Have the child dictate sentences to you and make his own book and read it over and over. He needs to know site words and also the letter sounds. You can buy songs by Dr Jean that teach these sounds and the songs stick in your head. Just google site word lists to get a list of the most common site words used. Don't give up and try not to work on reading for too long a period of time so that your child doesn't get frustrated either. Also, find out what your child likes to read and is interested in. Your local library will be your best friend.