My son has trouble remember what he read?

Question

Last year in school ( 1st grade) he was doing great with his reading AR tests he was ahead of most of the kids in the class with reading. Now this year( 2nd grade)all of the sudden he has failed every one of them. There are no sudden life changes at home or in his surrondings there is nothing that could be going on at home that i can think of that would be making his reading grades slip. He can read and likes to read but for some reason he is suddenly not remembering what he is reading? Any suggestions as to why and how we can help him to remember what he just read?

Answer 1

Well my first question would be have you been with him to any of the tests?

My niece' s school allows parents to volunteer and help kids thru the tests(not their own children of course).

Her parents have both complained some of the tests are too difficult and the difficulty level from year to year doesn't make sense.

In fact the school is thinking about getting rid of them.

My advice would be to read the book with your son and ask him some questions after and a few in the morning before school.  You as a parent will know if he's having trouble with retention or if it could be the test questions (comprehension or tests in general)

Answer 2

Check to make sure that the teacher is kind and uses some movement in her daily instruction. The teacher's personality and teaching style can make a big difference. Ask to observe the class. This will tell you a lot. Stress affects memory. Ask for a teacher change if you think this is the problem.

The school should have an ADHD rating scale for you to fill out. The teacher will fill out one also. Ask the school counselor for the forms. After you get the results, take them to his pediatrician, who should be able to help you interpret them. The Conners ADHD rating scale is commonly used for this purpose.

Sometimes children can remember better when they vocalize while reading, especially if there are any visual processing deficits. If this works, teach him to whisper while he is reading so that it doesn't disturb the class.

The other thing to do, is to teach him to look at the pictures before he reads the story and ask him questions about what he thinks is going to happen. Another way to help is to use a graphic organizer , story map, that he can fill out  www.eduplace.com has a number of different ones for free.

It bothers me that he did well last year and now he is doing poorly. I suspect it is partly the teaching. The fact that she is giving a ton of homework sort of reinforces this idea. She may be a slave driver and she may use very old fashioned teaching methods. But, second grade is a big step up, so maybe his weaknesses are starting to show. If this continues or gets worse, you may ask the school to develop and academic improvement plan.

Answer 3

My son is going through the same thing. He is in the 3rd grade and we have wondered the same things since 2nd grade. This year we have put him through some testing at the school and have found that he is Dyslexic. So now we can deal with things in other ways and learn to practice reading and remembering a different way. This also is true with math and writting skills. Check with the school, resource dept., counselor or who ever you can about testing his ability at school. (reading comprehension, writting skills, math ect.

Good Luck To You.

Answer 4

Yeah it sounds like ADD or ADHD. I had that problem growing up and i still do. And I wasn't diagnosed until later. Take him to a psychologist and they can diagnose him.

Answer 5

hi melissa

my son has adhd in mild-retardation all his life he is in the 11th grade but has only a 3rd are 4th grade level but he is starting to in prove a little every year he is 16 years old in me in my wife give him all the attenion that he ever needs what you need to do im just saying is read a book to him are even have him read a book to you so that he can inprove his reading my son john did not start to read are even wright intill he was 9 years old some of his letters in numbers where all ways backwards all the time he some time gets confused in we come him down he also takes his med which are concerta 54 mg every morning so he will not fight every one a round him are even at school but he is a good boy he has never been in any kind of trouble ever

any ways melissa you need to go in have your son tested to see if any thing is wrong with your son in see what the doctor in also i even have adhd all my life to ever since i can remember im 42 years old in also concerta 54 mg but i can think clear on some of the days when im at the computer in have to think what iam typing in i went thur the special ed system to intill i grazs in 1981 but it will get better in the long run plus my son john has to go to ard meeting every 6 months to see how he is doing well i hop this helped you out alot

Answer 6

I am a 17 1/2 year old female 11th grader at Malibu High School.  Maintained an approx 3.7 grade point average throughout highschool, with Honors and AP classes, as well many arts and sociology classes. Babysitting history for past 4 years of children ages of 2 months - 14 years old, also special-need children. Avalable for tutoring and overall classroom/ homework skills help, and babysitting. Located in the Malibu area, but avalable under request for other areas. Anyone interested please contact:

Alla

[e-mail]

1310 600 5438

Answer 7

Well,

a.]is he really reading the books?

b.]If he is, you can quiz his on it right after

c.] if that doesn't work, have him read it, then read it to him during bed time [the books aren't long, are they?]

Hope it helps!