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Terms To Know If Your Child Struggles With Reading

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If your child is a struggling reader or suffers from Dyslexia, there are a lot of things that you can do to help him overcome this difficulty. Some of the common signs of reading difficulties include: problems in manipulating sounds in words, issues with rhyming, inability to recognize words with the same sound, difficulty in memorizing letters/number/ symbols etc.
Below is a list of certain terms that you need to be aware if your child struggles with reading or displays symptoms of Dyslexia:

  • Multisensory Structured Language Education (MSSL): This approach utilizes visual, auditory, and kinesthetic senses to enhance reading and spelling capabilities. MSSL is used by trained teachers and focuses on developing links between sight (language we see), sound (language we hear), motion and touch (language symbols we feel). Students are given extensive practice sessions for reading, writing and listening the basic elements of their language.
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Children affected by ADHD are believed to have a slight abnormality in the way their brain functions. The symptoms displayed by children suffering from ADHD include: impulsive behavior, increased distraction and clumsiness among others.
  • Decoding: It is defined as the ability to sound out letters and words by forming letter-sound relationships. This happens when a child understands that a certain letter is associated with a particular sound. Another term used for decoding is “word attack”.
  • Phonics: It is a method to help children develop reading and writing skills by using phonemic awareness. This simply means that the readers are taught to decode new written words by sounding them out. There are different phonic approaches that are specific to a particular country.
  • Phonemic Awareness: Readers with phonemic awareness are easily able to distinguish different sounds in spoken words. This helps in putting together a specific word (phonemic blending) or breaking it into different phonemes (phonemic segmentation).
  • Fluency: The ability to read words and sentences smoothly without any breaks or stops is termed as fluency. When a reader is fluent, he can focus on understanding the meaning of sentences rather than trying to decode every word. Fluency is an important characteristic for enhanced reading comprehension.
  • Phonological Processing: The ability to differentiate between various sounds within words is known as phonological processing. Children weak in phonological processing often leave out important sounds in a word or replace certain sounds for others.
  • Word Recognition: It is important to have word recognition skills in order to become a fluent reader. Word recognition involves reading words by just seeing them without sounding them out.

Since parents of children with reading disorders often receive advice from all quarters, it is important to understand the above listed terms related to this issue. For tips on improving reading skills in your child, visit http://www.see-n-read.com/

Reading Strips

Eye Tracking And Reading Comprehension

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Eye tracking problems in children can be detected at an early stage if parents and teachers monitor their reading skills. If your child is not able to read the words in the correct order, omits or adds his own words and reads very slowly, he is most likely suffering from eye tracking issue. Poor visual skills can eventually hamper reading comprehension as the child is unable to understand the meaning of sentences while reading on his own.

Steps that can improve eye tracking and consequently develop better comprehension skills:

  • Utilize Reading Strips: One of the best tools that can be used to improve eye tracking is reading strips. These strips have a clear as well as translucent window which allows a person to read without distraction and also improves their hand-eye coordination. Continuous use of reading strips promotes fluency and increases reading comprehension skills.
  • Read Aloud: Another important exercise that can improve eye tracking is reading aloud. Ask your child to speak out instead of reading quietly. This practice coaxes the eyes and brain to work together. This leads to increased concentration and enhanced reading skills. However, reading aloud needs to be done on a regular basis in order to get the best results.
  • Perform Visual Tracking Activities: In order to improve the eye tracking skills of your child you may ask him to practice some simple techniques at home. For instance, you may encourage the child to keep staring at a single object without making any eye movement. This will help you to evaluate the time he is able to concentrate without any disruption. Adding similar exercises in your child’s daily routine can bring in positive results.
  • Vision Therapy: This therapy helps to resolve problems associated with reading, learning and comprehension. Designed according to individual requirements, these techniques involve vision exercises that change the way a child processes visual information. Vision therapy needs to be performed consistently so as to bring out best outcome.

In addition to the above mentioned tools, there are many other activities that can enhance eye tracking skills in kids. These include drawing or painting pictures, solving puzzles and mazes, performing dot-to-dot pictures, etc. You can sit with your child and see how well he manages to perform these activities. Be patient and help him wherever you can to build his confidence.

See-N-Read Reading Tools help to improve comprehension skills in children. For further details about the reading tools, visit http://www.see-n-read.com/ or call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Increase Reading Skills

Dyslexia And Reading Problems

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Kids with dyslexia face problems in reading correctly and effortlessly. They also find difficult to spell, write and comprehend words. However, patience and perseverance on the part of parents as well as teachers is the key to helping a child overcome and manage this disability.

Listed below are some more signs associated with dyslexia.

  • Difficulty in understanding word problems in Math
  • Trouble in recognizing common sight words
  • Inability to identify letters and matching them with sounds
  • Frequently re-reading words and sentences

In order to help your child get over his reading problems, there are a number of steps that can be taken. Some of these are listed below:

  • Use Reading Tools: An easy and effective way of helping children with dyslexia is to make use of reading tools. These can help in development of reading, spelling and writing skills. A series of structured exercises and reading activities can also be designed to help kids see reading as a fun activity.
  • Set Realistic Goals: Improvement in reading skills happens over a period of time and it is important to take small steps. For instance, you can set a reading practice target for your kid daily or make him read a specific number of books in a month. These short term goals can help you to cover the long journey and make your child a better reader.
  • Don’t Let Poor Spellings Affect Your Child: Kids with dyslexia will have trouble coping with spelling tests. Teach your child to handle this difficulty and give him the freedom to express whatever he wants to convey. Use a dictionary or spell-check and help your child cope with poor spellings. You can even assist your child in making his own personal dictionary that can be referred to in case he spells a word incorrectly.
  • Read To Your Child: Children who struggle with reading issues need to be read to every day. You can read aloud to your child on a daily basis. This will help to improve his language skills apart from developing comprehension. Since a struggling reader focuses more on the pronunciation, he may not get the meaning of the text. But when you read aloud, the child gets a chance to focus on the word meanings. This eventually promotes creativity and helps a child to develop background knowledge.

 

See-N-Read Reading Tools can help to increase your child’s reading skills and combat dyslexia. To know more about the reading tools and their benefits, call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Increase Reading Skills

Does Your Kid Skip Words Or Lines While Reading? Here’s Why

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A careful evaluation of your child’s reading skills is essential to know if he is facing any problems in this aspect. If you notice that he skips words or lines while reading, it may be more than just carelessness or disinterest. The actual reason behind this issue could be a visual processing problem such as poor eye tracking skills, Auditory processing disorder (APD), Dyslexia or even Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). These reading issues are explained below:

  • Visual Processing Issues: Kids have difficulty in reading words and lines in the correct order. Other signs include blurry or double vision.
  • Auditory Processing Disorder (APD): This disorder affects a kid’s ability to process the information he hears. Such a child is not able to follow a story being read by another person. Distinguishing between similar looking letters is also a troublesome task.
  • Dyslexia: Kids affected by Dyslexia have difficulty in recognizing letters and associating them with the sounds they make. They easily forget the words they have already learnt and may also skip words while reading.
  • Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): This condition makes it difficult for kids to focus while reading something. Such kids might also behave restlessly due to irritation.

However, there are a number of ways in which you can assist your child in taking his reading skills to a higher level. Some of these have been listed below:

  • Understand your child’s requirements: Firstly, it is essential to understand that your child has trouble with reading and requires help. Know in detail about his condition and gather as much information as you can. This will help you determine the best ways to increase his reading skills.
  • Read along together: It is crucial that you read along loudly with your child to help him improve his reading skills. It will also be a big confidence booster for him as he can practice reading without thinking about it as an impossible task.
  • Choose an interesting topic: If your child gets to read a topic of his interest, he is more likely to make extra effort. Encourage him to read anything he likes – be it books, comics, magazines or even websites. This can make reading a fun and exciting activity.
  • Utilize reading tools: There are some research-based physical reading tools that can be utilized to overcome your child’s reading problems. You may opt for reading strips or spell-checkers to assist your child in reading. There are also a number of online games that can make reading a fun activity for your kid.
  • Use audiobooks: You can get audiobooks from the local library or simply access them online. When a child listens to a book while looking at the words simultaneously, he can connect the words and sounds in a better way. This eventually helps in development of his reading skills.

See-N-Read Reading Tools have been specifically designed to increase reading skills in kids as well as adults. To know more about the reading tools, visit our website http://www.see-n-read.com/ or call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Comprehension Improvement Tools

How Reading Aloud Increases Comprehension

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Reading aloud can provide children with an opportunity to learn phrasing of sentences and develop fluency in English. It also helps to increase a child’s interest in reading and nurture his creativity. When a child reads aloud, his comprehension skills automatically improve as he gains knowledge about phonics and word building. However, the process should only be carried under supervision to ensure that the child gains the maximum benefit out of it.

A student with good comprehension skills will be able to easily read and understand the text by identifying the words mentioned in the passage. This improves his literary caliber and helps him to enjoy reading. Certain reading tools can also be used to improve comprehension and learning skills, subsequently increasing fluency.

Reading aloud can increase comprehension in the following ways:

  • Improved Retention: Reading aloud helps to form visual and auditory links in our memory pathways. This helps us to remember things in a better way and eventually improves comprehension skills. When you read aloud, you can clearly remember most of the words and also increase your vocabulary.
  • Helps To Build Connections: While reading out loud, you can make instant connections between the words in the book and real life. You connect to similar real life stories and experiences that organize things in your mind. This leads to better retention and enables you to read faster as they recognize words.
  • Sounding Out Words Becomes Easier: Reading aloud technique makes it much simpler to sound out words. With correct guidance, individuals are able to pronounce the word correctly. However, comprehension skills may improve only if there is phonemic awareness and alertness. A student can easily break down words and then identify common letter sounds while reading.
  • Improves listening and reading skills: When reading aloud, you are easily able to identify grammar and also learn the sentence structures. When you are able to read efficiently, you expand your interpretative skills. Identifying the written word is very beneficial when you want to understand passages and answer questions related to it.

See-N-Read Reading Tools are designed to increase comprehension and reading skills in people of all age-groups. They enhance focus on the line being read and reduce word/ line skipping while reading out loud. For more information, call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Improve Reading Skill

Signs Of A Reading Problem

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As a parent, you need to be very observant to realize if your child has a reading problem at an early age. If your child finds it difficult to join the sounds in words or struggles with word games or rhyming words; chances are that he has a reading problem. It is essential to monitor him at an early stage and improve his reading skills so that such difficulties don’t get stuck with him throughout his life.

Some of the most common signs of a reading problem include:

  • Trying to pronounce the same word repeatedly
  • Skipping words in sentences and not stopping to rectify
  • Inability to differentiate between unfamiliar words
  • Not paying attention to punctuation marks while reading
  • Recognizing a particular word on one page but forgetting it on the next page
  • Adding extra letters in a word while reading
  • Difficulty in reading single words on flashcards
  • Re-reading or skipping lines while reading
  • Poor reading comprehension
  • Avoiding reading small words such as the, and, or etc.
  • Replacing words with similar meaning words while reading

Reading problems can be triggered by the following factors:

  • Repeated ear infections during early years
  • Speech delays while growing up
  • Dyslexia
  • Vision disorders
  • Autism
  • Poor memory
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

How Can You Help?

Parents can really help by observing and identifying areas of reading difficulty. Although it takes time and effort, reading issues can be tackled with time and consistent effort. You can help in the following ways:

  • Focus on the positive: Do not point out the reading disability of your child in front of his peers and family members. Instead, focus on his positive attributes and highlight his strengths to emphasize the desirability and interest in reading. For instance, if your child is artistic, draw pictures to help him understand a particular story.
  • Use reading tools: You can improve your child’s reading skills with the help of reading tools that provide training for steady eye control and visual processing, rapid letter naming and phonics. Use these tools to enhance cognitive processes that enable reading, spelling and writing.
  • Set realistic goals: Design short-term goals that lead your child toward improved reading. Patiently practice reading everyday with your child, using frequent praise and gentle correction. Each day, have your child read a page or chapter from an interesting book to help him to productively climb the ladder of success. Setting a series of achievable goals will lead to incremental improvement (“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” right?).
  • Don’t Let Your Child Be Negatively Affected: Don’t let spelling difficulty stop your child from expressing himself. The first priority is to understand the ideas and concepts being communicated on the page. Children with reading deficiencies often have difficulty with memorizing and spelling words or grasping the “main idea”. Build success by trying various coping strategies to help with fluency and comprehension and encourage her to try different ideas to express herself. Teach her to think through the problem and, when necessary, to seek help from a dictionary or spell-check (without such tools being the ‘first choice’).

If your child is suffering from reading problems such as word or line skipping or pattern glare (words seem to move on the page), consider See-N-Read Reading Tools. For more information, see www.see-n-read.com or call (630) 236 – 5592.

Reading Tools

Helping Your Child Build A Strong Vocabulary

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Strong vocabulary is a prerequisite for cultivating a lifetime of love for reading and learning. A child with a solid vocabulary will enjoy reading and have a better understanding of the written expression. It is thus essential for parents to assist their children in learning new words on a daily basis. Nowadays, there are a number of physical tools that can be used to build vocabulary and improve reading skills.

Below are some tips that can help to build your child’s vocabulary:

  • Teach the kids according to their level: Whenever you introduce a new word to your child, always make it simpler and easier to understand. Depending on your child’s age, provide a simple and kid-friendly definition of the new word. Secondly, give a very easy example that makes sense in his day-to-day life. Your child should also be encouraged to develop his own examples. For retention of new words, keep using them frequently in the house and make your kids also use it.
  • Do not pressurize: Making your child grasp too many new words at one time can make him forget all of them completely. The key is not to go overboard while trying to enhance the vocabulary of your kids. Don’t try to teach too many or too less new words. It is best to choose five new words every week and make your child learn them. Use the words in everyday conversations for easier learning.
  • Let your child develop a story: One of the most interesting ways of developing your child’s vocabulary is by letting him develop a story on his own. Let him imagine new things and put it in his own words. In between, you can introduce new words and concepts and use them while talking later on.
  • Help your child visualize: When you start teaching new words to your children, it is also important to help them visualize those words. You can show pictures of the new words on the Internet or some books for description. While pointing out new verbs, you can act those words in front of your children. This will enhance their vocabulary at a much faster pace and visualization will further help in better retention.
  • Let your child read and write daily: Whenever your child has learnt a new word, he needs to read it, pronounce it and write it on a daily basis. Encourage your child to repeat those words loudly and spell them accurately. Also, tell him the meaning and try to use those words in a sentence so that he can have a better understanding.

See-N-Spell™ Spelling and Vocabulary Quick Reference Guide aims at helping struggling writers to correctly spell the most commonly used words in the American Lexicon. For more information about our learning tools, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

Reading Tools

How To Improve Your Spelling Skills

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Some spellings have always been tough to remember due to their contradictions and exceptions. While certain words have silent letters, others are spelled differently in spite of having the same pronunciation, which may cause confusion.

If you find it difficult to spell certain words correctly, you may use the following tricks to sharpen your skills:

Learn the rules – English language comprises of words with different pronunciations and writing styles. You may not be able to remember all the rules at once but, you can always begin by noticing the common patterns in diverse words. It is important to note that all spelling rules applied in this language are not universal therefore, you must be aware of their exceptions as well.

Read a lot – Reading is the best technique to improve your vocabulary and reduce spelling errors. While reading you encounter various words that unnoticeably sink in your mind and help you spell better. Reading newspapers and magazines can also help you to get hold over the newest forms and elocution of words. In case you do not understand a word, you can use a dictionary.

Learn via crosswords – Puzzles are a good way to challenge your thinking and exercise your mind. You may solve various crosswords to learn new spellings. The hints given to fill the grid down and across will help you to find the appropriate words along with their meanings. This exercise also aids in remembering the words with their correct meanings and spellings.

Watch English shows with subtitles – captioned and subtitled TV shows are one the best ways to learn spellings and pronunciation of words. You may not be able to make notes, but you’ll definitely grasp the difference between the correctly and incorrectly spelled words.

Spelling competition and quizzes – This is an interesting and a fun-filled way to learn spellings. You can ask your friends to spell out the words that you find tricky and vice versa, or you can just play the online spelling quizzes.

Write whenever you spell – Make a habit of jotting down the words you try to spell. In order to keep a record, you can even make a notebook that comprises of all the newly learned words. It will act as quick reference guide to the words, which you often find difficult to spell.

Take help of reading tools – If you have trouble remembering the correct spellings, consider consulting books that are specifically designed to resolve such issues. For the convenience of the readers, these books are divided into various sections like misspelled words, commonly used words, special interest words etc. You can use them to verify the correct usage of any word.

See-N-Spell™ is an effective tool designed to improve spelling and build academic vocabulary in people of all age groups. For more information, you can call at (630) 236 – 5592.

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The “Language” Barrier: Why Students Struggle to Read Correctly and What You Can Do To Help

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When a child has difficulty reading, it’s important to understand that it isn’t necessarily because they’re not reading fast enough or they’re having a hard time discerning the meaning of the words. Oftentimes, issues develop with the physical act of reading itself. Kids can have a hard time staying on the proper line as their eyes move across a paragraph (thus changing the order of the words), or may accidentally switch words around in their heads.

This “Language” barrier (that is to say, a barrier not with any particular idea, but with language as a form of visual communication) is very real and is affecting millions of kids right now.

The Language Barrier: Facts and Figures

According to one study, more than $2 billion is spent every year to help students who are forced to repeat their current grade for no other reason than that they have a reading problem. A distressing fact from the National Research Council’s Committee on Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children is that the education of an estimated 25 to 40 percent of kids in the United States is in danger because, for a variety of reasons, they find reading too difficult.

According to a report commissioned by the National Institutes of Health, up to 10 percent of people across the country of all ages have these types of specific, brain-based reading difficulties – including those who are characterized as having average or above average intelligence. 

It’s particularly important to address this situation in young children because taking corrective measures while someone is still in their formative years has a profound positive impact on the rest of their lives.

Finding a Solution

Addressing this issue requires a certain change in perspective. A student who is struggling to read correctly for these types of reasons does not have a problem to be “fixed” or “eliminated”. They have a problem that must be solved. It’s about finding a solution to the issue, which is why assistive devices like those available from See-N-Read® Learning Tools are so essential.

At their core, the learning tools from See-N-Read® are designed to give readers the ability to support the cognitive and visual skills required to not only read faster and more effectively, but to also process and remember that information more easily. They don’t address the symptoms a person may be experiencing, but instead offer a solution by way of improved and supported fluency – that is, the ability for a person to read text at a natural, accurate pace.

The See-N-Read® reading strip, for just one example, uses a clear strip to essentially “highlight” a full line of text on a page WITHOUT visually blocking other lines that may be valuable for context. The text is essentially emphasized, allowing a reader with difficulties to focus on the current line while still improving fluency and overall comprehension.

When students suffer from reading difficulties, it can be overwhelming for everyone involved – from parents to teachers to, most importantly, the students themselves. Teachers who utilize research-based, classroom-tested products to students that support natural reading processes will improve student performance in multiple subject areas. Such research-based tools offer functional solutions that create an environment where students can truly flourish.

blog, Improve Reading Comprehension, Improve Reading Skill, Reading Tools

4 Reasons Kids Have Reading Problems and How You Can Help

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As a classroom teacher, you know how important reading is to the success of your students. For those that struggle with this skill, though, the causes might not be as clear. Some of the most common reasons that make it difficult for youngsters to read include:

1. Attention-deficit disorder (ADD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

A brain-based condition, attention-deficit disorder (ADD) is the most common one identified in children. Its core symptom is a lack of focus that can make it difficult for kids to stay on task. In many children, this lack of focus is coupled with hyperactivity — attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — which can lead to fidgeting and/or acting out in class.  Too often, these kids are merely labelled as ‘behavior problems’.

2. Dyslexia

Dyslexia is another brain-based condition that can make it difficult for children to learn to read. Youngsters with dyslexia often find recognizing letters and their accompanying sounds laborious. Recognizing and sounding out new words and connecting rhyming can be challenging for these kids. Skipping words and losing their place while reading are other common issues seen in children who have dyslexia, partly because they’re spending so much effort on decoding. Dyslexia can also make reading comprehension exhausting.

3. Visual processing disorder

A child with a visual processing disorder could struggle with recognizing the differences between shapes and/or letters. The order in which the letters appear might be jumbled. Word and line-skipping is common due to visual processing or eye control issues. Kids with visual processing disorder often complain of seeing double or that their vision is blurry.

4. Auditory processing disorder (APD)

Students who have auditory processing disorder (APD) have difficulty processing what they hear. This makes it difficult for them to understand directions or grasp the plot of a story that is read aloud to them. Because reading involves successfully connecting each letter with its appropriate sounds, APD makes it challenging for kids to hear the subtle differences between letters that are essential for reading.

How You Can Help

Whether your struggling students have been formally diagnosed with one of the above conditions, they are undergoing testing to determine if there is a medical explanation for their struggles or they exhibit some telltale signs, there is a practical solution you can offer in your classroom to help them now. See-N-Read® Learning Tools were developed based on the latest research. Classroom tested, simple to implement in the learning program of any child and affordable, See-N-Read® Reading Tools help children stay focused on specific lines of text. This invaluable resource helps the child keep the place on the page to improve reading performance, reduce frustration and increase confidence