Tag Archives: Reading comprehension

Improve Reading Comprehension

4 Common Mistakes Homeschoolers Make When Teaching Reading (and how to avoid them)

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Homeschoolers are often proficient readers, simply because of the one on one attention and wealth of resources. There are a few common errors made by homeschool parents when it comes to reading; these are easily corrected in most cases. High expectations, or pushing for too much, too soon can make a child that is progressing beautifully feel like they are not “getting it” quickly enough, despite their promising progress.

Trying to adhere to a strict school schedule can also cause your child to avoid reading; it could also hinder their progress. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can teach your child on the schedule and system that works best for them and foster a love of reading that will last a lifetime.

Too Much, Too Soon

For many parents, homeschooling is a way to feed the needs of a child who loves to learn, and by teaching reading early, they feel they can give their child a good head start. While early reading does happen naturally for some kids, pushing for too much, too soon can backfire.

One of the best things about homeschooling is the ability to work at a pace that is right for your child and to incorporate play, critical thinking and other early learning elements into your day. A child that is struggling may have an actual issue – or may simply not be ready to read just yet.

Homeschool styles vary, but focusing on content in which your child is interested and fostering a love of reading by using picture books, stories and reading aloud together can help him learn habits that will serve him well in the future.

Following a School Schedule – Outside of School

Some kids need a fixed routine, but trying to mimic a school schedule at home may not work when it comes to reading. A typical lesson may take up to an hour in school, since there are 20 or more kids in the average classroom. Stretch your reading lessons out for that long and you could have a mutiny on your hands.

Instead of planning your day around what a class full of children does, plan around your own schedule and preferences. If everyone is up early, placing reading at the start of the day and taking the time needed to complete the lesson you’ve chosen is enough.

Some kids will finish a single lesson in a few minutes, while others may need a little longer, but cramming too much into each day could backfire and even impact how much your child enjoys reading. Choosing a curriculum and pacing it to match your child’s needs, makes it easy for her to learn to read – and to love reading, too.

Missing the Signs of a Reading Problem

Some kids just read a little later than others – but some do struggle with attention disorders, eye control, dyslexia and other conditions that can make it more difficult to become a fluent reader and later, a proficient writer. A teacher who has been in the elementary classroom for a few years sees hundreds of kids and can usually spot the signs of trouble early.

If you are homeschooling and teaching your child for the first time, it is easy to think that slow progress is your fault, or the way reading works for homeschooled kids. While you don’t want to push or rush, you should be aware of stalled progress and take steps to research potential issues.

Using the Same System for Each Child

The system or curriculum that worked for your oldest may be perfect for the next in line, or they could struggle with it. Each child learns differently, even in the same family; by exploring different methods and using supportive technology or devices as needed, you can ensure each kid gets the same love of reading, even if they get there in a slightly different way.

Learning more about some of the common roadblocks experienced by homeschoolers when it comes to reading can help you create a program that resonates with your child – and you may need different supports and approaches for each child in your family. One of the great joys of teaching is watching your child master reading, and knowing you’ve given them a skill that will last a lifetime.

Improve Reading Comprehension

Dyslexia vs. Struggling to Read Correctly

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Kids struggle with reading for a variety of reasons, from difficulties with processing to attention issues like ADHD that prevent a child from truly focusing on the task at hand. Understanding which issue is triggering the difficulty can help you come up with strategies that help the struggling reader succeed and make the most of their abilities.

If you suspect that a disability like dyslexia is involved, it is important to encourage the child’s family to seek out an evaluation by a professional. If diagnosed, specific strategies designed to help people with this condition can be incorporated into your teaching and routine. Since dyslexia impacts performance in a variety of ways, a reader with this condition may not improve with the strategies you’d typically use.

Learning more about dyslexia can help you to aid a struggling reader in the classroom and at home.

What is Dyslexia?

More than just a simple reversal of letters or numbers, dyslexia is a brain based issue that causes a child to wrestle with spelling, writing, reading and even speaking. With this condition, students strain to process or identify some types of information, from identifying letter sounds or the actual symbols to understanding blends and comprehending what they are reading.

Dyslexia can’t be outgrown or cured, but accommodations can be made via an IEP (individualized education plan) to help students with this condition. Some states have laws designed to protect students with dyslexia that offer more than the Federal IDEA law and can be used to assist students diagnosed with this learning disability.

Signs of Dyslexia

  • The most well-known symptom is letter reversal
  • Above-average difficulty pairing letters with sounds or matching sounds to letters
  • Switching beginning sounds when pronouncing words or phrases, like using “mawn lower” in place of “lawn mower” in conversation
  • Trouble reading aloud or grouping phrases or words
  • Inability or difficulty with sounding out new words
  • Difficulties with handwriting or getting letters in the wrong order when writing
  • Trouble with rhymes and rhyming words

Learning How to Read vs Dyslexia

A child who is wrestling with a new concept or process will likely learn it eventually; a child with dyslexia may not unless strategies designed to particularly target that condition are used. As a child with dyslexia works and struggles to process and comprehend words, his inability to pair letters with sounds or sounds with letters stands in the way of improvement.

Getting Help for a Struggling Reader

One of the most difficult things about helping readers is determining which kids are simply in the process of discovering new concepts and/or finding their best learning style and which children are actually coping with a disability or condition that impacts the way that they learn.

Providing support for a developing reader is an ideal first step, with strategies designed to engage and help a new reader “get it”. Simple changes like reading aloud each day and incorporating a research-based tool such as the See-N-Read® reading strip to isolate specific text without hiding the rest of the passage can help the developing reader succeed and may have a positive impact on the child with dyslexia.

If traditional, tried and true strategies are simply not working and the child is working hard but making little progress, it may be time to look at the possibility of a learning disability like dyslexia. Diagnosis of a condition like this will not only make it easier for the child to learn in a supportive environment, it will provide key protections and opportunities under IDEA and any dyslexia-specific state laws.

Understanding the signs of dyslexia and why some kids cannot improve without specific strategies and intervention can enable teachers to help struggling readers succeed. Learning more about “invisible” disabilities like dyslexia provides teachers with more tools to ensure success and help those students who are struggling with reading to succeed.

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Reading is One Thing, Retaining is Another: How to Help Students Remember What They Read

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Literacy, at its core, is about more than just being able to read and write. It’s also about being able to understand what you’re reading. Part of this has to do with retention – you may understand all of the words in the previous sentence, but if they seemingly evaporate from your brain soon after you read them as if they were never there, did you really get any value out of reading them at all?

Many students across the country have difficulties with reading retention, which ultimately sets up an important roadblock to their ability to read and learn. According to a study conducted by the Literacy Project Foundation, roughly 45 million people across the country are functionally illiterate – meaning that they read below a fifth grade level.

Twenty percent of Americans read below the level required to earn a living wage. In the California school system alone, 25 percent of students can’t perform basic reading skills. This is a major contributor to the more than 8,000 students who drop out of high school every day.

Solving a Modern Day Challenge

The most important thing to understand about retention and reading difficulties is that every student is different from the next. Not everyone processes information in exactly the same way. The reason one student has trouble retaining what they’re reading could be entirely different from a similar student – even if they’re displaying similar symptoms of a problem.

As a result, you need to consider the situation using a truly flexible approach – one that allows you to pivot your approach based on what your student needs to break through his unique barriers. This is one of the many reasons why assistive methods such as See-N-Read® Learning Tools are so important – they provide flexible solutions that can be applied to problems on an individualized basis.

Not Reading Tools – Learning Tools

The See-N-Read® MemoryMark™ tool, for example, is a reading tool that enables students to focus on the proper line and also highlight key passages of text to allow for easy re-reading – all without moving the tool off the chosen line of text. This helps establish text as an anchor point, making sure that they can isolate ideas and emphasize important passages to improve the long-term retention of information without interrupting the natural flow that they’ve developed.

This all has a positive snowball effect: students learn to single out key passages and to identify essential points while continuing to read at the pace that works best for them. They develop the ability to recognize main ideas on which they should focus, both improving their ability to retain what they read and honing their critical thinking skills.

This simple assistive tool for reading and taking notes helps users to recognize the context of the passage they’re reading. They learn to expand and build on concepts, not just to read faster or remember more information, but to develop their thinking and learning strategies and improve the quality of what they’re remembering as well.

This is just one example of a tool that can help kids remember what they’ve read. It’s safe to say that whatever steps you take that support a student’s ability to combat reading deficiencies on their own terms and to retain what they’ve read  are worthwhile steps indeed.