Helping Struggling Readers

As a tutor, I feel the need to express that the art of casual observation is a must for working with young children. No matter the conversation, or the activity, or the reading, there are always clues being given off by a child who struggles with reading. But, because struggling students are often aware of their struggles, they may work hard at hiding them. Students desire to please their teachers and they need validation for the victories (even the smallest) that they work hard to present. So, the art of casual, but attentive observation is important.

The good news: Young students desire to have help, but may not be able to verbalize how much struggle or what kind of struggle they have. It’s not easy to tell which area is the area of weakness.

I’m excited because I recently found an article that I’m going to study as it contains many good ideas for teachers who work with struggling readers. Some of these ideas, I use in my tutoring, but there were some ideas here that I have not used, but will!

That is all for today, it’s been a long day.

~More soon.

 

Progressing with reading

Progress does not necessarily follow a straight line. If a student’s progress was charted, it may look more like two steps forward, one step back, but no matter the set backs, the overall movement is forward. This is how I’ve experienced a student’s progress who struggles with reading.

As I’ve discovered (and have written about before) it usually takes about 24 visits before I see true progress in student’s who struggles with reading. What does progress look like?

Here are the things I notice that change when there is progress (or after around 20 or so visits):

1. A student’s confidence increases. There is less resistance and acting out during sessions.
2. A student discovers meaning in reading. Also, the student’s reading comprehension improves when asked questions about a story.
3. A student’s reading becomes less choppy and slow and increases in fluency.
4. Sight word reading improves.
5. Motivation for reading and school improves.
6. A student’s reading interest is voiced or becomes more focused.

These are some of the things that I notice after working with students over a few months. It brings me great joy and also relief that the student’s and my work (and the parents!) is not in vain. I need to remind myself, especially during the time of setbacks, that what  could actually be happening (in my opinion) is the re-alignment of the brain.

~more soon.

Tutoring reading

Coming out of the classroom and into the private tutoring business has been a cool adventure. It gives me a glimpse into the world of children who struggle with a skill that’s crucial to future school success. These kids are feeling stressed and pressured to succeed.

As a tutor, having the hour to concentrate on filling in gaps can help a student reach their peers, but it’s also important for caregivers to realize that learning to read is a process and that there are multiple areas a student may need help with.

In my experience, the filling in of the gaps usually comes first followed by a concentration on fluency and comprehension and learning of strategies for decoding. Small victories are celebrated along the way boosting the student’s suffering self-esteem and motivation which often go hand in hand.

I recommend getting help at the earliest age that you see problems. If your child doesn’t enjoy books or resists being read to, or needs help focusing. Seek help. And as a parent, try to give comfort, hope and encouragement as your student goes through the process of learning. Celebrate small victories and encourage a household reading time. Reading can become more enjoyable with help.

~Keep reading!

A Significant Something

Think of a time when you knew you had to do something, but were afraid to fail or disappoint. Now, what happens when that something becomes imminent. Does anxiety build? Do you try to delay the inevitable task or even cancel it?

Students who struggle with learning to read face a sort of anxiety/stress at school and at home and that is when coping behaviors begin to appear or in some cases take over.  

Usually, children simply resist reading time by joking, giggling, playing around, excessively chatting. Sometimes they’ll come up with an excuse to leave the room, “I’ll be right back!”they say with a smile; anything, it seems rather than sitting in front of a page full of unknown words in a book.

This is what I see happen when I begin working with students who struggle to read.

Knowing these behaviors will happen, I do my best to ease the stress of the moment by taking small steps towards improving reading skills.

The first thing I do is to assess where the student’s reading level is (if they are reading) and I begin by using familiar, often rhyming or predictable books. For younger students, I often will go through the alphabet letters to see if the student has mastered the corresponding sounds. I also check to see if the student can read common sight words. I also have a few games to play which helps me to assess the phonemic awareness of a child. Basically, their ability to notice, think about and work with sounds in words.

When I use a book, it has been thoughtfully chosen based on what I know about the student (age, interests, personality, etc.) and what the reading level may be. This is important because it helps ease anxiety and also helps with motivation to read.

But before I even attempt to read a book with a child, I allow a student to preview and discuss what they believe the book will be about. Predicting in this way can help activate a child’s prior knowledge  which readies the student to learn new information by connecting it to what they already know.

If the book is non-fiction, then there is more pre-reading strategies I teach before attempting to read a passage. But, I’ll save that for another post.

Once a student attempts to read a book with me, I listen carefully and I try not to jump in too quickly when struggle occurs. This helps me to see the level (or lack of) decoding skills that the student has when faced with a non-familiar words. It’s a fine line between allowing some struggle to occur while not allowing frustration to build which can trigger the anxiety behaviors.

These steps help ease the resistance to read and build reading skills. These and smiling, encouraging and rewarding a student with high fives at even through the smallest victories. The victories are actually big if you look at the whole picture!

I enjoy the challenge of tutoring children because the reward is huge. Success in reading will bring success in all school subjects. My job is successful when after working with a student, I see confidence increase while anxiety decrease and of course when a student is enjoying reading and learning.  

Reading confidently is a valuable skill and when I hear the report that student is progressing and reading more, I celebrate right along with the parents knowing a significant something has occurred.

~Peace readers.