5 years old...cant read, please help

R

rs2000

Registered User
Hi all,

My 5 years old daughter can not read much. She goes to CAIS (started in Sep 2011) and her teacher also mentioned in the meeting that she is a bit behind when compared to her classmates.
Her teacher is also working on it and she has now picked up some words like the, is...

but I want her to be able to read soon. I am thinking of some supplementary program (preferebly at home) that I can use. I see that her phonics are weak. She knows the sounds of alphabets but somehow can not combine them when in words.

there is this (sounds waves close to us www.soundwaves.com.hk). has someone tried it? they are expensive (200$/75 mins lesson) so I want to research a bit before I enroll her

Seperately I have been trying to read books to her and also ask her to read some words for past 2 months but progress has been slow. I have to admit that I am not very well structured into how to make a 5 years old understand the reading. We ordered lots of level 1 reading boosk from US. Is there any home based program that I can use for her (5years age), jolly phonics? leapfrog? letterland? Also please let me know about how can I get the relevant material at reasonable cost?

PS: she speaks english well and has got fair vocabulary as well but that does not translate into reading skills
thanks a lot!
 
Hi there,

I am a NET teacher with my own business called We MAKE Creative Education. I do small classes and 1-1 tutoring, so if you're interested in an "intensive" phonics & reading comprehension class PM me or check out my website for more information http://we-make.hk

Alternatively, if you are looking for some things that you can do with your daughter to improve her reading you should check online for some Montessori activities. I think that one of the best ways that I have taught my students pre-reading skills is with something called a "treasure bag". I have created treasure bags by sound, so in each bag there are about 4-6 items or images inside that represent the sound of the letter. For example "P" would contain pizza, pig, etc.

I believe things like this allow children to tangibly experience objects and associate the sound. Other things you can do is by labeling objects in your home, common things and your daughter will begin recognizing the word and the object.

There are so many things you can do at home, I hope that this helps and you feel that you are able to make progress with her at home and at school!

Best,

Liz
 
My kid's school recommends www.starfall.com. My twins just turned 5 and they started Primary at age 4.

What really helps mine is to know some common sight / high frequency words (they have a book with about 200 in there which they do weekly at school). There are iPhone apps with high frequency words as well.
 
thanks all.

i will check these out. so would you recommend these over jolly phonics/letterland?

also do you think I should be worried ( I am) for my 5 years old not being able to read?

Thanks again
 
I would not be worried. My son is really only just starting to read, he will be 7 in a couple of months. He fell behind his classmates when we moved here as he was out of school for over 2 months and he was not a good reader before we left the previous place. He had a similar "problem" (for want of a better word) where he knew the phonic sounds but couldn't combine. Of course I was concerned (some classmates with older siblings were reading short stories!) but the teachers were relaxed about it. He is catching up now, we haven't forced the issue and he is starting to enjoy reading more.
Just a note - in some countries children don't attend school until age 6.
 
i second starfall and reading eggs. they are entertaining and fun, but i feel only as supplement. jolly phonics is great, it's got rhymes and songs that are catchy and helps very much with blending. (ive never learnt letterland, so i cant comment) i think it takes a few reading "programs", not just one to help a child be literate.

i would check with the school on which reading programs they are on and work with them, so that i can help reinforce what has been learnt at school, at home. there are high frequency words books around, oxford tree books as well as online resources like http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/literacy.html

as a matter of fact. i only learnt to read at 8 years old, at school. before that, everything was a blur :)
 
If you have an iPhone or an iPad, there are TONS of those kinds of apps. My daughter is only 3 so the ones I have are probably not advanced enough for you - but from that (and also from watching Word World), she knows almost all her letter sounds and is already starting to put them together. I've put absolutely no pressure on her at all to learn to read - she DOES go to kindy and they do a little bit in a non-pressure way, but she is just picking it up from educational games and shows. It's not too late to catch up.

The other thing - do you read to her? Having a love for reading and an interest in books is important in learning to read. If you don't have many books, take her to the library and just spend an hour reading to her. It'll be great for her :)
 
I second Satay Sue. In the US kids don't even start Kindy till age 5. Granted maybe some that are gifted or with very involved parents start kindergarten knowing how to read most do not.
 
Nicole... my son has just turned 3 too. Would love to know the names of some apps you mentioned. at the moment his ipod is mostly being used to watch toons on youtube. which we dont mind coz he doesnt use it for long but would be great to upload something more interactive for him. Thanks.
 
There's a great iPad app called Mr Thorne Does Phonics. It's British pronunciation (great for us!) and is not cheap - but well worth it, I think.
We also have a few Word World books on the iPad.
Just search for Phonics in the iTunes store, and be sure to read the reviews of what is good or not so good.

I was lucky with my firstborn - he was a natural reader and could read simple books when he was 2! (no kidding!!) My second son is now 4.5yrs old, knows his letter sounds and recognizes a few words, but can't blend and shows no interest in learning. *Sigh* It's going to be a bit of a battle with him. But I think the key is repetition, repetition, repetition; lots of patience; lots of reading and rhyming and word games; make the process fun; don't pressurize; don't spend more than 10 minutes at a time on it; let the school help!
 
If it helps, my cousin couldn't read until he was 10. Everyone thought he was educationally subnormal. He ended up going to Cambridge University!
 
DH is freaking because DD2 can't "read" and she too is 5. DD1 was able to read sentences at 4 so he expects the same thing.

I didn't like starfall or Reading Eggs. starfall because simply because it was too hard to navigate and I had to sit with DD the whole time. Reading Eggs was a little better because she could navigate it herself but teaching kids phonics using caps only is not how children are taught once they start school (and DD1 had to 'unlearn' some of that before she could move on because she learned started learning in CAPS before I looked into it further) and the site never really worked well on my Mac, no matter what applications or emails I sent to the guys.

I have not tired the other sites mentioned here but have tested Phonics Hero which is new http://www.phonicshero.com/public/ and DD2 loves it. It also sends me reports on the letters that DD2 is doing, what I can do to fill in the learning gaps and generally how she is progressing. Reading Eggs didn't provide this and I have found it very useful.

You may want to start though by reading this article which talks about the learning to read process and the pre-reading things you can do (such as reading to DD like you are). http://www.essentialkids.com.au/ent...on-the-right-reading-path-20110623-1ggtx.html

Once you have those up and running if you want to do more, take a look at Get Reading Right who have a parents pack to help teach phonics at home in an interactive and fun environment for both DD and yourself. http://www.getreadingright.com.au/program/ they have both free resources and products you can purchase from the site.

Good luck and in two years when DD is reading like a Hero you will wonder why you were worried :smile:


Disclaimer: GRR was once a Client of mine. All materials and subscriptions are paid for by me personally and statements posted here are my own personal experiences.
 
miran said:
Nicole... my son has just turned 3 too. Would love to know the names of some apps you mentioned. at the moment his ipod is mostly being used to watch toons on youtube. which we dont mind coz he doesnt use it for long but would be great to upload something more interactive for him. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Some that she likes that are phonics based are:

Word Wagon by Duck Duck Moose - this one has four different levels so is good for a wide range of ages
Starfall ABCs (although this is a paid app which is exactly the same as the free webpage. If you love the webpage, it's worth it, but if you don't, then not worth it)
ABC Tracing is good for practice writing
Pre-K ABC by BrightStart is even better - it's a GREAT app for learning to write and does a bit of phonics as well. This is one of my favs, definitely recommend!
Phonics Vowels by Abitalk is great for phonics and not too advanced for my daughter - very good for pre-reading or early reading
Word Match is good for those sight words, but it still a bit hard for my 3 year old
Short Vowels by Abatalk (not sure if it's the same as "Abitalk"??) - this one my daughter doesn't play with as much, but it's ok

If I only recommended three, it would be Word Wagon, Pre-K ABC and Phonics Vowels

Completely off subject, her absolute favourite (and non educational) app is called "My PlayHome" - it's a fantastic app and great for her age.

And for maths skills, we got a GREAT app the other day called "LoveToCount" by Pirate Trio - they have a few other apps but this is the only one that we've got.

I follow a blog - http://momswithapps.com/ - the ONLY reason why I read it is because they often have "free app friday" where you can get paid apps for free, or sometimes just at a discount. I've found SO many great apps that way - some I did pay for but the majority I didn't. I try to check it every Friday and if something is free, I download it and try it. If I like it, I keep it. If not, I just delete it.
 
I don't know how long it is since you used reading eggs. We have been using it for about a year, and it does use lower case letters, in fact it uses both upper and lower case. It also sends reports to the parents. They have also very recently updated the site so that as soon as you log on you can see where the child is at. We also have a Mac now, and used to have a PC and it works well on both.

Anyway, it is a personal thing. It is interesting to see what different people like and don't like. People always talk about Word World etc. which my daughter also enjoys (and Super Why) but it teaches them the "adult" version of the letter ( eg A instead of ah). My daughter learned all the phonetics first except for some reason she learned W not in phonics first and now when she is spelling out a word she can't do it if it has a W in it because she will say "double-u" instead of how it sounds so it doesn't make a word. Not sure if this makes sense.

Anyway, I agree with the others that 5 is too early to worry. There is such a lot of pressure here for kids to be doing stuff early. We didn't even learn the alphabet until age 5 when we were kids and we can all read. I really think reading with children from when they are babies and having them love books is a great start. Also making sure that they see you reading on your own. Being interested in books really helps.

Good luck!
 
I actually think Soundwaves is worth the investment. It was started/created by qualified classroom primary teachers who have had years of experience. While I can't afford them, I've stolen their 'system' and used it to teach my son. Their system is far more logical than Mr. Thorne's phonics. We use him on youtube to supplement what my son brings home from school.

My son is in Year 1 at RCHK and he reads and understands fine for his age. I have heard that some teachers will only make a judgement on reading but not comprehension at some schools. Did you check? As many kids are able to read above their expected age/development but have little comprehension.

When the kids are 5 at ESF, they aren't expected to 'read'. You should see the books they've sent home. Some are really simple. Single line repetitive sentences. Even a 'slow reader' would know. So, perhaps the expectation at CAIS is too high?

I second Motherhubbard too. Great online resource. I like Raz-Kids.com but you need to subscribe to their resources.

There's heaps of resources out there if you do not want to spend any money.
Don't get caught up with the teacher's perception. Do whatever your child is most comfortable with as far as learning pace is concerned.

Good Luck!
 
All children learn to read and all learn at different rates--it's actually very similar to the way children develop in other areas--such as learning to crawl and walk and even talk. A child who cannot read at 5-years-old is actually not "abnormal" even though other classmates may be reading. If you push the issue too much you may develop another problem which is a child who is resistant to learning to read. I suggest that you start with high frequency words--helping your child identify them in the text (such as "the, a, an, I, me, it, was" etc.) as you read to your child and then move on to more phonics. Many children do not possess the focus or maturity to learn to fully read at this age. It's a step-by-step process. If your child is in P2 and still cannot read at all, then I would actually become concerned...before then just take it easy.
 
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