***doublem***

blueLu25

Hi! You have been so helpful in my other posts about my nephew with dyslexia, I thought I would ask your advice again...

His parents have asked if I will help him with his reading starting next month, and of course I said yes. However, it has been a few years now, since I've done anything like this so I was wondering if you could give me some pointers on what to do to help him. Right now he is reviewing 3rd grade reading (but his parents told me they feel like he is barely reading at all...). He is going into 5th grade this fall. Should I just stick to the 3rd grade stuff, or try to figure out what his skill level is (vs. grade level) and go from there? Any help would be appreciated I feel out of the loop on this stuff now.

doublem

Hi!  I'm happy to help.  Definitely find out what his skill levels are.  The reason I say that is because there are a number of things I assess with a reader his age:
*actual fluency (both oral and silent)
*literal comprehension (i.e. does he know what each word/sentence actually means in context)
*inferential comprehension (so if it said that Suzie rode the bus to school every day, and Johnny lived next door and rode the bus, then he should be able to figure out that Suzie and Johnny probably are on the same bus, and also that neither of their parents are able to drive them to school, and/or it is too far to walk)

On top of that, it's good to know how much sequential recall he has, but that is hard to figure out right from the start and can be addressed as you go.  The hardest part is finding interesting stuff for older kids to read when they are at a lower fluency level, which is what I would guess is the case with your nephew.

Anyway, you should definitely start at his oral ability level.  If you start with 5th grade stuff, it will be way too hard for him and be discouraging.  It's better to start easy, read for perfection (over and over), and gradually progress to harder stuff.  That will give him a lot of confidence, which is key to his success (especially being a boy).  The other thing that will help him a lot is to have him read to your little folks - they will love it and he will feel like he is an amazing reader, plus they will probably want the same books all the time, which will reinforce his sight recognition of words.

If you want to meet up to borrow anything and come up with plans, or to have me help you assess him, let me know.  It is so amazing that you are doing this for your nephew.  Both he and your family are lucky!

 

blueLu25

Wow thank you so much! You are an awesome help!

I will let you know once I get more of a "plan" together! Its been a couple months since I last read with him, so I think I will start there and see where he's at. You have a lot of great ideas, your students are very lucky  

doublem

Aww, thanks!

I just had another thought: my guess is that since he's dyslexic and doesn't read much, your nephew might also struggle in the writing department.  A good exercise for him might be writing "speeches" and practice presenting them with you (this would help with sequencing/organization, which often plagues dyslexic people, as well as repeated reading for a purpose), or write stories and share them with your kids.  If they're stories, he could also make pictures to go with them, which could give his brain a little rest during your work sessions.  Just an idea!

blueLu25

ok thanks, that's a great idea!