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i have a 1st grader who is really struggling with reading. tutoring for the basics has not seemed to help. she knows her abc's but just can't seem to put the letters together to make words. no other problems are apparent. good at math, very alert, comprehends what she hears. Just not sure who to go to to find out if there is a problem.

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Question: 1st grader reading problem

i have a 1st grader who is really struggling with reading. tutoring for the basics has not seemed to help. she knows her abc's but just can't seem to put the letters together to make words. no other problems are apparent. good at math, very alert, comprehends what she hears. Just not sure who to go to to find out if there is a problem.

Answers:

Advice from School Family and Our Experts

cmccarthy writes:
Hi gcrechale, I have enthusiastically taught first grade for over twenty-four years. I have found the following techniques successful for situations such as you describe. I hope this is helpful to your first grader. You said that she knows her abc's, but does she know her letter sounds? If she doesn't know letters sounds that's the first place to start. For example: "Bb, like in ball...Dd, like in dog, etc. Once she knows her letter sounds, then start building what we call "Word Family" words. For example: Teach her the word "at" then build on that word by adding new beginning sounds. "Take 'at' and put a 'b' sound in front. What's your new word? That's right! It's "bat!" (c-cat, h-hat, m-mat...) When she can easily make the "at" family words, put them in a sentence form. " A fat cat sat on a mat." Have her draw a picture to illustrate the sentence and check her comprehension. Please check out my blog: www.schoolfamily.com/conniemccarthy to learn additional tips and advice for preparing your child for early school success. ~Connie McCarthy

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Community Advice

diplomatica writes:
How can you teach a child that has Dislexia to read? He is almost 14 years old, has been in Special Education for the last six years but has never learned to read, math, or anything else. How can I help this child? Thank you for your help and time.

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Community Advice

Kimble writes:
My youngest had a rough start to reading. Repetition was the key for us. Always keep a look out as a way to learn. While driving I would ask him to look for letters on signs and tell me the sounds. I also used scholastic books to purchase "Bob" series. They are very short books with beginning words. We repeated the books over and over. Good Luck!