Kyle can now make letter sounds and read loads of sight words (havent been able to keep count!) and when I sound the letters he can read any word, BUT wen he is asked to sound letters he cant seem to combine… Also I very much believe most of the time he just GUESS the word STILL! He can now read little sentences with words he is familiar with plus 3letter words in many cases like tot and got and words…he even read “mistake” the other day when I sounded the letters… but he is not even trying and run away when I try…!!!
What should I do?
I was wondering this when my son was just starting out sounding out words. He never did do much sounding out of words. But it helped a great deal if I would model the sounding-out for him, just as you’re doing. So I would say, “kkk --aaaa – tt. kkkaaatt. Cat!” As I did this I moved my finger under the letters. It took him time to “get” the whole concept of the connection of letters with sounds, like several weeks. After a few weeks, though, I could say the letters very slowly (kkkk … aaaaa … tttt) and he would get the word based on that. But if you’re leaping forward to “mistake” after covering CVC words like “cat,” then of course he’ll be impatient. Go in incremental steps. Try my flashcards to get an idea of what I mean by “incremental steps”… http://www.mediafire.com/fleschcards
Kyle actually needs me to say k a t even if it is distantly pronounced he can read, as for the word mistake actually it was from Help me 2 learn CD and I let him on in it and he got it right!!!
its been about a month since hes been like this and am wondering if I am doing something wrong for him not to be able to try, but thanks Daddude, hopefully he will succeed too soon…
just that he really dont want to do the reding himself, he asks me to do it for him, but sometimes he takes books and try to impress others when he get visitors…but he just blabbers… not really reading except for the sight words that he know of which he would say out very loudly and then goes back to blabbering!!!
Hello
My name is Catrin and my son Didrik 3 years does the same. He will never read but when I say the lettersound, he always got it right. And I know he can every lettersound, but still… I don´t know what to do?
Catrin from Sweden
For now, it may be good to just continue to model for him (or with him) when you read to him. Going from knowing the sounds, to being able to say consecutive sounds and remember them is a big step. It is easier for them to understand the word when you say it because they aren’t distracted by having to figure out the sounds themselves. It would sort of be like trying to figure out the word “cat” when your thought are saying. “Oh, I know that letter, it is ‘c’ and then the next letter was… oh yes, ‘a’ and the last letter, was it ‘m’ or ‘n?’ Oh, it is ‘n.’” Then, we say, what’s the word? And they think, “What was that first sound again?” But as they practice their letter sounds, they will get better at connecting the letters to make the words.
One tip I heard of was to sound out the words without putting any breaks between the sounds. “Ccccccccaaaaaaat.” As opposed to, “Cccc, aaaa, tttt.” It helps some children to connect the sounds and also helps their audio memory of what they just read.
Another tip I heard was to start at the end of the word. Start with “aaaat.” When he gets that down, it is easy to add the “c.” “CCCCCCat” It will be like having to remember 2 things instead of 3. After that, you can do a whole slew of word that rhyme with “at” (mat, hat, sat, rat, …)
I would guess, if your child is running away, it may be because he feels he isn’t ready to be “tested” or doesn’t enjoy having to do something that is still difficult for him. Maybe, if you continue to do it together, one of these days he may say, “Mommy, stop! I can do it by myself!” Until then, I would continue sounding things out with him, and keep practicing those letter sounds. If he likes to show off for guest, I’m sure he’ll show off for you when he is ready. 