Learning to read is a challenge for many kids, but most can become good readers if they get the right help. Parents have an important job in recognizing when a child is struggling and knowing how to find help.
Recognizing Reading Problems
What to look for:
6 reasons why kids might struggle with reading
1. Difficulty recognizing the individual sounds in spoken words (phonemes). The ability to recognize and play with speech sounds is called phonemic awareness.
2. Difficulty sounding out written words (decoding) and recognizing familiar word parts.
3. Difficulty understanding what is being read. Limited vocabulary and background knowledge contribute to lower levels of reading comprehension.
4. Limited English language skills.
5. Limited experience with print and books.
6. Instruction that doesn't meet an individual child's needs. For example, a child with dyslexia may need additional explicit (step-by-step) instruction, provided in a carefully planned sequence.
Price: $1.99
Grade level: 3rd, 4th, 4th and above
Skill: Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Looking up a word in a dictionary isn’t that simple if you have no idea how to spell it. This app removes that problem and helps to find the word by the way it sounds.
Price: Free
Grade level: K, 1st, 2nd
Skill: Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities, Phonics
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Articulation Station provides speech professionals, teachers, and parents with ways to help kids improve pronunciation and articulation. Using very specific exercises, games, and stories that focus on just one letter sound for 22 English language sounds, this app can improve pronunciation and understanding of how letter sounds form words. With more than 1,000 target words, kids will likely not get bored with this app. Adults have easy ways to track kids' progress and can track up to six kids at once. Note: To get full use of this app, you have to purchase the Pro version or buy individual letters with an in-app purchase option.
Price: $3.99
Grade level: 2nd, 3rd, 4th
Skill: Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities
Device: iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
Dyslexia Quest is designed to help assess a child's memory and listening skills. It is divided into six areas that each take about 10 minutes to play. If you have a child who struggles with distractibility, it may be best to play this app in increments to get the best results.
Price: $2.99
Grade level: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th and above
Skill: Dyslexia and Learning Disabilities
Device: Android, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Other
This is an app that spells words for users. Simply tap the microphone and state the word you wish spelled, and the app puts the word on screen in both capital letters and lowercase letters. The app also offers a variety of special fronts for dyslexia/dysgraphia and accurate speech recognition in multiple languages.
A pencil grip fits over the pencil to position the thumb, index and middle finger correctly. Grasping the pencil properly lets your child write more neatly and more quickly without her hand muscles getting so tired. There are many types of pencil grips, so it’s important to know what your child’s specific needs are. If she wraps her thumb around her index finger, for instance, there’s one with built-in guards. The guards may make it easier for her fingers to remain in the correct position.
You can find pencil grips at office supply stores, but they may not provide enough finger support for kids with dysgraphia. To find the right pencil grip for your child, you may need to look in online catalogs aimed at occupational therapists.
Writing on a slanted surface allows your child’s wrist to extend while the fingers flex and naturally fall into a better writing position. Instead of using a slant board, your child can use a three-inch three-ring binder turned sideways. A rubber band can keep papers from slipping off.
This paper has a rough surface along the lines to provide tactile cues that can help your child stay within the lines. The physical “bump” gives her sensory information on how big to make the letters.
The lower half of the writing area (below the dotted line) is highlighted, indicating how high the lowercase letters should go. This can help kids learn how to form letters of the correct size. You can order the paper from a catalog in a variety of colors. Or you can make your own with a highlighter.
A graphic organizer is a visual way of breaking writing projects down into smaller steps. It lets your child note key details for almost any kind of writing assignment without worrying about paragraphs, topic sentences or transitions. As she brainstorms, she can jot down ideas in the visual framework. Then, when she goes to write, she’ll have a starting point.
Graphic organizers come in many types. They can look like a Venn diagram, a flow chart or an ice cream cone (for younger kids). You can find many free templates online.
This writing program gives explicit instruction on how to form letters using multisensory strategies. Letters are grouped by similar strokes using top-to-bottom, left-to-right sequencing. For example, kids learn the six “magic c” letters (c, a, d, g, q, o) as a group. That way they get lots of practice doing the same beginning movement, which builds muscle memory.
This iPad app for beginning writers comes from Handwriting Without Tears. Kids use their fingers to practice forming letters and numbers on the screen. When your child is ready, she can switch to using a stylus.
With Wet-Dry-Try your child can use a virtual slate chalkboard for writing capital and lowercase letters and numbers. The app also has personalized audio coaching. An Android version of the app is currently in development.
Apps to Make Worksheets Less Tedious
There are a number of free iPad apps that let kids complete paper worksheets on a tablet. Two examples are PaperPort Notes and SnapType (developed by an occupational therapist).
Here’s how these apps work: Your child takes a photo of her worksheet. She taps on the screen where she wants to add text and types in her answers. If the worksheet is multiple choice or fill-in-the blank, she can use her finger to write in words or circle the answer. When she’s finished, she can print out the photo of the worksheet.
Android users can try Samsung Galaxy Note5, which allows you to do similar things. You can upload an image of a worksheet from your camera roll and then, using a text box, write on it with your finger or a stylus.
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