Child loses place

Any age child can have trouble staying on the correct line of print. This is called tracking. 

Signs of trouble:  skips lines of print, or loses his place,  skips a word, substitutes a word, dislikes reading. 

Try these tips: 1) Have your child point to each word as you read your child a story. 

Later, take turns reading a story with your child. Even as your child starts improving, let him continue to point to each word as he reads, until he gets stronger. 

Let him place a finger at the end of the line he is reading so that he is sure which line he should be reading next. (When your child gets tired, it is time for a break.)

And, quit stopping to sound out. Telling your child unknown, unrecognized words is a much better way to build skills.  

2) Place a plain sheet of paper below the line of print in the story your child is reading. Ask him to move the sheet of paper down line by line, as he reads. (The look of lots of words on a page is scary and confusing for a reader. This reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed.)

3) Strengthen your child's eye coordination with: dot-to-dot pictures, mazes, and puzzles. Also, get a pile of large print used books your child can write in: circle or underline words you are targeting for practice: saw, was, does, goes / these, those, then, them / thought, through, etc.

Tip: use my blog's search box - top left corner - put in backward b and working memory. Wobbly skills make children feel silly at school.

4) Beware: any age child can need eyeglasses. I now use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you.  All are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

 

Thank you, Mary Maisner