Homeschool World Forum

My son is 6 (number 2 of 4) and is currently in public school. He is in first grade and at a reading level 2, supposed to be at a level 16. His math and other subjects are fine. He also is in his own world a lot, sometimes I catch him making "funny" faces at no one, it reminds me a lot of my cousin with autism. I ask him what he is doing and he just shrugs, I can't tell if he is being silly or pretending or if it means something more.

I have sat with him for hours reading, and it seems that he is not advancing past a level 2. Are there different ways to teach kids to read? Maybe I'm trying the wrong approach. He used to poop in his pants in school if he got really pressured. I have a hard time getting him to do simple things, all he wants to do is play video games (only for the weekends or limited times) and when I don't give in to him he just sits there. i'm scared to take him to a doctor because I do not want him medicated. help!

There's LOTS of different ways for kids to learn to read! My oldest was taught through Direct Instruction (DISTAR), my youngest I took a more relaxed approach and simply read to him, listened to books on tape with him, sounded out words in front of him, left magnetic letters on the fridge.....
Kids get reading when they are ready. If they aren't ready, it can cause some serious problems by pushing it on them too early. If you do take your son out of school, I suggest not pushing the reading issue at all for the rest of this year but giving it a break and working on other subjects. I know Waldorf and (I think) Charlotte Mason type curriculums don't push reading before age seven, so looking at their structure might help you.

About possible medical issues, do take him to a doctor. Sometimes having that diagnosis in your hand helps more than you realize. You don't have to medicate if you don't want to, but at least knowing what is going on gives you the option to find out more and the many ways of helping without medication. If your son does have autism, there's no meds that would help anyway. My son is an aspie, and the few things that did help him were sessions on learning to read people's faces and body language, and removing certain foods from his diet (like dairy). Anyhow, by learning more about who he was, I could find more ways to help him, and that was a godsend.

You say your son likes to play video games. Have you checked out www.starfall.com ?

I have to agree with Lily. Having more information is always a good thing. You can choose what to do after that, but with the information comes the power to help him more and know more about how his mind works. I have a boy with a working memory disorder, It is great to know that he is learning, he just can't tell me what he knows very easily. We just have to find strategies that work for him. You can do that to. Just having that extra information helps you to know how best to hep him.

Thank you Lily. saved me some typing you did...

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