Over the past few months my daughter has started to read faster and faster. More recently she has started skipping words - usually articles, prepositions, some adjectives... and she will often insert her own articles and prepositions such that the sentence often retains exactly the same meaning, but is not exactly what is written on the page. I have tried switching to easier books, but that seems to just make the problem worse. I tell her "slow down!" and she will slow down for a sentence or two but then starts racing through the page again. I tried harder books to force her to slow down, but she still flies (incorrectly) over the articles and prepositions and just concentrates on the "hard" words. Any ideas? Will this self-correct or do I need to do something? My own feeling is that she can read much faster than she can speak, and that this is tripping her up a bit. I thought about telling her about the idea of "reading silently" - but then I won't know if she is still having the problem.
Thanks.
If you figure it out let me know. Both of my kids (DS4, DS6) do it. I really don't get that part where they use a synonym for a word as if they couldn't use the one on the paper. I too think that the problem is that they can read much faster than speak and this is the result.
How old is your daughter? DS6 went through a stage like this--coincidentally right when he was getting his reading evaluation for the GT program. Sometime I wonder just how much he's messing with us
His reading score came out lower than what we believe it's at because they stopped after so many errors. Even the reading specialist mentioned this because he was dropping words like "the" or "is".
It's largely gone now. We were just persistent when he read aloud to us and made him re-read lines or phrases when he dropped a word. It was strange because he had read perfectly for quite some time before then (including great cadence). But for about 4 months he went through this phase.
Interesting to hear someone else having this issue.
JB
Caveat: my DS never did this much, and it might be because of something I did right or it might be because of something completely different! But based on what we did, my thought is that I would definitely let her read to herself as soon as she is ready - not teach her, but just remark to her that that's what people normally do once they are good readers. I'd also strictly limit how much I asked her to read to me - if she asks to read something, tell her you're busy but she can read to herself. That way she gets the experience which naturally leads to her reading silently to herself. (And of course, if she chooses to read fast and garbled when she's reading to herself, that's her choice.) I'd tell her that reading aloud, once someone can read well, is for special purposes: like being nice to someone by reading them a story - in which case it's important to read at "story pace" and make sure the listener can follow - or, occasionally, demonstrating that one can indeed read - in which case, it's important to get the words right - or occasionally other purposes.
(What my DS did, and indeed does, do, is to garble the occasional word he really doesn't know and can't work out - he'll say something that's acting as a placeholder pronunciation. I think that, in contrast to other kinds of garbling, is actually a reasonable strategy carrying over from when there's nobody there to ask - I remember getting all the way through The Lord of the Rings without bothering to work out how many of the names were pronounced, and it didn't do me any harm (TM) :-) When DS does this reading aloud I just tell him the pronunciation, if necessary several times until he's got it. I suppose this is a special case of working out what a word means from context, but mispronouncing it - something I did with many words, and DS also does (combine-shun for combination is proving hard to eradicate at the moment!))
Have them read out loud something from Lewis Carroll.
I'd suggest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JabberwockyTell them that is how they sound if they do not take the time to pronounce all the words correctly. Its a funny way to make light of the situation.
When DD does this, I put my finger under the word she skipped or misread. She'll go back and re-read it more carefully. It's an important skill to be able to read accurately out loud, so I would supplement instead of substitute with silent reading.
My DS4 does this as well, but I bite my tongue a lot and try to keep the critism to a minimum because DS4 and I are both perfectionists. I find myself doing this with drawing and writing as well--letting his mistakes go without comment for fear of stoking perfectionism. Maybe I'm going too far in the other direction though. I don't know. To some extent, I'm also still so amazed that he's reading as quickly as he is at age 4 that I don't see any urgent need for improvement. I like ColinsMum's idea of focusing not on DS4 and the way he's reading, but on the needs of the listener. That might get to the issue while avoiding direct criticism altogether.
You can always do a "pros and cons" kind of thing. This wouldn't work so well with skipping or misreading words. But when it comes to the arts or sports, I usually ask my kids to analyze their *own* performances rather then telling them what *I* think. In fact, if they ask me what I think, I turn it back on them and tell them right upfront that I do this because it matters more what they think about how they did than it does how anyone else feels about their performance.
But mainly I ask because I like to see how they view themselves. If their vision isn't realistic (either too + or too -), I like to steer them toward seeing both their strengths and their weaknesses. I think it's really an important skill to learn to see one's self realistically, both the good and the bad.
Just a thought...
When she first started reading she would often read some words backwards, like "on" for "no" - but that went away without any intervention. I was not sure if this was the same type of thing. Thanks all.
I've become a little more proactive about it after reading this article. Even though DD7 doesn't seem to have stealth dyslexia, this passage got my attention.
http://mislabeledchild.com/html/Library/DyslexiaReading/Stealth_dyslexia3.htmIn addition to difficulties with written expression and spelling, children with stealth dyslexia often show persistent, though subtle, difficulties with reading. Despite the appearance of age-appropriate reading comprehension on routine classroom assignments or even standardized tests, careful examination of oral reading skills almost always reveals persistent difficulties with word-for-word reading. Though often subtle, these deficits, which usually result in subtle word substitutions or word skips, can result in significant functional problems, especially on tests. We frequently see children who consistently show good comprehension reading lengthy passages or even long books, yet who significantly underperform or even fail written tests of reading comprehension because they have difficulty reading short test questions or multiple choice answers.
my DS6 does this as well - I think his brain is going faster than his mouth can keep up. It is interesting to hear about others doing the same thing
Although these stories sound cute. I shudder when I think about my teen years when I stopped finishing sentences. My mind went on. Many of friends just accepted it, but it created awful habits where I just didn't explain well. I assumed people could see what I saw.
Although these stories sound cute. I shudder when I think about my teen years when I stopped finishing sentences. My mind went on. Many of friends just accepted it, but it created awful habits where I just didn't explain well. I assumed people could see what I saw.
I *still* do that! It drives DH absolutely crazy! I have to consciously remember to verbally complete a thought and I'm sure people think I'm terribly flaky because I know I don't always remember. Even my kids have taken to finishing my sentence because otherwise they'd never know if they understood me correctly, lol.
Another thing to note is that reading aloud and reading to yourself are two totally different skills in the brain - and you would be surprised to find how many of us mentally "skip" words. If she is able to comprehend and she understands the material thoroughly, I would hazard a guess that she isn't going to see long term reading effects from this - more than likely she is just super excited about learning the next thing.
Mom 123 this sound so much like DD4. She will substitute words. The faster she reads the quieter she gets until she is reading silently. I told her to read to adults like she was reading to a baby. This helps but she still tends to trail off. She also will make up words if she is not sure what a word is. She only dose this with words that do not affect the content. Sometimes she messes up very small words because she find them irrelevant to the content and is rushing. Lately she has been much more engrossed in the story line and comprehension and gets impatient if we ask her to read out loud. She will not take the time to sound things out unless she has to in order to understand the story, because she wants to get the story quicker.