My daughter (now 6th)has always had this issue. We had great teachers who figured it out. She is a perfectionist and never skims and has to be able to pronounce each word. Often, these words are surnames.

I finally had her tutored (after fourth grade) by her third grade teacher that she loved. They read plays - which forced her to read through. She also had to read into a tape player. Her teacher also (let) her skim. (I told her she could, but she thought it was cheating.)

She is still an exceptionally high (and slow) reader. However, her comprehension is much higher than most. I believe if we read the same paragraph, I could tell you that it happened in a room and she could draw a perfect picture of the room.

We also work on languages and how to pronounce them. Luckily, this is one of my interests. This helps her with surnames. She never forgets one once she learns it so this is getting better. Of course, many books have invented surnames now, but they have websites where they are pronounced.

One important thing to remember is that for timed tests, have them given extra time. This is true for most gifties - as they hate being timed and just need to know that they have longer. But, for this issue, it is very important because for reading, they will take longer and probably receive a perfect score for comprehension. Plus, they will most likely be in a room with less students.

And writing - my daughter usually writes something worthy of publishing (as her teachers say). Sometimes, it has to be shortened. In Texas, they were allowed as much time as they needed for the writing test. She worked from 8 to 5 on hers and received one of the few perfect scores. The cue was about someone helping someone and she got into DNA and science fiction and anyway, it was practically a novel. Since moving to Colorado, it is timed and she is never satisfied. Who can write a novel in one hour?

We have to constantly work with her to finish these assignments, but luckily, her teachers have loved her writing and work with her. She stays after school quite a bit to finish. This is just a fact of life for her. She won't do anything less. She knows when she is finished with her paper and at this age, I can't convince her otherwise. Her teacher wants her to try to publish a book this summer.

Hope this lengthy explanation helps. And my daughter is the only other student I have known like this. Her third grade teacher had known a previous student and that is why she could help her. Her fluency has improved greatly when she needs it to, but I doubt she uses it when she doesn't need it due to her need for total comprehension.

Last edited by Ellipses; 04/18/09 04:04 AM.