I’m looking for a program, movies/DVD’s, SOMETHING that will help my daughter with reading. She’s struggling pretty bad & when I sit down with her she loses interest really quick & just cries instead of actually trying. It’s almost like a short attention thing. She’s entering 1st grade.
8 Likes
Teach Your Monster to Read is a cool app/website my daughter enjoyed. Also, ABC mouse and Epic reading.
Ma’am at that age it’s a very hard transition give her a lot it time ,love and patience.Make a game out of it make her feel like at ease.I don’t know where you are from but I would to help you.
My son didn’t want to read until we stopped reading his game dialogue for him, he liked playing video games that most required you to read to get further along and when we told him if he wanted to play those games he was going to have to read it himself we only helped with words that were too difficult for him to figure out and he caught on pretty quick after that
Finding books about animals cuz it was something he loved and we work on 1 book. Letting him read the words he knew then I would read it. He in 3rd grade now but his reading level has gotten better but not we’re he should be
Start by letting her see YOU read. Do you read to her before bed? Find a good chapter book and cuddle and read a chapter to her before bed. It will keep her engaged and give her something to look forward to. Also, we have a book thrift store here that I always took my babies to and let them choose a book AND a pretty book mark. Don’t make it seem like a job. Show her the adventure in reading.
1 Like
We’ve got a leap frog pen that works on their books that helps you read. You touch the word and it helps you sound it out etc. It’s fun to use
Hooked on phonics worked wonders with my daughter at that age.
Try Teach Your Monster to Read. Only thing that clicked with my daughter was this program. Start at the lowest level available and work your way up.
Reading rainbow, keep it old school. And then honestly just read with/to her in no pressure situations so she sees it as a fun thing and not work
1 Like
Take her to the library and let her pic an age appropriate book on a topic of her choice…. A favorite animal, Disney story, etc… if it’s something she’s interested in and chose herself she may be more inclined to try.
1 Like
Online educational games and sites like abc mouse my daughter loved, she also had a leap frog pen that came with books and you could set it to different levels to read ad you drag it along the words or help you sound out and say words
Try her with yellow or blue paper. It could be dyslexia if she’s really crying and struggling with it. Rainbow Fairies or Holly Webb are good as she gets closer to 7. Try books like Lark in the Ark or Who’s in the Loo or even the simpler Dr Seuss as the rhyming will encourage word recognition. As they’re quite silly “rude” books, it tends to make it less of a chore. Reading to her while she follows the words is also good. You can also get her to read without books. When you go to the store, get her to look for items as she will have to read to be able to do that.
I used to have a series called “You Can Read” my kids loved it. But that was many years ago!.
Try to make it fun colour some letters cut them out and make a scrap book or a picture putting the letters in to words so she recognises them x
Video games can help. My daughter plays animal crossing, the characters don’t speak English, so she has to read what they say.
Another way to help is to make a game of reading. Pick one common word from a book and say she has to find that word on the page everytime you read it, for example we have a book about mermaids, so she has to find the word mermaid. Or a book with onomatopoeia’s where she has to read only the onomatopoeia’s.
10to 15 min of just sitting with will help get easy readers
Orton gillingham tutor. Works wonders. My son had major struggles even being on an IEP and getting services since he’s 2! Orton gillingham trained/certified tutor. We still have her for maintenance keeping on track but he went from severely delayed to jumping 4 reading levels in 3 months. Good luck.
Dr. Seuss books because the words are small and they rhyme. It works
1 Like
If you all watch tv something that my kids teacher suggested was to turn on subtitles and turn down the volume, and it’s helped mine in the past, now they are both avid readers and both are almost a grade level ahead in reading, we also ask them to help us read stuff, and make them read stuff (or try) themselves before we will help them.
Get a rhyming book about something that interests her. First you start reading it but making it fun like a song. Once she has heard it a few times get her to say the ending to some things. Like the pig says…oink. if it’s fun and exciting time with Mom she will be more interested in it but if it is being forced or if you are getting stressed how can she possibly want to learn it
Make reading fun. Sight word matching games. Sight words can be found at your local dollar store. Some programs offer reading bags and programs for families to read with your little ones. Activities and games to go with the story books. I read to my little guy after bath time, near bedtime. I give the characters different voices. And I found that if I let my kids pick the books, they have more interest.
Sounds like my son who has adhd and is assessed for dyslexia and dyspraxia
1 Like
Are you in the US? I would recommend fun online games like www.starfall.com or pbskids.org. In the UK, check out BBC Bitesize. Also play games with sounds, like I spy with my little eye something that starts with the sound /b/ (not the letter name!). Or how many things rhyme with cat?
Call the MOORE ACADEMY. Talk to Cynthia Peek.
Give her a magazine for her age to read, a Manga book, or a book of jokes.
Read to her a couple times then slowly ease her into reading small words or finishing the sentences. My son struggled to read and I thought apps and videos would help but it just made tablet time worse.
You might think your doing wrong by her not having interest but you HAVE to get her away from too much screen time.
My son is in 2nd grade now and he reads a whole book to me. When he gets a word wrong or I see he’s not trying, I write down the words and have him write them over and spell it out loud to learn the word. His reading has improved in a month by doing this.
1 Like
Flash cards! Once she learns sight words, then learns up pronounce, then she can make sentences with those flash cards. I did this with my son going into the 1st grade and it worked amazingly!
I now do flash cards with my 3 year old granddaughter!!! That’s how she learned her alphabets
2 Likes
Try 100 Gentle Lessons in sights and sounds.
Phonics is not a great teacher of reading and unfortunately that’s what most schools gravitate towards. We have too many different rules in the English Language.
Also know that the rods and cones in a child’s eye aren’t fully developed until age 10. Pushing reading too early could lead to a lifelong disinterest as well as cause dyslexia and myopia.
Even if the schools say she’s “behind” now, my guess is that in a year or two she will be on par or above her peers.
Also, reading TO her is a great way to help her learn without causing stress.
Good luck 
She’s young still, don’t push it. Make reading fun. My kids learned by silly things like- I bet I know what that says, they would say no you don’t, I do, it says and then they would say the word or very short sentence. I made sure they always “won the game”.
I have always struggled to read, even now at 27 I still struggle to read, I read my school reading books every night and did other activities to do with reading etc and I still didn’t get it properly
1 Like
It may be possible that she needs assistance through the school. Also if you think it’s an attention issue maybe discuss a referral with your pediatrician to have her tested.
Until then work with cvc stories. Do you know what level she’s reading at? She’s going to struggle reading bigger books since she just learned to read.
1 Like
It’s likely that she’s just struggling, rather than intentionally not trying. Learning something new can be frustrating, even for adults. Kids that young are still learning how to process and handle their emotions. I would have her assessed for things like adhd and dyslexia, just to make sure neither of those are a factor in her struggling. Try taking her to the store and letting her pick a couple books. She may be more excited to read them, if she gets to pick them out! ABC mouse is a program I have heard of a lot…may be worth it to look into that. I hope you can find a system that helps, so it becomes fun for her instead of frustrating. 
My parents got me something on the computer called reader rabbit. Don’t know if they still sell it but I loved it. It’s games that help you learn to read and then my mom made me read her a book every night. Called dick and Jane. They were her old books when she was little
1 Like
My son loves the Ello program. They send about 5 reading level appropriate books and your child reads them to a little elephant on the tablet. It can help them when they’re having trouble with a word as well. It’s not expensive either.
Entering 1st grade? I didn’t learn to read until 1st grade. Then I became a readaholic.
Put the captions on her favorite shows and read that together… small intervals and frequent breaks
Possibly dyslexic and afraid to speak up about it
Lots of patience and practice. Go with HER flow and make it as fun as possible. Reward for positive instead of getting frustrated with negative. Even if she says one or two words right make it the biggest deal about how happy and proud you are instead of showing frustration because she isn’t doing enough. Get the tiny m&ms and give her one for each word she says in the book.
How old is a 1st grade child?
There’s a book called “Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons” that I have heard good things about. When my son was little he watched Super Why and Wordworld and those two programs really helped he was reading at 3
If she’s struggling she might need professional help. Learning disabilities are real and every kid deserves help
1 Like
Maybe turn on the CC for all the shows she watches. Put them on the TV and any tablet/phone she uses! She won’t realize she’s learning but it may help! We also do flash cards at home with my first grader. They have an object on one side and the word on the other. So you could show her the objects and be like “yep! Dog, D O G” and show her the other side!
Phonics. They used to make records but probably CDs now.
1 Like
NOT saying you do this but
DO NOT make reading stressful, or a chore, or a punishment.
DO NOT call her stupid or make fun of her.
DO NOT make her sit there crying writhing out the same words over and over. (Wrighting out the words repetitively is not the problem, the problem is the yelling and stress and threats that are the problem. Most people, especially children, can’t learn under stress).
DO NOT punish her for getting bad grades, especially with reading or spelling. (Grades should never be punished, FIND OUT THE PROBLEM AND HELP THEM)!!! Ect.
This was my childhood, the entire time, I hated it! None of this helped me at all. I eventually just gave up on school and stopped trying because “what’s the point when you’re stupid?” (I did get my GED later). Everyone that was supposed to help and guide me dropped the ball, I didn’t find out I was dyslexic until high-school and by that point it was to late.
DO read to your child, fun and exciting books that keep them wanting more will keep them coming back and make reading a positive experience.
DO use character voices and sounds to make it engaging. (My sister did this with her kids and I’d be in the room while she read to them sometimes. She may not know this but that act alone was very healing to my inner child).
Do figure out early if there’s anything making it harder to read, like poor eye sight or dyslexia. I personally don’t know how much a child is supposed to know how to read by 1st grade so this may not even be a problem.
DO encourage your child, instead of commenting on their smarts all the time, tell them you’re proud of their courage, proud they tried, don’t congratulate just the good grade, tell them you seen how hard they worked and your proud of that. Focusing solely on their smarts can make them think they don’t need to try anymore because “they’re so smart” which isn’t bad just don’t over do that one. But when they get something wrong they will feel like shit because “they’re dumb” “how’d they get this wrong” “they thought they were smart” this would all be their inner voice because their smarts was put on a pedestal instead of how hard they tried. Focusing on their courage, dedication and work ethic let’s them know that even if they don’t get 100% A+ that they still didn’t fail and it’s okay to not be perfect because you’re still proud of their effort.
Your voice beomes your child’s inner voice don’t make it the negative voice that plays on repeat everyday and every time they “fail”.
All of this serves as the adult perspective from the child that couldn’t read and fell through the cracks. I still struggle, always will, but it’s a lot better now. Now I occasionally enjoy reading and when I don’t know a word I ask Alexa to tell me what it is by spelling it out to her that way I can hear the word and learn it for future reading.
I’m definitely not a psychologist but I really enjoy the subject, especially child development and cause and effect.
So don’t take this loooong ass comment as judgment just take it as a different perspective. With time all will work out so make the ride fun cause life is already stressful enough.
Maybe have her assessed for possible reading disorders like dyslexia, it can’t hurt to find out if she just needs extra help.
3 Likes
I thought she was in 6 grade or something, damn ……. She is entering FIRST grade, give her some time
Ask the school about a tutor.
Check with your town. They might have a reading program nearby. I tutor with lvagnh.org and we share a space with New Haven Reads. But, we are in CT.
My dad had the same issue with me. I have ADHD, and what he did was find comic books, and then when I got a tiny bit older he’d read the first chapter of a book to me (Harry Potter worked well), and when my attention was grabbed and I wasn’t having to force myself to read, then I’d blitz the rest of the book myself. He’d get me interested and then leave me to focus myself. It worked a TREAT. Good luck
Maybe you could do a mommy/daughter date to the bookstore and let her go wild? Even if you start by getting her books that she want you to read to her.
I got the little readers sets from Amazon too, my kids liked those, the bearinstine bears books and some of the dollar store books 
It again let her pick them so she’s interested 
Try this on online reading resource - very visual, fun audio, easy to follow.