Reading help

My step daughter just started kindergarten this year. She’s really struggling with recognizing letters and learning how to read. She is falling behind her other classmates. Her mother does nothing to help, and my step daughter does have an IEP. I’m just wondering if there’s any other mamas who had kids struggling with reading and what helped them. I’ve tried flash cards and making a game out of writing letters, doesn’t help much at all. She just very frustrated when she’s not getting it.. we also got an ABC mouse subscription, but she doesn’t use it. I’m now considering Hooked On Phonics. I’m just not sure what I can do to help that will actually keep her interested.

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Find a tutor who is Orton Gillingham trained. I’m a teacher (sped certified) and OG is very multi sensory. It helps all kinds of learners but is especially beneficial to dyslexic learners. Message me if you want to talk more about it!

Leap Frog Letter Factory works wonders it’s free on YouTube.

Maybe try Alphablocks. My three kids (3,8 & 10) all learned their alphabet really early especially my 3 year old by them. When my two oldest kids started school, they had no problem saying the alphabets and weren’t even told their pronunciation was wrong. They’re only on YouTube because it’s from the UK. My kids also learned their numbers from the other related show which is number blocks.

Little wandle phonics scheme is good but I'm having a similar issue and my daughter isn't interested not that I'm not trying but she really isn't interested

As a former child with dyslexia that no one knew how to help until my senior year of high school my biggest piece of advice would be; focus in on the sounds letters make; not their names. My brain couldn’t ever “sound things out” cause I did not understand what letters individually sounded like, let alone when put together to form a word.

YouTube can be a great resource but definitely watch the videos before hand. A lot of YouTube videos teach incorrect letter sounds and while alphablocks is adorable, the uk sounds slightly vary from us sounds which can really throw an off scoring when doing dibels (or other comparable assessment). I 100% believe kids are so much more than test scores but unfortunately, teachers’ hands are often tied due to these tests and it’s what we have to go by even if we know more about the child/their ability than the test tells us. I would also recommend a conference with the childs general and special education teacher to get tips/resources straight from them and also to find out what phonics curriculum they’re using. Most schools have shifted to use curriculums and intervention programs that align with the science of reading. A lot of schools provide tutoring after school at no cost to families if their children qualify.

Toddlers Can Read is a good program. He has a video on YouTube about the correct way to pronounce the letter sounds, digraphs, trigraphs, letters with 2 sounds, etc. DuoLingo ABC is a free reading app that goes over letters, sight words, etc in a game format. Ms. Rachel has a phonics song on YouTube.

Just read to her a lot. With each book, have her identify 2-3 letters (usually in the title or maybe on a picture of a sign or thought bubble). It's more important to teach her to love books and reading than to teach her to read at 5. If she gets it by 6 but hates reading because it was pushed on her, you'll be in a worse position than if she doesn't get it until 8 but has a deep, deep love of stories and storytelling. The consistency of identifying just a few letters (and their sounds) will pay off faster than you think. Good luck. 🍀

@Samantha another vote for Orton Gillinham! Used to teach kindergarten in a school where over half my class did not speak English. This way of teaching reading is great!

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