ReadingPen Continued

My son was so excited when he got home from school yesterday. We immediately read a book together using the pen. One thing we discovered is that the contrast between the page color and the letters makes a difference. It also needs to be held at the proper angle, but this is not too hard for him. He spent the rest of the night scanning every word he could find. This includes the toothpaste tube – LOL!!

One of the things that I was hoping would happen did. I was concerned that he would “take the easy way out” and just use the pen, not reading at all. What actually has happened is that it is just hard enough to do that it is easier and faster to just read the words he can and only use it when he gets stuck.

Another fun thing is that he was going around last night “discovering” words that he would never try to read on this own. He came into the room I was in so proud of himself saying “Mom, I know how to spell professional.” He had scanned it off one of my magazines.

One of the most exciting things is that he can have some independence when he reads. If he is just reading for fun, not for homework, I don’t care how much he uses the pen. If he is enjoying a book, I am all for it!

Reading Pen

I am very excited today. I just received the ReadingPen that I ordered for my son.
This is a cool, handheld scanner. When you scan over a word, it will pronounce it. I have tried it out on several types of text. So far it seems to be working great. My son is still at school, so we will have to wait to see if it is easy enough for him to use.

Just like most things, I found both positive and negative reviews for the ReadingPen. I look forward to trying it out and writing my personal review for all of you.

Mary Lynne

Seeing is Understanding

My extra help with my son is going well. We have been doing a lot of work with breaking apart two consent sounds. Like so many other things, he understands the concept but needs a lot of practice for it to become automatic.

At home I have found that he needs visual reinforcement. For us this means charts. For example, each nine weeks his teacher gives him a reading goal based on a points system. I determine how many points he needs each week to reach his goal by the end of the nine weeks. As he earns points we color in the chart. If the chart not full by the end of the week, we know we need to catch up. Being able to visually "see" his goal makes it much easier for his to stay on track.

What about you? Do you use charts or anything else that has been effective for you? Leave a comment and tell us about it.