Can Anyone Out There Help??

Like I said before, originally this blog was to focus on homeschooling and CF issues. It has come to represent many aspects of my life. But today, we shall return to the original intent.

Can anyone out there help me get Handsome to read on the level he should? It seems that when it comes to reading, his brain does not retain properly. He seemed to be doing pretty well when I introduced long vowels. He seemed to "get it". But suddenly ALL the vowels turned long and now he reads every word as if it has a long vowel sound. We go over the rules daily. He seems to understand them. Until I put actual words on the paper for him to read. I have researched special needs programs, and had my sis send me some curriculum from CA. I admit, I have not had time to thoroughly study it...he was doing so much better when it arrived. But using what I have studied, along with various techniques gained from other books and studies, seems to only be temporary fixes. It concerns me that all his friends, even younger ones, can read MUCH better than he! Any ideas? I have tried the reward system...again temporary success...and some techniques to assist with common reading difficulties...but???

His parents think it is more focus-related. His CF meds are on the minimal side right now, so that should be better not worse. Yet this week...I am not sure we accomplished anything. I am feeling really discouraged and that perhaps I am not a good teacher at all. He is doing fine, even well, in math and loves science. Is this normal? He seems to not really care that much if he reads or not. He goes through spurts where he wants to play all the word games and computer programs and read books together for several days in a row, and then he just looses all interest and doesn't even want to try. This makes me think that he finds it so hard to concentrate that he gives up. I am not sure!

I made up a game with lots of action with words where the adults have different outcomes and have to do silly things to earn their spaces. He played it once with me, and once with his parents, Grandpa and me, and once with some neighbor kids. He won all three times and seemed to like the game a lot. But right now, he doesn't want to play it. Forcing him to would create even further disdain for the game. It reviews the rules, has "rebel" word attacks (words that don't follow rules,,,like friend, love, you, etc...) and towers of dominoes to knock down. Has elements of recognizing the shape and color and number words necessary for his math and science lessons.

I am trying to be fun and creative. I spend a lot of hours studying different approaches to teaching reading, and a lot of time on the computer and at the library. Most weekends find me spending at least half of my available time working on this. IT IS FRUSTRATING!!! I looked into the Sylvan learning programs but not only are they expensive, but they focus around rewards, which seems to only be temporary. Handsome has been known to be able to read an entire book in a week, by repetition and daily reading, only to forget most of the words after a week of not reading that specific book. So, it seems he is memorizing the words temporarily and then forgetting them after he reads for his parents. Does anyone know if this is a behavioral/focus issue or indicative of a serious learning problem?

He seems to be understanding math just fine, although he recently started writing some of his two-digit numbers backwards again. I feel like such a failure. I have never been so challenged! I spend so much energy on this! I have taught many children to read, and some adults as well. But I am a failure at my own grandson's schooling. HELP????