1. Improve reading fluency in 5 minutes a day
2. Improve spelling and learn the 8 ways we put letters together to make words
3. Improve reading comprehension by playing a reading comprehension game
4. Improve writing skills using specially designed graphic organizers

Today I’m going to talk about the first activity you can implement in just minutes a day.

Reading Fluency Training

Reading fluency training is one of the easiest activities for parents to do with their kids to improve reading skills, and it only takes 5 minutes a few times a week to make a dramatic difference. Reading fluency training works to improve reading skills whether you have LD, dyslexia, are falling through the cracks, or are even gifted.

You may not realize how important reading fluency and accuracy is, so here is an example on how it impacts your reading or your child’s reading.

For example, you are reading a passage and read Susan can go to the store. You finish reading the selection and go to the questions and there is a question that asks, Why couldn’t Susan go to the store? You think to yourself – What…I read Susan can go to the store. This question doesn’t make any sense to me. BUT, what the sentence actually said was…Susan can’t go to the store. Your eyes skipped the apostrophe t…The whole meaning was lost.

That is one of the things that the Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills reading fluency training program corrects. With improved reading fluency, you don’t skip or omit words or parts of words. You don’t miss out on important pieces that are critical to reading comprehension. That is why it is important to have accurate reading for reading comprehension.

We spoke on the phone when I ordered your materials, which I’ve since received. Thanks very much!

You mentioned at the time that you are open to questions as I began using the materials–and, of course, I now have those questions!

-My son will be entering 3rd grade. His 2nd grade teacher noted his reading fluency as low proficient at end of year (technically passing, according to the DRA2-28 which they started using this year). At some point in the last few months of school, some one of his reading teachers at school appears to have told him that he read at 120 words per minute, and he adamantly clings to this.

However, I clearly see where he is still skipping or guessing at words inaccurately (and I don’t know if they measured that). So, when I put the 5 minutes to reading book in front of him, he was insulted–very put off. I tried explaining to him that we were not measuring speed so much as accuracy, and that we could chart his accuracy as it improved. I explained that even adults use this program. I offered to let him start with one of the later exercise if we would then go back to the first and didn’t get much more cooperation than I had originally gotten (though he did a fairly good job of reading exercise 45). Do you have any thoughts on how to break the resistance without forcing him to do it?

-My son’s other complaint about the exercises is that they feel to him like tongue twisters because all the words sound the same, and he really doesn’t like that. Do you have any suggestions for changing that perception?

I am very interested to see if I can get him to use this program, and interested to see if we will see results–but I am meeting with HUGE resistance up front. I really don’t want to force him to do it because I think that will diminish the results.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Joan

Hi Joan,

I’m glad you see that he isn’t actually reading 120 words per minute with accuracy. I never understand how they are measuring the kids when they say things like that because you can see from what you’ve done already, that is NOT the REALITY! When you time him, you can show him what he actually did. That should start to get him to see the reality – his words per minute and mistakes per minute. Explain how you are scoring him. If you need to press the point, you can even have him total his words up after you time him, so he knows how many there are. I’ve had to do that with a few students over the years. I don’t do it to be ‘mean,’ but sometimes they need a reality check so you can move forward.

We start with easy words – because we are working on accuracy as well as speed. Big words are just little words (syllables) put together. If you can’t read the small words accurately, you won’t be able to read larger ones efficiently and accurately either – which will mean you will end up re-reading your social studies book or science book 3-4 times in order to be able to answer the questions.

I know this, this happened not only with many students, but with my own son. In fact, he flung his 3 pound social studies book at me saying, “Mom, I’ve read it 3 times and still can’t find the answers. You do it.” This was because of his skipping, repeating, or mispronouncing words. Once we consistently did the 5 Minutes to Better Reading he was able to read his book one time and get the answers – because he read with accuracy in a quick amount of time. Doing the program – 5 minutes a day, will end up saving hours and hours of homework time. We are looking at the big picture here – making his life easier for the rest of his schooling – which at a minimum is the next 10 years (through high school).

But, you really need to start at the beginning – even though it may seem easy at first. Even my adult students start at the beginning! You are competing against yourself, no one else! And, yes, some of the drills are like ‘tongue twisters’. That is on purpose – to be sure you learn to read exactly what is there. Your son may think it is ‘too easy’, but his ‘fussing’ about it is actually telling you how much he needs it – that it is actually taxing and stretching his visual processing system. Hang in there! And remind him, it is only 5 minutes a day. It is not like you are expecting him to work for 2 hours or even one hour. You are only asking 5 minutes. And, when you are consistent, you will see results in just a few days.

The more you do it, the easier it gets and the more they see themselves improving the easier it gets.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

I recently found you on the web and just watching your vids, I’m VERY interested. To wit: I’m homeschooling my 16 year old nephew who has been diagnosed ADHD and dyslexic. With the phonics reading materials I’ve found on the net and at my local library, I can only find elementary school age relative materials. Money is tight or I’d simply order EVERYTHING you offer.

Any suggestions?

Thank you for your time, and more importantly your efforts to bring REAL EDUCATION to this nation!

Sincerely,

Rich Brewer

Hi Rich,

Sorry for the delay in responding. I was out of town visiting my mom in Chicago.

I know what you mean about phonics reading materials being geared to elementary students. In fact, most are geared to kindergarten through 3rd grade. That is why I designed mine for all ages. I’ve always worked with students from kindergarten through adult ages. I figured that my younger students would feel like they were doing older kids stuff and my older students wouldn’t feel like they had to do little kid stuff.

You can always start small and gradually build what you are using. The first things I would get are the Making Spelling Sense, Making Spelling Sense II, and Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills. The Making Spelling Sense teaches all of the phonics, word attack skills, auditory processing, and word structure. The Five Minutes to Better Reading works on reading fluency and accuracy as well as visual and auditory processing skills.

The Spelling Pack saves you $4.00; the Five Minutes to Better Reading Set saves you $9.00

When you purchase all of them as the Reading Pack – which includes the Ten Minutes to Better Study Skills + the Comprehension Zone you get a $20.00 discount, plus you then have the comprehension piece in place. You also get a copy of my new e-book: Understanding LD and Dyslexia as a bonus with the Reading Pack.

Hope this is helpful.

I’m glad to see you signed up for the free teaching and homework tips from my blog. BTW: You can subscribe to the videos on You Tube too.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

http://bonnieterrylearning.com

The Bonnie Terry Reading Pack – is this pack recommended for me? I am 39 years old and I have serious problems with reading comprehension.  I would appreciate your help with books or tip because most of them are for kids.

Many Thanks,

Sarita Navarro

I have a quick video here where I tell how using the Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills component of the Reading Pack made a huge difference in a 55 year old’s life. I also used the other components with him, but he was really able to see his progress concretely with the Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills component of the learning pack.  One of the things I was very conscious of when I created/wrote all of my books, games, and guides was to not make them ‘cutesy’ – only for young students. The books, games, and guides are for all ages.  Here is the video.

It is important to understand the underlying cause of dyslexia because you do address the underlying causes of dyslexia in different ways.

Additionally, you may want to check out the following video where I talk about dyslexia related reading comprehension problems.

Reading Comprehension Problems? Learn the 3 Causes You will find out more about fluency problems, vocabulary problems, and reading for meaning.

And, here are a few more articles on comprehension:

Three articles for you:
Trouble Understanding What You Read? Part One
Trouble Understanding What You Read? Part Two: The Game Solution
Easy Ways to Improve Reading Comprehension & Actually Utilize What You Read

Hope this is helpful!

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Hello,

I’m interested in a couple of your products.  Regarding the Spelling Sense book 1, what ages is this appropriate for?  How are the words arranged and how many do you give weekly?  I have tried a word family approach with my 9 year old  ( just turned 9).  He’ll do fine for that week and the next week, but after that he can’t remember them.  Do you have any suggestions?

Also, we just found out he has a visual processing disorder and recently began vision therapy.  We are doing vision therapy homework each day.  I’m wondering about your “How to improve reading in 5 minutes a day” to see if that would help as well.  Or I am thinking that maybe I should wait on it and focus just on vision therapy at the present time.  What are your thoughts?

Thank you.

Leah Cheshire

Hi Leah,

The Making Spelling Sense book covers the 500 most frequently used words. That is a basic vocabulary for 1st – 3rd. The Making Spelling Sense II carries on from there and gets into prefixes, suffixes, and root words which is a 4th – 6th level. I would start with the first one to give him a solid foundation. There are about 10 – 12 words per list.

The Five Minutes to Better Reading will actually augment the vision therapy you are doing as it also works on visual tracking at the same time as visual closure and fluency. You only do it for 5 minutes a day. Here is a link to a video where I’m using it with a student. How to Improve Reading in 5 Minutes a Day

I hope this has been helpful.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

I have a 16- year old sophomore (homeschooled all her life) who is very bright and compliant. However I had suspected for some time that there was some sort of processing or automaticity problem because of her reading. After testing with a local public high school a reading fluency deficiency was noted in our IEP meeting this morning. Since her score was not completely awful (47th percentile for battery A and 30 for B) they did not approve her for extended time. I was modifying for her long before she was tested. I feel that high-risk testing will be very difficult and just plain unfair to her throughout high school, since it cannot possibly give her a fair assessment without extended time. I plan to proceed with 504-assessment in the fall. Is that a waste of time? Will your Five Minutes… book be of help with this?

Thank you,

Lisa Sharpe

You do want to follow through with the 504 Plan. It is a Plan, not an assessment. Since she was evaluated and you had an IEP meeting even though she didn’t qualify for services, it is now documented that she does have fluency problems that are contributing to difficulties at school. So, you should be able to get accommodation for her regarded extended time for assignments as well as a variety of other things. I wrote an article on 504 accommodations that lists a variety of common accommodations that might be put into the plan. There are two more articles on accommodations that should be useful: 10 Quick & Easy Accommodations for ADD & LD Within the Classroom and 10 More Easy to Implement LD & ADD/ADHD Accommodations in the Classroom or at Home.

The Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills book set (teacher’s and student’s books) will help you to address her fluency problems. Sally Shawitz, M. D., author of Overcoming Dyslexia states, “I urge parents of dyslexic children [or any child] to make fluency training – repeated oral reading – their number one priority. Because it involves reinforcement rather than teaching a child a new concept, it is ideally suited for the home.”

Parents often wonder how much time fluency training takes. Dr. Cecil Mercer, a researcher from the University of Florida published his research results in 2000:

Substantial gains in reading fluency came from repeated oral reading of various sorts such as letters or words for five or six minutes a day.  The key to the success was doing the repeated oral reading over a period of time e.g. six months to twenty-three months.

When using Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills you typically see progress within a three to five times of doing it. To see and maintain the progress, you will want to do it over a six month to twenty-three month time frame. We see tremendous progress by doing it only twice a week.

Debra Wilson, author of S’Cool Moves for Learning, did a five-year independent study using Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills. She states, “The reading fluency of kids in our school district improved dramatically.”

There is a short video of me using Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills with one of my students. It has been used very effectively with all ages, even adults with dyslexia.

Hope this is helpful.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Understanding the underlying cause of the comprehension problem is important because you do different things to address the different problems. So, view the video to understand the causes of reading comprehension problems.

Learn more on the 3 causes of reading comprehension and the 3 solutions to reading problems. Hope this is helpful.

Don’t forget to submit your questions at the right. Submit your comments below.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

Cecil Mercer, a researcher from the University of Florida, published his results from his study Effects of Fluency Intervention for Middle Schoolers with Specific Learning Disabilities in (2000) stating daily practice can be for as little as five or six minutes.

Here is a short video where I show you how you can improve reading fluency in just 5 minutes a day.

Substantial gains in reading fluency came from repeated oral reading of various sorts such as letters or words for five or six minutes a day. The key to the success was doing the repeated oral reading over a period of time e.g. six months to twenty-three months.

So, now view the video that shows you how you can help your children improve reading fluency in just 5 minutes a day.

Hope this was helpful.

Be sure to ask your questions by using the button under my photo to the right.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

In fact, yesterday I was speaking with a friend that has a child that is having difficulty. His wife was looking online for programs to help them figure out why their son is having problems. Their cost would be $2500.00 to $3000.00. I could not believe it; I almost choked on my lunch. It should not cost you that much to get help!

So, I’m hosting a FREE Live Webinar on Wed April 29th at 4pm.

Searching for answers to why your child struggles in school?

Now it’s your chance to ask me, LD Specialist and Educational Therapist Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET your questions. The FREE Live Webinar is on Wednesday April 29th at 4PM Pacific Time.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/423802626

You’ll learn about:

1. The most common cause of reading problems
2. How to find out if your child actually has a learning problem, dyslexia, or learning disabilities.
3. How to help your child…Know where to start and what types of activities you should do to help your child learn with ease.
You will be able to ask your questions regarding your children and why they struggle with schoolwork.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/423802626

Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested in it.

Thanks! There is limited space & I’ll be doing a massive mailing this weekend, so you’ll want to reserve your space early.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET…
Bonnie has been teaching for over 35 years and has created numerous books, games, and guides to help students reach their full potential. She specializes in helping parents and teachers identify and address learning problems. Bonnie is a nationally known expert and contributing author to numerous educational journals and magazines including: The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, Homeschooling Parent, Parent’s Monthly, and The LINK Newspaper, RAW (Real Authentic Women), CEC Today, Education Update, and LDA-CA.

Deborah Kaplan, founder and director of Home Tutoring Plus, will also be on the call sharing additional insights. She is a credentialed teacher and pioneer in the field of home tutoring and she speaks regularly at professional educational conferences such as those of the National Tutoring Association and the Education Industry Association.

The webinar will be recorded, but you MUST register to access the recording if you can’t attend live.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/423802626

Please forward this to anyone you think might be interested in it.

Thanks! There is limited space & I’ll be doing another massive mailing weekend, so you’ll want to reserve your space early.

Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET

So what does this have to do with our kids? Think about it, when they aren’t prepared for class, they end up missing out on  much of what is being taught. And, they may even sit in class feeling stressed because the class is moving faster than they can follow.

This is one of the critical reasons that we as parents and teachers need to be sure we lay a good foundation so that as we move on to more in-depth learning our kids are prepared and are able to confidently move on with us.  Our kids don’t have time to get left behind. It is our job to lay the foundation and be sure it sticks.

Sometimes laying the foundation can be as simple as helping our kids improve their reading fluency. Then they are able to keep up with the content they need to read. Other times it may be helping them to improve their comprehension or their note-taking skills. These are all core skills that help our kids be prepared learners. So, spend five, ten, or even fifteen minutes a day and help your kids have a solid foundation.