i have experience in reading tutoring (i used to tutor a child half way through her second yr of second grade who was still barely at 1st grade reading level). if summer school hasnt worked so far, probably its not going to. it may be bc of their methods or bc your son needs a break from that environment. most books, in the front where they have all the copyright info, is a reading level indication. first thing you should do is take him to the library, let him pick books he seems interested in from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade reading levels. use these to see what level he is at. once you know the level, get a variety of books (stories, funny poems, info about animals, w/e he is interested in) at that level, plus one or two underneath. every day you or gramma need to read with him, aloud, for about 45 mins. (you can add time later). he should be doing most of the reading, but i used to read 1 page for every 2-3 she did. it gives them a break and keeps them from getting tired/bored/frustrated. start with the books that are a level below his. this will get him used to reading aloud and give him confidence that he can do it. confidence is everything. then do the books at his level. i always started sessions with 1 or 2 easier poems as a warm up, and let the child pick which poems. no need to go in order. gently correct him as he reads, help him sound out words instead of telling him what a word is. by reading every day in a comfortable envir., reading should become easier and even fun (im sure he will laugh at that at first). writing will become easier after he learns to read better, esp with workbooks. if you find that he is not reading at 4th grade level, dont panic. do the above, whatever level he is at, and just keep working at it until it becomes part of your routine. it works! i got the child from almost 1st grade level to almost 3rd grade reading level in about 5 months! at the beginning of the next school yr make sure to meet with his new teacher and tell him/her about his progress and what you are doing, hopefully he/she will be accomodating, maybe even helpful. good luck.

Check out programs like Hooked on Phonics that you can find in teacher supply stores also take him to the book store and ask him what books he likes to read and see what level he is choosing from. He may just need more encourageing with his reading. The writing will follow the reading. You may also want to look for workbooks that will give him games and activties to help him improve. Many of these are in the childrens section of the bookstore and are done by grade level start with his last grade level to see where he is. Good luck.

I'm wondering why you are paying the piper for your son.
Does he need to be closely watched throughout the school year for performance, attentiveness, and continuity? Is he in the wrong grade?

DO NOT do summerschool again. Instead, try to work with your son and motivate him to read. When you're
Busy, have him work with grammma.

hii am a singlemom of 14 kids and im preagnat but when my kids were haveing trouble i put in after shool progams

Helpful insight on the summer school reference. I also sent my son to Huntington between 5th and 6th grade for about 4-5 months. It moved him up 2 grade levels for reading from just under grade level to about 6.5 in that amount of time. I'm thinking about having him go again. He's a smart kid but not very organized or motivated to read on his own so his grades suffer. It's not cheap but even for a short time, it seemed to pay dividends.

The problem may not be with your son; often times, teaching methodology in schools is designed to work with a certain type of learning style. Talk to your son about what makes reading and writing difficult for him (avoid asking "why" because it may sound accusatory). If it is possible, see how the summer school teachers teach. So many teachers are actually bad teachers and will blame students for failure while not acknowledging that problems arise within a relationship, not just in one person.

I had a similiar situation. My son struggled miserably in elementary school, attended summer school, and struggled again the following year.

As an educator, I can tell you that most of your summer school teachers would rather not be there. (After a tiring year, we check out in June just like the students do.) They are there simply because they need the income to keep themselves afloat--not because they care about bringing your child up to speed. So, even with fewer students, your child is still not getting the education he needs.

One summer I bit the bullet and sent him to Huntington Learning Center. The change that fall was MIRACULOUS! I also found tutoring to be extremely effective too. Of course, those options are costly, and you've indicated you have no budget for this. So, my recommendation would be to purchase those workbooks you can find in any grocery/drug store and have your child complete just one or two pages per day. This is all that learning centers like Huntington do. You must be consistent, however, and be sure the pages are being completed every day.

I also agree that work should be balanced with play.

Good luck!

Sorry.
Meant to say your son!

My son was eligible for summer school last year.
We didn't put him in for some of the reasons other responders have noted -- too many kids, some, probably disruptive, re-doing the same curriculum the same way (not addressing individual needs), etc.
Unfortunately, my son is an August birthday and is one of the youngest, if not the youngest in his grade. (Please. How come there isn't a cutoff for OLDER kids?! There are some kids that are more than 1-1/2 years OLDER than he!)
Anyway, we are probably going to enroll him in a nearby private school to repeat the 2nd grade b/c he needs a smaller class size and our school keeps on promoting him without him mastering in, what I believe, are the foundations of subjects that he'll need to build upon once in 3rd grade and beyond.
We can also barely afford it.
So, if I were you, I'd first, request a mandatory intervention meeting at her school (IN WRITING!) for them to test her.
It might take a while, and since it's already the end of the year, it probably won't take place until next year, but you've got the ball rolling.
(I've researched this ALOT!)
Also, you might see if there's a nearby public school she can attend and maybe repeat a grade.
Like I said, if they don't have the proper foundation, this will repeat itself exponentially. (Imagine a car with just three wheels. Sure, it can still move along, but at what speed. If it doesn't get fixed, it will never get better.)
ALSO, (something I was thinking of for summer school), have the district, no, MAKE them give you the summer school syllabus so that you and your family, or others, can work with your daughter at home without her being in, what may be a not so great atmosphere.
Good luck! I completely feel for you/know where you're coming from!

Consider placing him in a summer camp at your local public parks where the rates are quite economical for residents. Let him have fun and enjoy being a kid this summer and work an hour or two each evening on fun leisure reading exercises together. The poor kid has probably been pressured at school too much.

Begin taking him to the library on evenings & weekends and allowing him to select books that interest him rather than the stories that the school has forced upon him all year. If he likes cars, sports, nature, sharks whatever, let him read about that. Keep in mind that sometimes nonfiction is easier to read well for kids as they can predict what happens and they enjoy learning new facts etc - Ask the librarians if they can also locate an audio version of the book selections so he can hear it, see it, and read it all at once or if there is no audio, try getting a second copy to read together. Or look at the audio books first and combine his selection with a popular book in print & audio as well as a few selections of high interest to him. Maybe high interest reading will help him gain momentum and then combine this with things that he can easily read to gain confidence. Sadly when kids are repeatedly told by schools and teachers that they are not good at something, they begin to believe it. Children are not machines, they have their own timelines and learning styles and as parents we have to always believe in them and help them find their way of learning.

Part of some learning problems when they have persisted is that they rarely take the child back to the step where he first began to have difficulty. Can he rhyme easily, is his hearing normal, is his vision normal - get these tested this summer as he might benefit from these findings or if nothing else this eliminates these other possibilities.

Also DEFINITELY try buying this book,
Reading Rescue 1-2-3: Raise Your Child's Reading Level 2 Grades with This Easy 3-Step Program (Paperback - under $12 -I believe & worth every penny)
by Peggy M. Wilber
It has great insight and suggestions!!

My child struggled her whole life in school, summer school every year and just getting promoted by the skin of her teeth. It wasn't until grade 11 that I had her tested. We experimented with various Rx and settled on Aderall which was a god send. Since she has been on medication, she has done much better. She had a late diagnos of ADD. I am anti-RX but she is unable to concentrate without it. She is easily distracted. Talk to your pediatrician. You'll be happy and so will he.

The answer is homeschool. Are you aware of how much your teachers do not do? How much time is spent on one to one to help your child? NONE! First they will tell you your child needs an IEP meeting to convince you he/she has a learning problem so they can get paid the extra money per student they can get on meds. Main question from public schools parents is, " Oh my what about being around children their age?" what are they missing? They are missing the use of foul language, sex talks, drugs, and yes even in the 4th grade. My granddaughter goes to Mohave Valley and she is daily coming home with another child in her class bring a white powder to school and selling it. Why does this continued? You tell me! Where are the teachers? I would rather have one bad day of homeschool than one of public school and the fact that homeschooled children are far advance in their studies than public students. Look it up your self! We are a class of 250 and a great support group with many field trips of great education, sports,music,dance, Saxon Math, and much more. info contact. AZ Families homeschool . I failed to mention I have worked for the public school system for 20 years and I know what goes on from the inside, you need to homeschool or seriously get involved daily in your child's class and remember that teacher/vice principal/principal is just a human like you, nothing more! Stand up for your children, make a difference!

get a school iep/ evaluation done all they can do is test and get the child the help he or she needs and help you so the child does not have to go to summer school. summer school is to boost test scores it is not one on one education like parents think it is about 30 kids to a class room they are all struggling in the same circulum and they want the same opertunaties as the rest of their peers to be smarter and go to the next grade. summer school is a option ask for a summer home work packet it has a whole season of work that the child and you can work on together and you can be his or her rock to lean on when things are tough for the child school is hard don't make summer stressful enough on them . alittle bit out of your busy shedule after dinner get the folder out and work on it help him or her on their weeknesses .that will show the school that your child can suceed and can prove the teachers wrong another is try a tutoring sesation . like sylvin learning i went their when i was little it was not as big of a deal like it is now it is like ot therapy for the children that have trouble look into those and get back to us all here at the community and we can help ya on a starting tool to help ya out we all are going through things like this with our kids it is nothing to get bad or embrassed about .!!!!!

Take a closer look at your child's learning style. Maybe he isn't progressing as hoped for because he is a multi-sensory or hands on type learner who isn't reached with the standard FCAT curriculum. Definitely have him assessed for possible visual, auditory, and learning disorders and then use the results to get him an IEP or 504 plan that outlines his learning styles, weaknesses, strengths, individual goals etc You can request that he be tested (ask for a team study evaluation) with the AP at your child's school and share your concerns

Echoing micellea - ask for an educational evaluation in "writting" and cc a copy to principal, counselor and anyonelse who you may think important. A paper trail is very necessary when requesting services.

Has your child been evaluated for special education? Is he on an IEP?

The first thing I would want to do is to make sure he is getting the appropriate instruction during the school year. The second thing is to make sure that if he needs summer school, that it is tailored to his specific needs. My son had summer school in grades K-2 through the school. It was not effective. Finally, in grade 3, I convinced the school that he needed one on one tutoring using the reading program he was accustomed to in school. This has made a huge difference.

Let us know about the IEP and we can advise you further.

I know that tutoring can get high,but sometimes the teachers that work at the school with do it for a lower price.