Does anyone have any personal experience with the reading program offered for entering 9-11 grade students through local universities, such as UCSD Extension?
I absolutely love reading, and am a voracious reader, but am a bit sad that my kids are not. My HS freshman has never been a big reader, although most of his friends are. When he was younger, he would read if I could find a book that interested him, but those were few and far between. Now that he is a freshman at a pretty competitive HS, he has even less desire to read anything if it is not required for class except for maybe the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, lol.
I really believe that being a reader is a huge asset as it translates into making you a better writer, and of course, help with improving vocabulary, grammar, spelling. He is not the best test-taker, so I think it would help tremendously with the SATs/ACTs that are just around the corner, especially as they seem to be testing how quickly you can get through the material versus how well you know it.
The website for the IIRD Reading Program states: " In this program students become stronger readers and better students. They read twice as fast, make substantial gains in comprehension in both fiction and nonfiction, and study more effectively. Students who take this program: > Double reading speed > Improve comprehension in fiction and nonfiction > Learn to read and study textbooks > Enjoy reading more."
It looks like the perfect program that I am looking for, but in looking at reviews on Yelp, they of course varied greatly. They only meet for 90 minutes/week over 5 weeks, which does not seem like a lot of time. So I was hoping to find someone on CC that might have personal experience with the program or if anyone has a similar child who might have helpful advice to share, that would be appreciated.
Hi lyl mom
I enrolled my son, now freshman in college, when he was in 6th grade. He did not have any problem in reading but not avid reader for cc standard either. However we have talked recently on how extra curriculums that he had have during his middle and high school year. He just mentioned on this program to one of his favorite and very informative. He read pretty fast but the course teached the technic on how to read faster and still comprehend the materials. If I recalled it correctly. One of the technigue is to use the index finger run pass each line while you reading. And they assigned one book every week and come back for group discussion. It was fun and very informative and builded a solid foundation for him when he was in high school. However I don’t think it was a miracle course that help him but one of many factor that help him excell in reading.
He is more of the STEM kid but did well also on humanitarian classes. He also scored well on reading to both Sat and Act … 780 on Sat reading and 36 for boths act reading and science sections.
I would say he is not avid reader to our CC standard but he never struggling on it. He read when he need to for the assignment but play games on his free time. He did well on Philosophy class at Harvard in sophomore of his highscholl. And still survive now on Philosophy class at Swarthmore.
Since English is not my first language. So I cannot help him much in English that why I decided to send him to this class when he was young.
@btommy - Thanks so much for your response! I think we will continue to look into that program, so it is helpful to know that your son had a positive experience. I really appreciate your taking the time to provide your feedback and to share your son’s experience!