It's about this now.
A friend of mine has a blog called Taking the Terrible out of Toddler. She asked me to write an article, not based on my ability to write, but on my ability to produce children. I'm good at that; however, I thought I would post my topic on here anyway. Enjoy.
Beginning Readers
A lot of times as parents we look at a goal we have for our children and see nothing but an impossible task. Weaning a baby from nursing for example, or potty training can present a challenge with each child. I was stumped as to how I was supposed to accomplish these with each child so far. In the end I did a whole lot of worrying for no reason as things naturally worked themselves out. My three children who have weaned were naturally ready at about 18 months of age. A sippy cup was introduced and they realized they could carry it with them instead of being stuck on Mommy’s lap. Potty training went smoothly along as they watched others use the toilet and decided they wanted to be big, too.
Teaching a child to talk may seem like a difficult goal to reach, but in the end it comes quite naturally as most people talk all day long to their infants. In this way a baby can learn to speak because they are constantly exposed to the language.
Teaching a child to read is a lot more difficult. You start by familiarizing them with the alphabet, teaching them rhyming words and the ABC song. Then once they get the very basics down you teach them the different sounds letters make. This is a very long and hard process since we don’t typically look at a word and point out each letter and sound; we just look at a word for a moment and our brains automatically process the word without hardly a thought. Teaching these things to a child is a process we must go out of our way to accomplish. Every day you have to make a conscious effort.
My oldest daughter will be starting kindergarten in two months so we have been working hard the last two years to ensure she’s ready. She is now reading all of my oldest son’s kindergarten readers and has even started into a few of his easier 1st grade level books. We got here by playing games. You may not have time on your hands while you’re at home, but how much time do you spend driving from place to place in your car? As we drive we started out by just learning the ABC song. Once she had that down we would go through the letters and see if she could remember what sounds they make. “Lauren, what sound does the letter F make?” Next I would point out objects we were driving by and ask her what sound they started with, and if she got it right, which letter makes that sound. “What letter does ‘sign’ start with?” We reversed that and I would have her figure out which sound the word ended with instead. Or what the middle sound of the word is; but this one can be a lot more difficult. We will also pick a letter and try to figure out as many words that start with it as we can.
It’s amazing how much doing this simple exercise every time we are in the car helps her improve. The only way a child is going to get better at reading is by constant practice. At home we would supplement her education with flash cards of the alphabet in upper case letters and later with lower case letters.
At this point it can be hard, but you just kind of have to plunge in and start reading. Sight words! Lauren’s first book was ridiculously easy. “The (picture of park).” Next page. “The (picture of swing).” Next page. “The (picture of children).” It is amazing how often the word “the” comes up in the written word. Her next book introduced words like “here,” “and,” and “in.” I don’t think she has ever beamed so proudly as when she surprised her daddy by reading him her very first book!
Word segmenting comes next. Ask your child to segment the word cat into it’s three sounds. Say it for them out loud. C-A-T. Then have them practice it back to you. This is only saying the sounds, not the letter names. Figuring out how to dissect a word into different parts may seem easy, but for a child it can be quite difficult to know which sounds need to separate.
Writing is also difficult to teach and learn. Once again though, the only way they will get better is by constant practice. I like to set Lauren a goal to sit at the table and to write her ABCs by the time I finish doing the dishes. Then I will sit and help her with anything she’s having trouble with once she’s done.
My oldest son is going to start 2nd grade soon. He is reading a full grade level up from where he needs to be but still we have reading time every day. Ethan is required to read at least 20 minutes on his own every day and if he does this without complaint, I have agreed to read to him for 30 minutes at bed time. He gets to chose from Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or anything we pick up from the library.
As a family we read, or at least try to read, the scriptures each night before going to bed. I can’t believe how much more enjoyable this activity is when my two oldest children get to participate in the reading. Ethan will get to read 3 or 4 verses on his own and Lauren will sit by my side and read all her sight words along with me or her dad as we read everything too difficult for her just yet. They get excited now when we say get your scriptures instead of whining and cringing. I love it.
Teaching your child to read can be very fulfilling! It’s amazing watching a child figure out what the letters mean and watching them discover how it all makes sense. Don’t make it a chore, enjoy it, and most importantly, be consistent.
Tips:
· Buy small plastic letters and have your child make a letter rainbow on a piece of card board. Start by writing the alphabet in order and let them match the plastic letters to their corresponding written letter; then without written letters once they learn them better.
· Read to your child every day for a minimal 20 minutes. Make sure you’re pointing to the words as you read them.
· Leap Frog’s The Letter Factory and The Word Factory DVDs are amazing! It’s such a fun way for a child to learn and very memorable as well.
· Online alphabet games! http:// http://www.pbskids.org/ , http://funschool.kaboose.com/, and http://www.starfall.com/ have very fun and educational games to supplement a child’s education with. I use online usage as a reward for good behavior though, not as a replacement for one-on-one teaching.
· Have your child write the alphabet and then circle the vowels. Make sure when teaching letter sounds that they say both vowel sounds. A says it’s name, A, and it’s soft sound ,a, as well.
· Put daily reading on their chore charts and give them stars for each day they read. Once they have ten stars let them pick out a movie of their choice to watch, or an activity such as a walk. My kids think this is awesome!
Tips:
· Buy small plastic letters and have your child make a letter rainbow on a piece of card board. Start by writing the alphabet in order and let them match the plastic letters to their corresponding written letter; then without written letters once they learn them better.
· Read to your child every day for a minimal 20 minutes. Make sure you’re pointing to the words as you read them.
· Leap Frog’s The Letter Factory and The Word Factory DVDs are amazing! It’s such a fun way for a child to learn and very memorable as well.
· Online alphabet games! http:// http://www.pbskids.org/ , http://funschool.kaboose.com/, and http://www.starfall.com/ have very fun and educational games to supplement a child’s education with. I use online usage as a reward for good behavior though, not as a replacement for one-on-one teaching.
· Have your child write the alphabet and then circle the vowels. Make sure when teaching letter sounds that they say both vowel sounds. A says it’s name, A, and it’s soft sound ,a, as well.
· Put daily reading on their chore charts and give them stars for each day they read. Once they have ten stars let them pick out a movie of their choice to watch, or an activity such as a walk. My kids think this is awesome!
