Teaching Reading When That's Their Strength

[Scuff]

I'm a little unsure what to do with DD4. She wanted to learn how to read and was mostly teaching herself (wanting to spell words and write them) so I started teaching her with the VDB, which is what I've used for the other 2. (Basically a book of word lists) The first day she read so easily. The second day she wanted to keep going, so I let her, and she ended up reading over half the page (100 words/page) Now we're on the I page (it goes vowel by vowel, with review pages). It's like pulling teeth to get her to read one line. I think she's bored with it. She took the paper we were using as a marker and started writing o and u words on it (which we haven't done yet). So that's what she's doing now. So, obviously she knows her CVC words. Should I just skip lessons to the more complicated sounds? What's the balance between letting her race ahead and making her practice what she knows? (this is the same think I struggle with with DS and Math :banghead:, figure it out, Mom!) Ok, so I do know enough from you all to let them accelerate themselves, a little. I'm starting to get it lol. But how does this work out practically with sequential things like math and reading? They do have a foundation that needs to be laid here, right? Is there a better reading curriculum out there that moves faster? I really hate to spend more $ on curriculum, and I'm not sure that's the answer. There's got to be a way to make this work for her. But if I must. Maybe I should just do the rules pages with her and cover a rule at a time? She just turned 4 the end of June. I knew last year this time that I could have started her with reading (she knew all her letters and sounds) but I had her sister to teach, so I put her off. Well, she's not having that anymore! But now she's getting it so fast I'm not sure what to do.

[Scuff]

Ok, so I've had a minute to think and relax :) and I think I'm making a bigger deal of this than I should and I'm just going to move her up a lesson and not spend so much time on it. But I'd still *love* to hear comments. It seems every day I'm trying to figure out how to make things work for one (or more) of them! Who knew homeschooling would be such an ongoing drain of emotional/mental energy and thought.

[Chels~]

Honestly I would just let her read books as she pleases and not waste money on a "Reading program." Let her go wild at the library. The sheer volume of books will dramatically improve her reading/vocabulary/grammar skills. Let reading be enjoyable instead of work. Later on you can fill in any gaps if there is any.

[nmoira]

Honestly I would just let her read books as she pleases and not waste money on a "Reading program." Let her go wild at the library. The sheer volume of books will dramatically improve her reading/vocabulary/grammar skills. Let reading be enjoyable instead of work. Later on you can fill in any gaps if there is any.

:iagree:

 

IMHO, the last think you want to teach an early reader is that reading is work and drudgery. Let her lead. If she's got questions, you'll know it. :)

[chai]

:iagree:

 

My dd wouldn't tolerate formal phonics instruction at all! I just let her keep reading.

 

You can catch any phonics issues if you need to when she is ready for spelling. You could also do some reading aloud together. Then, if she has problems with something, you can teach it quickly and move on.

[AnneC]

I stopped teaching my ds(4 in April) when he showed me that he was reading far beyond anything I had taught him. He asks if he comes across anything he doesn't know and I give him a reading test every now and then for my own peace of mind. I decided that there was no point teaching him something that he had already figured out for himself.

 

FWIW I'm less flexible about Math because I saw my sister struggle for years after missing some basic concepts. I make sure that I know that they know to concept before they move on.

[threetreasurs]

I second the advice to work on phonics with spelling.

[Scuff]

Ok. That makes sense. Deep breath. I guess I had it a little backwards. I don't want to *not* teach phonics, as it is important with spelling. I can see a bit of that with DS, who reads well and spells well, but makes sillly mistakes that he wouldn't make if his phonics were stronger. Like putting a "t" on the end of a word instead of "ed". He's learning and doing well, but it would have been nice to head that off with strong phonics at the start. At least that's what I was thinking. But you're right, it can wait. She's only 4, I don't want to make school a lot of work now. It will be soon enough! Ok. :) Books will be more fun.

 

I had forgotten that I put the book "Some of My Best Friends are Books" on hold at the library. It came in yesterday :) It's been a fun, informative read so far, though I'm only on the first chapter. Perhaps this will have gems of wisdom on teaching her as well. Thanks!

[Mommy22alyns]

I'm a little late, but you've received great advice already. Becca was an early, largely self-taught reader and I had to struggle a little with not teaching her "reading." I ended up deciding along the same things as a PP - I didn't want reading to be a chore. So she's just reading a lot and we're doing a spelling program. :001_smile:

[bettyandbob]

I didn't teach my ds to read. He just read. And read. And read. I realized he was reading on his own a couple of weeks after his 4th birthday. My approach would be to not interfer with a child who is mastering it himself. Just give the child books. Go to the library ALL THE TIME. I believe at age 4 it is really important to not be structured, especially with a gifted child.

 

As for phonics. I guess I wanted to cover myself so we did a spelling program that had some phonics basis during what was first grade for ds. It was spelling workout. Ds finished levels B, C, and D that year. After that I dropped spelling for ds. Ds is very visual and if he sees a word once he can spell it forever. So we just did vocabulary.

 

Dd is different. She wanted to teach herself to write before reading. And she did. At 4, she would draw a picture and then write very phonetically a sentence underneath the picture. She could tell you what the sentence said, but she insisted she did not know how to read. We tried to a formal program with her long before we introduced formal programs to ds. That was a mistake. I think that took away the fun of self discovery. I honestly think it hindered her progress. She is also a very different learner than ds. she relies much more on hearing than seeing. She is still quite a bit ahead of "grade level" across the board, but I think early intervention (formal programming) caused a disruption in developing a love of learning.

[Scuff]

Yeah, she's completely auditory. She's constantly breaking words into their phonetics. And we've had to ban her from the room while I teach DD6. DD6 would be sounding something out c-a-t, c-a-t, and then DD4 would yell from across the room, "Cat!". So she's been "reading" like that for awhile now. We just need to translate that to books.

 

She probably would have taught herself if I read just to her more. But usually we're reading all 3 of them and their isn't room on my lap for all 3 of them. ;) So, since she was so young for so long, I let her wander the room and do her thing. She still listened, just wasn't looking at the book.

 

I took your advice yesterday. I let her pick out a book, and then we read it together. I had her read the short vowel words, taught her a few more, and read the rest. And then she wrote one of the new words. She seemed to enjoy that. So it's going well so far :D Thanks! This is much more fun than the work I had in mind. ;)

[EKS]

My son started reading at 2 and I did gentle, informal teaching until he knew all the sounds, including (and especially) the long vowels. Then for about two or three years he just read to me, real books like Henry and Mudge. Just this past summer, I used REWARDS with him. This program is quick and explicitly teaches how to sound out longer words in "chunks". He loved it and had no trouble at all. He has just started 1st grade and I will probably have him read aloud to me daily for a few years from increasingly harder books. Right now the level of the books he reads to me is around 5th grade, though his reading level tests at high 6th grade. It gets a little difficult because he isn't particularly interested in many of the books for older kids.

 

Edited to add: This is the 6 yo I'm talking about here.

Edited September 29, 2008 by EKS

[Scuff]

It's going well :) Thanks! She's now reading long vowel sounds and "ing" words. And about to catch up with DD6. :001_unsure:

 

So, I was thinking about this this morning reguarding some issues we have with DS. He needs to brush up on his phonics too. He reads well. Though he's never been tested, so I don't know *how* well. And spells reletively well, most of the time. But the words he misses are very telling that he's missing some rules! (Like misspelling words when you add on a suffix. Or spelling road roed.)

 

I was planning on riding out the year with R&S and figuring out a spelling program for next year. But it might be a good idea to just switch soon to a good, phonics based program. I see someone already suggested Spelling Power. And a few people suggested other things in a thread I started in the k-8 forum. (I got a little worried yesterday checking his phonics. There's a lot he just missed the first time around) I'd like something basic and to the point. Not filled with fluff. (I don't do games and silliness well in things like this ;) ) Though fun can be good. Just not if it adds work for mom or distraction for the kids. We have Natural Speller (got it cheap at a used sale, but haven't looked at it much yet) someplace. Does this work well for this? I also have Phonics Pathways from the library right now, so I need to take a closer look at that.

 

Thanks for your help!

Edited September 29, 2008 by Scuff

[chai]

I have Natural Speller and have used it for a few years. It is very similar to Spelling Power in style. You do need to create your own program from it. If you aren't interested in frills, that may be exactly what you want. In the back of the book are spelling rules. You can put these spelling rules on notecards and then have your dc memorize those rules. Then, give them a spelling word list that uses those rules. Natural Speller has word lists by spelling rule. (I cheated and bought the spelling rule cards from Wanda Sanseri.) I also used lists from ABC's and All Their Tricks--a great reference book for you.

 

I have given up on using Natural Speller only because I wanted something that did not require preparation or participation from me. We are now using the Calvert Spelling CD.

[ElizabethB]

Phonics Pathways is a great program!

 

Webster's Speller is good--my daughter was reading at a 4th or 5th grade level at the beginning of K, then we worked through Webster's Speller--she can now read out of the KJV and can read anything but strange chemicals they put in junk food (some adults I know have trouble with that, too!)

 

Also, Webster's Speller was designed for one room schools, so you could use it with all your children, I explain how to do that below.

 

My free online spelling lessons might help your DS. If they move too fast, he could switch to the phonics lessons, they teach all the same spelling rules, they just move slower.

 

Spelling Lessons: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Spelling/spellinglessonsl.html