Oh, what a treat and blessing to wake up and find all this wisdom in answer to my question!! Thanks, everyone! My dd, like most children, LOVES games, so I think perhaps that making a game out of it would be the best way for us to go. I'll definitely be checking all the links left on this thread! Thanks again!!!

Okay, so maybe I should just wait for those phonics rules to come up instead of following the OPG sequence completely. . . Thanks, Ellie! Anyone else?

I don't have a lot of experience (my own dd is only 4, also), but I think maybe the old adage "slow and steady wins the race" might work here. I just work with my dd from OPG for a few minutes at a time. I don't make a big deal out of it; we just do it. I hope eventually it will be fun for her, but we just keep plugging away at it. Anyway, I'm :lurk5: to learn more!

My four year old dd (she will be five in May) is making good progress in reading via OPGTR. However, so far she has balked at learning sight words. Granted, we've only introduced the so far, but I comes up tomorrow. Does anyone have a fun way to introduce/learn sight words? Or should I just drop it for now since she's so young? As a side note, I find that I second guess myself all the time. Will someone please tell me that this gets easier (in terms of MY self confidence)?!?!?:confused::tongue_smilie:

My girls are 18 months apart (2 school years), so I'm :lurk5:.

I don't have any new advice to offer either, but I wanted to second Two Peas in a Bucket and the Becky Higgins sketch books. Oh, and one more thing--Page Maps! Now I'm off to scrapbook while my little ones rest!:D

We have a fun version by Rosemary Wells (of Max and Ruby fame) that is sort of British (with someone nursery rhymes I'd never heard) but lots of fun.

Thanks, everyone! I posted a little picture on my blog if anyone wants to look.

I just wanted to share here what happened today at our house--my 4 year old dd (will be 5 in May) read Mat and Sam (from the first Bob Books collection) with very little assistance! I cannot really explain how it made me feel to know that I taught her how to do that (or at least facilitated it:tongue_smilie:). I just wanted to share with some folks who would really understand.:D

:lurk5:

Thanks! This sounds like a good series to file away in my brain for later use. :D

Thanks, Jen in Pa, for the information about ETC. I've never actually looked at that curriculum, although it has always been on my radar as a possibility. I definitely don't want to continue going over things that she already knows.

Thanks, gardening momma! I'm off to check my messages. . . WTM forums are the BEST!

Thanks, Karen in CO, for your wise words. I guess I'm so much of the "slow and steady wins the race" mindset that I almost forget about development.:blushing: Another thing I wanted to add is that until today, she has refused to try to read a Bob book, even though she can read most of the words in the first book when we I spell them out with the sandpaper letters. Today she only did it because dh had told her that when she learns to read (a vague reference to the future, really, but also an incentive for her to keep working now) she can have her very own Little House on the Prairie book. That's a real motivator for her, so she wanted to read a Bob book today. What she did, though, was read the pictures. This makes me wonder if it's not a problem of visual development/readiness. I'm trying to take Karen's advice and BACK OFF. I love our learning time too much to make it a thing of frustration.

Thanks for all the hints and encouragement! I just hate for my dd to stonewall on me and learning, and I want to avoid it at all costs. Learning is too much fun for her to feel this frustration!

Great idea, gardening mama! I think the font size is a problem for her, as well as the fact that there is so much else on the page (when she is first introduced to the letter, etc.) I'll have to try that!

Thanks, Melissa, for that insight. For some reason, I'm such a do-it-by-the-book kind of gal that it's hard for me to skip anything. I'm afraid she will miss something essential if I do. :tongue_smilie:However, if it is the repetition that is frustrating her, that would make sense, right?

Thanks so very, very much, Tabrett. DH and I are going to a curriculum fair in May, and I hope to actually make some decisions there (or at least come closer to making some decisions). I really like TWTM approach, but I'm feel all loosey-goosey about K. I've never seen FLL, so I'm not sure how it would work. I'm not sure my dd wouldn't do better with more bells & whistles. I'll definitely look into the game you mentioned! Thanks again!!

We have not worked at all on writing. We have always just read A LOT (like an hour a day at a minimum, I would guess) and have read quite a few chapter books aloud. She likes to write now, but I have given her no instruction in it at all. She LOVES playing games, so I think something more fun might suit her better. We are Christians, so I am looking for something religious, although it doesn't really have to be overtly so. I am really overwhelmed by all the choices, and I honestly haven't adopted a particular methodology yet (i.e. classical versus CM, etc.). I guess you could say that I'm as green as they come, even though I have been mildly obsessed with this board and homeschooling in general for at least a year.:tongue_smilie: I just can't imagine how various approaches will play out in our home, if you KWIM. Any suggestions are appreciated.:bigear:

This thread is so funny! I'm really LOL at all the Calvin and Hobbes references; I was so sad when Waterston (is that his name?) retired the strip. Oh--and the Where the Red Fern Grows references--I have a cousin who read it as an adult, and her husband said he was afraid he was going to have to take her to the hospital because she was crying so much.:tongue_smilie: She is a true animal lover, so it really got to her.

Hi all, I need some advice on what to do with my dd who's 4 (will be 5 in May). She is a very ready learner, but we have had some roadblocks that I need some help with. She knows most, if not all, of the consonants and their sounds, as well as the short vowel sounds. She can sound out CVC words, etc. We are up to the letter J in the OPGTTR. She is quite resistant to doing "learning time" since we've started the OPGTTR, though. Before we had been using an old book I had that basically had games and activities for school readiness. For example, I made sandpaper letters and she LOVED using those. I'm just wondering if maybe the OPGTTR is too much for her right now in terms of how plain it is (as well as the fact that essentially she just has to read a font not much larger than a normal typewritten font). I hope it's an issue with the program and not an issue of pure stubbornness on her part, but it's sort of hard for me to tell. She can dig her heels in at times, and I don't want learning time to be a fight. I think sometimes I just need to :chillpill:. :tongue_smilie: I'm also really unsure about what to do for K. My dd LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, LOVES read alouds. She is obsessed with Laura Ingalls Wilder and would listen to any of the Little House stories (audiobooks) for hours on end daily if I would let her. I really think she's an auditory learner, although I guess she might be too young for me to really say that. I guess what I need is insight and encouragement. Does anybody have any to spare?:bigear:

My girls are enjoying all the Beatrix Potter tales right now. We've also done the original Winnie the Poohs with success. Oh, and they're OBSESSED with all things Laura Ingalls, only they usually listen to the audiobooks for those. I discuss our read-alouds on my blog very frequently. In fact, I host a blog carnival on every Thursday called Read Aloud Thursday. I usually highlight our shorter library picks for that post, but I post our longer books as we finish them, too. Everyone's welcome to participate, whether you blog or not! (Just leave a comment if you don't have a blog.)

My girls are 3 and 4 (will be 5 in May) and we have been reading chapter books for about a year now, I guess. We've read Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, The Wind in the Willows, Clementine, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, Mary Poppins, and Miss Hickory. I think that's all. Oh, and my girls are obsessed with the Little House books which they listen to in audio. I host a weekly blog carnival called Read Aloud Thursday on my blog. I usually highlight the best picture books we've read from the library each week, but I also link to our longer read alouds once I review them on my blog. You're welcome to join in or glean what you can from mine and other's posts. (Link is in siggy.)

Read Aloud Thursday has been published on my blog. Would you like to join in by sharing what your family has been reading aloud this week? Here's the link---->http://hopeistheword.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/read-aloud-thursday-5/ Join us, won't you?:bigear:

I would recommend Charlotte's Web, except you specified no tear jerkers. : ) My 4 1/2 year old has become enamored of (obsessed with?) the Laura Ingalls Wilder books on audio. We've also read and enjoyed the Clementine books (Sara Pennypacker) and the original Winnie the Pooh stories. I review the books we read on my blog. I also host a blog carnival called Read Aloud Thursday every Thursday (obviously), if you would care to join us. My blog link is in my siggy.