First grade reading

[oneangelwaiting]

This will be my first year home schooling. We're starting in July because I have a baby due in September and that will give me a chance to take off as long as I need to without feeling totally overwhelmed and stressed.

 

DS6 will be in first grade. For Language Arts I have 1st Language Lessons, WWE1, Spelling Workout, and I also have the book Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. He's in public K now so I will need to find where in that book to start, but I'm planning to use that to continue to teach phonics and reading rules.

 

What do I do for actual reading? It seems like he should be reading on his own at least some ("fun" type reading) but I'm not sure where to start. He's doing great in K, he seems to be a pretty average student but isn't struggling with reading at all.  Do you just get Level 1 readers from the library or what would be good?  Or do you just continue doing only read alouds til reading skills are a little stronger? With my DS4 who will be 5 soon I read books aloud and have him read the words that I know he knows how to read, so we're reading it together. Would a similar system be good? I might be overthinking this a lot I just don't want to miss anything!

 

 

[k8c]

Do you have any idea what actual level he is reading at?  Did they give him any sort of test in public?  I am not familiar with OPGTR, but do they have any sort of placement test to help you out?  I just gave my DD5 (almost 6) the DORA, which is an adaptive reading test, and it was really helpful in giving me solid answers about what she could and could not do.  There is also a way to "quantify" the results and match-up with the various leveled readers offered (though I think some of the matches were a bit off compared to the other ones).  From there, you can use a site like lexile.com or scholastic that allows you to look up books by reading level.

 

As to read-alouds, I would read to him books that are at a higher reading level than he is currently reading on his own (many picture books), or longer chapter books that he may not have the patience for.  Personally, I would keep going with read-alouds as long as you can (we do audiobooks: here is my blog post as to why), because it will help with understanding good writing.

[Goldilocks]

If you already have the Ordinary Parents Guide you could just look through it and decide where it looks like he might be.  Start 5 - 10 lessons before that point and start reading.  I always get to a point in OPG that I am not *teaching* my children anymore. They have just figured out how to read. For one child that was 9 years old, for another it was 5 years old.  It just depends.  So you may be fine just getting books from the library and reading like you do with your 4 year old.  The point of the book is to learn to read. Once the child can read and is practicing with real books that interest him, then you are done with the book.

 

Sounds like you are well prepared and on your way!  Good luck!

[ElizabethB]

If the school taught with sight words or leveled readers or guided reading with AR readers, I would make sure that there is not a bit of a reading by word shape/guessing problem by taking the New Elizabethian test (nonsense words, they should be as easy as regular words) and the level I MWIA, both lists should be read at the same rate and there should not be more phonetic words missed than holistic words,

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/readinggradeleve.html

 

If there is a any trouble with those, I would work through some of the resources on my how to tutor page, making sure to do plenty of nonsense words to offset the guessing. I also keep my students from all outside reading for a month or two and just work on word lists and my game, it makes the remediation go much faster, sentences full of sight words trigger the guessing habit.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/howtotutor.html

[Courtney_Ostaff]

What do I do for actual reading? It seems like he should be reading on his own at least some ("fun" type reading) but I'm not sure where to start. ... Do you just get Level 1 readers from the library or what would be good?  Or do you just continue doing only read alouds til reading skills are a little stronger? ...

 

I had/have this problem. In my case, she hated reading for me. Hated reading for pleasure. I think it was because for her, at 5.5 and 2nd/3rd grade reading level (summer before K), most "regular" books were too hard and the leveled readers were boring. (I think they're boring as all get-out, too!) 

 

So I have waited almost an entire year, just doing phonics with her (Phonics Pathways, Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading), having my husband read books way above her reading level (college-level) at bedtime, listening to JIm Weiss in the car, etc.  

 

Last week, she spontaneously, voluntarily picked up Yertle the Turtle to read to her sister in the car. *sniffle* I almost cried then and there.  The night before last, she was reading D'Aulaires Norse Myths to her sister before bed.  Last night, she was reading a stupid Skylanders book, silently, to herself, before bed.

 

So I guess what I'm saying is, keep teaching reading, but don't force them into reading something boring, that's too hard. 

[Walking-Iris]

You can likely skip the beginning lessons in OPGTR that deal with learning the letter sounds. I would just start at the beginning after that and continue forward.

 

A handwriting phonics element such as Explode the Code or Plaid Phonics will also help you further him along.

 

Spelling Workout requires a bit of reading skill, so if he is able to read his lessons then there's another avenue for you to assess. 

 

WWE copywork can get challenging for beginning readers, but if he is able to read aloud his copywork, then again you will be able to assess his ability. 

 

As for reading---aim to read aloud to him every day from quality chapter books and picture books etc. Even when he is reading fluently, continue to read aloud.

 

And then have him practice reading aloud a bit each day to you. Bob Books, or any of those early readers are helpful, Dr Seuss beginning readers are great for this, classic I Can Read books such as Little Bear, Frog and Toad, etc.

 

 

[nwmama]

I had/have this problem. In my case, she hated reading for me. Hated reading for pleasure. I think it was because for her, at 5.5 and 2nd/3rd grade reading level (summer before K), most "regular" books were too hard and the leveled readers were boring. (I think they're boring as all get-out, too!) 

 

So I have waited almost an entire year, just doing phonics with her (Phonics Pathways, Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading), having my husband read books way above her reading level (college-level) at bedtime, listening to JIm Weiss in the car, etc.  

 

Last week, she spontaneously, voluntarily picked up Yertle the Turtle to read to her sister in the car. *sniffle* I almost cried then and there.  The night before last, she was reading D'Aulaires Norse Myths to her sister before bed.  Last night, she was reading a stupid Skylanders book, silently, to herself, before bed.

 

So I guess what I'm saying is, keep teaching reading, but don't force them into reading something boring, that's too hard. 

 

:iagree:

 

I'd say reading out loud to them before they can read is just as important as teaching them their letters!

 

 

OPGTR is so easy that you can easily figure out where he is. Even if you started at the beginning of the book and ran through the first alphabet lessons with him in one day or week and then ran through the 3 letter word lessons the next day or week and just start to slow down when it gets harder for him. I love Bob Books to supplement with, the kids love that the can read a book all on their own at the beginning stages. I haven't found many other early readers that I actually like but thankfully it's a quick stage to get through!

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I used Hooked On Phonics levels to approximate grade levels in OPGTR. Here's the blog post with the information. Like a PP, my kids have figured it out and it's all review now (we're in the back of the book) but we keep plugging through, 2 lessons a day (8-10 minutes) because there are occasional gaps.

[k8c]

I think it was because for her, at 5.5 and 2nd/3rd grade reading level (summer before K), most "regular" books were too hard and the leveled readers were boring. (I think they're boring as all get-out, too!) 

 

 

We had this problem, too, as she really loved looking at the pictures in the "easy" books (since she is 5) but was ready to move on to chapter books.  We ended up learning a lot about kids graphic novels (Scholastic has a whole department now) and getting her to read some of those.  We also started putting some of the easier chapter books (Magic Tree House, Ivy & Bean, etc) on the iPad and that was different enough for her to be motivated to read them without the pictures.

[Jennifer N.]

I used Hooked On Phonics levels to approximate grade levels in OPGTR. Here's the blog post with the information. Like a PP, my kids have figured it out and it's all review now (we're in the back of the book) but we keep plugging through, 2 lessons a day (8-10 minutes) because there are occasional gaps.

 

That is an awesome blog post!  Thank you!

 

Also, if you are looking for phonetic readers like BOB books, you can try the I See Sam series which you can find the first 1-52 free on line here:

http://marriottmd.com/sam/

 

If you want cleaner copies, you can sign up for a free trial account at readingteacher.com and print theirs off.  I've seen lots of people who love the I See Sam series on this forum.  You can also just buy them pre-printed too at https://www.iseesam.com/

 

I have also bought the Nora Gaydos books from Amazon and Primary Phonics readers too to supplement early phonetic reading.

 

I second Elizabeth's recommendations (whose website is awesome) about being sure he is really reading words and not guessing.  I used to teach in public school and my 3rd child is in K public school this year.  Forgive me, I used to teach children to read the first sound and guess the word and memorize sight words and look at pictures to guess a word, etc because that is how I was taught to teaching reading back then.  Then I found the homeschooling world when I first stayed home with my oldest and checked out The Well Trained Mind from the public library.

 

I had to stay a step ahead of my daughter's teacher (whom I love) this year so she wouldn't pick up those guessing/sight word reading habits.  It was really interesting to see it first hand.  I taught my oldest to read the way it is taught in public school and he is a voracious reader but I have had to remediate his spelling.  My 2nd was taught the same way but intuited a lot of the code in early 1st grade.  So my 3rd is the first one I have really watched closely every step of the way and actually started teaching her at home before K.  She started picking up some bad habits mid year but I was able to train those out of her pretty quickly because I knew what to look for.

[BusyMom5]

I have K PSers, too, and am taking them out to HS.  Mine are reading Level 1 readers from the library w/ no problems, so I've decided to go w/ LOE Foundations level B to start with.  I have OPG and if I were going to use that, I would start w/ about lesson 40-50.  I've had them do a few lessons w/ me, but they just don't get that excited doing it.  I do think it's a nice book, an I might use it to teach reading if they need help with specific things (I've noticed they need to learn -igh and -ight b/c they always see it in books).  I just don't think it looks like much fun for them.  They would do it with me for maybe 10 minutes or less, then want to go play.  For readers I am just going to use the Level 1 books I have, and let them get whatever they want at the library.

[oneangelwaiting]

Thank you so much for all of the responses! I am so so happy to have found this forum. 

 

 

That is an awesome blog post!  Thank you!

 

Also, if you are looking for phonetic readers like BOB books, you can try the I See Sam series which you can find the first 1-52 free on line here:

http://marriottmd.com/sam/

 

If you want cleaner copies, you can sign up for a free trial account at readingteacher.com and print theirs off.  I've seen lots of people who love the I See Sam series on this forum.  You can also just buy them pre-printed too at https://www.iseesam.com/

 

I have also bought the Nora Gaydos books from Amazon and Primary Phonics readers too to supplement early phonetic reading.

 

I second Elizabeth's recommendations (whose website is awesome) about being sure he is really reading words and not guessing.  I used to teach in public school and my 3rd child is in K public school this year.  Forgive me, I used to teach children to read the first sound and guess the word and memorize sight words and look at pictures to guess a word, etc because that is how I was taught to teaching reading back then.  Then I found the homeschooling world when I first stayed home with my oldest and checked out The Well Trained Mind from the public library.

 

I had to stay a step ahead of my daughter's teacher (whom I love) this year so she wouldn't pick up those guessing/sight word reading habits.  It was really interesting to see it first hand.  I taught my oldest to read the way it is taught in public school and he is a voracious reader but I have had to remediate his spelling.  My 2nd was taught the same way but intuited a lot of the code in early 1st grade.  So my 3rd is the first one I have really watched closely every step of the way and actually started teaching her at home before K.  She started picking up some bad habits mid year but I was able to train those out of her pretty quickly because I knew what to look for.

 

This is very interesting. I did notice that when he started K, he worked through the letter sounds in the first few weeks and then started working on "sight" words rather than sounding words out. I began working with my 4 y/o on reading at home in January, and while my 6 yo can read more fluently, my 4 yo can read more accurately and is also a better speller. He's still very slow but I'm sure the speed will come with time.  He can also catch his own mistakes because he can tell when he said the wrong word, whereas my 6 yo will say the same thing for "new" and "now" for example, perhaps because they look so similar and he is guessing based on the shape of the word. 

[oneangelwaiting]

Perhaps while we're talking about audio books I should also ask - what do you use to play them? Do you have a designated CD player or some kind of tablet or something?  I need something that is pretty fool-proof for the little ones. We have used the Librovox app on our phones but the sound just isn't that great especially if a certain 3-year-old is wiggling or otherwise making noise and whatnot. We actually do not own a CD player but there are lots and lots of audiobooks at the library...is it worth buying one?

[k8c]

At home we play the library CDs through my computer streamed to the stereo system and cuddle on the couch.  If it is an Audible digital audiobook, I do the same thing, but stream from my phone.  In the car I just plug my phone in.  For us, audiobooks are something we do together.  We listen to them because I have a hard time creating the same read-aloud experience as a professional might.  That doesn't mean I don't want to be a part of experiencing the book with her.  

 

If you want your kiddos to be able to listen on their own and be "in control" of what they are listening to (like starting with playaway books that have a CD and beeps so they know to turn the page, and eventually move up to longer audiobooks), you may want to invest in a CD player.

[ElizabethB]

This is very interesting. I did notice that when he started K, he worked through the letter sounds in the first few weeks and then started working on "sight" words rather than sounding words out. I began working with my 4 y/o on reading at home in January, and while my 6 yo can read more fluently, my 4 yo can read more accurately and is also a better speller. He's still very slow but I'm sure the speed will come with time. He can also catch his own mistakes because he can tell when he said the wrong word, whereas my 6 yo will say the same thing for "new" and "now" for example, perhaps because they look so similar and he is guessing based on the shape of the word.

The speed does come with time. Up until the beginning of this year, my son would have seemed behind because of how slow he read and he was still missing a few sounds, he took a while to learn phonics and needed a lot of repetition. However, now he can read 6th grade level passages and below passages with 100% accuracy and he is getting faster and faster every day.

 

Your 6 year old is young enough to train out of the guessing habit in a few months if you are strict about reading only word lists and use a lot of nonsense words for a few months. It takes older students longer because their guessing habits are more ingrained. When guessing occurs, tell him to slow down and sound out all the sounds correctly from left to right. Having to spell guessed words and then try sounding them out again or having him sound out every sound orally before reading the word can also help discourage guessing and encourage proper sounding out skills.

[Courtney_Ostaff]

I have K ,,, reading Level 1 readers ...  I have OPG ... I do think it's a nice book, an I might use it to teach reading ... I just don't think it looks like much fun for them.  They would do it with me for maybe 10 minutes or less, then want to go play.  ...

 

I think 5 minutes with that book is plenty. "Hey, see this? This is how you say it."  "Got it? Good. Go play."  It's the snail, slow and steady, repetition that makes it so useful. IMHO.  :)

[Courtney_Ostaff]

Perhaps while we're talking about audio books I should also ask - what do you use to play them? Do you have a designated CD player or some kind of tablet or something?  I need something that is pretty fool-proof for the little ones. We have used the Librovox app on our phones but the sound just isn't that great especially if a certain 3-year-old is wiggling or otherwise making noise and whatnot. We actually do not own a CD player but there are lots and lots of audiobooks at the library...is it worth buying one?

 

CDs are exclusively car time for me.  That's where our only CD player (minus the computer, I suppose, now that I think about it) resides, and since we live 30 minutes from anything, it works for us.

 

We do the phone thing, too, because my husband has this doohickey that lets me plug my phone into the sound system of the car. But generally at home I read aloud.

[ElizabethB]

A few 5 to 10 minutes a day sessions focused can do a lot!

 

Use a white board to write words and use my phonics concentration game to increase the amount of time painlessly.

[Jennifer N.]

I just learned about this other learning to read resource in the afterschooling forum.  I am pasting part of a post here in case there is interest.

 

"I am always on the lookout for good programs to recommend to parents, especially parents who have never heard of the word afterschool.  So I went to look at First Reader.  At first, I thought it was only available used on Amazon or other websites for a pretty high price.  And I was only googling the book by its name with the ISBN which brought up lots of used copies selling for a pretty high price.  But guess what?  There is a website that tells you all about First Reader AND there is a program for older students too (geared towards 3rd grade and up struggling readers).  Here is the website:  http://www.firstreader.com/

 

Thank you for pointing out this resource!"

 

[mhaddon]

You can request to have what levels he's reading at given to you from the school :)   Take those and go to scholastic.com and find books at that level. After a little while move up to the next level, etc. I would ask the teacher what they had worked on. If they did mostly sight words you may want to begin more at the beggining of OPGTR and make sure he has a solid foundation.