Teaching Multiple Kids to Read at the Same Time

[MommytoFour]

I have four kids who are very close in age (ages 4 1/2 to almost 6) -- blessings of adoption.

 

We have been homeschooling very light for the last six months, but we are starting to ramp things up a little. My son (who is almost 6) hasn't been quite read to start reading, so we shelved phonics for a few months but now we are back into it. The issue is that both of my daughters (one will turn 5 this summer and the other who will turn 5 in October) are ready for phonics too. In fact, my daughter who will be 5 this August is probably further along than my son.

 

So... my question is should I try to teach them all at the same time? Maybe this is a question for moms of multiples to answer.

 

I have a variety of different phonics programs available because they don't all have the same learning style, but is there any part of teaching them to read that I can do as a group (other than reading aloud, obviously).

 

Sorry for the ramble, and thanks in advance for any advice.

 

 

 

 

[mom2bee]

Yes. I taught a group of 4 kids to read last fall/spring and it went fine, just be willing to flex a little bit. The kids were 5, 5.5, 7, 7.5

We did-- sound (digraphs and blends) practice and reviews, sight words (phonetically) and basic spelling/phonics rules together each morning.

Then the kids broke off with their different book and I floated to help as needed, each child got a chance to read with me 1-on-1 for about 20 minutes each day.

 

We used the old Hooked on Phonics books, The Reading Lesson--our favorite, by far and supplemented with Bob Books and Dick and Jane.

[Storygirl]

My second and third children are nine months apart, and my fourth child is five months younger than that, so I have three who are within fourteen months of each other.  Plus one only a couple of years older. So I can relate!  When they were beginning to learn, I did spend one on one time with them going through our reading program, which was important, because they learned differently and each at their own pace. But I had other language activities that we did as a group.  We played games, memorized nursery rhymes, and did phonological activities together (rhyming, clapping out syllables, etc.).  When they were all reading at a proper level (around first grade), we spent some time reading Frog and Toad books together, with each child taking a turn on a page, and did related crafts and literature extension ideas using the book Teaching with Favorite Arnold Lobel Stories. Fun! I also chose a curriculum that I thought we could all do together (IEW's PAL).

 

But, and this is a big but, I had a struggling reader. As much as I wanted to be able to do the same curriculum with all of them, it became clear that she needed something different and was not keeping up with her brothers. So I separated them again.

 

So I guess my advice is to do the nitty gritty reading instruction and phonics separately. Maybe play games together, which will be fun because they will all be at a similar level, and do group readalouds. If you find that their learning converges and they are all able to read the same books at the same time, you could take turns reading aloud, as we did in reading group when I was in school. Don't plan too far ahead.  I would want to decide my plan for the entire school year, but I didn't adequately predict their needs or struggles, so many of the things I planned didn't work out the way I hoped. Be willing to separate them if your group activities don't seem to be meeting everyone's needs.

[Two in my crew]

I would suggest checking out the book Words Their Way and consider using that for a portion of your lessons. It's tactile, auditory, and visual and good for small groups. You can ramp it up for kids that are more advanced and it would also be fine for the 4.5 y.o. to follow along even if not fully ready for phonics.

[Ellie]

I have four kids who are very close in age (ages 4 1/2 to almost 6) -- blessings of adoption.

 

We have been homeschooling very light for the last six months, but we are starting to ramp things up a little. My son (who is almost 6) hasn't been quite read to start reading, so we shelved phonics for a few months but now we are back into it. The issue is that both of my daughters (one will turn 5 this summer and the other who will turn 5 in October) are ready for phonics too. In fact, my daughter who will be 5 this August is probably further along than my son.

 

So... my question is should I try to teach them all at the same time? Maybe this is a question for moms of multiples to answer.

 

I have a variety of different phonics programs available because they don't all have the same learning style, but is there any part of teaching them to read that I can do as a group (other than reading aloud, obviously).

 

Sorry for the ramble, and thanks in advance for any advice.

 

Classroom teachers do this all the time. :-)

 

You pick a method and do it. It isn't always possible to teach every single thing according to every single child's learning style. :-)

[MommytoFour]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

 

Yes. I taught a group of 4 kids to read last fall/spring and it went fine, just be willing to flex a little bit. The kids were 5, 5.5, 7, 7.5

We did-- sound (digraphs and blends) practice and reviews, sight words (phonetically) and basic spelling/phonics rules together each morning.

Then the kids broke off with their different book and I floated to help as needed, each child got a chance to read with me 1-on-1 for about 20 minutes each day.

 

We used the old Hooked on Phonics books, The Reading Lesson--our favorite, by far and supplemented with Bob Books and Dick and Jane.

 

Is this - http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Lesson-Teach-Child-Lessons/dp/09130 - the Reading Lesson that you used?

 

My second and third children are nine months apart, and my fourth child is five months younger than that, so I have three who are within fourteen months of each other.  Plus one only a couple of years older. So I can relate!  When they were beginning to learn, I did spend one on one time with them going through our reading program, which was important, because they learned differently and each at their own pace. But I had other language activities that we did as a group.  We played games, memorized nursery rhymes, and did phonological activities together (rhyming, clapping out syllables, etc.).  When they were all reading at a proper level (around first grade), we spent some time reading Frog and Toad books together, with each child taking a turn on a page, and did related crafts and literature extension ideas using the book Teaching with Favorite Arnold Lobel Stories. Fun! I also chose a curriculum that I thought we could all do together (IEW's PAL).

 

But, and this is a big but, I had a struggling reader. As much as I wanted to be able to do the same curriculum with all of them, it became clear that she needed something different and was not keeping up with her brothers. So I separated them again.

 

So I guess my advice is to do the nitty gritty reading instruction and phonics separately. Maybe play games together, which will be fun because they will all be at a similar level, and do group readalouds. If you find that their learning converges and they are all able to read the same books at the same time, you could take turns reading aloud, as we did in reading group when I was in school. Don't plan too far ahead.  I would want to decide my plan for the entire school year, but I didn't adequately predict their needs or struggles, so many of the things I planned didn't work out the way I hoped. Be willing to separate them if your group activities don't seem to be meeting everyone's needs.

 

I have IEW's PAL but I haven't used it or really looked at it. My son has been working with Memoria Press (First Start Reading, Classic Phonics, etc.) supplemented by Hooked on Phonics. I'm not sold on Memoria Press being the answer for us as a group though.

 

I would suggest checking out the book Words Their Way and consider using that for a portion of your lessons. It's tactile, auditory, and visual and good for small groups. You can ramp it up for kids that are more advanced and it would also be fine for the 4.5 y.o. to follow along even if not fully ready for phonics.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out!

 

Classroom teachers do this all the time. :-)

 

You pick a method and do it. It isn't always possible to teach every single thing according to every single child's learning style. :-)

 

I know school teachers do it :) One of my daughters is extremely quirky (she has sensory issues) and that's why I was referencing learning styles. I'm not sure what works for the other kids will work for her.

[kiwik]

Well school teachers do it...

 

Just try not to let them compare each other - may be easier said than done.

[craftyerin]

I taught 3 kids to read at the same.  I have twins that are almost exactly 12 months younger than their older brother.  We managed to do AAR pre-reading (phonemic awareness, letters, and sound) all together, but it was obvious after that, that my twins were in a different place, reading-readiness wise from my older son.  I teach reading in 2 groups now.  I took the twins through phonics pathways at lightening speed and they were fluently reading by their 5th birthdays.  Now, the two of them buddy-read a novel with me during their "reading" time instead of continuing phonics.  They also do spelling together.  My older son needed more time and baby steps.  He and I are working through AAR and AAS together.  It's more time consuming to have 2 groups, of course, but it's the only way that made sense here.  

 

In your shoes, I'd try something like AAR that has phonograms that you can drill all together, lots of words in the book to take turns building and reading on the white board with letter tiles, and then a workbook component.  I'd take them outside to work on the readers, so that some can play and you can pull one kid over at a time to read to you.  That way they wouldn't hear the readers before they got a chance to decode them themselves.  That was a tricky part for me!  Outside really helped.  Something like LOE or Spalding would probably work well for this, too.  If it works to keep them all together, great! If not, you may need to split into some smaller groups or even into individuals.  

[mom2bee]

The Reading Lesson: Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy Lessons The link you posted is broken, but I just wanted to be sure that its the same thing.

 

Note: those 20 lessons are long. Each lesson is about 20 pages, but it includes introduction, practice of new, review of old, stories, sentences, (a very few) exercises/activities, more practice and review of the new + old--expect each lesson to take 5-14 days depending on the child. BUT the font is large and child friendly, you can view the first 2 lessons online for free at the website: www.readinglesson.com and it will give you a feel for the first 5 lessons. As you go, the font gets gradually smaller but even in the end I'd say the font is about this size so it is always very easy for young children or new readers to read it.

 

The Reading Lesson has worked 98% of the time I've used it. Its my favorite "first phonics" book. Check and see if your library has it or try to get it through Inter Library loan and see how you like it.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

 

 

Is this - http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Lesson-Teach-Child-Lessons/dp/09130 - the Reading Lesson that you used?

 

 

I have IEW's PAL but I haven't used it or really looked at it. My son has been working with Memoria Press (First Start Reading, Classic Phonics, etc.) supplemented by Hooked on Phonics. I'm not sold on Memoria Press being the answer for us as a group though.

 

[Ellie]

 

I know school teachers do it :) One of my daughters is extremely quirky (she has sensory issues) and that's why I was referencing learning styles. I'm not sure what works for the other kids will work for her.

 

You won't know until you try it. :-)

 

I, of course, would recommend Spalding, because not only is it a complete "language arts" course, it's infinitely flexible and touches all learning modalities.

[TracyP]

I would only try to teach those who are close skill-wise. Yes, classroom teachers do this. But classroom kids either get left behind or bored all the time. That is why I homeschool, lol.

 

I tried with my 3 beginning readers. I can teach 2 of them together because they are so close, but the third child needs separate lessons.

[ElizabethB]

Yes, I do a version of that with my coop class, Webster's Speller is suited to teaching several children in several different stages. I work from a white board and have children take turns reading and spelling.

 

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

 

The things you need are at the end, a checklist for each child would help keep them on track. I like to start with talking letter factory for sounds. Also, these charts are helpful, the small charts come in a pack of 10 or 12.

 

https://www.phonovisual.com/products.php?c=1

[ElizabethB]

The original Blend Phonics also has good whole class teaching ideas:

 

http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/blend_phonics.html

[MommytoFour]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their ideas. Some curriculum isn't easily adapted to more than one kid, but fortunately I have plenty of options that are.  I think I am going to let me son keep working with the programs he's been using. And then I'll teach my two daughters together.  My youngest son isn't ready yet, but he can tag along for the fun parts.

[RootAnn]

I just want to say  :scared:  and  :svengo:  and  :willy_nilly: .

 

That is all.

[ajfries]

I started using LOE Foundations A with both my 5 & 3 year old, thinking that my 3 year old would just tag along when she felt like it. Mostly I just wanted to be able to get her to sit down and shut her mouth :D and the only way to do it is to occupy her.  She's now sounding out CVC words with ease, while my 5 year old still struggles a bit with blending on occasion. It's worked wonderfully and has been really fun for all of us.

 

 

[kiwik]

I would only try to teach those who are close skill-wise. Yes, classroom teachers do this. But classroom kids either get left behind or bored all the time. That is why I homeschool, lol.

 

I tried with my 3 beginning readers. I can teach 2 of them together because they are so close, but the third child needs separate lessons.

Just to clarify I wasn't suggesting teaching them together all the time just that it is possible to have 4 kids learning to read at the same time. She may have to work with each child seperately but hopefully at least 2 can be grouped together.

[SnegurochkaL]

Hi, For my oldest daughter I used SWR curricular. It took her only few month(not more than 3) to jump from non-reader to reading at 4 grade level. She skipped all readers. We never used them. SWR can be done with multiple children also. Now she is 11, she reads at adult level. With my younger kids I am going to use a mix of AAR/AAS + pre-reading activity book and a supplemental book with games in it. I will be trying to teach 2 kids who are different the way they learn. I am planning to do phonograms  and play games together and work with activity books separately. My 5 years old is not a fluent reader, so hopefully  putting both kids in one group will benefit the youngest and motivate the older one.

[SereneHome]

Yes, I know  I am a newbie, but the sentiment of "teachers do it"....well.....if I wanted things done the way teachers are doing it (no disrespect to teachers, just the way system is set up) I would still be working, making oodles of money and my kids would be in school. 

 

I worked with two oldest separately.  Youngest was playing with magnetic letters while I was working with the oldest two.

 

I used ETC on line for both, but they were at different levels and I did sit with them.  After awhile, I could ask oldest to sit with DS2 for a few minutes if I had to attend to the youngest.

 

Oldest is now kind of, sort of done.  DS2 is working through bk 3.  Youngest?  Well, he is doing whatever he feels like it :)

 

And yes, I did use TV as a babysitter if I really needed one-on-one time with one and the other two weren't cooperating.