Help with preschool

[Kidlit]

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:

[LadyAberlin]

My son dislike OPG too. I think she is probably too young or with my son he responds really well with programs with lots of activities. I just ordered McRuffy for him and it has games and stuff. I think he will like it better. Have you looked at Sonlight? It has lots of read alouds.

[Tabrett]

It sounds like she will be ready for 1st grade material next year. How is her writing? Can she form all her letters and copy several words? I think most k programs will bore her since they focus on teaching the letter sounds and building up to reading cvc words.

 

What type of curriculum are you looking for? Just reading and LA or full curriculum? Religious or secular?

[Kidlit]

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:

[Tabrett]

There are several ways you could go. One would be to use something like Sonlight Complete Core K . It does a letter and week and doesn't introduce reading cvc words until weeks 6-10.

MFW K would also be similar (costs way less).

 

If your child and you wouldn't mind starting the reading process all over again, than the above would be good choices. Or you could do the above and just keep doing OPGTR and have her reading level above her work level. Both these curriculums are complete meaning they have Bible, History, Science, Math and LA.

 

or

 

You could go with WTM suggestions and do First Language Lessons and continue with OPGTR. FLL is oral for the first 50 lessons (no writing for the first half of the year). You could add a k handwriting now and be ready for writing after Christmas; which would fit nicely.

 

You could add Happy Phonics to OPGTR. Happy Phonics is a game based reading program. I own it and use the game as extra pratice. It would probably make a nice addition to OPGTR (I use Phonics Pathways and haven't seen how OPGTR teaches).

 

If you go with the second suggestion, you would have to find a Bible, Math, History and Science program.

 

I think you would like SL K or MFW K and just keep her reading going at her own pace.

[Kidlit]

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!!

[athena1277]

If she's already reading CVC words, I wonder if you couldn't skip to that section of OPG. I started it with my dd last summer before we started K. She was 5 at the time and starting to read CVC words. We totally skipped the "this is A" type stuff because she already new it. She is now on about lesson 160 and reading beautifully.

[Kidlit]

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?

[gardening momma]

I haven't used OPG. I started 100 Easy Lessons, but my then-4 yr old dd didn't cooperate. We used flash cards for learning letters (before 100 Easy Lessons, I think), and then used A Beka Little Books. They teach individual letter sounds, then 2 letter combos--consonant-vowel, then 3 letter words (CVC). At the end of each book is a very short sentence. We're now using A Beka Little Owl books, and I have some other A Beka K5 or K4 readers for after that.

 

When we were using the Little Books, we reached a point where I thought dd5 could do it, but she kept guessing based on the picture. I also thought she needed some review before proceeding in the books, so I sat down at the computer and typed up a 2 column list of sounds/blends/words for us to work on, many taken from the Little Books, but some extras added as I thought of other short 3 or 4 letter words that used those blends. I put a light gray star after each one, and she got to put a colorful star sticker there when she got the sound/blend/word right. I made the letters of a decent size so she wasn't trying to read a 12 pt. font.

[Kidlit]

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!

[ladydusk]

My K4 knew all her letters and cried at the site of Alpha Phonics (pages of words). While she doesn't love OPG, she's really advancing. We totally skipped the letter recognition portion, and I'm tempted to skip around in it with my 3 yo (he knows his letters, but isn't quite ready to blend them together). We're going to add a white board and type out some of the stories (maybe let her illustrate them) because she gets overwhelmed by the teacher portion of the book. ETC A, B, & C and Bob Books have gone a long way to giving her some confidence and we're going to start trying some other books in the mix too.

[LadyAberlin]

My ds didn't like OPG and other programs like it because of all the words on the page. He would think he had to read everything because he didn't know which part was the directions and what part was for the child. He just shut down as soon as he saw the page. I just got my McRuffy in today and it looks great. It is colorful and has games. I got the K. Most of it will be reviews for him, but he will enjoy the format and enjoy being able to tell me all the answers and it will be a very positive experience. We are doing FLL and he loves that and we are doing AAS and he loves that too. He will be going into K in the fall officially.

[hmschooling]

We've used Heart of Dakota's Little Hands to Heaven for preschool this year and I've added in Reading Made Easy for phonics now-- there will be fun workbooks for this soon. It is all so WONDERFUL!!! We have SO enjoyed LHTH!

 

There's also ClickNKids phonics that is online and LOTS of fun. You could break and do some of the starfall.com free phonics lessons. That got my son out of his phonics funk. :tongue_smilie:

[ajjkt]

The speech therapists we have accessed used cued articulation for my children's dyspraxia. The full version of cued articulation includes colour coding underlines under the letters etc... Even though my children could potentially have been weaker phonemically due to this disability, the two with dyspraxia have started recognizing phonograms (including diaphongs) by the age of three due to the intensive speech therapy combined with cued articulation.

 

In other words, I'd strongly recommend looking at the hand gestures and color coding that cued articulation uses.

[Kidlit]

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!

[Karen in CO]

One little thing to add to the advice - when little ones learn to read (and it happens in math too), the learning is not a linear progression. They will hit plateaus and will sometimes even go backwards before they go forward again. Keep in mind your goal is that she learns to read and still loves learning. She is still very young. Maybe take a break from the reading teaching and just enjoy books with her for a while. You can gently ask her if she would like another reading lesson after a while or you can wait until she asks for one. Either way, you are taking the pressure off of both of you, she is getting some time for her brain to absorb what it has learned and process that, and you can both enjoy your school time until she is ready for more.

 

Maybe take a week or two and focus on hands-on activities or field trips. And read books to her that she loves. When she is ready for more reading, you will know. Learning to read requires developmental milestones that can't be rushed. Think of more like her learning to walk.

[gardening momma]

The cued articulation post is interesting...I searched for the phrase online, and found this site: http://www.cuedarticulationtraining.com.au/default.asp?p=CR&id=9 Has a good explanation and some links to sites that look good.

[Kidlit]

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.

[gardening momma]

Amy,

 

I sent you a PM. I can send you the document that I made for my dd when she was guessing words by looking at the pictures (and also just needed more practice on what we were doing without it seeming that she was doing the same thing over again).

 

You can do the same thing with the Bob books, and I don't see any reason why she has to read the books if she can read the words in another way, without the pictures. I think the pictures were too distracting for my dd.

[Kidlit]

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

[Jen in PA]

When my dd was that age, she was also ok with cvc words, so I started her in ETC 1 and skipped the A-C books. It was a great fit for her. We also spent plenty of time on starfall.com and doing oral reading from beginning readers we got from the library. Some kids love the confidence they get from reading Bob books, while others seem to know they are "easy," and don't want to cooperate once they have figured that out. I think a librarian could help you find equivalent books that won't set off those alarm bells.

[Kidlit]

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.

[ElizabethB]

When my daughter was that age, she really like working from a white board instead of from a book.

 

Blend Phonics and Webster's Speller are both designed to be taught from a board. Both are free from donpotter.net, you can read more about how I used Webster with my daughter in K in the link in my signature and in this thread:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70153

 

I would also try to do some more games. I have a free game you can print out and play here: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html

 

and more tips for teaching a beginning student here, with a short explanation about how to play games with magnetic letters:

 

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

 

You might also try some oral spelling, my daughter liked to spell words at that age. (Although that limited our ability to spell out things as parents--we took to calling ice cream "a frozen milk concoction," or a similar phrase, it took a while longer for her to crack that code.)