It all started with Boo, of course, because he is the oldest. I began to teach him shapes, colors, counting. I would never get him to sing the alphabet until he was 3 or 4 though. When he turned three, I bought one of those Hooked on Phonics early learning packages. It contained a book and a CD to learn the names of the letters. I thought that the songs were pretty stupid, even painful to listen to but he liked it a lot. But that is not what helped him learn the letters.
The Hooked on Phonics book contained a book of bubble letters that you were supposed to color and decorate. I took that one step further and cut them out and hung them on the door by which we exited our apartment. Each day we would review the letters that he colored on the door and when he learned one, we would add a new one. Sometimes I would give him a quiz, so in order to leave the house to go out and play he had to "unlock" the door by telling me the letter names. I did this both with capital and small letters, until he knew them all.
Book had learned all of his letters by the time he was 3 1/2. Beyond that there was not much more to teach him. He began to get bored again and wanted to spend the day doing whatever I was doing.
I have always been an early-bird when it comes to home education, so that winter I ordered much of the kindergarten curriculum that I wanted and began to look through it. I tried to begin him with Seton Kindergarten Phonics and had no success.
I looked through different recommendations and stumbled upon Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Once we got past the discipline issues- not wanting to sit still, thinking that getting up during a lesson was acceptable, we were fine. I cannot describe the amazement and wonder which I watched my son learn to read through this book. I began the book about a month before he turned four.
We needed a lot of review at first and I wanted to take things at a leisurely pace. But here we are almost a year later, I am 6 lessons away from finishing this book. My son is not yet 5 years old and he is beginning to learn to spell, without being formally taught. He is figuring out for himself what letter words begin with and even standing over my shoulder when I am on the computer, trying to read what I write. He can read Bob Books, Dr. Seuss-type books, like Go Dog Go and Hop on Pop. I even hear him in the car, trying to read signs and billboards.
So that is where we are, almost two years into this journey. We're going to be using The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading next. Beyond that, I have not decided what to use, but we will be gradually moving on to more challenging books. I am looking ahead with anticipation of progress to be made and teaching our second child, Meenie, to read!
1 comment:
Nice blog! Keep up the good work. Have a great day! Blessings!
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