Pecan Cottage Life: November 2018

It's a wonderful experience and a gift to teach your child to read...when they finally realize that they can read. The process in and of itself can actually be quite frustrating, challenging, frustrating, and boring, ...and frustrating. Yes, you read that correctly!  Frustrating. Challenging. Boring.   Frustrating!!!

Get used to saying the same things over, and over, and over, and over again.

I mentioned in a previous post that I keep some clay dough or a stress ball handy when teaching a child to read. Sometimes I even play sudoku, or knit while a child is reading to me. (Remember: I am not a naturally patient person.) These things help me to both stay awake and keep calm, and it seems to take the pressure off of them because they think I am not really listening. The step from reading "bat" to "bait" is a giant one. Larger still is the leap from reading their Abeka (reading) book to reading things in their natural environment, or even just reading for pleasure.

I am currently working with 7 kids at 7 different levels of reading; which is quite interesting. SIDE NOTE: I have discovered that I can learn a lot about how the child will approach things in life by how they deal with the issue of reading. One of my children immediately tested their new knowledge out in their environment each step of the way. Another of my children was reading for nearly 2 years before they began to pick up books, other than the mandatory one for school, and read it because they could. Another wants to read their OWN Bible and a book about law...they don't know how to read!...They are learning fast; but it will be a long while before they are ready for 4th grade and college level books! He doesn't know that, and doesn't care. He asks me at least once a week if he is ready yet. Gotta love that kid!

One of my sister's kids will attempt to read anything...they used to only be accurate about 30% of the time; but that didn't deter them from trying. One of them didn't bother trying, and the other only read things that were far beneath their grade level of reading.

Let's get to the point of this post. What problems have I encountered while teaching my children, and now my sister's kids to read? Continue reading to find out.

For a long time Aaliyah was content to listen to me read. When we began to learn her alphabet and blends and such; she didn't really get motivated to do so until one day her baby sister (who was playing next to us while we were having our lesson) answered a question before she did. From that day forward she was motivated to step up her game. I was motivated to keep baby sister close by while teaching. We have encountered 2 notable challenges while teaching Aaliyah to read.
1. Defrentiating "b" from "d". I dealt with this issue by pointing it out to her, and using the clever little trick my friend, Jolene recommended to me.  watch video here
2. Mirror reading and writing. This is when a child see things out of order or backwards; just like things in a mirror would be. I used to think that Aaliyah had a touch of dyslexia; but her comprehension is great, so that ruled dyslexia out. This issue is present not only in her reading and writing, but also in math. For the most part, this is not an issue any more as they apparently grow out of it.  learn more here

Cassidy could read for almost 2 years before SHE knew she could read. This precious girl is on her own time table with just about everything she does. Some things she does early.  ( I.E. She taught herself to tie her own shoes. She potty trained herself before she was two.)   Other things...not so much. (I.E. Reading on her own) The most notable issue with Cassidy's reading, other than her reading for fun, is also the mirror reading/writing that I mentioned with Aaliyah. She is aware of the issue, so she most often self corrects.

Raymond DeSean: Raymond was the first one to really enjoy 100 Easy Lessons that I mentioned in a previous post. He was reading Bob books on his own by the age of 3. Life happened and his previously diligent mother began to slack. Too many days off has amounted to us virtually starting the reading process over. We are now reading those same Bob books again...about 2 years later; but with greater proficiency and understanding. I'm o.k. with that. I am very grateful that he does not have the mirror reading issue, or any other issue sometimes present in children.

Rayanna: This little girls LOVES books!!! She gets upset when it is not her "school day" and she doesn't get to read with Mama from her "school books" which are kept at school in her special spot. I rotate them out every month so that she has a new set of about 20 books to enjoy. I sometimes have the bigger girls read with her; but usually from one of the books she and I have already read together. We are now in the process of learning vowels. I'll let you know how her reading progresses and whether she loves to read, or prefers to be read to.

Building on another man's foundation

I am currently homeschooling my sister's kids. I must say that reading is the most difficult skill to teach a child when they have learned things from someone else a different way.

With one child I thought their vision was a problem, so I had it tested. No problems.
I began to think that maybe this child was just being lazy; but I have come to learn through research that all of the cousins were taught to read by memorization and not phonics. The major problem with this method (as far as I am concerned) is that when new words are before them; they guess instead of reading the word. They have no tools in their tool belt to figure out what the word really says; whereas phonics gives kids the keys to deconstruct the word in order to figure it out.

Annas is 10 years old and in the fourth grade. She is currently reading through the third grade level books. To be honest, I wanted to put her back into the second grade level books; but didn't want to embarrass her (her sister is in the second grade). She is reading the third grade level books; but I limit her to reading only one story and a poem (when applicable) in her Abeka books so she doesn't zoom through them in order to catch up with her 4th grade cousin. She and Aaliyah are reading the Little House in the Big Woods series together aloud. This is to allow her to hear more closely what she should sound like when reading. I am comfortable with this because I trust Aaliyah to help her gently, and because Annas is a better math student than Aaliyah and helps Aaliyah out in that subject in school. They help each other out and thus no one gets the big head.
When we started in June, she couldn't read through a page without making SEVERAL mistakes. So many that it was painful for both of us because I demanded her to re-read each word correctly. We read together today, and I am so proud to report that she only made three mistakes in the whole story which was several pages long. She also read with emotion. Proud Auntie Moment!

Devorionne is in the second grade. This child LOVES, LOVES, LOVES books! Problem? She would "read" a book and the story she "read" would be totally different than the one the author wrote. This did not bother her at all; but it frustrated me greatly. What did I do? I took her back to books that were easy for her and made her read them to me correctly and v e r y, V E R Y S L O W L Y ( think drunk person on muscle relaxers) before she could move on to grade level books. I also used blend, dipthong, and word flashcards with her to improve her accuracy. I am extremely proud of her progress. I think the one thing that helped her most was having her read aloud to me slowly. Devorionne is probably my sharpest student. She is a very fast learner and enjoys school tremendously.

Sir (Devorionte): Where do I start with this one? ...From the begining. We went back to K-5 books with Sir. He is Devorionne's twin (2nd grade); but struggled a lot in public school on every level; not because he has any mental issues; but because he is all boy, and sitting in a classroom is the last place he should be...especially after he has eaten any sugar products. Initially he was really upset that He and Raymond DeSean were reading buddies. I only work with R. DeSean about 3 days a week though, so they are no longer at the same level. To date, Sir has completed all of the K-5 program and is now at the end of his second, first grade book. Sir has just realized (as of 2 weeks ago) that he can read and he is really accelerating fast! We read together today and I only had to remind him twice - as opposed to every other word- about the 2 vowel rule. (How many vowels are in that word? What are they? I need to hear the name of the one first in line when you read the word.) PAM! (Proud Auntie Moment).

In about 20 years or so when these young people are experiencing success in their lives, I will be proud that I had a part in leading them on the path to success. Very few people worth mentioning became successful without a love of learning. Fewer still love learning who are not great readers. I love being a part of their journey!

Coming Soon: Our Morning routine

Until Next Time,

Teaching Reading...where do I begin?

Many years ago I taught a class of Kindergartners and first graders. Knowing what I know now, I feel sorry for each of those children. I was not a great teacher. I hate paperwork, and I am not naturally a very creative or imaginative person...which should be pre-requisites for working with that age group. Nevertheless, I like to think that what I lacked in technique, I made up for with love and effort.

Why do I mention this? I mention it because the school I taught at used ABEKA for their reading curricula. I LOVE ABEKA; but it was not what I used for my firstborn.

Some time after my very brief teaching career, we moved to Arkansas. When we first arrived, Aaliyah was only about 11 months old. Our reading program at that point was my reading to her daily. We spent hours at our local library and we received free books monthly through Dolly Partons Imagination Library program.
When we were ready for "real" school, I began to seek out options for our curriculum. I made it a matter of prayer because, of course, funding for the education of our 4 and 2 year old was not in the budget. While cleaning out the church nursery I found a set of Hooked on Phonics books. Later, I went to our local library and found that what I lacked, they had available for me to check out. Voila! Our reading program officially began with Hooked on Phonics and some alphabet flashcards from the dollar store.

When it was time for me to teach Cassidy how to read I had acquired some teaching materials as well as talked to some of my homeschooling friends. Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons was the hot topic at the time. I LOVE Goodwill and resale shops. I found a copy of 100 Easy Lessons at one of them for $1.00, so I decided to give it a try.

It seemed to be working well. Cassidy was excited to learn to read and I noticed that Little Man (AKA Bubba, or Raymond DeSean) became curious as we read. I began to make sure he was near us while we worked on Cassidy's reading.

Time passed. I officially started Bubba on 100 Easy Lessons at 3 years old, but soon 100 easy lessons wasn't so easy...somewhere around lesson 60 it became a chore. By this time Aaliyah was using ABEKA and I had been introduced to Ebay. I ordered all the Abeka readers from K-5 to 5th grade for about $100 (some new and some gently used) and we switched everyone over to Abeka.

I have incorporated a few tips and tricks for (hopefully) helping my children become great readers. I try to combine the things we learned from all three of the methods above, and to incorporate a few things I've noticed that work well for us. Are you curious to know what those things are?

Here we go!

1. We learn letter recognition and word recognition simultaneously...with an emphasis on the vowels.

a.) I teach the 5 vowels first, then move on to letters which are
common in three letter words. (***Details below)

b.) Once they master their vowels, we begin to make words...even if
they don't know EVERY letter/sound.

c.) We sing our words instead of saying them. This helps them to
hear the word more easily instead of hearing "broken" words. I
sometimes use refrigerator magnet alphabet or alphabet puzzle

I created this to be used with the chips
just like the consonant map
pictured above and below.

pieces to spell words. Bubba likes to drive his toy car under the "road words" and sing
the sounds as he drives.

***A

This is Mr. A. Say, Hello to Mr. A! Mr. A likes to say (short a sound). Mr. A likes to say (short a sound). What does Mr. A say?
Say his favorite sound quietly.
Now say it loud!
Sometimes Mr. A wears a hat.
Sometimes he wears a smile. (Vowel marking symbols )
What's his name? (Long a sound)
What does he say? (Short a sound)

We are doing this right now with Rayanna. She is only 2; but she is holding books right side up consistently and running her finger under words as she "reads".

I continue by teaching them that every letter has a name and a sound, but vowels are special. Only the vowels get to say their own names in words. When two vowels are present I need to hear the name of the first vowel as you say the word.

Teaching Long and Short vowel words

My "n" book at the library
We focus on a problem sound
each week with
these books at the library.

Notice this word has how many vowels? That's right it has 2 vowels. What are they? Look at the first vowel. He is wearing a hat. That gives us a clue. He is going to get to say his name in this work. Look at the second vowel. The second vowel is sad. Why? He doesn't get to talk this time. He has to wait for a word where he is first in line in order to speak.
If the child does not acknowledge the 2 vowel rule, I ask them to count the vowels and remind them of the rule. I sometimes sit up extra straight and salute as a hint to give respect to the "Mr." (long sound) Vowel.

Below you will see pics of us using some of our reading tools.
1. Consonant mat
2. Vowel mat
3. Special sound mat (common blends, digraphs and diphthongs)
4. Red, white and blue discs
5. Alphabet manipulatives (abc magnets or puzzle pieces)
6. ABEKA books

Our read alouds in the morning. We just finished Prince Warriors and are beginning Charlotte's Web.
Aaliyah has chosen to continue the Prince Warrior Series.

7. Bob books
8. My "alphabet" books at the library (pictured above)