Learning to read

[SueC]

My almost 5 year old really seems to want to learn to read. She is constantly practicing writing letters and the other day I came across a sheet of grid paper that she had completely filled in with letters, many of which I haven't taught her yet. When we are in the car she practices writing words by having me spell them for her, and she has me tell her what some of her favorite books say page by page so that she can pretend like she is reading them herself. She has always been a very verbal child, so I don't really think I'm jumping the gun here. I was doing some research online and there is just a plethera of information, so I'm not sure where to start. Once we've mastered letters, do we start learning sounds phonetically? If anyone could point me in the direction of some good resources I'd really appreciate it. I'd be willing to buy some materials but I want to know its effective before I shell the money out.

Sue, I'll ask my friend who teaches 1st grade what words she teaches first. I think it's ME, SEE, and.....can't remember. Anyway, the point is that you get a few words out of the same few letters.
We were just talking about this the other day.....

Sue, I feel like I could have posted the same exact thing! Drew will be five in January, and he does the very same thing. He has figured out lots on his own(with the help of preschool!) and I have tried the best that I can with just things around the house.

I will anxiously await some information, good post Sue, and congratulations on the milestone!! (makes me a little sad to see this little person getting so big....guess I can't really stop it though!)

[Rapunzel]

Well, I'll answer this since I've taught three kids to read so far (not counting all of the kids I worked with as a reading tutor during my college years) and the fourth is just starting to show signs of wanting to learn....

Here are the steps I pretty much followed:

1) Alphabet (knowledge of the names and physical shapes of the letters)

2) Sounding out the consonants. You can make games out of this quite easily and it's fun to do while you're making dinner with a child sitting in the kitchen. You can do it in the car running errands - anywhere. Very easy.

3) Identify the shape of the alphabet with the sound it makes. This is the hardest step, in my opinion. What I did was sit down and actually write out alphabet shapes and the children "guessed" their sounds. There's also the option of making letters out of food (that's always fun) and working on the "noises" the sounds make as you and the child eat.

4) At this point I generally decide it's time to work on putting phonetic elements together. By this stage I've worked on the hardest phonetic elements - the vowels (short vowel sounds ONLY at this point). I will point to just portion of words and also use the ideas in step #3 to gradually help the child sound out words. Example: Go over the sound of "B" and the short vowel sound of "A", then put the two together. Once the child begins to understand this combination start adding "endings" to it - bat, bam, bad - for example.

5) Once one of my kids has mastered that step (comprehending that "sticking" letters togethers makes words and that the words have rules for how they should sound based upon the letters "stuck" together) then I move on to a bonified "reading program". I've spent years investigating and trying different programs (I've got a stack of catalogs for just the current school year that is about a foot tall ). The one that I was most impressed with and have used on all three of my older children is the Wright Group's "The Wright Skills" Decodable Books. (The Wright Group is a subsidiary of McGraw-Hill and their catalog is pretty much concentrated in leveled reading materials - it's a BIG catalog to wade through).

About the decodable books I use:
There are a total of 96 leveled books with three "skill levels": A,B, and C. The first book has a total of about a dozen words in it and begins with a very few consonants and the short "a" sound. What I love about these books is that they don't throw in surprises (only building on what has previously been covered in other books), they gradually introduce "sight" words (words that are basically "memorized" prior to learning the more complex rules governing them), and they permit the child to go as slow or as fast as he/she needs (there's a lot of confidence-building as well - especially when you tell your child that can read very little that he/she "already" read five books!). The level A books (40 total) cover all the basic consonants, the short vowel sounds, and a good chunk of the "Dolch" sight words that all children are "expected" to know by the end of grade 1 in public schools. Level B books (40 total) start on the trickier "rules" - including silent e and vowel combinations along with consonant combinations (hard and soft "th", "sh", "ch") along with a number of other basic rules and add onto the sight words by another good chunk. Level C books (16 altogether) kind of finish everything off with the particularly tricky rules and throw in a few more difficult sight words.

My sister (an elementary school teacher) officially tested my son's reading level once he finished the Level C books. She put him on a solid third grade reading level at that point. So, I'm thinking it's a pretty safe bet that that is about the level that can be attained once that particular program is complete.

I am sure there are other reading programs that meet these requirements. I think it is very, very important that the program move logically without introducing too many elements at once and progress immediately incorporating previously learned skills into future books (for practice' sake). This particular program seemed to be the best in my own eyes. It also helps that the stories are fun and incredibly varied (out of 96 books, no boredom from the kids yet!) and the pictures are imaginative, colorful, and similarly varied (they use a large number of artists to work on the books so that almost no two books are very alike visually).

6) I make sure that through all of this we are regularly reading new books all the time with pictures and text that interest the kids. I've found that while they are learning to read my kids really look forward to having the "break" of being read to - and it gives them a good example of enjoying reading, of course.

7) After completing our "official" reading program I've found that the kids do best with free reign in the library to pick whatever suits their fancy in the children's book section. The more they read the more their reading skills expand.

Not all kids pick up reading as quickly as mine did, but your daughter, Sue, definitely sounds like she's probably going to progress pretty fast with just a bit of help. I think it's important to catch the momentum when a child shows serious interest in learning to read and your daughter appears to be ready to GO. Good luck!

Jennifer

[Rapunzel]

Oh, I forgot to add:

If you want to try out a cheaper reading program that uses the exact same concepts of introduction of skills and building on previously learned skills try Bob books. They are not nearly as comprehensive as the reading program I use and don't offer as high a level of progression based entirely on their usage, HOWEVER, if you want to just see if the type of program I use is right for your daughter without a very large monetary investment I'd try the Bob series first.

The drawings for the Bob books are simple sketches that are actually pretty funny. I'm fairly certain there are about three sets with ten books each in the series.

Jennifer

[PrincessFiona]

Hooked on phonics is also a great, great program btw. The software in it is a good tool to help them learn to recognize letters/sounds.

At the montessori school, they have taught Alex the sounds of a few lowercase letters that can easily be made into words: c,p,t,f,g,h,m and a,o Once they are confident about the sounds that each letter makes, the have them go to a 'letters board'. There is a basket with a few items in it:

a little map,a cat, hat, pot etc.....

The kids are given a basket of wooden letters (organized in order). They are then asked what the object is:

"cat"

What is the first sound?

"c"

What letter makes that sound?

"c"

Great...put the c next to the cat. What is the next sound?

'aaaaah"

What letter makes the 'a' sound? etc etc etc

At first, alex was able to do this but didn't see that the sounds together all made a word....he was looking at indep. sounds. Then suddenly one day it clicked and he just took off with guessing how a word is spelled, etc.

kris

[spotty_dog]

Heh. My mom plunked me in a corner with Little Acorn Readers when I was about two. I could stare at the things for hours and I was reading at three. Got in trouble in preschool by distracting the other kids reading stories to them...

Unfortunately Little Acorn Readers are now out of print as far as I can tell, but my mom kept mine and my kids will be getting them! I still remember the stories, believe it or not -- especially the Big Red Monster, which scared the pants off me even though it was just one of the regular characters who'd fallen in a mudpuddle with a red blanket on his head.

There was another series by the same publisher that I also enjoyed, but it didn't make as big an impression on me. The series was built up similarly to the ones Jennifer describes, with a set of cards teaching letters, then one teaching words, then sentences, and finally one with a story: the cow jumped over the moon nursery rhyme!

I second Jennifer's recommendation of the "Wright Series". We haven't used those to teach reading, but I think they are really high quality books. We have several from my aunt who is a teacher and Bryn *loves* them. Their non-fiction stuff is great. I'll have to look for the Decodable Books.
Jennifer -- can you get those on-line?
We have an eager reader here, too!

[SueC]

Thank you all for the information--I figured Rapunzel would have something to share, being a home educater and all! I'll check out all of those resources you guys mentioned, as well as trying out the activities for practicing making sounds.
Matt, sounds like our kids are on the same track. Maya turns 5 on Dec. 28 and while she is so excited to be turning 5 it makes me a little sad. I'm not quite ready to send her off to school just yet. At the same time it is a thrill to watch her become so excited about reading as it is a passion of mine.

[Rapunzel]

There are so many reading philosophies out there I've discovered! They range from the idea that a child shouldn't be "allowed" to read until the age of 8 ( no joke) to the Glen Doman approach (read the book "Teach Your Baby to Read") and everywhere in-between!!! It can get overwhelming. So, I'm kind of the safe, middle-of-the-road traditionalist on this one.

Here's the link to the Wright Group on-line catalog for guided reading:

http://www.wrightgroup.com/index.php/pr ... L000000001

And, here's the specific link for the decodable books:

http://www.wrightgroup.com/index.php/pr ... etsandkits
(if you scroll down on this link you can view the covers of each of the individual books)

You can only buy the books in sets of 6 (for classroom use) or in packs of one of each for each level - you cannot purchase individual specific books *I think*.

Level A:

http://www.wrightgroup.com/index.php/co ... 0322038731

Level B:
http://www.wrightgroup.com/index.php/co ... 0322038782

Level C:
http://www.wrightgroup.com/index.php/co ... 0322007348

If you would like to order a catelog I'm pretty sure that the books are individually listed according to their level and are "broken" down into their specific rules of reading covered for each book (it's one of the things that sold me on the program initially - a plethora of information in the catelog ).

To order a catelog:

http://www.wrightgroup.com/index.php/requestcatalog

I know the books are kind of pricey (I forgot just how pricey actually!), but it was worth the investment for me since I'm going to be using these on a total of at least five children. Additionally, I've loaned them out to friends to use with their own children so it was worth the price for me in that respect.

Hope that helps.

Jennifer

Those are a little pricey but seems reasonable for all the stuff you get (especially if you use them 5 times!).
A friend's stepkids go to Waldorf school and they don't learn to read until 7. Seems to work for them but it's would be hard for me to pass up on the natural curiousity, interest and excitement that is happening right now. I learned my lesson on that with toilet training and am loathe to make the mistake again!

[houseelf]

Wow, we must all be hitting this milestone together. Phonics are a daily conversation around here. I have heard that some montesori schools teache the sound of a letter before the actual identification. Further, this pedagogy teaches cursive before print. I will try to find an article on line that describes why rather than having a lay person like me hose it up.

One fine line that we walk in this household is trying to encourage learning (phonics and Spanish specifically) but not burning him out. DS is always quick to tell me when he is done talking about a subject. How do you all keep your children interested in topics?

Kelly

One fine line that we walk in this household is trying to encourage learning (phonics and Spanish specifically) but not burning him out.

Same here. I don't want to be cramming stuff down her throat nor do I want to overlook her desire to learn in the interest of letting things take their own course. She's pretty quick to let me know when she is done with a topic. I wish she would want to take a Spanish class (i've offered) because she is always asking me how to say things in Spanish. Minor detail: I don't speak Spanish.
The other thing that concerns me.... there is an abundant source....is that her pre-k is really more like kindergarten. She's a smart kid but I chalk up much of her progress to her teacher and class environment. Is she going to be totally bored in the public school next year? I think kids being bored in school is just as dangerous as kids being behind in that it makes them feel isolated and disenfranchised and looking for other things to do.

[mommax3]

Just my opinion....

I don't force my kids to spend time on anything until it is age appropriate. Unless they are behind the curve of "average" for their peer group, I let them determine how long they spend on any academic pursuit. A problem with many gifted children (and I think many of our children are exhibiting some characteristics of being gifted, from what I read) is asynchrony......i.e. they are ahead in some things, but not all. This plays out with my oldest in the following way......he reads, according to his Stanford test scores, at a "post high school" level. However, his emotional maturity is that of a nine year old, and he is not ready to handle really sad or really scary books. His attention span is also that of a nine year old, and he is not going to sit down and read a novel in an afternoon, even though technically, ability-wise, he could. What usually happens is that he is reading 5 or 6 books at once, in small bursts. It can be hard not to think they are lazy when they obviously have an ability that it seems like they aren't using. Learning about the various ways asynchrony plays into things with a gifted kid really helped me to relax with my oldest.

If you want to avoid burn-out, take your cue from your kids. Nellie, as far as kindergarten is concerned, if she doesn't have a really good teacher and a small class size, she may be bored, unless there is a G/T program that starts at the kinder level. Just try to stay as involved as you can and you will know if things aren't going well.

Sally

[Rapunzel]

Something that you mentioned, Sally, hit directly on a current problem I've been facing:

Alex reads on a fairly high level it seems (I honestly don't know what he'd test at right now) and devours books. The problem? We're rapidly running out of books that are appropriate for his emotional age that interest him intellectually. He's read 2,000 Leagues Below the Sea, Robin Hood, the Adventures of King Arthur, and a few other more "masculine" books that interest him and I think he can handle their plotline. But, it seems like we're running out of things. I was thinking about it the other day and I think I've basically got the Encyclopedia Brown and Hardy Boys series left (which is a ton of books - but I have yet to see if he thinks they are interesting enough to read).

Anyway, it IS a big problem for gifted kids to find themselves far ahead in many areas and at or below age level in a few, key areas. I have a strong feeling that my older three would get into a lot of trouble out of boredom in public schools and I think it's a good reason to really explore all educational options out there if you have a child that needs more intellectual stimulation on an emotional level he/she can handle. Very important!

The topic of gifted children and "burnout" has been a hot one on many of the homeschool internet groups I belong to. The consensus among most of the homeschool parents of gifted children is that burnout can be an exaggerated fear for these children. The experiences related appear to point to a larger problem of NOT giving gifted children enough intellectual stimulation as opposed to giving too much. I know that my own little "sponges" can absolutely wear me out with their desire to know and do more, more, more! I think when people use the term burn-out they sometimes might actually be referring to ignoring a child's cues that they are tired, bored, hungry, need to play (and, it's so important for a child's intellectual growth to engage in a good amount of play everday), etc. Children are, well, children and often have needs far more pressing than intellectual curiosity. As long as a parent isn't ignoring these important cues with gifted children the sky truly is the limit.

BTW here's the amazon link for ordering the Bob books:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/searc ... 52-2613731

Jennifer