Your child is reading now, congratulations! It is time to move onto the next step. If your child has not quite grasped sounding out words, do not feel a need to rush. This will come with time. There is no need to move on.
In this next step you have a series of options open to you.
You can use the library.
There are plenty of phonic level readers there that will be perfect for your child's interest.
Bob books, (purchase/library)
These phonics, level reader books are also perfect and very reasonably priced.
We are going to use Mcduffey Readers. These are older books, free online. The reason I am using these books is because of how they work. Let me explain.
Years ago, our educational system was not 'dumbed down'. Things were not 'simple' to keep up with the rest of the class. You simply learned the material, struggled through it, and got it. Books were not boring, they were challenging. They progressed quickly.
I will use this example:
This is from book 5 in the 'Bob' series. They are working on long vowels.
Here is an example from McGuffey, lesson 25, of the primer.
LESSON XXV.--REVIEW.
Come, boys, and feed the cows. The sun has set, and they are at the barn.
Sue has a bell on the neck of her pet cat.
One hot day Ann and Nell sat on the grass in the shade of a big tree. They like to rock their dolls, and sing to them.
The brave men in our boat are on their way to the ship. They will save the men in the ship, if they can. They will not let them drown.
What bird has big eyes? The owl. Can an owl see at night? Yes, an owl can see best at night.
LESSON XXV.--REVIEW.
Come, boys, and feed the cows. The sun has set, and they are at the barn.
Sue has a bell on the neck of her pet cat.
One hot day Ann and Nell sat on the grass in the shade of a big tree. They like to rock their dolls, and sing to them.
The brave men in our boat are on their way to the ship. They will save the men in the ship, if they can. They will not let them drown.
What bird has big eyes? The owl. Can an owl see at night? Yes, an owl can see best at night.
The first one is from book 5 in a series. Bob books were not meant to go through... in one month! This is lesson 25. This means that is the students second (or so) month of school. Already they are at this point, not learning one simple sound at a time, but multiple sounds, all at once.
My point, there is no need to dumb down your child's education. Start where they are, slow down when you need to, but welcome the challenges. You'll be surprised how fast they go!
Now, I ask you to go to this site and download the pdf for primer.
Start with lesson one and move on. Pay attention to the sight words listed. You can also use these as vocabulary words and if there are any your child finds challenging, put them on the index cards.
This is also a good time to start making phonics cards. Write down anything you can find. They do not necessarily have to be a phonics term, just anything your child may need review on. Here are a few:
ar er ew sh ch st th ow ph oa ee ing oo ice y at the end says ee
when there is an e at the end, the vowel says its name
one consonant, vowel is long, two, short (example timing, vs. timming)
ir ur aught ough ace
These are just to name a few. Put in as many as you can come up with.
This is also a good time to start making phonics cards. Write down anything you can find. They do not necessarily have to be a phonics term, just anything your child may need review on. Here are a few:
ar er ew sh ch st th ow ph oa ee ing oo ice y at the end says ee
when there is an e at the end, the vowel says its name
one consonant, vowel is long, two, short (example timing, vs. timming)
ir ur aught ough ace
These are just to name a few. Put in as many as you can come up with.
You have a choice here. You are going to begin accumulating a lot of cards, many of which will be different subjects. There are several options.
Shuffle them
It is always fun to see what subject you will get
If you land on red, you choose from the math pile, yellow sight words, etc.
If you have older children, make cards for them and play Monopoly. Each color represents a stack to draw from. If you get it right you have the option of buying a house for that space. A house is the same price as the same amount as on the space. (rent is the same, however) When they get 4 houses, they automatically get upgraded to a hotel. (There just aren't enough houses! ha!)
Another reminder, try not to tell your child the words, have them sound it out. Of course you don't want to have them sound out every word. But start with certain sounds.
An example would be lesson 7
Your child is introduced to 'ee' in see, and 'fr' frog.
You have two choices here:
1. Tell them the word, after all it is a small word. For the most part, a sight word.
2. 'ee' says eeee, sound it out. 'fr' says fr, sound it out.
The second one teaches independence. When you are not there they know they will need to sound out words, and not rely on you so much. I, personally, would go with the latter.
Now I know many are saying, "what about writing?" Writing will come eventually, and will be taught when your child has the coordination to hold a pen or pencil more easily. At around age 7, your child's coordination will be better. That letter 'B' you spent countless hours on at age 5, by 7 he or she will probably be writing it by him or herself with little help from you.
It doesn't hurt to wait.
Leaning on the classical, I take advantage of this age of curiosity! Fill them up with information while their little minds soak it in. Give them a good grasp on reading and math. If they want to, feel free to let them write. But writing will come more naturally when your child is older. Why waste so many hours?
For math, continue with the math games. Also start to introduce them to the idea of 1+1=2 Introduce them a little at a time, but continue the story problem questions you present to them.
Do not have child write them out.
There is a different plan for this. First I want them to get a good grasp on addition. If you would like to introduce your child to subtraction at the same time, go for it! Just make it exciting and fun and watch as their little minds soak it up.
I leave you with this. By now you should be set to start your reading adventure!!
Just remember, there is no need to rush. If your child is running into issues with more than one word, perhaps it may be a good idea to review those words and read the same story the following day. If the story is too overwhelming or long for your child, break it into paragraphs. Read one paragraph the first day. The next day you can read the first and second, the next day tack on the third and so on..
Don't forget to continue to read to your child.
Join me again, and I will lead you through the next stage of math.
Happy Homeschooling!
*************If your child is not yet reading, scroll further down to 'older posts' and click there. It will go all the way to learning letters, and make your way up. Sorry about this! When I wrote this, I had no idea it would be this long, LOL*****************
If you have older children, make cards for them and play Monopoly. Each color represents a stack to draw from. If you get it right you have the option of buying a house for that space. A house is the same price as the same amount as on the space. (rent is the same, however) When they get 4 houses, they automatically get upgraded to a hotel. (There just aren't enough houses! ha!)
Another reminder, try not to tell your child the words, have them sound it out. Of course you don't want to have them sound out every word. But start with certain sounds.
An example would be lesson 7
Your child is introduced to 'ee' in see, and 'fr' frog.
You have two choices here:
1. Tell them the word, after all it is a small word. For the most part, a sight word.
2. 'ee' says eeee, sound it out. 'fr' says fr, sound it out.
The second one teaches independence. When you are not there they know they will need to sound out words, and not rely on you so much. I, personally, would go with the latter.
Now I know many are saying, "what about writing?" Writing will come eventually, and will be taught when your child has the coordination to hold a pen or pencil more easily. At around age 7, your child's coordination will be better. That letter 'B' you spent countless hours on at age 5, by 7 he or she will probably be writing it by him or herself with little help from you.
It doesn't hurt to wait.
Leaning on the classical, I take advantage of this age of curiosity! Fill them up with information while their little minds soak it in. Give them a good grasp on reading and math. If they want to, feel free to let them write. But writing will come more naturally when your child is older. Why waste so many hours?
For math, continue with the math games. Also start to introduce them to the idea of 1+1=2 Introduce them a little at a time, but continue the story problem questions you present to them.
Do not have child write them out.
There is a different plan for this. First I want them to get a good grasp on addition. If you would like to introduce your child to subtraction at the same time, go for it! Just make it exciting and fun and watch as their little minds soak it up.
I leave you with this. By now you should be set to start your reading adventure!!
Just remember, there is no need to rush. If your child is running into issues with more than one word, perhaps it may be a good idea to review those words and read the same story the following day. If the story is too overwhelming or long for your child, break it into paragraphs. Read one paragraph the first day. The next day you can read the first and second, the next day tack on the third and so on..
Don't forget to continue to read to your child.
Join me again, and I will lead you through the next stage of math.
Happy Homeschooling!
*************If your child is not yet reading, scroll further down to 'older posts' and click there. It will go all the way to learning letters, and make your way up. Sorry about this! When I wrote this, I had no idea it would be this long, LOL*****************
No comments:
Post a Comment