MidnightCafe
05-13-2009, 11:39 AM
Ladies, I'm SO struggling with how to feel about Mane and reading. It's a long story, but I'll try to keep it short.
Mane asked me to teach her to read when she was 3, and I thought, "Great! She's going to be an early reader." I, personally, know I could have learned to read when I was 3. My parents were not the type to teach reading early, though. So, I learned to read in 1st grade (because that's when they taught reading way back then ;) ). I was 6 years old, and it was so simple and easy for me.
So, I taught her letter sounds. Casually. We had fridge magnets and whatnot. Then I taught her to sound out simple 3-letter words. She was shocked and excited.
Then it got dicey. When she was 4, I got the 100 Easy Lessons book. I let her ask for lessons. We did them a few times a week. Then she got bored (and frustrated?), and we never went back to that book. We continued to work on reading casually. She continued to sound out short words (3 or 4 letters with short vowel sounds).
When she was 5, we checked out stacks of Bob Books from the library. We talked about silent e and various other reading rules. It became apparent that reading was not coming easy or quick. I encouraged her to try to read Bob Books to me. She became frequently frustrated and tired.
This year (when she was 6), I got The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading as a guide for myself to organize the order in which to teach reading rules. Mane was super interested and wanted to do the lessons in the book. We picked up somewhere in the middle because she was past short vowel sounds and a few basic sight words. For a few months we persisted with lessons until she became tired, frustrated, and upset.
We also picked up the Scholastic book 100 Words Every First Grader Needs to Know (or something like that). She's completed the activities for about half that book.
I'm so afraid she'll hate reading. I'm concerned that there might be a problem I'm missing (like dyslexia). I read recently that pushing kids to read too soon (before their eyes are ready) can create problems like dyslexia and a need for glasses. Anybody know about that?
I don't know how much to push and how much to let it go.
It's really hard to see kindergartners who are reading better than she is. It's because I feel like I might not be doing something right. We've tried labeling things around the house. We've tried playing games. She plays on Starfall. I read to her constantly.
So, we're at the end of her "1st grade" year and she can read anything with a short vowel. She understands the silent e rule and will sound out a word properly if I point out the e at the end. She knows "sh," "ch," "th," "wh," "ph," "er," "ir," "ur," "ou," and knows the rule "if two vowels go a'walkin' the first one does the talkin'." Many of those things, though, she won't automatically sound out right. She'll only do it if I remind her by saying things like, "What does 'sh' say?" If she's not feeling like reading she'll say she doesn't know.
Normal? Not normal? She just turned 7.
Mane asked me to teach her to read when she was 3, and I thought, "Great! She's going to be an early reader." I, personally, know I could have learned to read when I was 3. My parents were not the type to teach reading early, though. So, I learned to read in 1st grade (because that's when they taught reading way back then ;) ). I was 6 years old, and it was so simple and easy for me.
So, I taught her letter sounds. Casually. We had fridge magnets and whatnot. Then I taught her to sound out simple 3-letter words. She was shocked and excited.
Then it got dicey. When she was 4, I got the 100 Easy Lessons book. I let her ask for lessons. We did them a few times a week. Then she got bored (and frustrated?), and we never went back to that book. We continued to work on reading casually. She continued to sound out short words (3 or 4 letters with short vowel sounds).
When she was 5, we checked out stacks of Bob Books from the library. We talked about silent e and various other reading rules. It became apparent that reading was not coming easy or quick. I encouraged her to try to read Bob Books to me. She became frequently frustrated and tired.
This year (when she was 6), I got The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading as a guide for myself to organize the order in which to teach reading rules. Mane was super interested and wanted to do the lessons in the book. We picked up somewhere in the middle because she was past short vowel sounds and a few basic sight words. For a few months we persisted with lessons until she became tired, frustrated, and upset.
We also picked up the Scholastic book 100 Words Every First Grader Needs to Know (or something like that). She's completed the activities for about half that book.
I'm so afraid she'll hate reading. I'm concerned that there might be a problem I'm missing (like dyslexia). I read recently that pushing kids to read too soon (before their eyes are ready) can create problems like dyslexia and a need for glasses. Anybody know about that?
I don't know how much to push and how much to let it go.
It's really hard to see kindergartners who are reading better than she is. It's because I feel like I might not be doing something right. We've tried labeling things around the house. We've tried playing games. She plays on Starfall. I read to her constantly.
So, we're at the end of her "1st grade" year and she can read anything with a short vowel. She understands the silent e rule and will sound out a word properly if I point out the e at the end. She knows "sh," "ch," "th," "wh," "ph," "er," "ir," "ur," "ou," and knows the rule "if two vowels go a'walkin' the first one does the talkin'." Many of those things, though, she won't automatically sound out right. She'll only do it if I remind her by saying things like, "What does 'sh' say?" If she's not feeling like reading she'll say she doesn't know.
Normal? Not normal? She just turned 7.