Conference moira::parenting

    Something that we used with out son that was very helpful and
    fun was to cut out basic words...a, and, the, it, is, to, one,
    blue, etc....out of construction paper and put the all over
    the walls of his bedroom (we had about 40 words all together).
    
    At night, before bedtime, we would make up stories incorporating
    the words.  Every time we used that word, we would point to it.
    
    Ex. Morgan AND I WENT TO THE store TO buy SOME apples.  I
    LIKE apples. (large letters are then pointed to)
    
    We found that this helped him to recognize these basic words
    by sight which gave him the freedom to concentrate on using
    the phonics with the harder words in order to read a book
    by himself.  
    
    Hope this helps,
    Pam
    
    
    
    

    re .0
    
    We used a modified phonics aproach, combined with "whole word" when
    Carrie got interested in reading, mostly by reading to her and showing
    her how the sounds went with letters.  The "whole word" partcomes in
    handy for recognizing patterns in words, and also for the inevitable
    "snerk" words english is full of.  
    
    Actually I think she learned more on reading by helping me with the
    grocery list when she could write letters.  We worked by making letter
    sounds, one at a time, and having her write them, as a game.  Made for
    some interesting grocery lists, but she enjoyed it and fun is wht makes
    learning work, (IMHO).
    
    meg

    My son and daughter were both fluent readers before age 4.  At age 6,
    my daughter is presently reading Roald Dahl books.
    
    We did nothing to "teach" them to read.  They claim they taught
    themselves by:
    
    	1. Constantly being read to (since birth), and
    	2. Playing with magnetized letters on the side of the fridge.
    
    Neither watched sesame street.
    
    L.-whose-daughter-is-now-teaching-herself-to-read-music

>    We did nothing to "teach" them to read.  They claim they taught
>    themselves by:
    
>        1. Constantly being read to (since birth), and

IMO, the absolute best approach.

If you're going to supplement, my opinion is that it's good to remember that 
kids learn to read in many different ways.  For some kids, phonetic learning 
is just about the only way, and for others it doesn't work well at all.

Not saying that this is an issue here, but it's really easy as a parent to 
get into "contests" over when little Johnny began to read, like it is to get 
into "contests" over who ate solid foods when, or who said a word when.

Clay

    My son's interest in letters has been helped by some toys he
    has: they are letters that unfold into robots.  He plays with
    the robots, but he also spells words.
    
    I guess the advantage is that he doesn't have to worry about
    writing as well as spelling when he has letters ready.
    
    		-John Bishop

Don't know what difference it might make, but I have made flash cards on
index cards with a heavy marker for my son with various simple words
relating to his life, like boy, dog, cat, baby, etc. We periodically go
through them, and right now (since we have just started) I just have him
say the letters that make up the words. His first readable word is stop.
Everytime we pass a stop sign on the road he says "S, T, O, P STOP!". One
thing that helps encourage him to play with the cards is letting him 
"personalize" them with crayons. All he does is scribble, but he knows
they are his cards to play with. We make sure to emphasize that he is not
to write in books, only in coloring books or things we tell him he can 
write on.

An interesting strategy I have found when quizzing him about things is to
say it is something that it is not. For instance, if I have an "A", I'll
say, "What is this, a K?" Even if he is not paying attention, he will say,
"No, A!" This especially helps when he is not in a good mood and won't respond
otherwise.

    I don't have time to read all the replies ... but when Chris started
    reading, he had a phonics background from his school, but had trouble
    seeing how it applied to "life".  I dug out an OLD book from when I
    learned how to read, maybe you remember - Fun With Dick and Jane - and
    he absolutely *LOVED* the idea of that book.  They're HARD to find
    those simple types of books, but it was great for him.  And the book
    gets progressively more difficult, and has "chapters", which made him
    feel like a big cheese.  
    
    This summer Jason will start using it, and I suspect he'll be just as
    thrilled to read about their adventures.  I got another "older" one at
    a used book store, but they really are tough to find.
    
    Patty

At the suggestion of the base note author, I have created a new topic 734, "When
to teach a child to read?", and moved a series of replies on that subject from
this topic to the new one.  Please keep replies in this topic on the subject of
*how* to teach reading to a child, and use the next topic for discussions of
whether or when it is appropriate.

Thank you.

	-Neil Faiman, PARENTING co-moderator

    
    I'm looking for some suggestions on beginner reading. My daughter is
    4 1/2 and really wants to read. She's always asking me how to spell
    something and what something says. She's actually getting good at
    spelling words by sounding them out (though she gets very mad at me
    when I try and stick a 'silent e' at the end of a word). I've heard
    great things about Reader Rabbit (hubby just bought her Math Rabbit
    for Christmas), but what are some other suggestions for helping her
    along??? Should I go back to some of her earlier books (like Hop on
    Pop) and work through those with her?? I'm not pushing her, she's 
    constantly on us with questions. In the car this weekend she asked
    what sound 'Q' made. I explained that 'Q' is always followed by a
    'U' and sounds like this <insert sound here>. Then I gave her some
    examples: quick, quack, quiet, question. She mulled this over, saying
    the words and then pipes up with "Earthquake, but it's in the middle of
    this work, not the beginning." My husband and I just looked at each
    other and said, "who needs kindergarten, send her off to first grade"
    and just shook our heads in amazement. Anyways, I've blabbered on
    enough. So any suggestions on helping her along??
    
    Patty

    We found some great early reader books at various places (book and
    toy stores mostly). There's one, called Find Nat, that both my kids
    love. There are suggestions for parents in the back of the book for how
    to proceed. 
    Good luck!
    Sue
    

    You seem to hint that you have a computer....our daughter
    really like the 'Learning Books' series...Grandma and me, etc.
    from Broderbund. These are books on CDs that will read the story
    to you and then let you play around with the pictures.  As it
    reads the story, it highlights the words its reading, and you
    can click on single words or phrases and it will read just those words.

    So she would read the story ONE word at a time as she clicked
    on each word.  Computers have infinite patience.

    She liked the Hop on Pop books too...also, we got some VERY
    old Phonics readers that she loved (Mac and Tab, etc.).

    Outside of letting her set the speed, enjoy.  When Carrie got
    interested in words, and writing them, I let her write the grocery
    list, helping her sound out the the words.  Sure the spelling was
    creative, but it worked for us, and I figure writing and reading are
    much like learning to talk.  It takes a while to get the flavor of
    language.
    
    Lolita was a perfectionist from day one, and when she started reading
    herself I am not sure, one day she just was.  This is the kid who
    wouldn't talk to many people until she had full sentences mastered.
    She wrote her name at 2 1/2, and  things just piled up on their own.
    
    The "hop on Pop" and other I can read it myself books are great, if
    they don't bore her, for Carrie the ability to read them on her own was
    enough to keep her interested.  Lolita liked beginning readers from the
    '60's and earlier that we found in thrift stores, she likee to make me
    read Fox in Sox and the others, I think it was a new way to torture
    mom, but she wouldn't read them on her own.
    
    We also played traffic sign games, and whatever games, letting them set
    the pace.  
    
    Have fun,
    
    meg

    
    
    Interesting that you bring up "Mac and Tab", Bob (is it Bob?).
    
    I went to a workshop on "early" reading at the early childhood
    center (preschool/kind/1st) in my town.  The curriculum specialist
    used that book as an example of something that was very difficult
    for young readers.   Her reasoning was that the story line just
    wasn't there.  I had to agree; it just didn't make sense and
    didn't make for very exciting reading.  The reading program 
    that they are currently using attempts to incorporate the 
    good from a variety of different techniques - phonics, whole
    language, etc.   A lot can be gained from context - which Mac
    and Tab (and many of the Dr. Seuss for that matter) just don't
    have.   Now, you're probably gonna ask what books they do use -
    but I just can't remember.   I'm recalling something called
    Chicka-Boom and The Greedy, Grey Octopus.  Are Eric Carle books
    also good for early readers?   
    
    The woman also gave an excellent example of how difficult it
    can be to use phonics alone - particularly because of the 
    short vowels.   She showed several examples of words that 
    were spelled the same - except for the first letter or so -
    that were pronounced completely different!   It made you 
    realized just how hard it is to learn to read and what we
    as adults take for granted.  
    
    The classrooms are "print-rich" - that is to say that 
    *everything* is labeled with its name - so that the children
    are just immersed in words.  
    
    Carol   

    RE: .13 
    
    Meg, 
    
    I tried out the grocery list idea just two weeks ago.   Jason
    did a great job - as a beginning writer, most "words" were just
    the beginning and middle consonant sounds with an occasional
    vowel (usually wrong!) thrown in.    Imagine my problem, however,
    in the grocery store wondering what the heck "BRKO" was and if
    it was something that I really needed or could live without??
    
    I was telling his teacher about this and she said "Of course, it's
    broccoli!".   She says she's great at interpretting vanity 
    license plates!.   
    
    They say the trick is to lightly pencil in the correct spelling so
    that you know what it is!  
    
    Carol 

    
    Our local library has a children room, which has all sorts
    of reading material according to ability. My daughter did 
    a lot of Dr. Seuss and little Golden Books. We got Sesame
    Street, Kid City and other magazines. I kept reading stories 
    to her for fun, ie. not just for learning to read. We read street 
    signs, store signs, grocery lists, receipts, ad flyers, lyrics
    to kid songs, anything that seemed interesting to her. We didn't 
    go into any details like phonics and exceptions at home, since we 
    thought the school could at least take care of that (which they did). 
    I was more excited about showing her the world and its resources 
    than the nitty-gritty.
    
    
    Eva
    

>    Interesting that you bring up "Mac and Tab", Bob (is it Bob?).

    yep....

    Mac and Tab (the set) was just one type of book our kids have around.    
    You are right...pretty boring.  But she loved to read through
    them and sound them out.  Hop of Pop is pretty boring too. 
    I think most kids care very little about the story line
    when they are starting to read.  They love the fact they
    are reading themselves.

    Clearly the most important thing is to read to them...a LOT,
    every night and whenever else you get a chance.  they read
    to me as they learn to do it...usually they read one of their
    books to me and then I read to them (a harder book).

    I wouldn't reject a book just cause someone says its boring!
    bob

    
    Patty,
    
    If you haven't already, one other thing to work on is the 
    mechanics of reading - the left to right, top to bottom, word
    by word.   Pointing to the words with either your finger or
    a pencil as you read along can be helpful.
    
    Carol

    
    Good idea Carol. I don't tend to do that when I'm reading to her, but
    I noticed she will do it herself when repeating something I've read to
    her. For example: she has an "Advent Task Tree". Each day she picks a
    task (Clean the bathroom sink, Help someone smaller than you, etc).
    Last night was the "clean the bathroom sink" task and later I found
    her "reading the slip of paper. She would repeat the string of words
    while marking off each word with her finger. Of course the first time 
    she did it she marked off bathroom as if it was two words and ended up
    with no work for sink. She then started over and combined bathroom into
    one work and ended the string on the right word. 
    
    Patty

    My daughter also started reading at 4 1/2.  Again, we did not push her,
    she wanted to learn and we helped her.
    
    We started with learning the letters and their sounds.  From there we
    played games in the car of "what begins with M, etc." and rhyming
    words. (I say a word, she has to rhyme, then she says and word and I
    have to rhyme).
    
    After that, when she kept asking us what words were, we showed her how
    to sound them out rather than just telling her.  Next thing we knew,
    we'd be stopped at a red light and she'd start sounding out words on
    signs (hearing her sound out ostomy was a bit wierd!).  Once she
    figured out how to sound things out, she just started reading on her
    own.
    
    We did make sure she had access to easy books (the infant board books
    and things like Hop on Pop) and to computer games like Living Books.
    
    Good Luck!
    
    Irene
    

   Has anybody tried to use the McGuffy Readers/Primers?  As I understand
   it, these are books that were used in schools many years ago.  There
   are some places where you can buy reprints of these books.  I have
   never actually read through them, but I understand that they start
   easy and progress into some fairly complex writings.
   
   Any comments?  
   
   Thanks,
   
   - Tom
   

    I had one for Lolita, and it is pretty entertaining, buch better than
    "Tip and Mitten, and Dick and Jane"

Elspeth learned to read from the McGuffey Readers.  I like them very much.
They aren't all "cuted down" like a lot of modern beginning readers, and
they just have an aesthetic quality that we appreciated.  (Also, Elspeth
had decided to learn to read after we read about Laura learning to read in
_On the Banks of Plum Creek_, so having a reader of the same vintage as
what Laura might have been using was a bonus.)

	-Neil

    
    Another good series is the "Step into Reading" books.  I know that
    K-mart sells them, but have a hard time at other places.  They're
    grouped by difficulty, and the "younger" age groups get larger letters.
    She should be able to do okay with the Step 1 books.  Beware - they're
    not cheap - $3.00-4.00/bk.
    
    Patty

    Yesterday, I had a conference with my son's first grade teacher.  [I
    have to brag here that Daniel is doing great, by the way ;-) ]
    His teacher gave me a packet of information about helping our children
    learn to read.  I found some of the information valuable.  I typed up 
    two of the notices and will post them in the next two replies.
    
    - Sheryl

    
    	cj,  when Jason learns to spell broccoli, send him over to 
    	my house to teach me!     
    
    	Karen, who *always* has to look that one up
    

Dear Parents,

Some parents express a desire to help their child in reading.  This letter 
includes some suggestions on how you can help your child recognize words.
You will notice the ideas can be used in informal situations without turning
your house into a miniature school.  I hope you enjoy using these activities
with your child.  Be patient and praise your child as you have fun together.
...

1.  How do you spell ---?  As your child develops an interest in writing 
    words, he will be asking you how to spell different words.  Sometimes
    simply respond by telling him the letters.  Other times, repeat the
    word and say, "What sound does it have at the beginning?"  If your child
    is able, also help him to hear the sounds in the middle and the end of
    the word.  This activity will help your child develop more independence
    in spelling because you are teaching him to listen to the sounds and think
     of the letters that represent them.

2.  What's this word?  When your child is reading and encounters an unfamiliar
    word, ask him if he sees any unfamiliar sound patters such as at, ill, or 
    ake.  Often children can pronounce a word that appears difficult if they
    analyze it.  Point out the sound patters by covering other letters.  
    Encourage your child to look at the beginning and ending sounds, too.

3.  How many words can you make?  Provide your child with several plastic
    alphabet letters or letters that you have written on index cards.  Ask
    him to see how many words he can make using the letters.  Time limits
    of 5 to 10 minutes make this activity enjoyable.  The activity is also
    more exciting if you take a turn at making some words.  In doing so, 
    you may want to introduce some new words to your child.

4.  Word baseball.  To play this game, designate one corner of a room as
    home plate and the other three corners as first, second, and third base.
    You can be the pitcher by flashing sight words to your child.  If he
    pronounces a word correctly within 3 seconds, he may go to first base.  
    If he says the next word, he may go to second base, on the next turn he goes
    to third base, and then scores a homerun when he gets the fourth word
    correct.  If he is unable to pronounce a word, he is out and then goes
    back to bat again.  The game is over after 3 outs.  The object is to see
    how many runs your child can score in each game.

5.  Guidance helps.  As your child is reading and comes to a word he does not
    know, tell him to skip it and read the rest of the sentence to determine
    what it is.  If he cannot, simple pronounce the word for him.  If he says
    a word, but it is incorrect, have him look at the sounds of the word.  One
    advantage of having your child read to you is that you can guide his
    development of word recognition techniques.  Remember not to become so
    involved in the recognition of words that you forget to see if your child
    is comprehending and enjoying the story.  By suggesting techniques to your
    child, and praising him sincerely when he uses them, you will be helping
    him develop effective reading habits.
    

Guidelines for Helping Children to Read


Perhaps the most frequently asked question by adults who are listening to 
children read is:  "When the child is reading and comes to an unknown word,
what should I encourage him/her to do?"  Many of us learned to sound out words
and naturally tend to encourage children to do this first also.

Reading research has shown that sounding out words is not the best strategy
to teach beginning readers when they encounter an unfamiliar word.  Focusing
on just the letter sounds diverts the child's attention from the meaning of the
sentence, and makes fluency and comprehension more difficult.

There are easier and more helpful strategies that we can teach children to
employ.  The following strategies help children to focus on making meaning
from the text, which is the central purpose for reading.  When the beginning
reader is stuck on a word, encourage the use of the following techniques:

1.  Read on to the end of the sentence.
2.  If there are illustrations, look at them for clues.
3.  Ask, what would make sense here?  Make some guesses of words that would
    make sense.
4.  Look again at the word.  Do any of your guesses "look" right?
5.  Look at the first, middle, and last letters of the word.  Think about
    what makes sense, what would sound right (good grammar), and what words
    might begin and end the same way.
6.  If after all this hard work the child is still unable to read the word,
    simply tell what the word is.

This my seem like a lot of steps, but what you are doing is giving the child
several strategies to interpret text.  Sounding out words is only one strategy,
and for every phonic rule that works, there's one that doesn't.  Be sure to
verbalize what the steps are as you work with the child; internalization of
the process is important.  The aim is to provide the child with strategies
that can be used even when you're not there to give help.