[betharoo0]

What did you do to get your dd reading at a second grade level by 3? WOW!
My ds is 5 and cannot read. Iam not stressed or pushing it, but I would love to know your tips, and a typical homeschool day for you guys.
Iam so confused with all the curriculium(sp?) and all the methods! Iam not going to buy anything this next coming year except Saxon math for ds1. My five year old I really don't know how to start. I read the Ruth Beechicks books and I really like Margies thread here at F.V.
Help.

 

[Neeley]

When DD was still about a year old we put up little signs all over the house. Like there was one on every door at her eye level that read "DOOR", all windows had "WINDOW", bathroom had "BATHROOM" etc... We also read to her constantly from birth. No matter who she was with, her daddy, my mom, my grandmom - we all made it a point to read to her. He room was filled with ABCs, she had them on her walls, the fridge everywhere. Her recognition og letters and the sounds they make came easy to her. We did not set out with the intention of teaching her to read, but we wanted to instill a love of words and books in her. Once she knew her ABCs(age 2) by sound and sight it did not take long for her to sound out simple words.

Now we did the exact same thing with ds and he did not read until he was in kindergarten. So I am not convinced my way is the best way for every child. It obviously did not work with ds. With my kids it is a matter of drive. DD is very driven and motivated. She wants to learn and know more. She has a true love of words. She has been writing a novel for over a year, has written countless essays and short stories, has found an editor on her own, submitted some of her writings for publicationon her own, reads at least ten books a week etc... Whereas ds is not driven or motivated. He is very smart and can recall any sports related fact, but nothing school related. He has little motivation with his academics and getting him to do work is like pulling teeth. I have to beg and plead for him to read a fifty page book in a week.

I am still confused by the curriculums. We started out using LifePac and that was a failure for us. I was so confused and messed up. I finally made up my own curriculum. For history and science I bought some used history and science books from a yard sale. They were college textbooks. We read them together and discuss the concepts and theories on their level. I have also found some great websites that generate word searches, word scrambles, math worksheets, SAT word of the day, SAT vocabulary prep all for free. We use a computer program for Spanish and will be using one for Japanese as well.

I have to run an errand with DH. I will come back in a little while and give you a basic breakdown of our day then.

 

[Valerie in WA]

My first daughter read at a 7th grade level by the end of first grade (7.5 years old). I don't think it has anything to do with curriculum. It has to do with the child's intellectual capability and their motivational drive.

The Beechick books are good.

I started my second daughter (currently in Kindergarten) on a phonics work book, helped her to sound out simple words (cat...bob...mop... etc) and she's coming along like a 'normal' child.

I think phonetic learning provides an important foundation. But I would not recommend buying a huge phonics program with workbooks, reading books, flashcards, tapes, etc. For most kids, a phonics work book and plenty of SUPER easy to read books from the library is enough.

Also play games like "Upwords". Have you seen that? It's like scrabble, but you can stack tiles. If one person lays down tiles spelling: mop, you can cover the m with a t and change the word to top. The next player can cover the o with an i... and so on.

 

[betharoo0]

Thanks guys these are wonderful ideas! I need to buy that game! I forgot about that! It won't be as mess as scrabble...someone always knocks the letters:jug:

 

[Edna_E]

Everyone in my family even through the next generation read before kindergarten UNTIL my youngest niece - who had everybody thinking she did because she just memorized and recited the pages. She was in third grade before it was discovered that she couldn't read! Then she had some catching up to do. She has by now (2 years later). I think a lot of it has to do with really getting kids to WANT to read - so you have to get books THEY like (I used the library heavily) and read to them sometimes but be busy cooking dinner sometimes and let them sit in the kitchen and "read" to themselves.