Nervous about teaching her to read

[ekblad9]

I am homeschooling my 5 year old right now. We just started homeschooling last year. My oldest was in PS for four years so by the time he came home he could read, write, do math, etc. My dd has been bugging me all summer to start schooling with her so here we are. I'm so nervous about teaching her to read. I have the Oak Meadow 1st grade curriculum. I went with that instead of kindergarten b/c she's almost 6 and seems so into learning to read and write. I have no intentions of pushing her but she is pushing me!

Any advice? I have little self esteem in this area. I don't know why. I went to college to be a teacher. I guess I just feel so much pressure. Like if she doesn't learn right it will be all my fault. KWIM?

Thanks!

[hydrangea]

I'm unschooling, but my 5-year-old has been wanting to "do" school and is eager to learn to read. So occasionally when we have a moment we pick up our book (someone gave me Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons a while back) and do a lesson. Sometimes it goes really well, and we end up doing a lesson every day for a week, but sometimes either she or I get frustrated, and at that point I usually put it down for a few days until one of us initiates our picking it up again. So anyway, we're doing a pretty structured program in a very unstructured way, and it's working. She has fun doing school, she loves that she can sound things out, and it's opened up a whole new world of word games we can play as we're walking down the street, and that only helps.

So I'd say, just do it. Do it for fun, just like you would play a game with her for fun. Do it and follow your daughter's cues. If either you or she is frustrated, stop for a while and pick it up another day.

I'm sure you'll both do great.

[khrisday]

We tried 100 Easy Lessons, but ds hated it so we have been using Phonics Pathways. There is also a book called Reading Reflex that I believe has more games and activities to teach reading. If she doesn't yet know letter sounds you can use flashcards or magnetic letters to work on that (easy to make it fun), and if she has the letter sounds, maybe she would liek to try reading the Bob Books readers? (the first book can be read with just three letter sounds)

[lilyka]

We did 100 easy lessons in a pretty laid back fashion so it went pretty smoothly. We stopped around lesson 60 i think. We also used Bob books once she had a basic grasp of letters and thier sounds. My friend used Explode the code and I was really impressed with what I saw. Lots of games, and fun activities and very work at your own pace sorta thing. Also cheap and organized so you can pick and choose where your child needs to be.

I was really nervous about this too but dd is reading pretty well now. It just sorta seems like if you can teach them something so abstract that you are truely capable of teaching them anything. Also hearing them sound out that first word is like watching thier first real step

[gilnikche]

If I may be so bold as to offer another option...

Have you ever checked out Headsprout? Your child can do the first five lessons free & it is FUN. My daughter is on lesson 15 & loves it. The only problem I have had is keeping my mouth shut unless she needs me!

The site is www.headsprout.com


Also, have you seen the other thread about learning styles? The title is Kindergarten ideas

[Linda in Arizona]

Reading isn't nearly as hard as schools make it out to be. I think they have a pretty big bussiness and if the truth gets out it will really cut into their monopoly.

I used to tutor literacy before I had kids. Our students started out not reading (or not reading much) and could read on a 4th grade level after an average of 1 1/2 years of tutoring (meeting twice a week for 1 to 1 1/2 hours at a time). At the time, I wondered what they do all day, year after year, in school.

I think that part of the reason our students did so well is because they were developmental ready, very motivated, and we used good materials.

All kids are ready to read at different ages. Just like walking, there is a huge range in what is "normal." Don't rush it. It is better for the child to be the one pushing, not the mommy. Some kids are ready to read as early as 3 or 4, others not until the 8 or 10. In the long run, it doesn't seem to matter as the kids who start later tend to have a shorter learning curve.

Motivation comes easily to most kids who are read to often and see their parents reading.

There are tons of good materials out there. I don't know anything about the reading instruction included in Oak Meadow, so I can't say anything about it. If it seems to be working good for you guys, then stick with it. If is turns out to be a bad match, there are many other good (and inexpensive) options out there.

My kids are 4 and 5 and enjoy reading the Bob books, working on the Explode the Code work books, and playing with the puzzles in Reading Reflex. They both hated How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 EZ Lessons.

[ekblad9]

Thanks!

Thanks you guys! We've been doing "school" for three days now. She seems to really enjoy it. So much so that she's up at the crack of dawn begging me to do it! A large difference from my oldest who would do just about anything to avoid school work! Anyway, I've gotten some great ideas here. I think she's so anxious to start reading because her big brother and my dh and I are constantly reading.

Thanks again!

Amy

[SueDid]

It is an amazing thing to teach your child to read. I've done it 4 times now and it thrills me each time. We've used a couple of different programs, but really teaching the letter sounds and how to put them together just takes some practice and a child who is ready. We used flash cards and started putting those together once the sounds were mastered. It's quite a lot of fun and an awesome thing to see the light bulb go on as the first words are read on their own.
Sue