Wanting to Read and Spell

Get or make some flash cards with site words on them-- start with the alphabet, and the sounds they make, and then small words like the, and, but, or, A, I, me, you, we, us, they, for, red, green, blue, yellow, etc.... do the flash cards with her- you say the word and make her say the word- and also writing the word will help. Any of this will help her to recognize the words.. then once she begins learning the sounds- you can read and let her do some of the souding out while she read with the finger pointing, etc..... I am a certified teacher and principal and think it is great that you are working with her and are so willing. You will not regret this decision in any form or fashion.
J.

starfall.com has phonics games and great help with early reading. You can also print off some very easy phonics books to start working on.

Hello A., I'm a mother of two children ages 11 and 7. They grow so fast!! Both of my children were reading as early as 3 yrs old. I've been homeschooling them since the very beginning. What I did with my own two children was to teach them the sounds the letters make, I also used flashcards to teach them the word along with the objects they were learning. For my younger child, I purchased the Fridge Phonics from Leapfrog, which was a favorite toy and the companion video called The Letter Factory. I also sold children's books and had tons of reading material on hand for both of them on any subject their little hearts would want to know about. My oldest child's favorite book was the Encyclopedia of Science at 4 yrs old, and at 11 his favorite subject is still science. So definitely get her books that are interesting to her so she will want to learn to read them on her own. With home schooling I have been using the A.C.E. curriculum which has a wonderful K3-5 program that teaches letter sounds and recognition, which are both very important for children learning to read. I have even opened up a small Christian private school in my home and currently have two children I am teaching to read. I have a 4 yr old girl and a 3 yr old boy that I'm working with. I started the 4 yr old last April with an additional program called Your Baby Can Read. She was 3 and a half at the time and within just a few weeks she was reading words like "elephant" and "tiger", but she wasn't reading phonetically until just recently. Now I have a "word wall" which is just a pocket chart hanging in the hallway where I put word families on index cards and have her sound them out for me. She has progressed amazingly and her mother is ecstatic. Ive only had the 3 yr old for less than two months, but I have noticed a huge improvement with him using the A.C.E. curriculum and the Your Baby Can Read program. He is not learning quite as fast as the little girl, but he couldn't even recognize any of his letters or count past 8 when he came here. Now he recognizes all the letters we have covered thus far and most of their sounds as well as recognizes a few of the sight words from the Your Baby Can Read videos/flashcards. I anticipate that he will also be able to read several words phonetically by the time he turns 4 in March. There are lots of educational toys and games available that are also fun and help with reading, we like the Learning Palette by Learning WrapUps, Boggle Jr, Flip-Flash Phonics from McGraw-Hill, Reading Rods by Learning Resources, Basic Picture Word Flash Cards from Carson-Dellosa Publishing and making mini books/crafts from reproducible books you can purchase from places like Mardel or online. We also enjoy lapbooking with the mini books we create. This is a really great free website for lapbooking ideas www.lapbooklessons.com. I hope some of these ideas help. =)

Get her a Leap Frog Tag. They are amazing! My 3 year old son & 6 year old niece & nephew love it. They have different books and the kids can point at words, pictures, and letters. It shows them how to sound out words and has different levels of games. You can also hook it up to your computer and it will track her learning skills. It's a fun way to help her learn to read. Here is a link for the Tag. You get a free headset with it, which comes in very handy in the car and at restaurants.
http://www.leapfrog.com/en/shop/tag_library.html
Have fun learning!

Hi A.,

I would encourage you to purchase the book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." I have taught 2 of my children to read with that book and have a 2 more that I will teach when they are older. It takes about 20 minutes a day and it tells you exactly what to say and do. I never dreamed that teaching a child to read could be so easy.
Hope this helps.

Awesome! Good for you guys!

I say, just get her lots of fun books, and keep that t.v. off. T.v., being easier entertainment, makes books less and less appealing, as kids realize how hard reading is till they get the hang of it. Which is years. Keep your daughter enjoying the rewards rather than thinking t.v. is rewarding for less challenge.

Take her to the library a lot to keep your costs down :) might want to wipe vinegar on the fronts and backs of each book, though, esp. since it's the cold and flu season.

Also, while you're there, or online, look into story times at your library or local book stores. Just to feed the fire.

And, generally, make lots of "teachable moments" every day. Just wherever you see words, describe them, and reinforce how different letters = sounds. "See that 'b'? Remember what sound that makes? That's right! That's why you see it here, where it says 'baby toys'..."

Have fun!

Oh, also, since you have a 1-yr old, get yourself a copy of Babytalk by Dr. Sally Ward. She does go from birth through age 5, so both girls can reap the benefits. The program has been studied extensively and statistically speaking, the kids that go through it end up generally happier, smarter, and better socialized.

L.

If she's following text with her fingers, she's halfway there.
When my daughter was little, I would follow the text with my finger when I read to her - it's called voice-pointing. One day when she was about three, I was reading to her, and she pointed to a word and announced, "That says So Wipe (Snow White)." Actually, it said Sneezy, but she had made the connection between the letter and the sound it made AND between capital letter and names.
I never formally taught her to read, but she was reading independently before her fourth birthday.

So just keep reading to her and voice-point.

When Jeff was starting to read and spell we did the following first I put cards put around the house with the words for the thing on them so he would learn to associate the spell and word with the object. Second I kept a card file of the words he know so that he would have a idea how far he had processed, Reading with your daughter is great and allowing her to read back to you is the greatness. I would say allow her to choose the books you read so she will fall in love with reading. I know a mom who not allow her son to read his choose and the kids now hates to read, I am not saying allow her to read things that go against your beliefs. I just saying if she likes snakes and you do not bear with it. Also found a good program to teach her the sounds of letters. I would also add in writing so that she will learn to write the word so that it comes naturally from the brain to the paper. I hope this helps some.

can she write/recognize her letters of the alphabet and does she know what sounds they all make?? if so...this is what i did with my MUCH younger adopted little brother (he is now 7) and my stepdaughter (who is now 6) when they very first starting to learn to read we started with very few, very easy sight words and made rhyming games: "t-h-e spells 'the'" and "y-o-u spells 'you'" and you can clap things like "i-t 'it'" and starting with just those few words each time you come to one of those in your story, let her say it and you read the rest of the sentence. use your finger to let her follow along and each time you come to a word she recognizes let her say it. it might take her a while but watching your little ones learn to read is the MOST amazing thing ever. once she catches on she is going to take off with reading!! what an amazing time in a mama's life, it's just so exciting!!

We bought our children some of the education software on the market. Jump start pre-school, and Reader rabbit are some of the better ones on the market.

A.,
My children are 27 and 25 now. But were both avid readers at young ages. My oldest could read very well from a magazine he picked up from a coffee table at age four. She is not too young to learn to read. I taught my children using the ABEKKA phonics method. Actually, I taught a 3 yr. old preschool class with that program. It's the best!!!! Good luck!

Hi A.,

I have a five year old son in kindergarten. I have used many different techniques to help him. If she can not identify letters yet, try flash cards. I also purchased two small dry erase boards with magnets. Once he learned his letters, I created a game with the magnets. I wrote some letters on the dry erase and I have him fill in the blank spaces with the magnets. He likes to play games with the colorful magnets! Also, I have him write his school words on the dry erase board. My next step with him will be, combining the single letter flash cards, so he can spell words on his own. In addition, he has a leap frog that helps him pronounciate the alphabet. I hope this info. will help your little girl! Good luck and GOD Bless!

I have been homeschooling for 18 years and taught a few of our nine kids to read using "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" it works to teach them to read, but not necessarily to spell. Don't get too worried about that yet. Keep reading to her, a love of reading is half the battle to all education. God bless, and please consider continuing to homeschool your kids...it's the best!

Keep encouraging her! She really is learning important skills now as she follows with you as you read. 2 of my kids "got it" with "Hop on Pop - the Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use". No fancy curriculum and no major effort. Just time spent reading with them and looking at the words, and trying to sound them out.
T. - homeschooling mom of 4, including 3 wonderful teenagers

They have some learning books at wal-mart, where they can trace letters, spell all different kind of things. also lots of learning games on the internet.

www.starfall.com, www.pbskids.com

Does your child know phonics? My grandson now 12 soon to be 13 taught himself to read at the age of 4, he had a V-Tech toy that tauchht him phonics. I bought the Leap Frog Phonics videos for my granddaughter, she is now 7 and in the first grade, they really help them not only learn the alphabet, but recognize the letters and the sounds they make. Also I bought some books that have only 2 to 4 words per page to help them, you can probably get the same things at the library. They have flash cards with sight words on them, that we also used, they use these in school, too.
I hope this helps some or gives you some ideas.
Have fun with those girls..
P.