Any Recommendations?

[carriesmom]

I know that several of you do some degree of homeschooling. My oldest is going to be turning 4 in August. She knows all her letters, her numbers, colors (some in Spanish, thank you Dora), knows how to use a computer and is quite articulate. I have already started with her learning to write letters, which she is getting much better at. But I'm kind of at a loss for what to do about reading.

Any ideas? We check out books from our tiny library and she loves for me to read them to her. We also have one of those TAG pens as well. I'm really just looking for anything.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Honestly, Liz, organic reading is best, especially with girls! Keep checking out books to read together, get her some super easy readers and work through sounds with her (Bob books are really great for that), practice letters during the week and talk about how they sound and how they sound together with other letters, let her play at starfall.net, and read read read read read! More than likely, she'll begin to pick it up on her own. I really feel like this is the best approach for early learners as it doesn't put too much pressure to perform at a young age, and keeps their love of reading alive!

[carriesmom]

Originally Posted by Darcy Baldwin

Honestly, Liz, organic reading is best, especially with girls! Keep checking out books to read together, get her some super easy readers and work through sounds with her (Bob books are really great for that), practice letters during the week and talk about how they sound and how they sound together with other letters, let her play at starfall.net, and read read read read read! More than likely, she'll begin to pick it up on her own. I really feel like this is the best approach for early learners as it doesn't put too much pressure to perform at a young age, and keeps their love of reading alive!

Thanks Darcy! I was definitely not looking for a curriculum so to speak, just more of ideas to incorporate more reading concepts into her life. I am more of the learning by doing in every day life rather than schedule times to sit down and do it.

She is just so smart that without plenty of stimulation, she gets herself into trouble!

[color of my heart]

my mother brought us to the library twice a week when my brother and i were little. we got library cards as soon as we were old enough, which i THINK was four (i think she still has both of our first library cards, cause we wrote our names on them), and every summer we did the summer reading challenge thing (the more books you read, the more points you got towards "prizes"). she has always been big into reading and writing.

my mom used to make us book charts for the rest of the year. for every book we read, we got a sticker on the chart. after the chart was filled, we got to do something special.

i'm so out of the loop with kids books now. so i don't have suggestions. but that's what worked for us. well, for me. my brother never sat still long enough to read. i was the one who'd sit and read for hours and hours on end.

[MamaBee]

Read to her... every day... just read to her...

J is in a summer preeading program that is through Marquette University (Milwaukee)... and they stress over and over again... read to them... use books that have lots of fun pictures and a story that rhymes or repeats on it's self... like Dr. Seuss or books by the author of the Hungry Caterpillar, books that was on Reading Rainbow, etc... as you read, stop and ask them questions, "what do you think comes next?" "do you see...?" Then when you are done reading, give them independent time with the book so that they can go through the book and "read" it themselves... it will help grow a love of books.

This is what we have been doing since he was like days old... and we are blown away when J picks up a book begins reading... real reading! Now he didn't get every word right... but at least 80% of them...

[kristijoy]

My son sounds like he's at about the same place as your daughter. I read to him alot he LOVES stories. But...I have tried a few 'learning to read' things with him and it is way to overwhelming. He can read the first "Bob" book, but sounding out whole words & sight words is to much at this point.

What I started doing instead was another intermediate step of the 'first letter sound' of a word or object. Or the 'last letter sound' At "Lakeshore Learning Center" I bought a couple of premade sets (that are trains--my son loves trains) that have lots of picture cards and 'mats' with the appropriate letter on them. This is a much better level of activity. He has to say the word (of the object pictured) and then focus on the beginning sound and find that letter. Here's the link to the trains. Beginning Sound Phonics Train

I've also started working on some simple math with my son, which he enjoyes. He's great at the obvious counting but he's started trying to do subtraction while we are riding in the car. So I've started moving into pattern and simple addition and subtraction.

We sure have fun. Hope you do too!

[kristijoy]

Originally Posted by carriesmom

She is just so smart that without plenty of stimulation, she gets herself into trouble!

This is exactly why are starting doing more 'learning type' stuff with my son. He was just plain bored!

[origami]

We loved the "Signing Time" DVDs at at that age. These DVDs were designed by a mom who has 2 kids with disabilities, including an older daughter with a hearing impairment. She designed the DVDs because she wanted other children to be able to communicate with her daughter. These are fabulous DVDs because they teach sign language, but also family values and social skills. My child practically learned to read from the DVD that taught the alphabet because she pretty much figured out from that video that you put letters together to make words! If you want a fun set of DVDs with great music, I'd recommend these. Your child will be learning but it will be so fun, they won't realize how much they are learning. I don't have any connection to this company, just love the Signing Time DVDs! (They have sets for infants through preschool.)

http://www.signingtime.com/

[LibbysMommy]

I completely agree with everyone else. Read read read with her!! That's what I did with my oldest and it worked like a charm. We have quite a few easy readers and she really took a liking to one of them and eventually though learning to read the words in that one, it really helped her with reading the others. Practicing sight words helped her out a lot too. Have fun!! This is such a fun age!!

[taracotta7]

Agree with everyone above. Reading to her is the best way to keep her love of books alive and entertaining to her. Your library should have some reading program or summer special programs that might be fun to attend. My son loved going to story time there and when there was a special guest (like an author, puppet show, animals, ect).

There are some great websites you can go to that will help with phonic sounds and read out loud to her also. Starfall.com is my favorite. Also, if you want to start working on writing letters and numbers, I highly recommend Handwriting without Tears. It is a wonderful program and my son loved it. They teach you many ways to help them learn how to write...even playing with playdoh and blocks is part of their program. My son didn't even realize he was learning, he just thought he was playing with mommy (which is the best way!).

[Nevada Jen]

At the age she is at you want to start getting letter sounds down. A good way to do that is pick one letter a week or a new one every few days and concentrate on that letter for writing and sounds beginning with it, towards the end of the letter add in words that end with it. And repeating rhyming books as someone else mentioned. Other than learning to write the letter, nothing has to be forced. For instance, practice writing the letter before dinner (my son learned all capital letters first and then went back through and did lower letters and sounds with each letter), and then at dinner serve something that starts with that letter and have a family conversation about other words that start with that letter. That's what we used to do. ANd at my son's kindy class the next day they would go around the class and have to say a word that started with the letter. I had a ball planting totally inappropriate words into his head before school. Atrocious, Bail Bondsman, Catastophe, Dysentary. . .