Learning how to Read courtesy the Mither (my mother)
My mom’s fail proof plan she used homeschooling her 9 children. One child had to take 3 years or so on the first step, but with patience turned out a brilliant child. Good luck!
STEP 1: Child learns the alphabet sounds and next the alphabet letter names. We sing and learn the “ah, buh, cuh duh’s” before the ABC’s. Learn the sound of each letter through which ever resources you choose, such as Brightly Beaming Resources Letter of the Week, or a thousand other helpful resources. For your visual learners, kinesthetic learners who have a harder time learning, try The See Hear Do Company. Their flip chart is 13 dollars and my 2 year old knows the letters I have taught because it is so much fun!
STEP 2: Child learns to listen for the SOUNDS VERBALLY that make up words, in 4 Parts. This step is easy, you can do it with your child while waiting in the office, driving in the car, and other living moments. As they progress you move to the next step.
Part 1: Learning Beginning Sounds
Part 2: Learning Ending Sounds
Part 3: Learning Middle Sounds.
Process: Simply play the “Eye Spy” game with your child to accomplish this step. Say “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the sound ‘h’ and its on my head!!!” Give big clues so that this game is very positive for the child. Make a big deal of it when they guess correctly. When they have mastered beginning sounds, move to the ending and finally the hardest, middle sounds.
Part 4: Putting sounds together.
Now play the Eye Spy game, but this time say I am going to see if you can guess what I am thinking about without my even telling you the word! Say: I spy a b-a-g (Saying the first, last and middle sounds). Get very excited when the child can put together the sounds.
STEP 3: Reading words.
When you know your child is both familiar with the sound of each letter, and can discern the beginning middle, and end of each word, and can put those sounds together, they are ready to read!~~~ Tell them that today they are going to learn how to read!~!~
This involves a little more preparation. Either gather small toys that are phonetic such as man, bus, cup, etc. Or glue magazine phonetic pictures onto index cards.
With a moveable letter set, tell the child that without saying anything, they are going to be able to guess what word that you are thinking. Set out three items such as a dog, a cat, and a man. Now, slowly set out the three letters and child will read the letters and tell you which item you are thinking of. Tell them they READ!!! Make a huge deal out of this, it should be delightful and fun. Make sure to stop right before they are tired so they really anticipate this activity the next time you do it.
STEP 4: Becoming an affluent reader
~Tricky words: The way my mom teaches the word the is through a dialog like this: ” This is a Wiley word” (Wiley Coyote) Or a Trickster Word. Would you say that you want to go to t’ /h/e/ (say each sound) store??? NO! Silly, its THE store!”
Go through a few examples. Use this method for teaching tricky words.
~Continue to read books to your children, especially books which repeat themselves a lot such as Dr. Seuss. Another example of a book that repeats phrases is The Chick and the Duckling By Mirra Ginsburg.
~Choose a reader set where each book builds off each-other. Make a big deal of it when they are ready for a new book. Get excited also when hearing the old books that they are still practicing and be interested in the stories. Bob Books are done very well for this purpose.
~Choose a resource that successively shows how to teach each successive letter combinations such as Brightly Beaming Resources Teaching Sounds.
~Brightly Beaming Resources has simple spelling lists that really are learning to read extension activities that may be helpful to accompany your learning to read program.
