When Charis started to read, she and I would just pick up a book and go at it. Apparently this method worked for her, as she's reading grade levels above 1st grade.
This is great for Charis's self-esteem...but not so much for Selah's.
This is great for Charis's self-esteem...but not so much for Selah's.
I'm thinking that Selah (4 1/2 yrs) may be a little intimidated by her older sister's reading abilities. Because whenever Selah and I pick up a book to practice, she gets all kinds of frustrated and declares, "I can't!"
So I've had to approach it from a different angle.
Which, by the way, is fast becoming my new mom-motto being that I have four little ones. ALL of whom are very different and ALL who happen to be of the gender that errs on the side of self-comparison.
That said, I tried something out this week that is working like a charm!
Have you ever heard of the Dolch Sight words? They're the list of commonly used English words originally published by Edward William Dolch, PhD in his book "Problems in Reading" (1948).
Many of the words on the list cannot be sounded out. Therefore, they must be learned by sight. Words like "said" and "could" and "two".
*This is me smacking my forehead*
Remember this post about the perils of teaching children to read in a language that houses all sorts of exceptions to grammatical rules? *groan* Yeah well, I so wish someone had told me about this guy!!
I believe there are kits you can buy that come with laminated word cards. But really, why bother?
You can find the list of words here.
And I can attest that in the two days that Selah and I have worked on them, her confidence has sky-rocketed, as she is quickly becoming able to read, upon sight, a growing list of words.
So I've had to approach it from a different angle.
Which, by the way, is fast becoming my new mom-motto being that I have four little ones. ALL of whom are very different and ALL who happen to be of the gender that errs on the side of self-comparison.
That said, I tried something out this week that is working like a charm!
Have you ever heard of the Dolch Sight words? They're the list of commonly used English words originally published by Edward William Dolch, PhD in his book "Problems in Reading" (1948).
Many of the words on the list cannot be sounded out. Therefore, they must be learned by sight. Words like "said" and "could" and "two".
*This is me smacking my forehead*
Remember this post about the perils of teaching children to read in a language that houses all sorts of exceptions to grammatical rules? *groan* Yeah well, I so wish someone had told me about this guy!!
I believe there are kits you can buy that come with laminated word cards. But really, why bother?
You can find the list of words here.
And I can attest that in the two days that Selah and I have worked on them, her confidence has sky-rocketed, as she is quickly becoming able to read, upon sight, a growing list of words.
All it takes are some note cards, a marker, and some snuggle time on the couch. Keep your $19.95 for something else.
