Hi!
How do you attempt teaching a child how to read? My kiddo begins kindergarten in August and hasn't a clue how to read. He knows his letters and the sounds but doesn't read. He knows math, puzzles, some science, shapes, can count to 40 but the reading isn't happening. Any ideas? :dunno:

first start associating sound with letters. perhaps pick the word cat or something easy like that. talk about the c sound, the a sound, and the t sound and slowly put them together and sound them out. Just start withone or two words and gradually work up..When he realises that he is reading like a big kid then he will be motivated to do more. Lots of praise and excitement when he "reads" that first word, which may actually just be imitation...NO pressure, make it fun. When you are reading to him and you come upon that word that he knows, point to it and have him read it as you go along....

Let him loose on Starfall.com. It's a great reading website. You can also print out decodable books for him to start reading phonetical 3 letter words. It made my daughter feel really proud to read her own book and she caught on real fast that if she said the sound of each letter it made up a word.

Turn on the captions on the tv to favourite shows/dvds. My kiddo has really amazed me lately with doing this. :thumbsup:

those are good ideas..I checked out starfall...Really cool :thumbsup:

He enjoys starfall...I just need to push him a little more I guess.
I remember learning to read in 1st grade...It's not required for him to enter K knowing how to read but I'm sure it will help him out.
Thanks for the advice LADIES. :D

From my experience, they say it's "ok" if they can't read by kindergarten...then they send home homework every night expecting it to be done and that the child knows how to do it. :nono: My daughter went through that. All they do at school is "socialize", so there's no actual WORK being done. That's just my personal, crappy experience.

Kindergarten is tooooooo early for homework...At that age I would think that if they are having homework, then the teacher isn't doing his job during classtime...Sounds like you're homeschooling you kid anyway with homework at that age... stupid :doh:

I'M NOT READY FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!! LOL.
We actually have an AWESOME school district (partially why we moved HERE) and it's rated top in the state so I'm hoping it goes well. I'll be one of those annoying parents who has to know EVERYTHING that is going on. My BABY!!!!! :haha: :hug: :clap: :faint:

Is it a private or public school? If you don't mind my asking....:hide:

Don't wanna burst your bubble, or anything....


Yeah, String. The thing around here is the teacher DOESN'T do any work with the kids. It's all "playtime"! :rollseyes:

I can't afford private. Private here averages $500/month.
It's public... :swoosh: :bolt:

I feel like I must stick up for the teacher here- I'm actually a 5th grade teacher in a low SES school in CA. What may look like play may in fact be really high engaging learning activities. The push lately in education is to increase student engagement (their excitement about learning) and some of these activities really do look like a lot of play. I also disagree with the opinion that Kinder is too young to send homework home- the K's in my school LOVE having homework (a simple sheet) that reinforces what they have learned in the classroom. At my grade level I am sending home an hour of work a night (20 min. is reading and responding). If students get in the habit early (right off the bat) of carving out time for homework each night then they will most likely continue through adulthood.

As far as the reading thing I know the top 3 things I would want my parents of Kinder kids to do is to:

1.) Let them see you reading- often. Even if you just hold a book up and pretend. If they see you reading they will value it.

2.) Read to your children. Every night. Point with your finger, demonstrate how you sound words out. Connect with them that sounds come from words.

3.) Have them read to you. So much can be learned about books when a child who doesn't know how to read learns how to follow words with his/her finger and turn the pages of the book from beginning to end. Even though tehy aren't reading the words correctly or even telling teh story right they are learning a lot. (Books have beginnings, middles, and ends, words make sounds, pictures describe what is happening in the book, books/words are read from left to right, etc.)

Parents who have done these three things have just set the table for their child's Kinder teacher. There is no way that teacher can fail.

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Sounds like String and her soaps.....

Siege:
Where do you teach in CA?
My children ADORE books and have a mini library in their room. We read daily and if my oldest refuses to nap (which has been more often lately) I give him a stack of books to "read" while in the room (so I can jump on here and relax :screwy: )
He see's me reading, we read together, he recognizes some words (like CAT on construction machines :doh: ) or COSTCO but he just doesn't read...
He's one of the few kids I know who doesn't read at age 4... :bored:

I teach in downtown San Jose. It sounds to me that your kid is right on track. It's not normal for a child to be reading before they go to Kinder. It's nice, but not normal. 90% of the kids we see don't even realize it is letters that make the sounds that form the words. Here are the facts I was told when I first started teaching- IF you read with them and IF you read to them and IF you make it a priority to teach them to read they WILL learn how to read at some point. Some are late bloomers and won't begin reading until later than their friends. I teach 5th grade and I have students in my class reading at levels from 2-8th grade. We make accommodations for them and help them get in as much reading at their level as possible. The stats we're given as teacher is that if a child reads at their level for 20 minutes a night every night they will progress right along with their growth (reading at 3rd grade by 3rd grade, 4th grade by 4th grade, etc.).

Not to scare you too much but it's more important to inspire a love of reading than an ability to read right now. I notice by the time I get kids they have already decided whether or not they will be readers. They can all read to some degree but they fight it tooth and nail if they are not good at it. My best readers are my best writers, my best students, and my hardest workers. They love reading and spend all their time reading. The students who have difficulty in reading avoid it at all costs and it costs them plenty- social studies, science, math and other grades. At some point along their scholastic career they made a decision to stop even wanting to read. I've read articles that suggest that students do this to preserve self esteem and self worth. I don't do yoga or pilates with my wife because I suck at it and it's hard for me but I love lifting weights or playing sports. We do the things we're good at and it takes a lot of work to do the things we aren't good at. In kids we've got to inspire them to keep on trying to read and make them feel successful at it all the time or else we're going to lose them as future readers.

If I had a kid who couldn't read before Kinder I wouldn't care- I would do everything I could, however, to make their favorite toy a book!

Sight words! Andie's got about 20 or more of them that she knows, by her 2nd week in preschool she knew 8.

I taped index cards on EVERYTHING in the house "bed" "door" "dresser" "chair"....etc. Once they learn the sight words, then it's easier (IMHO) to teach them how the sounds make up the words. Then they and you can work on sounding out words they aren't familiar with.

We read 2 or 3 books to Andie every night, during the day we might read one or two more. I also found a set of Dick and Jane books that really helped "kick in" the whole reading thing. She really caught on fast when we started with those.

Her teachers told me she's reading at a kindergarden level now....once it catches on, it'll be no stopping him!! :)

I wish there were more parents like you guys! Tell me you're sending them to public school!!!!

Yep.....cannot afford a private school and I honestly have no desire to homeschool....more power to those who do, tho.....

We're lucky to be in a zone where Andie's elementary school is an A+ rated school, I've heard really good things about it.... :thumbsup:

What do you mean by those topics?

Because Andie of course knows her numbers but just now starting to "get" the theory of addition and subtraction. She knows how to recite 1+1=2, 1+2=3, etc, but that's memorization, not knowing if that makes sense.

What kind of science?

Just curious....sounds like your son & Andie are close in age...she turns 5 in June & starts kindergarden in the fall as well! B)

Oh, and they send Andie home with "homework" twice a week.....just a worksheet that takes her less than 5 min to complete, usually the letter of the week that they're working on (practicing writing it) or something with numbers.

I think as long as it's not excessive, homework can be helpful. :dunno:

He can calculate math. We practice in the car. We work on things like:
If you have 2 candy canes and I give you one more how many will you have. But we try to trick him with questions like: If you have 2 candy canes and I give you 2 more but your brother takes 1 away how many do you have - and he gets it.
We've been working with some colorful math clips that came with a book so it's helped:

Thanks for the info!!!!

That is a great idea. I have given him a "My first word book" that I used for him when he was a baby...I'm hoping with him looking at the picture and seeing the word underneath it might spark something. I'll start tagging the house (there goes my nice, clean, not child friendly house :thanks: )
I'm constantly reading to the kids so I'm hoping it catches on.
My niece taught herself to read at 3 :blink: She literally picked a book and read it :unsure: :whistle: Her mom was floored! :dunno:

There's a huge chance that your neice memorized the book and recited it page by page. I've seen this happen several times. I've had parents come in and say, "my 4 year old can read!" then I watch the child and ask them to point to the word they are reading as they read it and they can't because they have just memorized the words on the page, they have no idea what letters make which sounds... just so you know.

t minds think alike! I gave her a few of my books and she was able to read them...

My kid was reading when she came out of the womb and was doing advanced calculus by three...

heh heh heh..

Hey - I gotta stir the pot a little, don't I? :box: :chicken:

:umno:

Good call! :wave:

My Mom did this to me from about 2 on until I could read for myself....

I was reading fairly competantly (for a dyslexic) at 5. I also used to sit on my parents lap while they read the newspaper pointing to words asking what that word was.... and what it meant..... I had a pretty good vocab by the time I was five as well... Licked the "word" portion of dyslexia that way.... the numebr portion still screws me up to this day....

Dyslexic and still a college reading level by the time I was in 6th grade....

I was also good at word scrambles and ciphers because my dyslexia gave me such a hard time when I was little..... The Mirror codes I was able to read with no issues.....

Main point... read to the kids....
Point out the words.... Put some words in front of them that they might want to learn.... When you pull groceries out of the bags to put them away if the child is around point to the word and say it aloud.... Kids will learn by mimicing you.....

Draw up some basic flashcards with words... and sounds.... if they want a cookie, make them get 3 in 5 cards right.... before they get their treat...

Thanks! He worked on starfall last night for a bit and I've been working with him throughout the day. It's frustrating for me so I make sure I'm nice and calm :wine: before we work on words. I could never homeschool!!!!!!!!!!!

I know hwat you mean. I get frustrated with my 5 year old. THe thing with homeschooling is that you can be SUPER flexable. I get frustrated, we either twke a break for a while or quit for the day all together whatever seems to best suit my moods.. B)

Yeah, me neither.
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Oh, wait - I am. AAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!
:blot:

:naughty: NEVER say never! Seriously, I said that EXACT line for many, many years....look at me now! I am now homeschooling my oldest AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!! Don't say you don't "have the patience" for it, either because YOU DO.

Oh and on a BRAGGING note. Isaiah's finally using exclamation and punctuations while reading! If he sees an excalamation mark, he makes the sentence SOUND exciting! WOW! I am so pumped at that. That is HUGE, HUGE, HUGE for him! :stars: :booyah:

I'm sticking w/ the never!!!! :faint:

And congrats with his progress. Does he get a treat? :thanks: :stars:

HA! Nevers usually don't stick....didn't you know? Plus, I'm surrounded by teachers in my family...my mom, sister...and now me....B) :P

Yeah, we'll probably get MickaDonald's towards the end of the week. We didn't get around to it this last weekend. So....

Since I'm eduated as an educator I don't know if I could homeschool. I'd want my kid progressing so fast I'd probably put undo pressure on him/her...

:whistle:
Exactly... see? NEVER!

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sig worthy

Well, self-control is also a "learned" thing...:rollseyes: Don't push yourself and don't pressure the kid! :P

...I knew that was going to happen! Damn this laptops and their tiny keys!




*I swear squat just snoops around these boards waiting to catch someone in a mistake!