Behind the Scenes ~ How do I Teach My Child to Read?

This is a question I get a lot, via email and in comments. Although I have only taught one child to read from birth ;-) and am working on my 2nd and 3rd, I did teach many children to read while teaching Kindergarten for 5 years! Teaching reading is one of my favorite things in life-I just love when a young child finally makes the connection and gets excited about the new world opened up before them in BOOKS!

My answers may not jive with you, and especially those of you who have different views based on your own successes and failures with teaching reading. I’d love to open up the comments below so we can all share together. There are no RIGHT or WRONG ways to teach reading-every child is different and every teacher/parent is different. There are many ideas and we can all glean wisdom from one another. I am even open to learning still-although I am college educated in this subject! Learning as a teacher is never ending! So, how did I teach public school children and my own son to read {and how am I currently teaching Krash}?

I use mainly a Whole Language approach, with a slight phonics approach. For those of you unfamiliar with the different approaches, here is Wikipedia on the topic of Whole Language. Here is a basic definition,

"A whole-language approach represents a philosophy about reading rather than any one instructional method. According to this philosophy, language is a natural phenomenon and literacy is promoted through natural, purposeful language function. It has as its foundation current knowledge about language development as a constructive, meaning-oriented process in which language is viewed as an authentic, natural, real-world experience, and language learning is perceived as taking place through functional reading and writing situations." (p. 458) (Lapp, D. & Flood, J. (1992). Teaching reading to every child. (3rd ed.). New York: Macmilliam Publishing Company.)

Here are a few more links if you want some in depth info about the subject and the different methods…

• Phonics vs. Whole Language
• Whole Language…What it is, What it isn’t
• Wikipedia…Teaching Reading: Whole Language and Phonics

I taught Kindergarten for 3 years with a Whole Language approach and for 1 1/2 years with a Phonics approach {the school I was teaching with switched to Open Court} so I have seen all types of kids use both methods. Since I was college educated during the Whole Language movement, I was actually taught to an extreme. I remember being at the NAEYC conference and sitting in a workshop about how horrible Letter of the Week programs were! Anything that pulled letters, sounds, etc. out of natural context was BAD BAD BAD! I didn’t completely buy into that theory and then a few years later when a phonics method was forced upon me, I naturally learned to balance the two.

When it came time to teach Pac Man to read, I knew I had actually already started to teach him. When literacy is integrated into a child’s life from birth, reading is a natural progression. Pac Man was not an eager reader, and did not read early, but he is a wonderful reader now. I believe strong comprehension makes a wonderful reader! This is where I feel a Whole Language approach greatly benefits children. Pac Man has good phonics knowledge and continues to learn more and more, but most importantly he has great comprehension.

What exactly do we do?

We READ!!!!! Seriously, that is the very best thing you can do to teach your child to read. Teach Mama has a wonderful reading section on her blog, and also writes posts for ABC & 123. When I browse through her posts, she seems like someone I would have taught with back in the day. She seems to have a style VERY similar to mine. I could take time to write out every single idea I have, but honestly she has the most awesome posts I have seen all about this subject.

Here are a few basic pointers to get you started…

• Read to your child multiple times daily {I know this seems like a DUH point, but seriously, don’t slack on this}. Read with enthusiasm, talk about the text {increase comprehension}, ask questions, discuss the pictures, point out letters and words, and enjoy the read aloud time together!
• Integrate reading and literacy activities into normal life as much as possible, in a fun way! One simple idea is to begin doing a Morning Message with your child{ren}. This is something I did as a Kindergarten teacher, and then adapted for P when he was younger. I need to start this back up now that K is in this stage!
• Have some easy readers available for your child who is interested in learning to read. If you are short on cash, print off your own or even make your own. I include a free printable easy reader with each Raising Rock Stars Preschool unit! Even if you don’t use the entire program, you can print just the mini books! There are also many online for free, here’s a few on Hubbards Cupboard. If you are interested in purchasing some easy readers, here is our Amazon bookstore with our favorites {you’ll notice some are phonics based, some aren’t}.
• Work on sight words! Learning sight words is a big part of learning to read and really helps a child with confidence! The You Can Read program I developed is focused completely on teaching sight words in a fun way to young children.
• Integrate phonics into your teaching, but not in an unnatural and forceful way…try to make it fun! Work with word families {cat, mat, rat, pat, etc.}, teach phonetic sounds, watch Leapfrog Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory, and Code Word Caper. Bob Books are a great tool for working on letter sounds while learning to read! Here’s a post I did about teaching short vowel sounds. Word Families are another way to emphasize phonics.  Annie from The Moffat Girls, integrates word families into her Ready 2 Read printable program also.  We have used some of her materials also.
• edited to add...I totally forgot to mention Starfall.com, thanks to A Practical Mom for commenting and reminding me!!! Starfall is an amazing and free website that we used TONS with Pac Man and now use with Krash and even Ladybug a little bit!
  

All children are different and some will benefit from a strong Whole Language approach with minimal phonics instruction. Another child will be totally lost without direct phonics instruction. I think an approach that attempts to merge the two is a great place to start and then you can adjust as you see fit. Also-almost all kids will catch up with each other by 2nd or 3rd grade. Just because your friend’s 3 year old can read and yours can’t- don’t stress!!! Krash is WAY more interested in reading than Pac Man ever was. However even at age 4 I am not pushing Krash. He will learn at his own pace and I am in no big rush to push him. Pac Man caught on slowly but once he caught on he went wild ~ quickly! He now has the most amazing comprehension skills, vocabulary, and reading ability!

As for an actual program for homeschool, I began reviewing All About Reading in 2011 and love it.

You can see more about why we chose to review this program here in our Current Curriculum post, look under FAQ. Ladybug is using All About Reading Pre Level 1, and Krash is using All About Reading Level 1.  If you feel the need to have a complete program to assist you I highly recommend All About Reading.  You can see all of my posts including All About Reading here.

Technology is another great tool when it comes to learning to read!  We personally own an iPad and use it a LOT for schooling.  You can see many great literacy apps for children here in my educational iPad apps post, and also here in iPad Apps part 2!

If you have more questions that I did not answer, feel free to leave a comment. Also-if you have input-please jump in, I am certainly not the only one who knows something about teaching kids to read!!! I highly recommend seeking out other moms online who are also educated in this area {educated either by college or experience}.

A few more reading related posts:

• How Do I Know if my Younger Child is Ready to Read? {Reading Readiness Signs}
• Checklist from All About Reading: Is YOUR Child Ready to Learn to Read?
• You Can Read {intro}
• Word Play {collection of ideas for playing with words}
• Behind the Scenes: Book Storage
• Behind the Scenes: Guided Reading
• Color by Number Sight Words
• Labeling your {home}School
• Independent Reading
• Bob Books for Krash!
• Teaching Short Vowel Sounds

Happy Teaching!!!

This post was originally written in June 2010, it has since been updated in 2012.

What’s New??

On the Website…

• Learning Tools…I finally did this!  Several of you have asked me to do this, and I finally just got it done! I will add to the lists as I remember things or we get new things!
• Raising Rock Stars Preschool…BlogRoll/Kind Words ~ if you are featuring RRSP on your blog, I will gladly add you to the blogroll, just send me an email with your link!  Do you have any thoughts you’d like to share with other moms about your experience with RRSP?  Send me those too for this page! 
• RRSP Assessment Sheets ~ I finally got these uploaded, you’ll see the link on the left under the “Learn More” portion.
• Tot School ~ I know we have new blogs participating, if you have linked up for 3 weeks or more and you are not on this list, please leave a comment with your link or send me an email!

BlogFrog…

• Discussion about Teaching your Child to Read.  I am almost done with my Behind the Scenes post and started a discussion for you to ask any questions you may have so I can be sure I cover them!
• Christian Parenting Book Favs…a discussion that stemmed from my Biblical Discipline post.

Members Only…

• Letter Xx is up both in printable and in PowerPoint.
• I am almost done with the unit for letter Vv—look for it soon!  I am also planning to have a few more done within the next week or so…trying to get ahead!
• If you have joined the Members Only section and have not heard from me, please let me know. I keep getting emails bounced back from one of you and have no way of even knowing who you are, so please try to get in touch with me if you haven't heard from me!

Totally Tots…

• We welcomed two new team members, Cindy and Valerie!
• We started our lower case Crafty ABC series, you can see those here.
• We began our Seeds Family Worship verses for In My Heart.
• June’s Jungle Theme is complete, you can see links to all of the books and ideas here.  July is all about BUGS, see the books we will be featuring here.

Lil Ladybug…

• Cloth Diapers…1 Year Later {a post I wrote all about our year with cloth}

Sponsors…

• We are thrilled to have Rockin’ Green and Smart Mom as blog sponsors currently!  We use Rockin’ Green for all of our cloth diaper laundry, and I still wear my Smart Mom Teething Necklace often—Ladybug still loves it!!!
• Do you have an ad you’d like to see on my blog?  See more info here!

tumblr…

• Be sure to check in and see what I have tumbld lately…maybe it’s one of your ideas!  Thanks to those of you who have tumbld my ideas!

Tot School ~ Only Child

~Ladybug is currently 14 months old~

I have been living the only child life around here with the boys gone, so Tot School has been going on TONS!  I have spent so much time just soaking in every ounce of my sweet baby girl.  It’s a wonder I have gotten any work or planning done, she just mesmerizes me with her cuteness.

I gave her spools in an empty pitcher and a paper towel tube.  She played for a long time by herself and then I showed her how to put the spool into the tube, she immediately caught on and loved trying it herself!  She was quite challenged but could do it!

 

Bubble wrap and balls…so simple yet so much fun!

Then I added in a laundry basket for her to dump the balls in and roll them around.  She was hilarious trying to reach in to get them out!!!

 

She is in LOVE with my little magnets.  I don’t even remember when or where I got these.  She puts them on, takes them off, stacks them, and adores them!

 

She is a piggy bank master now!  This is one of her favorite toys and has been for awhile.  I highly recommend this toy for babies {Krash loved it too and still does}.

 

My mom got her the Melissa and Doug magnetic dress-up doll at a consignment sale recently.  I knew she was too young for it but wanted to show her how the magnets work, I am glad I did—she loved it!  The girl had some funky outfits when Ladybug was done with her!

 

A metal bowl, wooden spoon, and some play food goes a L-O-N-G way with a tot!  I taught Ladybug how to stir and she was so cute trying to actually stir them herself!

 

I gave her this watering can we have that has a small hole on the top.  She had LOADS of fun putting things into it.  I found lots of things that just barely fit so she would ahve to work at it!

 

This is one of her favorite toys. It was also the first toy she learned to “work” many months ago.  She still giggles at it and will push the button over and over again to make them go around.

 

This girl adores books!  She reads by herself all the time.  This is in her bedroom… Her new favorite place to sit-the couch.  She loves for me to put her up there to sit and read!    

    

She is learning to eat with a spoon and doing really well!

She is a standing machine now, not much movement, but lots of pulling up…finally!

On another note-she saw Elmo this week and I do believe we have a fan.  Neither of the boys cared much for Elmo, but I think Lbug might be different.  She was so funny watching it!!!!

 

 

 

• Are you wondering where to start with Tot School? Read here!
• Read more about Tot Trays here!
• Visit Totally Tots for more tot fun!!!
• Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
• Visit our Tot School Webpage
• Visit our Tot School Tools Store

READ THIS for more details about linking up to Tot School. If your blog is not linked back here to Tot School, and your post is not specifically a Tot School post, your link will be deleted to help Tot School surfing moms.

Please put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (41 mos)

If you are NEW will you please leave a comment letting us all know so we can be sure to visit you?

Raising Rock Stars Preschool ~ Getting Organized & Planning Ahead

Krash is currently out of town and will be gone until July 1.  It is strangely quiet around here and I miss the boys a lot.  They are down south staying with their grandparents {who begged to have them}, so I know they are having a blast, but I still miss them.

I am doing a lot of planning while they are gone and hope to have our entire summer school planned out before they return.  Here's how I am planning for Krash…

I made this chart to plan his weekly workboxes…

I decided I needed more of a plan to my plans so I could think less when gathering materials for the week ;-).  I may seem very organized and full of ideas, but I hit very brain-dead moments often and I don’t feel like thinking much. 

I made a list of all of our “Star Box” games and toys {the open ended fun stuff}, and plan to just rotate through those.  I even made my list online so you could see it too! The Star Boxes stay the same for 1 week and then I change them all out at once.

For the Letter Focus section, I plan to do extra activities somehow based around our RRSP letter.  I am pulling and printing ideas mostly from Confessions of a Homeschooler, Home Grown Hearts, Totally Tots Crafty ABCs {I am going to match the letter up now} and Making Learning Fun. 

For the 3rd row {123, Colors, etc.} I plan to use my own Preschool Printables rotating through the various activities I have made.  I will be using other peoples printables too!  I am currently printing off a few and will be organizing them into a rotation cycle, so I don’t forget certain ones!  I made a list of these also, combining all of mine and the ones I have printed {so far} from others, you can see that here.

Row 4 is for a Learning Toy, Puzzle or Activity with a defined ending point {opposite of an open ended toy}.  This is where I will rotate through our toys and puzzles that have more clarity as to what you are “supposed” to do with them!  You can see my list of these items here {I am still working on this list, it is not complete}.

I don’t plan anything for Day 5, as we don’t always do preschool on Day 5.  If we do, I just pull extra toys and puzzles, or we re-do something he enjoyed.  Our day 5 is actually Saturday because of our ministry work schedule {we have Friday off as a family}, so I don’t always feel like doing preschool on Day 5, especially in the summer!

Here’s a sample schedule that is mostly filled in from the week before we left for the beach{I hand write some of it}…

If you want to download a blank version of my planning form, you can find it here.

My goal is to have 5 weeks of Preschool entirely planned before Krash returns!

More Preschool Links…

• Raising Rock Stars Preschool Home
• Raising Rock Stars Sample Lesson Page
• Preschool Printables
• Preschool Tools Store
• Behind the Scenes ~ Preschool Workboxes
• Members Only Information
• Learning Tools ~ Master Lists

Be sure to visit Preschool Corner to see all of the other amazing home-preschool moms!

Labeling Your Home {school}

Being a former Kindergarten teacher, my brain thinks in classroom mode sometimes. But, my home is not a classroom, at least not by decorating standards ;-). I don’t think my husband would appreciate a house full of Kindergarten classroom decor.

However, there are ways to modify ideas that are wonderful for Pre-K and K students in a visually appealing way that doesn’t make your home look like 25 kids need to move in.

When I saw this post on Teach Mama I remembered my little tacky labels from teaching {that I actually used for Pac when he was homeschooled K}. I loved the sticker labels Amy used, but knew I couldn’t afford to do that! I saw the simple labels she made and offers for download {which are perfect for those of you who don’t want color or design} and loved them.

Labeling the classroom {or home for homeschoolers} is a wonderful way to bring print awareness into a child’s life in a natural way. A child automatically knows how to “read” the word since it is attached to a known object. This process increases a young child’s confidence and makes print come alive in a very real way. From these simple labels, many activities can be done, which I hope to share more about in the future.

I was inspired to make some home-decor friendly labels for our home {school}…

I printed on white cardstock, laminated and put a tiny removable mounting square on the back {so I can easily take them down when we are done with them, but I can also pull them back out when it’s time for Ladybug to have them up}. The mounting squares I have are 1”, but I cut them to be smaller. They do carry smaller ones also. You can get them on Amazon or I have seen them at Target.

Supplies I used…

• Scotch Mounting Squares {removable}
• Laminator {see post about Amazon’s amazing deal here}
• Cardstock

Of course I can’t make something without sharing with you, right? You can download the labels I made here on my Misc. Preschool Printables page.

If you don’t like teal and orange {obviously I do}, you could print on grayscale for a black/gray/white version ;-).

A little giggle for you…my husband walked in after work on the day I put most of the labels up and came upstairs and told me he thought he walked into Sesame Street ;-). So much for making them home friendly huh? He giggled and told me he loved them.

Learn more about tumblr here, visit my tumblr site here.

Behind the Scenes ~ Tumblr

Thankfully my boys were out of town visiting grandparents {so I had time to explore} when I happened to read Michelle’s post which mentioned tumblr. I had heard of it before but never looked into it. I figured if she liked it, it was probably worth a look. Let’s just say I have given it more than just a look. I am in LOVE, and will be even more in love when I convince many of you to start your own tumblr blog.

What is tumblr and how is it different from a regular blog?

In my opinion it is a cross between Evernote, Twitter, and Blogger. It is micro-blogging/social networking at it’s best. I am a VERY visual person, so while I like Twitter, I miss the visual aspect. When I opened up Camille’s tumblr site and the beautiful thumbnail images appeared, I was in heaven!

Tumblr is not about personal blogging {for me}, it is a way to share other ideas I find. Some of you are already on my site!!! It is a tool to help me go back and easily find things I like, and also to share easily with you. Since it automatically adds a direct link back to the host of the idea, it is the ultimate shout-out, with very little effort on the part of the shouter. Once you have your tumblr site set up, you share an idea with a few click of the mouse, you don’t even have to type anything…it’s so easy! You’ll have to play around a bit to see what I mean. When I first started browsing through it all, I was totally confused with the whole concept. But now I totally get it and LOVE it!

Here are some tips to help you learn to navigate around a tumblr site {obviously I am using mine as an example}. I am still learning so if you are an expert on tumblr, feel free to correct me or add info in the comments!

Archives…if you like the thumbnail look, you’ll want to click on the tab that says “archives” on someone’s site. Here’s the direct link to my archives. When you go directly to my tumblr site, you’ll see it in “blog” mode, if you prefer just images, click to archive mode.

Categories {tags}…I created labels {tags} for my posts similar to the way I have my Evernote set up. When you add a post to your tumblr site, you need to click a little tab labeled “advanced” to add a category tab label. I use a Firefox ad on to add ideas to tumblr, but there are many options, if you don’t have a method already for social networking, tumblr has their own toolbar you can add, in their goodies section. I add all of my ideas as “photos” so there will be an image for each idea featured in my archives.

Navigating my page…Below is a screenshot of my page. I added tabs under my photo {the little brown rectangles} to help you navigate. If you set up your own tumblr site, I highly recommend setting up “pages” in a similar fashion. If you have a regular blog, be sure to make a page that links back to your main blog, to make it easy for people to get to your main home! I am still learning how to customize my tumblr site, as I am very new to this, but the pages aspect seems to be a necessity in my opinion.

Customizing your tumblr site…you choose a name, choose a theme {I am using the free theme called “redux,” just play around with a few to see which you like, or feel free to copy mine-I won’t be offended at all}. I changed the colors on my theme to match my main blog. I created a simple header similar to the one on my main blog {if you don’t make your own stuff, just leave that part plain}. You can mess around with the appearance fairly easily until you get it the way you want it.

Your Dashboard…here is a screenshot of my dashboard. You will see that it shows my posts, as well as the posts of people I follow. You can click on the posts to be taken directly to the source of the idea, or on the image {my face, Michelle’s face} to go the the person’s tumblr site. In the upper right corner of each post, you’ll see “delete or edit” for your own posts, and “reply, reblog, and a heart” for other people’s posts. My absoulte favorite feature is reblog. It is like a retweet on Twitter, the ultimate shout-out for someone. With reblog, you not only give a shout out to the tumblr blog that posted it first, but also to the original blogger who posted the idea that got tumbld in the first place.

You can also reblog from a person’s archive page {and probably more ways too, I just haven’t figured that out yet}. If you click on an image, it will pull up the single post on the tumblr blog {an example from Motherlode}, in the top right corner, you’ll see the “reblog” button…

So, even if you don’t have your own blog, and even if you never plan to start one, you can easily have your own tumblr blog, filled with ideas from other people!!! It is the ultimate way for us homeschooling moms {and school teachers} to connect, and gather/share great ideas we find. If you set up your own tumblr site, please leave a link below in the comments of this post so I {and others} can visit your site!!! Can you imagine the amazing ideas we will have pooled together if many of us get a site going? The possibilities for networking are endless!

A HUGE thanks to Muffin Tin Mom for sharing this, and then for emailing with me on the first day as I was trying to figure it all out.

I added a “follow me on tumblr” button on my right sidebar, in case you are ever looking for my site. I also created this snazzy little button to put at the bottom of my posts that may be tumbl worthy,

So, if you see it, now you will know what in the world it means!

I will be going back through my Evernote files also and adding some of the best ideas I have to my Tumblr site. Be sure to visit often to see if I have tumbld you!

ps-I am not even sure if “tumbld” is a word, but it is for me now.

A note about copyright…I am VERY particular when it comes to reposting my content and/or photos without permission. This concerned me at first with tumblr, since it adds a photo from the source post {if you use photo mode to share}. The more I thought about it, I felt it would be an honor to be included on someone’s tumblr site, if the purpose was to direct traffic back to my blog. My goal in posting on my tumblr site is to direct traffic to the source of the great idea. If you have different thoughts and see yourself on my tumblr site and would rather I remove the posts linking to you, or not tumbl your site in the future, just let me know!

Every Homeschooling Mom Needs…

A laminator! In case you are one of the few who still doesn’t own this awesome machine, you just might after you read this…

The exact laminator I own {& LOVE} is on BIG TIME SALE at Amazon! Now through July 31, if you order the laminator and a pack of 50 laminating sheets you will get a $20 rebate!!! Here’s the exact wording from Amazon…

Through July 31, 2010, get $20 back on the purchase of a Scotch thermal laminator and a 50-pack of thermal laminating pouches via mail-in rebate.

Right now the laminator is listed for $31.49 and the sheets for $10, which makes the total only $21.49 for BOTH after the rebate…this is cheaper than I have ever seen it!!!!

~edited to add 7/16/10...it seems the base price is fluctuating on Amazon throughout this deal. I just checked and it is around $40, which is still a good deal with the rebate, but not as great as I mentioned above. ;-)

When you go to the page of either the sheets or the laminator you will see a little “Special Offers” box under the price, you can read the fine print and details there.

A huge thanks to Annette for emailing this info to me so I could share it with my readers!

Happy Laminating!

~disclosure-as always, links are affiliate links ;-), thanks for helping us out!

Tot School @ The Beach

~Ladybug is currently 14 months old~

Ladybug got to spend the past week with her extended family {Daddy’s side} down in NC at the beach! She had a wonderful week, we all enjoyed her so very much ~ she is such a sweet & fun baby! Here’s a few highlights from her time at the beach…

She loved the pool we had set up underneath the house…

Riding in the golf cart with Daddy was a BIG HIT, she loved it!

We let her try a popsicle, her reaction was amusing…

She hung out inside a lot with Nana, one of her favorite activities was playing with the cups on the cooler {putting them in and out of the holes on top}

She got LOTS and LOTS of extra snuggling ;-)

She wasn’t crazy about the ocean, but she didn’t hate it either. We only took her on one day, mainly so I could take her picture ;-)

Her BIG accomplishment of the week, she can now pull up on her own! This a big deal for our little lazy-bones. She mastered this on the last day and is now a pull-up master!

She did a really great job getting even cuter this week too. Those little gappy teeth just melt my heart!

Have you joined our BlogFrog Community yet? Come on over and visit! Current discussions: Christian Parenting Books, Introduce Yourself, Raising Rock Stars Preschool Moms, or you can start your own! It’s a great place to ask questions and start discussion about any homeschooling, Tot School, preschool, parenting, etc. subject!

Did you link up your Tot School Zone here? If you want me to open the Linky back up, just leave a comment and I will {I only closed it for spam purposes}! Thanks to the 12 of you who shared your zone!!!

• Are you wondering where to start with Tot School? Read here!
• Read more about Tot Trays here!
• Visit Totally Tots for more tot fun!!!
• Want to see more Tot School posts? Click HERE
• Visit our Tot School Webpage
• Visit our Tot School Tools Store

READ THIS for more details about linking up to Tot School. If your blog is not linked back here to Tot School, and your post is not specifically a Tot School post, your link will be deleted to help Tot School surfing moms.

Please put your tot's age (in months) after it, like this: 1+1+1=1 (41 mos)

If you are NEW will you please leave a comment letting us all know so we can be sure to visit you?