Cassia told me today that she wanted to learn how to read. :) She knows most of her letter sounds, thanks to Starfall.com, so I decided to let her have a go at a couple BOB Books. She did quite well! Actually, she has quite an amazing memory. She was doing all the typical decoding stuff - first letter, general pattern of other sentences, picture clues - but mostly, I think she was just getting me to say a word first and then remembered it the rest of the book. Later I was reading Harry Potter and she asked if she could practice reading on that. I told her it was probably too hard, but she suggested that I just read first and then she would follow along. I was reciting off half sentences and she was repeating them word for word - words she didn't even know! I was quite impressed.
Looks like it is definitely time for her to start the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. She will absolutely adore the first 26 lessons which have poems to help you remember the alphabet sounds.
Now if everyone can just remind me to tell Cameron that she's learning so fast because she's following his example, not because she's smarter (or more reading-inclined) than he is then we'll be just fine. ;) Actually, I believe he showed an amazing desire to read and learn at this age too. I think it's just where they hit that point where you realize... "WOW! Those funky symbols actually mean something and I think I know what!" And then it gets hard, lol. ;)
Sunday, July 29, 2007
First Steps
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3 comments:
I'm working on teaching C.J. to read too, after being pressured by her. She insists that if C.O. can do it, she can too! She also memorizes well, so I think that may help. Funny sometimes, how much our kids have in common...
Awesome for Cassia. That's just really, really cool.
And we won't need to remind you. Because Cameron will at some point say, "She's reading??" And you'll remember to point it out to him. LOL
At first, Essie was really shocked by Miguel's reading. It was like her turf, you know? But then I pointed out all the fun stuff they could do as readers ---- talk about characters, do a play, write secret messages to one another, etc. --- and she started to cheer him on in his endeavors. : )
I think it's like potty training (don't groan!) there's a window of opportunity when they are very young....if you jump through it with the right timing then they will get it very quickly. If you don't then insecurity, etc can set in (or they just aren't super excited/willing anymore).
I think that transitioning from beginning reading to chapter book/reading for fun is the next big "window".
I don't know - maybe a developmental momentum? That might be a better description than window. And a little healthy sibling rivalry never hurt anyone! ; )
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