deannaMulaly

Hi there,
I've been reading posts for a few months now and I could really use
some ideas. We've been unschooling, although it's been pretty easy up
to now. We're just living life. My daugher is 5 years old, and we
have a 19 month son. Now Lauren has started telling me she wants to
read. I thought we'd wait until she is 6 or 7 and that it would be
more natural at that time, but she is tenacious and very persistent!
I think she sees us reading and wants to do the same. I told her she
needs to learn what sounds different letters make, and when she asks
me what sound a particular letter makes, I tell her. Does anyone have
other ideas? Are there ways to make this more fun? She does love to
play games.
Thanks for any insights/suggestions you can offer.
Deanna

Angela S

My girls enjoyed labeling things in the house. I'd print a word on a sticky
paper and give it to them and they'd try to guess what thing it went on and
stick it there. We mixed some easy ones, like TV and some harder ones like
curtains. It was fun. Some children learn to read young and that's o.k. if
that's what they want. Both my girls could read pretty well by the time
they were five and a half. Both girls were motivated to learn to read and
that made it easy. Just listen to her and don't push it, but find fun ways
to play games that involve reading.



Angela

* game-enthusiast@....



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Eric Donato

my 9yo Shea reads for enjoyment and had an unusual way of learning to
read... he memorized pages/ books, I would hear him "reading" to
himself in the same voice and inflection I used, then he would try and
match up the text word to the spoken word... I thought he was actually
reading at age 4, but it turned out he was reciting... I was
disappointed then, but am in a different mind now... he sings from
lyric sheets, and he likes to participate in plays/ theater, he played
2 characters once in a skit when one of the kids didn't show up, he
knew the lines for both... my 6 yo is reading on a need-to-know
basis... he reads road signs, the pull/ push sign on doors, likes maps
and instructions for Ikea furniture... he has very little patience yet,
so when he wants to be still for awhile he looks at his books... I'm
not big on reading though so I don't check their progress meticulously,
they usually tell me when they have a breakthrough... a funny thing
Shea said about my lack of interest in reading is that "I am always in
a fantasy in my mind, so it's easy to read and imagine their fantasy [a
book], but [mom] is in reality so much she reads for reality...

Jules.

sharonjrt

My DD (turns 5 this April) also "reads" pages from memory, and a few
words (like, IKEA & TJ Maxx)!

She devised a game we play called "What starts with...". We usually
play it in the car, but it can be done anywhere, and is played
like "I Spy", but with sounds/words. The person who is "It"
says, "What starts with "kuh"? (answer=car). We all guess at what
that person has seen, or happens to be thinking about.

Have fun!
Sharon

[email protected]

For kids who want to learn to read and love computers, I recommend the
Reader Rabbit program. My daughter taught herself to read at 4 or 5 with it.

Leslie


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