Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Reading/spelling...
[email protected]
In a message dated 08/22/2000 6:00:43 PM !!!First Boot!!!,
lainie@... writes:
<< Should I just relax and let him do his thing? argh! >>
I correct my almost reading daughter. Figure that's my job. I try to do it
gently ("Well, that's really close honey but it's XYZ not YZX.") and she does
look less than thrilled with herself when something's not right. But she's
learning.
Effort and enthusiasm are great. But correct (or even close) spelling are
good too.
IMO
Nance
lainie@... writes:
<< Should I just relax and let him do his thing? argh! >>
I correct my almost reading daughter. Figure that's my job. I try to do it
gently ("Well, that's really close honey but it's XYZ not YZX.") and she does
look less than thrilled with herself when something's not right. But she's
learning.
Effort and enthusiasm are great. But correct (or even close) spelling are
good too.
IMO
Nance
Cathie _
Kind of an interesting question-but I really want to know how old he is. On
the reading backwards, I would just tell him that it reads the other
way-pronounce it backwards and forwards and laugh at how silly the words
sound when you say them backwards. Show him words like racecar and bob that
are the same either way-what are they called?
Is he the kind of kid who doesn't like to be corrected? When my Megan was
little and put her shoes on the wrong feet, it was okay if I said "other
foot" but if I said "wrong foot" she would get mad. If he is really young, I
probably wouldn't worry a bit about how he spells things. Its cool that he
is into the idea that the letters make words and he wants to play with them.
It might be fun to make signs to hang all over the house together-if you
make them out of construction paper and glue on some yarn and let him hang
them or tape them on to everything-your house will be fun with labels on the
doorknobs and the lamps and the furniture! We used to play a game in the car
where we would take turns finding something that started with each letter of
the alphabet while driving to town. Its a fun way to get the letter sounds
down. You could even do it with the signs-one time make it to find an A at
the beginning of a word on a sign, next time make it A at the end, or
middle.
Letter bingo is fun-we made all of our cards out of empty graham cracker
boxes and when the kids got bigger we changed to word bingo.
Jenny has a living book on the computer of Dr. Suess's ABC's-It doesn't take
long to recognize that the A's are all at the beginning of the words when
they light up while saying Aunt Annies Aligator A A A-this is a really fun
cd-we all play with it!
I guess what I am feeling is that your kid is showing an interest and some
enthusiasm for letters, so instead of correcting him, make games that
involve letters, read books and notice the letters, write words, notice
words. Play with words and they will come alive to him and he will enjoy the
lessons and beg for more!
Cathie
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
the reading backwards, I would just tell him that it reads the other
way-pronounce it backwards and forwards and laugh at how silly the words
sound when you say them backwards. Show him words like racecar and bob that
are the same either way-what are they called?
Is he the kind of kid who doesn't like to be corrected? When my Megan was
little and put her shoes on the wrong feet, it was okay if I said "other
foot" but if I said "wrong foot" she would get mad. If he is really young, I
probably wouldn't worry a bit about how he spells things. Its cool that he
is into the idea that the letters make words and he wants to play with them.
It might be fun to make signs to hang all over the house together-if you
make them out of construction paper and glue on some yarn and let him hang
them or tape them on to everything-your house will be fun with labels on the
doorknobs and the lamps and the furniture! We used to play a game in the car
where we would take turns finding something that started with each letter of
the alphabet while driving to town. Its a fun way to get the letter sounds
down. You could even do it with the signs-one time make it to find an A at
the beginning of a word on a sign, next time make it A at the end, or
middle.
Letter bingo is fun-we made all of our cards out of empty graham cracker
boxes and when the kids got bigger we changed to word bingo.
Jenny has a living book on the computer of Dr. Suess's ABC's-It doesn't take
long to recognize that the A's are all at the beginning of the words when
they light up while saying Aunt Annies Aligator A A A-this is a really fun
cd-we all play with it!
I guess what I am feeling is that your kid is showing an interest and some
enthusiasm for letters, so instead of correcting him, make games that
involve letters, read books and notice the letters, write words, notice
words. Play with words and they will come alive to him and he will enjoy the
lessons and beg for more!
Cathie
>From: Lainie Duro <lainie@...>________________________________________________________________________
>Reply-To: [email protected]
>To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
>Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Reading/spelling...
>Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 12:56:39 -0700
>
>Hey guys.
>
>My son, Monk, has lately been very interested in how things are spelled.
>His new thing is to point into the air and say stuff like "yrdq...that
>spells DOG!" And right now he is putting his magnetic letters on the
>floor and saying "That spells GO!" and the letters ar like "yao" or
>something. He knows all of his letters, but he doesn't know how to spell
>yet. My question for the group is how to approach this. I don't want to
>correct him, because I feel that might be discouraging, but I'm afraid
>if I let him continue to spell things wrong, he will think he's right.
>What would you do?
>
>Gotta go...he just spelled the word "Chair" (antyooohtrszgh...that
>spells CHAIR!)
>
>OH, another thing is that he reads the words backwords. Like when he
>sees a sign, he reads the letters backwards. For instance, riding in the
>cart at Target, he spelled "TEGRAT...what does that spell, mama?"
>
>Should I just relax and let him do his thing? argh!
>
>livelifelove
>Lainie
>
>
>
>
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Cathie _
>Not to criticize-I don't know which way works best-but my kids used to go to
>I correct my almost reading daughter. Figure that's my job. I try to do
>it
>gently ("Well, that's really close honey but it's XYZ not YZX.") and she
>does
>look less than thrilled with herself when something's not right. But she's
>learning.
>
>Effort and enthusiasm are great. But correct (or even close) spelling are
>good too.
school and there they did process writing. I guess the theory is that if you
don't worry about spelling with young kids they will feel free to express
themselves more creatively than if they can only write about things that
they can spell. I really did enjoy reading those papers-the first one took
me 10 minutes to decipher, but I did get better at it with practice. I can't
imagine that they would have tackled some of the stories or the wonderful
'I'm sorry' notes that Meg used to write to me when she did something wrong
if the spelling and handwriting counted. They started this when they were in
kindergarten but didn't have spelling until the second half of first grade,
and it was a seperate subject-the spelling still didn't count when you were
writing stories.
FWIW,
Cathie
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
Sonia Ulan
Hi;
I can address what I've done with my own daughter and the spelling
issue...it's all worked out very well in our favour. She's 8 and is now
writing. It all started about a year ago when she would do her version
of spelling much like you describe with Monk. It motivated her to take
an interest in words and writing and eventually she discovered that
there was a proper way to spell (mostly on her own, as I read to her she
started recognizing some words on the page). I think it's a creative
and positive thing that Monk is "trying" to spell and is taking an
interest in words. Allow him to take his time with spelling. It's
amazing what can come of "child's play"!
Sonia
Lainie Duro wrote:
I can address what I've done with my own daughter and the spelling
issue...it's all worked out very well in our favour. She's 8 and is now
writing. It all started about a year ago when she would do her version
of spelling much like you describe with Monk. It motivated her to take
an interest in words and writing and eventually she discovered that
there was a proper way to spell (mostly on her own, as I read to her she
started recognizing some words on the page). I think it's a creative
and positive thing that Monk is "trying" to spell and is taking an
interest in words. Allow him to take his time with spelling. It's
amazing what can come of "child's play"!
Sonia
Lainie Duro wrote:
>
> Hey guys.
>
> My son, Monk, has lately been very interested in how things are spelled.
> His new thing is to point into the air and say stuff like "yrdq...that
> spells DOG!" And right now he is putting his magnetic letters on the
> floor and saying "That spells GO!" and the letters ar like "yao" or
> something. He knows all of his letters, but he doesn't know how to spell
> yet. My question for the group is how to approach this. I don't want to
> correct him, because I feel that might be discouraging, but I'm afraid
> if I let him continue to spell things wrong, he will think he's right.
> What would you do?
>
> Gotta go...he just spelled the word "Chair" (antyooohtrszgh...that
> spells CHAIR!)
>
> OH, another thing is that he reads the words backwords. Like when he
> sees a sign, he reads the letters backwards. For instance, riding in the
> cart at Target, he spelled "TEGRAT...what does that spell, mama?"
>
> Should I just relax and let him do his thing? argh!
>
> livelifelove
> Lainie
>
>
>
> Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> Addresses:
> Post message: [email protected]
> Unsubscribe: [email protected]
> List owner: [email protected]
> List settings page: http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
[email protected]
My son does this, and when he types "qwerty" and says, "I wrote 'Brian!'" I
say "WOW!" or sometimes I'll say "it looks like 'kwertee' to me," but when he
writes something or spells it correctly, I say, "that's right!" and repeat
the word.
When he reads stuff the wrong direction, I do point out that we read this
(from left to right) way. In the cart, he may be looking at the word upside
down also, so you might point that out to him.
This is probably a pretty brief stage, since he's exhibiting a lot of
pre-reading skills, including interest.
:-) Diane
say "WOW!" or sometimes I'll say "it looks like 'kwertee' to me," but when he
writes something or spells it correctly, I say, "that's right!" and repeat
the word.
When he reads stuff the wrong direction, I do point out that we read this
(from left to right) way. In the cart, he may be looking at the word upside
down also, so you might point that out to him.
This is probably a pretty brief stage, since he's exhibiting a lot of
pre-reading skills, including interest.
:-) Diane
> My son, Monk, has lately been very interested in how things are spelled.
> His new thing is to point into the air and say stuff like "yrdq...that
> spells DOG!" And right now he is putting his magnetic letters on the
> floor and saying "That spells GO!" and the letters ar like "yao" or
> something. He knows all of his letters, but he doesn't know how to spell
> yet. My question for the group is how to approach this. I don't want to
> correct him, because I feel that might be discouraging, but I'm afraid
> if I let him continue to spell things wrong, he will think he's right.
> What would you do?
Corallyn
--- In [email protected], "Cathie _" <cathie_98@h...>
wrote:
theory is that if you don't worry about spelling with young kids
they will feel free to express themselves more creatively than if
they can only write about things that they can spell. I really did
enjoy reading those papers-the first one took me 10 minutes to
decipher, but I did get better at it with practice. I can't imagine
that they would have tackled some of the stories or the
wonderful 'I'm sorry' notes that Meg used to write to me when she
did something wrong if the spelling and handwriting counted. They
started this when they were in kindergarten but didn't have spelling
until the second half of first grade, and it was a seperate subject-
the spelling still didn't count when you were writing stories.
FWIW,
Cathie
I would have to agree with Cathie. My son is 5.5yo and he writes his
name: SOHJUA (Joshua) He knows his name when he sees it he just
doesn't write it in the correct order. I used to try to correct him
as well. He would be so disappointed that what I saw was what he did
wrong that now I just praise him for getting the right letters on the
paper. He's only 5.5 and at least he knows the letters of his name
and can recognise his name when he sees it. I guess it is one of
those prewriting skills that they go through. Kinda like when all
they want is to do the same puzzle over and over and over and over
and over and...mom has to do it with them till she's ready to pass
out from her brain being understimulated for too long. I would let
him express himself in his own way and when he is ready it will
click with him that there is a correct order to the letters and that
each letter has a sound. If you really wanted to you could do some
phonics work with him. He might pick up on it quicker but I wouldn't
make a big deal about it. Oh, I also wanted to say that when I read
to my son I follow my finger under the words. When he reads to me
whether he is paraphrasing or telling his own story he follows his
finger the same way so he understands that we read from left to
right. He just hasn't made it click with writing words. In fact it
just hit me that when we play Boggle, Jr. he spells the words in the
correct order and then points to each letter and spells the word out
loud and then reads the word out loud using his finger under each
letter as he says the word. He just doesn't get it with writing. Oh
well, it will come. Corallyn
wrote:
>to go to school and there they did process writing. I guess the
>
>
> Not to criticize-I don't know which way works best-but my kids used
theory is that if you don't worry about spelling with young kids
they will feel free to express themselves more creatively than if
they can only write about things that they can spell. I really did
enjoy reading those papers-the first one took me 10 minutes to
decipher, but I did get better at it with practice. I can't imagine
that they would have tackled some of the stories or the
wonderful 'I'm sorry' notes that Meg used to write to me when she
did something wrong if the spelling and handwriting counted. They
started this when they were in kindergarten but didn't have spelling
until the second half of first grade, and it was a seperate subject-
the spelling still didn't count when you were writing stories.
FWIW,
Cathie
I would have to agree with Cathie. My son is 5.5yo and he writes his
name: SOHJUA (Joshua) He knows his name when he sees it he just
doesn't write it in the correct order. I used to try to correct him
as well. He would be so disappointed that what I saw was what he did
wrong that now I just praise him for getting the right letters on the
paper. He's only 5.5 and at least he knows the letters of his name
and can recognise his name when he sees it. I guess it is one of
those prewriting skills that they go through. Kinda like when all
they want is to do the same puzzle over and over and over and over
and over and...mom has to do it with them till she's ready to pass
out from her brain being understimulated for too long. I would let
him express himself in his own way and when he is ready it will
click with him that there is a correct order to the letters and that
each letter has a sound. If you really wanted to you could do some
phonics work with him. He might pick up on it quicker but I wouldn't
make a big deal about it. Oh, I also wanted to say that when I read
to my son I follow my finger under the words. When he reads to me
whether he is paraphrasing or telling his own story he follows his
finger the same way so he understands that we read from left to
right. He just hasn't made it click with writing words. In fact it
just hit me that when we play Boggle, Jr. he spells the words in the
correct order and then points to each letter and spells the word out
loud and then reads the word out loud using his finger under each
letter as he says the word. He just doesn't get it with writing. Oh
well, it will come. Corallyn
[email protected]
In a message dated 8/23/2000 11:11:38 AM, cathie_98@... writes:
<<>Effort and enthusiasm are great. But correct (or even close) spelling are
school and there they did process writing. I guess the theory is that if you
don't worry about spelling with young kids they will feel free to express
themselves more creatively than if they can only write about things that
they can spell. >>
An interesting book about a child's proces of learning to write using
invented spelling is called GNYS at Work. (I don't remember the author's
name.)
Betsy
<<>Effort and enthusiasm are great. But correct (or even close) spelling are
>good too.Not to criticize-I don't know which way works best-but my kids used to go to
school and there they did process writing. I guess the theory is that if you
don't worry about spelling with young kids they will feel free to express
themselves more creatively than if they can only write about things that
they can spell. >>
An interesting book about a child's proces of learning to write using
invented spelling is called GNYS at Work. (I don't remember the author's
name.)
Betsy
[email protected]
In a message dated 8/22/2000 1:00:41 PM Central Daylight Time,
lainie@... writes:
I'm new to the list so I don't know how old Monk is. My daughter, Haley, is
almost 4 and she's been doing some of the same things. I don't correct her,
either. Instead, I asked her if she wanted to learn how to read, and she
said yes. I don't really intend on teaching her how to read at this age, but
I suggested to her that we start with the sounds the letters make. So, as
we're reading books, I've been pointing out letters and the sounds they make.
("Here's the letter P in the word "pocket". P makes the puh, puh, puh
sound. What other words have the P sound? Pig, peanut, pizza?) She seems
very happy with this.
She has also "read" words from right to left, too. I've just gently told her
that when we read words we start on the left, and I often run my finger under
the words of picture books as we're reading them so she'll get used to
tracking that way.
Carron
lainie@... writes:
> Should I just relax and let him do his thing? argh!Hi Lainie,
>
> livelifelove
> Lainie
I'm new to the list so I don't know how old Monk is. My daughter, Haley, is
almost 4 and she's been doing some of the same things. I don't correct her,
either. Instead, I asked her if she wanted to learn how to read, and she
said yes. I don't really intend on teaching her how to read at this age, but
I suggested to her that we start with the sounds the letters make. So, as
we're reading books, I've been pointing out letters and the sounds they make.
("Here's the letter P in the word "pocket". P makes the puh, puh, puh
sound. What other words have the P sound? Pig, peanut, pizza?) She seems
very happy with this.
She has also "read" words from right to left, too. I've just gently told her
that when we read words we start on the left, and I often run my finger under
the words of picture books as we're reading them so she'll get used to
tracking that way.
Carron
Lynda
We've always had both. The kidlets know when "creative" is the rule and
when "getting it right" is important. They have had no problem discerning
between the two even at a young age.
Lynda
----------
when "getting it right" is important. They have had no problem discerning
between the two even at a young age.
Lynda
----------
> From: Cathie _ <cathie_98@...>do
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Reading/spelling...
> Date: Tuesday, August 22, 2000 8:06 PM
>
>
>
>
> >
> >I correct my almost reading daughter. Figure that's my job. I try to
> >itshe's
> >gently ("Well, that's really close honey but it's XYZ not YZX.") and she
> >does
> >look less than thrilled with herself when something's not right. But
> >learning.are
> >
> >Effort and enthusiasm are great. But correct (or even close) spelling
> >good too.to
>
> Not to criticize-I don't know which way works best-but my kids used to go
> school and there they did process writing. I guess the theory is that ifyou
> don't worry about spelling with young kids they will feel free to expresstook
> themselves more creatively than if they can only write about things that
> they can spell. I really did enjoy reading those papers-the first one
> me 10 minutes to decipher, but I did get better at it with practice. Ican't
> imagine that they would have tackled some of the stories or the wonderfulwrong
> 'I'm sorry' notes that Meg used to write to me when she did something
> if the spelling and handwriting counted. They started this when they werein
> kindergarten but didn't have spelling until the second half of firstgrade,
> and it was a seperate subject-the spelling still didn't count when youwere
> writing stories.
>
> FWIW,
>
> Cathie
> ________________________________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
>
>
> Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> Addresses:
> Post message: [email protected]
> Unsubscribe: [email protected]
> List owner: [email protected]
> List settings page: http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
>
Kim
Hi Lainie,
I think just the fact that he is showing an interest in reading and spelling
is wonderful, do not crush that by correcting him! Encourage it! When he
spells cvhsdlfj and tells you it spells cat, say GREAT, cat! There is
plenty of time for him to learn it the right way and right now his curiosity
and enthusiasm for learning is all that counts! When you are reading
together, he will eventually connect the letters to the sounds. Reading to
your son is the best way to teach him reading and spelling! There are some
excellent books out there that help this process. The Cat-in-the-hat books
by Dr. Seuss are good books to start with, they have words that are not in
the English language that make the child stop and think about the word and
make a connection in the brain. They help immensely! Just relax and let it
happen!
One thing I did when my girls were smaller was to help them sound out a word
while reading it to them. For example I would point to the 'C' and say
"ku", then the 'A' and say "ah" then the 'T' and say "tuh" and then slowly
put it all together, "ku-ah-t" and then "cat" It all happens while reading
books IMO, he'll catch on! Relax and don't worry about it now, it will
happen whether you want it to or not, unless of course you push too much,
then it will turn him off!
There are some excellent and fun books that help children learn the left to
right reading direction. They are simple mazes that only go from left to
right. You can find them at educational stores. I don't know how you feel
about work books, but I think if the child finds them fun, they will like to
do it.
I know, this is coming from a new unschooler! But when my girls were
little, I didn't push them until they hit school age! I should've just kept
on, huh?! LOL!
Kim
From: Lainie Duro <lainie@...>
I think just the fact that he is showing an interest in reading and spelling
is wonderful, do not crush that by correcting him! Encourage it! When he
spells cvhsdlfj and tells you it spells cat, say GREAT, cat! There is
plenty of time for him to learn it the right way and right now his curiosity
and enthusiasm for learning is all that counts! When you are reading
together, he will eventually connect the letters to the sounds. Reading to
your son is the best way to teach him reading and spelling! There are some
excellent books out there that help this process. The Cat-in-the-hat books
by Dr. Seuss are good books to start with, they have words that are not in
the English language that make the child stop and think about the word and
make a connection in the brain. They help immensely! Just relax and let it
happen!
One thing I did when my girls were smaller was to help them sound out a word
while reading it to them. For example I would point to the 'C' and say
"ku", then the 'A' and say "ah" then the 'T' and say "tuh" and then slowly
put it all together, "ku-ah-t" and then "cat" It all happens while reading
books IMO, he'll catch on! Relax and don't worry about it now, it will
happen whether you want it to or not, unless of course you push too much,
then it will turn him off!
There are some excellent and fun books that help children learn the left to
right reading direction. They are simple mazes that only go from left to
right. You can find them at educational stores. I don't know how you feel
about work books, but I think if the child finds them fun, they will like to
do it.
I know, this is coming from a new unschooler! But when my girls were
little, I didn't push them until they hit school age! I should've just kept
on, huh?! LOL!
Kim
From: Lainie Duro <lainie@...>
> Subject: Reading/spelling...
>
> Hey guys.
>
> My son, Monk, has lately been very interested in how things are spelled.
> His new thing is to point into the air and say stuff like "yrdq...that
> spells DOG!" And right now he is putting his magnetic letters on the
> floor and saying "That spells GO!" and the letters ar like "yao" or
> something. He knows all of his letters, but he doesn't know how to spell
> yet. My question for the group is how to approach this. I don't want to
> correct him, because I feel that might be discouraging, but I'm afraid
> if I let him continue to spell things wrong, he will think he's right.
> What would you do?
>
> Gotta go...he just spelled the word "Chair" (antyooohtrszgh...that
> spells CHAIR!)