Rachel Ann

Hey everyone,

I've an almost 4 who wants to learn to read. I do not think at this point
she will be satisfied with simply telling her the letters as she requests. I
have the feeling that she actually wants more of a workbook type thing,
where she is reading words etc. and well, learning to do what her older sibs
already are doing.

So I'm trying to find a reading system that is fun, relaxed and not
restritctive. Obviously we start and stop at her request, even if we stop
for five years... which is why I want something inexpensive.

The thing is she really wants to learn to read. She likes the Bob books, but
I'm not certain it is enough for her in the end...

Has anyone unschooled their child in reading actually using some system?
What system worked well for your child?






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/17/03 10:50:59 AM, hindar@... writes:

<< I do not think at this point
she will be satisfied with simply telling her the letters as she requests. I
have the feeling that she actually wants more of a workbook type thing,
where she is reading words etc. and well, learning to do what her older sibs
already are doing.

<<So I'm trying to find a reading system that is fun, relaxed and not
restritctive. >>

One easy thing you could make is get a piece of cardboard and cut two slots
with an exacto. Not just a line, but a little open rectangle for a paper to
slide through. I'm explaining this backwards...

Think of an easy word, and maybe one like her name or like a word she likes.

Put all but one letter or sound in, like if her name's "PAT" you could leave
a blank and then put
A T

Then on a strip of other paper you can write all the other letters or blends
that could go there, and you pull the strip through and she can read all
those letters.

There are other ways to do that sort of thing, but this one's fun and not so
frustrating because they don't try every letter and sound in the world, you
just put those that will make words they know.

So your strip could have
b
c
f
h
m
p
r
s
(they probably don't know "tat" but if they do, use a t!)
v
ch (unless you want to save blends; we used them early on for our homemade
reading toys)
dr
(the probably don't know "frat," but maybe)
spl
th

Those things are disposable, though Holly found one the other day that had
three slots on one piece of purple cardboard (which came in the back of some
gift box she got) and it only had two paper strips left, and she said
forcefully "Don't throw that away!" So maybe they're not always disposable.
<g>

You can get workbooks without "finding a reading system."

Sandra

Mary Bianco

>From: Rachel Ann <hindar@...>

<<Has anyone unschooled their child in reading actually using some system?
What system worked well for your child?>>



Well ages ago, long before the idea of homeschooling hit me, I purchased a
program for Tara through the encyclopedia's I had bought. This was about 13
years ago. Anyway, it was called the Phonics Factory. Had games and all
kinds of things to do. Well Tara never used all the stuff or even in the
order it was suppose to go. It also had some audio tapes too. I saved it all
the years and had it laying around for Joseph and Sierra. By that time I had
only saved one phonics book, the tapes and the smaller reading books that
went with it. The kids pulled it out every now and then to listen or play.
Sometimes a few days in a row, then nothing for month or two. It's not what
"got" them reading but it was something fun for them while they figured out
what they wanted and how to go about it. The thing they really liked was the
little books. Read along with fat cat and dandy duck and so on. The books
were progressive and it started out with small sentences and then a picture
of exactly what the sentence was. Point being, made the kids feel like they
were reading when they just weren't ready to actually read themselves. It
was a fun thing. I'm sure you could find regular books like that for your
child. That way she would feel like she was reading and having fun and not
pushing herself or getting frustrated. Even some rhyming books like Dr.
Seuss might make her feel like she's reading. All the rest will come when
she's ready.

Mary B


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Pam Hartley

> The thing is she really wants to learn to read. She likes the Bob books, but
> I'm not certain it is enough for her in the end...
>
> Has anyone unschooled their child in reading actually using some system?
> What system worked well for your child?


The Bob books are great -- you don't need to know if it's enough for her in
the end as long as they seem to be working for her now.

About 2 (?) years ago my oldest (then 6 if I'm not muddling my dates) said
firmly, "I want to learn to read" and after some conversation I ended up
buying the Horrible Yet Effective book "How to put you and your child's
teeth to sleep while teaching your child to read in 100 easy lessons")

Brit and I, over the course of about 7 months, did the first 30-some lessons
and then she just stopped (I asked her a few times, she didn't want to at
that moment, so I just let it fade, not without gratitude). It did help her
learn a few useful tricks, and she continued on her merry unschooling way,
still not reading "really", but doing as she had done before with picking up
little bits of reading knowledge here and there.

Recently, Brit again came to me and said determinedly, "I want to learn to
read. I'm 8 years old, for crying out loud" (yes, she really does say "for
crying out loud" <g> I've picked up the phrase from her).

After I was brought round with smelling salts (tip for unschooled children:
the way to get your nice calm radical unschooling mom to sink to the floor
is to let her know you agree with the former President that all children
need to read by the time they're 8 years old <g>) and had with tip-toeing
care made a delicate speech on the fact that many unschooled kids learn to
read MUCH later than 8, my darling mule, er, I mean daughter, nodded and
smiled and said, "Yes, but I want to learn to read now. Let's find that book
we used before."

So, we're back to it. I remember to ask most days, or she remembers to ask
most days, and it's been about 10 days now and her 5 year old sister decided
to sit down with us each time, too, which admittedly makes it more fun but
if you think I *like* looking like the Poster Mom for school at home with my
children pouring over a *shudder* Reading Program every day, well... all I
can say is, I have found that there are no limits to the things I'll do for
love of my daughters. <g>

Pam

Kelly Lenhart <[email protected]>

--- In [email protected], "Mary Bianco"
<mummyone24@h...> wrote:
> >From: Rachel Ann <hindar@o...>
>
> <<Has anyone unschooled their child in reading actually using some
system?
> What system worked well for your child?>>


We used the little boxed sets of Bob Books. They are also divided up
into books which have one or two vowels sounds and have clear
illustrations. As our son was in school at the time, I can't say they
"taught him to read" but I do think they were a big part of his
lightbulb moment.

And, as with the other set mentioned, they are little books which make
kids feel good about what they are acomplishing. I recommend them.

Kelly L.

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/17/03 12:43:19 PM, pamhartley@... writes:

<< I ended up
buying the Horrible Yet Effective book "How to put you and your child's
teeth to sleep while teaching your child to read in 100 easy lessons") >>

Holly saw that at a friend's house and wanted a copy. We got one.

When I asked her lately what she thought helped her most, she said the three
lessons we did in that (around #18ish) helped a little, but mostly it was
Harry Potter cards.

If by the time she wanted that book she could start way into it, some people
would say she could already read.

I think she just stayed at simmer a long time before she boiled. Now she can
read just about anything, though she still sounds words out phonetically
sometimes and misses.

The other day she misread "curtain," so I wrote down
carton
curtain
certain

It took fifteen seconds, and seemed to help.

Sandra

nellebelle

snip>>>Has anyone unschooled their child in reading actually using some
system? What system worked well for your child?>>>>>>>>>>>

When my kids express an interest in something, I do not look for a system to
help them learn it. I try to answer their specific questions as they come
up, and bring things to their attention that might relate to that interest.
I do have a fair amount of "learning toys" around my house. I bought a lot
of it before I was introduced to unschooling. I have kept a lot of it,
because my kids enjoy PLAYING with it. I enjoy playing with them or
watching them play and noticing what they are learning, but I have let go of
feeling that there must be a particular outcome from using those items.
They love to make geometric designs with cuisenaire rods, for instance.
This morning, I had the scrabble letters out to help me do the Jumble
puzzle. My 7yod took two letters and asked me what it said. She repeated
the sound. Then she added a new letter and did the same thing. She got up
to 6 or 7 letters. It was pretty hard to pronounce, since it was mostly
consonants! When she added an "s" I said, now you made it plural, and said
the new word. Then, she got out some paper and folded it to make a little
book. She said she was making a book to help kids learns to read. She made
a list of "_at" words on the first page, then "_an" words. She asked me if
I could think of any more. I said wan, but she said that would be too hard
for kids because it didn't sound the same as the other "_an" words. Then
she said it was enough for now, and went off to do something else.

Another interesting thing, is that my not-yet-reader loves to write. She
writes a lot, either copying things or asking me to spell them for her. She
now knows how to write many words on her own, even though she can't always
read what she has written, can't read the same word in another context.

Here are some ideas that might, or might not! be helpful in your situation.

My 7yod loves her board books that have one word for page. She "reads" them
to us often. She has also memorized a couple of short books and reads them
to us. I have heard that many children learn to read by memorizing a book,
then at some point connecting how the printed word matches what they are
saying. (Does that make sense?)

How about Richard Scary's Biggest Word Book Ever? I loved that book when I
was a kid. It has little stories that you can read to her, and if she
really wants to read, it is full of pictures with labels. If she changes
her mind about learning to read right now, it can be just another book in
the house and you won't have wasted your money.

>>>>>snip>>>>>I have the feeling that she actually wants more of a workbook
type thing, where she is reading words etc. and well, learning to do what
her older sibs already are doing. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

There are plenty of inexpensive workbook/coloring books for young kids. Why
do you think she wants a workbook? Are her older sibs schooling? Are her
older siblings doing workbooks, and that's why she wants them? Just be sure
that a workbook doesn't become something she feels she *must* do or that she
thinks that is the only way to learn how to read. Be careful to not go
overboard and push her beyond what she is interested in. Be willing to let
her stop. (It sounds like you are prepared to do that.) She might be quite
happy to play at reading, rather than truly be reading.

Several years ago, my mom bought us a phonics sticker book. Each page had
one set of words, like "_at" with a bunch of words that could be made from
that sound and with pictures to help them figure out the word. Truthfully,
my kids haven't used the book a lot, but it might be just the ticket for a
young child who is asking to learn how to read. Just checked and I still
have it. ISBN 1-56293-825-8 My Phonics Word Book. Beginner Picture
Dictionaries are fun for some kids.

snip>>>She likes the Bob books, but I'm not certain it is enough for her in
the end...>>>>>>>>>>>

If you already have the Bob books, why not read them to/with her? I did use
Bob books with my first child, but she took off reading on her own without
ever going beyond the first set. If Bob books are not enough for her, you
can worry about that when they become not enough. She might be very happy
to have just a few books that she can really read and not need more than
that for a while.

Last but not least, go to unschooling.com and read the essays on reading and
late readers. There is at least one that describes many ways to help
children learn to read and also these essays will reasure you that she will
read when she is ready.

Mary Ellen

Marjorie Kirk

I have used magnetic letters to demonstrate sounding out words, then doing
rhyming words or changing certain letters to see what happens to the word.
But, one of mine wanted me to "teach him to read". I got the book _Teach
Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons_ from the library and he loved it.
But, I have to warn you, that if you use it according to the instuctions it
could be mind-numbing!!! They tell you exactly what to do and what to say
and what the child should say. We just skipped all that and he learned the
sounds as they were presented and read the words for practice. What I
really liked about it was that it starts with just a few letters, you read
words containing just those letters, then they gradually add more. They
also have different notations for hard and soft vowel sounds, which
gradually are eliminated toward the end of the book.

They recommend a lesson a day, but we often did four or five in a row since
we skipped all the repetitve stuff. Sometimes we skipped it for several
days, then reviewed before going on.

I realized after getting this book that when I told them what sounds a
letter makes I had it all wrong! M sounds like mmmmmm, not mah. T isn't
really tah, but a very short "t". It makes a big difference. Mat isn't
pronounced "mah-a-tah", even if you run it all together it doesn't sound
like mat. I hope this makes sense.

Good Luck,
Marjorie

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/17/03 2:30:15 PM, nellebelle@... writes:

<< Last but not least, go to unschooling.com and read the essays on reading
and
late readers. There is at least one that describes many ways to help
children learn to read and also these essays will reasure you that she will
read when she is ready. >>

There's one there in the library, but it's repeated and joined by others here:

http://sandradodd.com/reading

<A HREF="http://sandradodd.com/reading">Later Readers</A>

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/17/03 3:29:00 PM, mkirk@... writes:

<< I got the book _Teach
Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons_ from the library and he loved it.
But, I have to warn you, that if you use it according to the instuctions it
could be mind-numbing!!! They tell you exactly what to do and what to say
and what the child should say. We just skipped all that and he learned the
sounds as they were presented and read the words for practice. >>

We skipped their bizarre annotations of words too, even though the book said
VERY clearly that if you skipped anything it just wasn't going to work a bit.
<g>

We just went to the pages of words, which ends up being kind of like pulling
a strip of paper through cardboard cut-outs. She only did just a very few
pages and then went back to other things. I'm sorry we ever bought the book
(used), but it made Holly feel better somehow, like a talisman.

All my kids can read anyway, and I would MUCH rather Holly have visions of
Harry Potter cards in her head than the two-color weird vowel markings and
soft/hard consonant made-up annotations that were in the book. YUCK!!

Sandra

[email protected]

We make up different variations of the Memory game. My 3dd and 5dd cut
out pictures of different objects out of magazines and glue them to 3x5
cards. For 3dd, 5dd will write the first letter of the word on another
3x5 card. For 5dd, I will write the whole word on another 3x5 card. We
use about four object cards and four letter or word cards at a time,
otherwise it gets overwhelming for them. Flip all the cards upside down.
Flip over two at a time and match the picture to the letter or word. We
have also done this using 3x5 cards with uppercase and lower case letters
on them. 5dd liked to have a list of all the letters near by for a quick
glance if she forgot. The only rule was having fun.

Both girls also like Reader Rabbit and JumpStart computer "games", which
are really no more than workbooks on disk. A little more interactive, and
even though I hate the "smiley face reward" idea, the girls love to work
really hard to get to their *certificate* or *diploma*.

Wende
On Mon, 17 Feb 2003 12:15:12 -0500 (Eastern Standard Time) Rachel Ann
<hindar@...> writes:
> Hey everyone,
>
> I've an almost 4 who wants to learn to read. I do not think at this
> point
> she will be satisfied with simply telling her the letters as she
> requests. I
> have the feeling that she actually wants more of a workbook type
> thing,
> where she is reading words etc. and well, learning to do what her
> older sibs
> already are doing.
>
> So I'm trying to find a reading system that is fun, relaxed and not
> restritctive. Obviously we start and stop at her request, even if we
> stop
> for five years... which is why I want something inexpensive.
>
> The thing is she really wants to learn to read. She likes the Bob
> books, but
> I'm not certain it is enough for her in the end...
>
> Has anyone unschooled their child in reading actually using some
> system?
> What system worked well for your child?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
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Angela

Both my kids liked 100 Easy lessons. They never finished it and we didn't
use it like the directions said, but it served it's purpose at the time.
Angela in Maine-unschooling@...
http://userpages.prexar.com/rickshaw/

"What you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say."
Emerson



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Peggy

> From: "Marjorie Kirk" <mkirk@...>


> They recommend a lesson a day, but we often did four or five in a row since
> we skipped all the repetitve stuff. Sometimes we skipped it for several
> days, then reviewed before going on.
>
> I realized after getting this book that when I told them what sounds a
> letter makes I had it all wrong! M sounds like mmmmmm, not mah. T isn't
> really tah, but a very short "t". It makes a big difference. Mat isn't
> pronounced "mah-a-tah", even if you run it all together it doesn't sound
> like mat. I hope this makes sense.
>
> Good Luck,
> Marjorie

This is how we used the book too, not as lessons but just looking though
it. And it really helped because my daughter had/has some speech
problems and she just didn't pick of the different nuances the way other
kids seem to. I liked the page of the different sounds set up in a
chart and even just looking at them transcribed so that each separate
sound was shown clearly seemed to really resonate with her. Maybe the
best way to use Teach Your Child.... is for the parent to read it. ;)


We ended up homeschooling speech therapy too. My insurance approved a
set of exercises, then the speech therapy office thought they didn't, so
they offered us a reduced package where we went four times and paid
directly. I took hand written notes from the therapist and transcribed
them and used the exercises to help my daughter at home. It turned out
that a big problem for her speaking clearly was just a very minor tongue
holding thing. Once she became aware of it her speech dramatically
improved in a short time. She had pediatric dental problems and lost her
front teeth early and that probably helped contribute to the lack of
awareness. So, I am glad we went. Found out later that my insurance
would have covered it and they would have set us up for the maximum
amount covered by our insurance -- 25 sessions. I think that would have
been way too much "school" for us. Funny how our suggested needs for
therapy assistance expanded or shrank depending on the insurance support. ;)


Peggy