In 2013 I was pregnant with baby #4. I had two main goals while I was pregnant. One was to potty train Jonas, the other was to teach Beckham how to read. I accomplished neither.
Now it's 2015, I'm 31 weeks pregnant with Solorio baby 5.0. I'm not naive enough to even entertain the idea of potty training Evah-Kate in the next 9 weeks, and I'm still teaching Beckham how to read. Funny how things work out, isn't it?
Looking back, Beckham wasn't ready to learn how to read in 2013. I was ready to teach him, but that isn't what actually matters. He is ready now, and it shows. He can actually pay attention during his lesson, and remember what he was taught more than an hour later. I call that a win.
It took a long time for me to finally settle on a curriculum to use for reading this year. I wanted something that would work for both boys. I had many friends recommend "All about reading". I balked at the cost ($125+) and put off purchasing until the last minute. We are now finishing up week 5, so I'll give a
All about reading is a very complex program. It includes...
-An app for your phone/tablet
-Teacher's manual
-Student's activity book
-Phonogram (letter/blend) cards
-Word cards
-Magnetic letter tiles
-Student readers
And I didn't even order the Zebra hand puppet. I'm not kidding, there's a hand puppet.
When we started the program, I just assumed we would do a lesson each day.
No. Nope. Not even close.
We have been breaking up each lesson over 2 or 3 days. The first day of a lesson is teaching the new concepts, introducing the new letter/blend and word cards, and using the magnetic letter tiles. The second day of the lesson is completing the assignments in the student activity book, and reviewing the word and letter cards that were introduced the day before. Beckham also reads a new story in the reader on the first day, and re-reads the same story on the second day. To put this into perspective: We are just finishing lesson 6 and we have already learned 19 letter cards and 43 word cards. In my opinion, that's a lot of material.
The word and phonogram cards.
A sample page of the student reader. Each story has 6-8 pages.
Even though this program seems pretty intensive to me, the boys don't seem to mind at all. Jonas is drinking it up like a sponge, and Beckham isn't complaining. I think using cards, magnet tiles, games from the student's activity book, and the student reader provides enough variety to keep things fresh. Another huge bonus: the boys don't have to use a pencil at all. We do all of this in the family room instead of around the dining table.
Jonas using the magnet letter tiles to play "change the word". Please excuse my laundry on the couch, I'm going to put it away right after school, after dinner, tomorrow.
Jonas using the letter tiles to spell newly introduced words. Here is has to change bat > sat > fat > mat > rat > cat > and so forth.
Beckham playing one of the games from the student activity book. He has to stack the rhyming word scoops on the ice cream cones.
This has probably been the boys' favorite activity so far. They have to read the words on the little slip of paper. If they read it correctly, they get to feed the word to the monster. It seems corny to me, but they ask to play this game almost every day.
Another unexpected advantage of using the same program with the boys at the same time is the element of a little healthy competition. Jonas is so very eager to learn to read, Beckham really hasn't been motivated at all. Watching Jonas as he learns to read has really lit a fire under Beck. He doesn't want to be shown up by his little brother, and now he tells me each day "this is so easy". :)
What about you? What did it take to teach your child to read? Have you used All About Reading? Leave your feedback in the comment section below!
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