Recommendations for my 6 year old learning to read...

[blessedmomof3kids]

I was wondering if anybody has any recommendations to helping my 6 yr old daughter learn to read. We have been using T4L since August and she is really struggling with her sounds. I didn't know if anybody else had the same problems. Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks

[homeschoolmommy4]

I was wondering if anybody has any recommendations to helping my 6 yr old daughter learn to read. We have been using T4L since August and she is really struggling with her sounds. I didn't know if anybody else had the same problems. Any advice will be greatly appreciated! Thanks

You absolutely need to try "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons"
By Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, Elaine Bruner - Simon & Schuster (1986) - Paperback - 395 pages - ISBN 0671631985.

I used it with my then 5 and 3 year old boys almost 4 years ago and they went from non-readers
to reading and comprehending at the 2nd grade level. I use it to tutor kindergarteners and will begin it with my
soon to be 3 year old daughter. You can get it from a local library or buy a copy for under $15. Be sure to read the
introduction because the program is probably unlike anything you've ever seen ...but then it's super easy to do.

Google search it and good luck!

[SahmIam]

Have you seen starfall.com? They have a good --free-- step-by-step program. Also, you might consider the Leapfrog DVDs. A lot of kids like them. Also, if she's jsut not picking up the phonetic method, you can always try word recognition to teach her. Kids all learn differently.

[proud2Bgreen]

I so understand that feeling!
My daughter was a slow reader as well, we switched to T4L when she was in the 1st grade because our book method was not working at all. T4l has helped her tremendously but, it was not an overnight thing. She is now in the 3rd grade and is Finally able to read for the most part with out needing my help on most words. For her, even after learning the sounds it didn't really help much in her reading. I found that having her memorize as many words as possible helped & try and use the sounds if she had too. So maybe you could think of some words or you could look into a site called spellingcity and get some words there to start practicing with. You also may need to just let your child go back and keep reviewing as much as needed.
Remember that the beauty of home-schooling being able to allow your child that time to learn when their ready.
I Hope I have helped

[raisingknights]

I have used Alpha-Phonics to teach two of my sons to read so far, along with Bob Books and homemade flashcards for sight words. It is a very straight-forward approach to teaching phonics, no cartoons. just lists of letter sound families that build in each lesson. Highly recommend!

[ljmac]

We have used a few different methods and even though my daughter knows her letter sounds and could identify and say blends on flash cards she did not know how to decode words. Or she would hear the "d" sound as "duh" so i've had to go back and practice with her. i bought something that looks like a phone where the student speaks in one end and they hear themselves in the other. That has helped her hear the blends/sounds in words.

We are now using a method where she writes new blends and associated words in sand and as she is saying the sounds she is tapping. I am using Road to Reading as my spine but following an outline that I found online that includes writing activities. Having her complete worksheets like Explode The Code has also worked amazingly well. I am not a work book teacher but because I have given her a small packet of worksheets that include the explode the code, dot-to-dot, etc it has really propelled her forward with her reading skills. I also give her books to read well below her reading level to build fluency and confidence.

We've tried Phonics Pathways which we liked but it didn't help her move forward, we've tried Scaredy Cat Reading which no-one liked too much and we've tried The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teach Reading which we didn't like either. I'm not saying these are bad. They were all wonderful. However, they were not what my daughter needed. My son is totally different, he is already sounding things out and reading easy books and he is just 5.

[ljmac]

correction: My spine is recipe for reading

[denimay]

Your daughter might be a "visual learner" which means that phonics will not help her all that much....... I've had some success with the Easy for Me program from 1st Step ( Easy-for-Me ) A warning though...it's not real cheap ... you don't have to buy all of the parts, but the teacher's manual is a really great informative resource and you need the Alphbet Tales book as well. You can make your own letter and word cards. I also got a pack of Sight Word Readers from Scholastic (Teacher Store ) and my son really seemed to respond well to these......I also observed him recognising words from these books in unrelated reading material.

And I really think 'Visual Spatial Learners' (Amazon.com: Visual-Spatial Learners (9781593633240): Alexandra Golon: Books) us a must read for parents of kids who just don't seem to be responding to phonics.

I learned to read with phonics and was a die-hard supporter until I met the McCracken's (Amazon.com: Spelling Through Phonics (9781895411867): Robert McCracken, Marlene McCracken: Books) and they completely altered my way of teaching reading (I was a 1st grade teacher in public school). Their method is eclectic and has worked for me with hundreds of students (mostly all ESL) over the last 15 or so years.

Good luck!! deni.......

[fairylover]

We really like the graded readers that they have at Barnes and Noble. Our local library has them as well. They tell right on the cover what grade range they cover.

[fairylover]

I have a reluctant reader at my house. I think it is important to let them learn at their own pace. He is now doing Language Arts Extensions for grade 2 and is doing well. I think when he was six he just couldn't distinguish the different sounds. Now he can. We push our little ones too much these days. They will read if we allow them to learn when they are ready. I the mean time, read to her as much and as often as you can.