Reading questions

[Tooactiveboys]

My recently turned 6 yo son said very seriously, this week "Mom we need a homeschool meeting, with snacks!" A few weeks prior I had mentioned that I was going to a homeschool conference in a few weeks. If there was anything they wanted to study, change or have Mommy learn about they needed to tell me before I went to the conference.

We took the blanket, snacks, drinks and sat in the shade inder the tree in the back yard and I "called the meeting to order" and turned it over to him. I had my notebook in hand and very seriously was ready to take notes. Mt 5 yo did not have too much to say. My 6 year old 1) wanted more time outside to look for bugs 2) more "gymnastic" type options for movement breaks and 3) "Mom you really don't give us enough snacks during Bible and story time"

Anyway, I guess they were listening when I asked them to think about homeschool. They did say that Bible and story time were there favorite part of the homeschool day.

It also gave me an opportunity to talk to them about some of the learning that has been going on. We started HOD in January so I already had a different phonics program than what Carrie had suggested. We have been using Explode the Code. This had way too much writing in it for my 6 year old. He has not made progress in reading like I thought he would. During our meeting he did say he just feels like he is writing not reading.

So, taking that to heart I wanted input on the two phonics programs that Carrie suggests. My 6 yo is a very logical, sequential learner. He needs a reason for everything, sounds out every letter, trying variations on each until the word fits instead of seeing that there is a reading rule to follow. I have tried teaching him a few sight words to see if that would move things along, but he still stops to sound them out. He can read through a Bob book Series 2 and the kindergarten Bob books without too much trouble, but take him out of the Bob books to another phonics reader and he seems lost. I think he is an auditory and kinesthetic learner. But I'M not sure, prob too early to tell and I am not well versed on these things.

So what is the scoop on Reading Made Easy and The Reading Lesson? Anyone out there had a similar learner and experience with these? I figure since we like HOD so much I would start with Carries suggestions.
BTW we r using the red book Little Hearts. We r about half way through.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and offer suggestions,
Becky

[MelInKansas]

I have used The Reading Lesson and really like it. It sounds like your son would be past the first few lessons, but you could see where he fits. You should download the sample pages on their website to get a taste, that will show you the first lesson but it shows you the format. There is a page or two where you introduce the sounds for that lesson, read the sounds, then you start reading words with the sounds, there's usually a worksheet or two, and then you read short stories with pictures. The whole format (besides the few worksheets) is sit on the couch and read with your child. My kids (the 2 older ones who can now read) both loved that. You take it at a pace that works, the book suggests a certain number of pages each day for the age of the child, but you do what works for you.

Let me know if you have any other specific questions about it.

To answer one of your other concerns - my oldest is a kinesthetic learner and when she was first starting to read she always sounded things out too. She could have read a word just a few seconds ago and when she saw it again she would sound it out again. It's just the way she is. She would know, once she sounded out a word that didn't follow rules, like "was" she would say "w" "a" "s" oh WAS (which is pronounced "w" "uh" "z" for us). I don't think this is a problem you need to fix (trying to make him read sight words). As a 3rd grader, she can read at a 4th or 5th grade level and reads mostly by sight now (as most people do).

[Tooactiveboys]

I found an area where Carrie posts her rationale for picking certain parts of the curriculum. After reading about her phonics choices, I think I will get the Reading Lesson. I will take a other day or two to think about it.

I wish I had found HOD before Jan of this year....

One reason I picked HOD is that we were already using Singapore math. As money allows I now believe I will transition my other choices to CARRIE'S recommendations.

Now I am wondering, this same son is having trouble with handwriting. We have been using Handwritting Without Tears.... And well, there are still tears. He is such a perfectionist that when he makes a mistake, no matter how tiny, he melts down. I try to encourage him that he is improving, that I can read his handwritting now, he is having fewer reversals. I have him look back at previous work and he sees that he has improved. I remind him that it is ok to make mistakes when we are learning, the only perfect person was Jesus and our job is to do our best.

I have heard that if children are having trouble with printing they may do better with cursive.... Anyone out there had this experience? Should I move him to italics (a Carrie choice), then on to cursive and let printing go???

(he just turned 6, fine motor has never been his thing. Had him tested with occupational therapy, and while he does have some proprioception issues, his handwritting was developmentally appropriate)

[StephanieU]

I would highly recommend the Rod and Staff books HOD offers for fine motor skills in LHFHG if you aren't using those yet. They worked well for my daughter, getting her more willing to do writing, coloring, etc. Then decide if his writing problems are because he doesn't want to or can't. For my daughter, it was mostly doesn't want to. So, we found some free fun sheets online. We also started tracing/copying things that were meaningful like verses. That really helped her.

[MelInKansas]

If he just turned 6 and it is a constant struggle then I believe they would say slow down and take it easy. I have used HWT and Italic and I would say for a kid who is struggling either is hard work. Italic has less guidance as far as how letters are formed. HWT at least has more hands-on activities. This is probably the only area where I diverge from Carrie's recommendations, I like HWT even though we are doing it with tears also.

Even when a child is capable it is very telling when they are willing to do all other parts of school but one area, like writing or reading, brings them to tears and causes great amounts of frustration. Most often, if you just back off in that area and come back to it in 6 months, they will soar and it will become so much easier for them. Maturity goes a long way. My 2nd born had this with reading for a while and I backed off. Now she is a pretty good reader for her age, though I do think maybe she has dyslexia.

[Tooactiveboys]

I have not been doing the rod and staff activity hooks as recommended, since I already had purchased Kumon cutting, tracing, mazes and number games. But since they are not expensive and we r about through all the Kumon books maybe that would be good to do for a while. As I use up things I want to become more HOD on everything.

How is this for a plan...
If i do The Reading Lesson, which looks like it has minimal handwritting, to encourage him in reading. Then work this summer on Rod and staff activity books for fine motor. For letter formation just do the HWT activities I.e. Roll-a-dough, shaving cream, WDT and I have some sandpaper letters too. Then in the fall restart actually printing? Or is that too
Long to wait? Should I have him re-do the kindergarten handwritting book or move on? The K book has a lot of capitals in it that he is ok at.

I know by the time we get to beyond we need some writing skill.
Do you think this will help a boy who says he hates reading right now?? That really makes me feel sad. I want to instill a love of reading. He does love story time and will sit for 20-30 min for a story.

[MelInKansas]

I think the Reading Lesson is definitely worth a try to help him learn to read without writing. The only writing is simple worksheets which are mostly matching type things, you could do them without even copying for him to write if you wanted.

When would he be starting Beyond? There are spelling words and copywork in Beyond. I think the spelling words would definitely be LESS writing than ETC. Copywork you are supposed to start it slow and ramp up throughout the year, also while encouraging smaller writing and their very best work. Maybe if asked to do a lesser amount of handwriting but do it well he would be able to do that. I remember I had a thread about handwriting long ago (it was my oldest's struggle for quite a while and I know in my ignorance I didn't help her out) Julie talked about sitting with the child while they were doing copywork and even doing something like giving a marshmallow whenever a word was done neatly and well to really encourage the child. Talking about things to work on that specific time - size, spacing, or whatever the child may be struggling with getting right - and then rewarding if the child does it. I should look up that thread and just link it....

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13853&p=98830

This is for my 8YO who was doing Bigger at the time. Again, I have regrets with her in how I taught/handled handwriting.

[Tooactiveboys]

We are on unit 17 of 34 in little hearts. We are going on a three day schedule through the summer, maybe 4 if I throw in Saturday. We had a very lax spring due to surgeries and work schedules. So that puts us starting beyond mid to late fall.
Today is our official return to school. We will have a few 4 day weeks before I start watching other kids one day a week during the summer ( and I work Friday mornings). So I think we have time to fix some things. My younger will definitely be using emerging reader set by the time we r on beyond, and his fine motor/ handwritting is above where it needs to be.

[queenireneof3]

Hello...

Thought I would chime in here since we have done many similar things. My son (now 7 almost is doing HWT and was doing ETC. We tapered off with ETC for similar reasons, the writing was too much for him and the spelling was frustrating him and slowing his progress down. I started HWT with him two years ago before we were doing HOD. I have learned the hard way that bouncing around to different curriculum really makes things worse sometimes. His progress has been slow with HWT, but now, two years later, he is writing so much better. I'm glad we stuck with it. It is still not his favorite subject, but I think I would have frustrated him more to switch. We are doing LHFHG with my 6 year old daughter and he does the HTW 2nd grade printing book for his handwriting time.

I think your plan of slowing it down this summer with big hands-on letter forming activities and then starting a new book or continuing with the HWT book you are currently on is a good idea. The first grade HWT books is a lot of review of K, so I would start him with that one. We did that. Ended up not finishing the K book and moving on the 1st grade book. Even the 2nd grade book has them practicing the letters again with paragraphs and other assignments sprinkled in. I would just give him more time to solidify printing with one curriculum before trying cursive. I think switching before he has printing down might create more tears down the road. My son won't be starting cursive till next year when we do Beyond. He will technically be in 3rd grade, but I think that much time working on printing has been good and allowed him time to master printing before being thrown the cursive curve ball. The Rod and Staff books for the fine motor skills have been great and good practice for both of my kids.

As far as the Reading Lesson, I started that with my 7yo son last fall as I was also desperate to find a reading program that would work for him. He did ok with it. He would rather sight read than sound out, so he is different from your son in that way. My daughter (6yo) also is doing the reading lesson and is doing great! She sounds out the words as well. For my son, we had to stop at lesson 13 with the Reading Lesson as he was just having too hard of a time with it. My friend gave us her Hooked on Phonics books and that saved our lives! After going through the K and 1st grade HOPh books, he was able to dive back into to lesson 13 with the Reading Lesson and sail through extremely quickly to the end. I think it just took some time for his reading to get there and the Reading Lesson went too fast for him. Like I said, my daughter on the other hand is doing great with it. My son is now on the Emerging Readers List which I thought would never happen!

It is ok if they take a little longer to develop those reading/writing skills. Just slowing down when necessary and taking those breaks can make all the difference in the world.

[queenireneof3]

I was going to mention above that I started my daughter with D'Nealian handwriting books (printing) as the transition to cursive is very easy from that style. It has been a little weird having each child in two different styles of writing, but I know that trying to change up my sons handwriting style at this point from HWT would cause unnecessary stress for him. I plan on doing Cheerful Cursive next year for him, or whatever it is Carrie recommends for cursive and not HWT cursive.

[Tooactiveboys]

Sara,

Thank you for your information, sounds like you are just about 6 months to a year ahead of us! Lots of good information from everyone for me to consider. I love that we can pool our experiences here.

Sara, I'm sorry to hear about your little one, but at least he/she is spared the cares of this world and is looking into Jesus' face. I have one waiting for me too, a mother's heart never forgets.

[queenireneof3]

Becky...

Thank you for your kind words about our precious baby. I'm sorry for your loss as well. How amazing to have a wonderful, risen from the dead Savior to serve and love as we face the difficulties of death in this world. He gives us such hope!

Sara

[Nealewill]

You had asked about cursive for children struggling with fine motor? I don't know if it would be a good fit or not for your son. I know my son struggled with fine motor (he is back in OT and almost and we did use Handwriting Without Tears. Although he never had "tears" his hand writing was atrocious and I couldn't read it. HWT worked for him because it had limited places he would start his letters. So all letters start with a line or a magic c. While I don't like the style, I can read it. He is now doing HWT cursive even though it looks awful too and but we are doing this because he struggles with language and change Sounds odd but if I gave him the cheerful cursive book and told him each letter in cursive matched a letter in print - when really they look pretty different to him - his poor brain would go into overload (and while my statement may sound totally ridiculous - so is an 8 yo throwing a temper-tantrum LOL and that is what I will get if I don't try and make smooth transitions) So he will do the grade three book HWT and then move to cheerful cursive. I am hoping and praying to that the transition will go well because no one does cursive like HWT and the whole point of learning cursive (at least for me) is so that he can learn to read cursive! Cheerful cursive will do that for him.

[Tooactiveboys]

When in HOD do kids learn how to type and do their own computer work? In real life, most work will be done on the computer and a few forms will have to be filled in and signed with handwriting. I know it is a skill and a motor issue to learn it and to learn it well at this age, but for the rest of life??

[Nealewill]

I don't think there is a time period that HOD schedules it. My oldest and middle child (the one with the fine motor skills issues) have just started. I would say 5th grade or 6th grade. My middle child can't type properly though so he is using only his first 2 or 3 fingers. But the nice thing about him wanting to do it now is that he can at least find letters on the key board. We let our kids have media for 30-60 minutes a day and my kids play Minecraft. And when they are playing, they can name their buildings. Well, my son is now faster at naming his buildings LOL . But in general, in Preparing they start doing helped searches on the internet for research. This will help with for him and my dd too.