Why I love books...

Big brother reading Eric Carle's - Papa, please get the moon for me.

Nothing excites me more as a mom to see my 21 month old twin girls tell me "Mom, read book".

One very early Saturday morning, while husband and I were still deep in sleep.  We were suddenly awakened when we didn't find Callie beside us.  Husband almost hysterically said, "Where's Callie?!!" and little did we know, we just found her reading a book on the floor all by herself.

I always keep a set of books in many places in our rooms, living room and their playroom.  We love books and we also love story telling time.

I guess, my love for books only started when I graduated from college.  Before then, books were enemies.  Books = studying, Studying = school and school = boring.  When Ice was born, I wanted to change that and fill my home with carefully chosen, age-appropriate, exciting (not boring!) books!  So it was, at 2... Ice would grab a book and try reading the books. A lot of times, we would actually spend time in a bookstore and just sit down by the floor grab a book and read some stories.  I would become so animated in retelling the story book that even other kids would want to sit down with us.

I love it too when I would hear other co-moms who love books their family read so I would exchange info about books they love so I could buy them for my kids.

Out of the 100s of books we have (and growing), these are our latest favorite!
Zero -By Karen Otoshi, Eric Carle's, Flip Books, Dr. Seuss, Peter Rabbit, Uncle Wiggily's, Picture Bible, Kindermusik's Oh what Busy Days, Beauty and the Beast (Twin's love them now).

When Ice was still a few days old, I literally bombarded him with books (and his endless love for Hotwheels or Tomica cars).  On my lap, we would read.  Although, early exposure with books is not a guarantee for early reading... Ice had trouble reading (read my previous posts) but his critical thinking, imaginative stories, rich vocabulary and comprehension even for chapter books are astounding.

The love for learning is what I want to instill with my children.  The internet has made remarkable ways to actually find information, but great books and stories make children think, imagine and love learning.

Since they are so used to books, at 12 months they don't rip our books but read them.  I have a few board books but regular paper thin books are very well handled even when they were still infants.  Since they see me and husband read, they would also want to imitate and read by themselves which we encourage.

To conclude, I would say that nothing beats the feeling of seeing your 1 year old, running unsteadily with a book on her hand, push her way to your lap and ask you to read it to her.  It changes everything. That you would just stop whatever you are doing and just succumb to her need to learn from you.

Being inside a basket doesn't stop her from reading Berenstein Bears' A Book.

Here are some random snapshots of days that I would just find my kids reading and it just gives me more thought in building their love for learning.

This is 6-year old book I bought in a second hand shop (Book Sale) for P70 only (Dr.Suess - Are you my mother?).  It was Ice's favorite and now the twins'.  We would read it everyday that I would get sick of reading it. :P

Their breakfast - Space book and Dr. Seuss Go, Dog Go!

Caught reading again - Usborne's What's Under the Sea

I don't care less if they make a mess with books. Dashie reading Dr. Seuss "Are you my mother?" and Callista  with Golden Books

Oh how I wish I could buy a really fast compact camera to shoot these moments. :) 

A fun way to teach kids about Sight Words!

My little guy learns a lot if you inject some silly, nonsense humor (sometimes kid-friendly toilet humor).  So, I have improvised something to make him memorize sight words easily!

What are sight words?

Words recognised immediately by the reader without his having to go through the process of breaking them into constituent parts. 

Words such as The, Little, Please, Blue etc. are some words that cannot be sounded out.  So, teaching sight words become very important.  You can check the complete list of the Dolch Sight Words here (http://gemini.es.brevard.k12.fl.us/sheppard/reading/dolch.html).

Anyway, I am not quite a cartoonist myself, but I made a simple way to make sight words much easier to remember than just memorizing the actual words like these below (These are actually just plain sheets of paper cutouts with handwritten words of most common sight words that I want to teach my son).

I would show these words initially, then one by one flip it and show the story of the word at the back.  

 and made to these (These drawings are drawn at the back of each sight word to look like actual flash cards - yes, no printing needed).  I will be uploading the flashcard I have made with the sight words for download soon on my blog.

These are the sketch drawings I made on each word.  Just make it simple drawings, then mark the letters with a dark colored pen for emphasis.

At the back of each sight word, you might be wondering what those things are and how were they created.  Well, they are simple stick drawings that I have placed on each letter to tell a story about the word.

ex. the word LITTLE.  The story would go like this: Look at the LITTLE (empahisis on this word) i and e, they are too LITTLE unlike L's and the T's!

Example, the word Little.  We have come up with a simple story about Little.  The giant twin L's and T's looks at Little i and e!  I would tell the story like this, "The word is Little! Look at the LITTLE (empahisis on this word) i and e, they are too LITTLE unlike L's and the T's!"

Some other sight words we practiced:

There! There goes the ball!

"Can - I can Read! (or look, N looks like a can) 

I have read that this kind of teaching sticks like velcro to the brain.  The process of being able to use the Left Brain (thru words/letter) then actually transferring the info to the right brain (thru interesting visuals) is very good memorization technique.  The brain processes this info better and gets them attached for easier future retrieval.  The same way we remember a brand by its icon (ex. the Golden Arches for McDonald's, or the simple check with Nike).

This has helped my son very much.  With this, he has memorized all 13 sight words in just one sitting and are doing more.  We didn't even bother sounding them out or even explaining the silent e or whatever.

There's one product that is really nice that you can buy online that is similar to this at Dianne Kraft: http://stores.diannecraft.org/Detail.bok?no=54

I love this method!  Try this and let me know if this has helped you in your teaching journey!

What made things easier for my 6 year old to start reading

This made my entire homeschooling adventure days the most memorable of all - My 6 year old boy can now read! Hurrahhh!

There really is no such thing as a slow-learner or even the Big Moose (Archie Comics Character) guy if only learning blocks were identified early on.  Some kids, learn and memorize fast but are having a hard time in gross-motor.  Some can read early and read well but have problems with comprehension. While some, have auditory processing problems and could not even comprehend Rhymes, or letter sounds on words - which my son had.  So, you see not all minds are the same.  Some have learning blocks that needed to be trained.  My son, had it too but I see it as my challenge instead of his.  I want him to learn one thing - to love learning!  But to love it, he must unblock his reading challenge.

Isn't the worst thing any parent could experience is when a teacher or a principal calls on you just to tell you:

• "You're child is a slow-learner"
• "She is not reading (or catching up) at her grade-level"
• "He is Regressing!"
• "All of his classmates are doing well, but I'm sorry to say but your child seems to be having a hard time."
• "He can't even finish copy work and everyone else are already done!"

So you wonder, why my kid is acting this way? He looks fine to me when he's at home or with his peers. But, honestly, there is nothing wrong with your child so stop thinking that you have a slow or dyslexic child!  It's you! He simply needs you to teach him and focus off your problem-focused life to cope with whatever he is having a hard time on.  Parents who wonder, wonder too much about the problem instead of a solution that is readily available.  The teachers are not your child's problem solver - you are!  A simple 30 minutes a day on what your child is struggling on makes a lot of difference!

Honestly, it took me almost 6 months of direct teaching (with a proper homeschool curriculum) of at least 3 hours/day just to identify what is keeping my smart and amazing 6 year old from reading!

We did the usual phonics, alphabetic style of learning sounds then blending them.  Which we did for about 4-5 months but all he could do are sound out C-V-Cs (Bat and Sat... etc) but no blending at all which is really frustrating.

Then, upon doing a workbook Developing the Early Learner Series (Books 1-4) by Simone Bibeau, MA. Sp. Ed.  I found out that my 6 year old is struggling with an Auditory Processing which makes him harder to remember phonics and worse blending those sounds together.

He couldn't even figure out what sounds are heard when I say a word (ex. Bat = Baaaatt).  He knows all of the sounds of the alphabet because of the great stuff on Hooked on Phonics, Click N' Read, Starfall.com songs. But, all of these are left-brained focus.  My child is a right-brained learner with an auditory glitch. He was even having a hard time identifying rhymes (ex. Pail - Nail).

But, now what a lovely day! I have found the way to teach my challenged kiddo to process these sounds into words.  Training his brain to process info and store and retrieve data in a way that is easier for him!

My son is used to guess words from pictures.  So, first, I totally scrap all visual aids.  No words/pictures to look at.  Just listening, and listening to my voice which must be clear as crystal for him to hear.  I even would blindfold him at times just to make his focus on the hearing and not on anything else. He had a hard time on this activity.

We did this simple activity after he practiced the phonics, to relate the sound to writing and so we can also improve and touch a lot on spelling.  At first, he spelled B-O-L as Ball, but that is okay.  It means, he can start chopping off those sounds to form words.  I was delighted.

We did Rhymes for 1 week and started introducing the Jelly Bean Reading! Which I personally conceptualized based on different research I've read.  After 3-4 days, he can now read and blend those sounds very well!

I got an idea on how to do this from Candy Math Program - wherein Candies and treats which are kids favorites are used as actual manipulatives to teach kids about Math!  Click the link to download the free PDF.

Here's how we played the Jelly Bean Reading Game! I didn't plan on this game, it just came right out of my mind - for the love I have to make my son read!

Our Jelly Bean Reading Game!

I didn't do much effort on how it would look like. :P

1. Take out plain white sheets of paper (bond paper would do, just cut them into pieces)
2. Line up 3 or 4 blocks as the numbered block sheet for the phoneme sounds of each word you will be saying. *If your child is a non-reader but knows letter sounds but have a hard time blending them, you can start with 3. Progress to 4 or more when he is ready.  Putting 1,2,3,4 teaches your child to read from Left (1) to Right (3 or 4)
   
   
   
3. Draw a buzzer or find any buzzer that your child can use to ring when he's done. Make it fun!
4. Jelly Beans or any healthy treats/candies/crackers! Do this before a major meal.  They will eat them as an award!
5. For the game do a sample first, sound out the word "Tap, Taaaaapp"
6. Tell them to listen and place in candies to every sound they hear from the word said.  Ask them to place those sounds in order starting on the beginning sound to the last sound.  My kid, had a hard time at the middle sound, but later found out a way to figure it out more.
7. After they have lined up the sounds on the numbered block sheets, ask them to write those sounds to spell out on the lined-out blank (no numbers) sheet.
8. When they're done... ask them to press the buzzer!
9. When they did it correctly, praise them but before they eat it.  Ask them this, Can you eat the /B/ sound, eat the Last Sound, then eat the /A/ sound.  This way, they can recognize which sound is first, last, and middle as well as the phonemes.
10. Do 4-5 of this game and just add on tricks to challenge them.

The rice puffs are not too sweet, so it was for the consonants and the jelly beans for the vowels.

I had 3 and 4 phoneme game that we played just for  the day.  I got the words from the book we will later on read.
We read Fun Tales, tomorrow... Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss!

Since we finish school right before Lunch, I needed to get some of my twin girls' super flavorful Gerber Rice Puffs!
They are light and not too sweet for my little reader bunny!  Of course, he loves Jelly Beans.
Crackers would do great as well!

The resources below were very helpful for my struggling-reader-no-more little guy, which you can check out:

• Dianne Kraft, MA, CNHP - I love her research.  It's very up-to-date and very kid and mom friendly.  Learned about how to teach a right brain child and even how to teach these kids in a way that they will have fun.
• Earobics - A great tool for focus and auditory processing.  Try their online games for kids! They are awesome
• Phonemes - You will have to master this.
• Phonemic Awareness Activites - Download them and check it out! Great resource!

My struggling reader

I am frustrated and so is my 6 year old when we do Alphabetic Reading.  When he attended a multiple intelligence school during his nursery and kindergarten, his teacher's comment was "he is probably regressing".  I cannot accept it, I was worried.  I know he was doing well at 2 years old, knows all the letters, shapes and was very smart.

Just suddenly, when I heard those words and also saw his progress in school.  I knew there has got to be a way for him to catch up.  I don't care if he's not yet reading at his age, or if if I put his level a year down.  What is important is that he would love to learn and discover.

That started my Homeschooling with him.  I pulled him off school and started research on the best homeschool curriculum for him.  I don't like the structured, or pacing series.  He is only 5 that time, I just wanted him to have fun.  That's where I found out about a literature-based curriculum called Sonlight.  No pressure, 1 letter sound per week and he did very well.

All subjects of Science, Math, Read-alouds, Social Studies were all great.  But, handwriting and reading was a dreaded subject for the both of us.

I bought and researched on the best phonics system available.  Looking for a very good reading teacher.  But, really nothing helps.  At 6, he is having a hard time with rhymes.  He just doesn't seem to understand anything at all.  He was looking at patterns as if words are mazes or patterns in math which he's very good at.

So, I crossed path at Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness.  Finally, it has a pattern to follow.  Practicing only different phonemes and no alphabetic way (sight) to understand.  It is being used also by Orto-Gillingham approach.

I love the results and will be blogging on his progress.  We started to read Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss which is full of simple rhymes.  As well as lots of Sesame Street Videos of his favorite Kermit the Frog and Cookie Monster.  This is a break for us.  He's catching on.

I was about to believe that he is Dyslexic.  He has lots of reversed letters and often reverses B to D, P and T, W and M.  But, when I cross upon a site, it said Dyslexia isn't a disease it could be corrected.  I'm seeing it already and I'm happy now and so is my son.

Today, there are no crying bouts and we ended school with a big reward - a big, giant, hug!

If you have a struggling reader, you can try these links:

• http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/322045/lesson_plan_phonemic_awareness_say.html?cat=4
• http://www.lessonsense.com/general/phonemic-awareness.html
• http://www.childrenlearningreading.com/
• http://www.remediationplus.com/
• http://www.orton-gillingham.com/

There is no such thing as slow learner, what these kids need is you - their parent! They need you to help them and understand that we have a great big deal of job to teach them cope in life.

I thank the Lord for giving me the best children in the world and I love them.  I would do everything to help them achieve and see their potential for I know the Lord have great plans for them.