Reading

When I was a kid one of my favorite summer memories was "reading time": a set time each day we could go anywhere we wanted and for an uninterrupted hour and a half, read our little hearts out. My favorite places varied . . . the treehouse was always a favorite, or a mountain of blankets in a closet made just the perfect nest. Coupled with the family trip to the library, where the only rule was "you can only check out as many books as you can carry", it made for magical summers. Often we would go back to the Library 2 or 3 times a week to switch out for new books or renew our old favorites.
I still remember my silent joy as my mom picked me up from friend's houses because I had to go home for reading time. It wasn't easy to fain my disappointment in front of friends when secretly I was shouting for joy at the hours of perfection in front of me: alone, with my books, and the worlds that would open themselves to me as I read.

Recently I had an inspirational discussion with a friend of mine who has a Ph.D. in Education and as a consequence of her passion started teaching her twins to read at 12 months old. By the time they turned three they were reading short books. Can you imagine the gift she's given her children?! So, completely inspired, I've set out this summer with my 3-year-old on her own journey of learning to read. At first I was completely intimidated, having really never taught anyone to read before. But, with some help from another good friend who is the worlds most amazing home-school mom, we got started.

Step One: Purchase three tools
1. Your soon-to-be best friend and guide, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, and Elaine Bruner. This book literally gives you a step by step guide on exactly what to say and do each day.

2. Writing tools (you could go with the big kindergarten paper and a pencil, or I found these dry erase books at my favorite store Lakeshore Learning)

3. The classic BOB books (I got this series and the Teach Your Child book from Amazon)

Step Two: Find a set time every day when you'll work through one lesson of Teach Your Child to Read, using the writing books during the writing exercises the book gives you. End with one BOB book, which is always Brooklynn's favorite part because it's an actual story. Needless to say, consistency will determine your success and pace.

The whole process takes anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes depending on Brooklynn's patience level that day and how much time we have. I love it. I was utterly stunned at how absolutely easy it has been compared to our hour/s of violin practice in the morning, and it feels so great to grow into having another subject we can work on together. Somehow the time spent cuddling on my bed in a throng of pillows as we practice reading has helped our violin practice soften, and the driven and intense violin time has helped structure the reading time to hold an unbelievable amount of focus.

The one thing that we did beforehand that (without knowing it) ended up being the best prep we could have possibly had, was watching hours and hours of Letter Factory from Leapfrog Learning on our drives to and from California last year.

With so many drives back and forth Brooklynn had the alphabet memorized with all their sounds by the time she was two. Teach Your Child emphasizes sounding the letters out smoothly, not choppy, and once she figured out how to do this, her "old friend" alphabet sounds have melted into words easily. Brooklynn has taken to learning like a fish takes to water. I love being along for the ride.