Rascal: 7 years old. Highly imaginative. Fidgety. Fun-loving. Full of energy. Easily distracted. Affectionate. Attention-seeking.
Sound familiar?
He’s the lovable little guy who is smarter than you think but is so wiggly and easily distracted that trying to teach him is…. well, let’s be honest… sometimes plain torture.
How can we teach these kids who can’t seem to sit still? Here are some ideas that have helped with my irrepressible, spirited Rascal.
Once your child is ready and willing (at least most of the time!) to learn how to read, the third key to the door of literacy is easy to obtain.
Back in the days when I was a piano teacher, I had to teach children as young as five to read music. For most children, learning to read music is even more challenging than learning to read words. A single note has pitch, duration, volume, and articulation. When you give a child a string of notes to read in the treble clef and a completely different set of notes to read in the bass clef, you are asking the child to process several things at once. A lot of mental exertion is needed, so much so that the only way to learn the music is by repetition, repetition, repetition.
Continue reading “The Three Keys to Teaching Your Child to Read – Part 3” →
Reading Aloud. It’s one of the best things you can do to bond with your children, develop their imagination and moral sense, and sharpen their listening and comprehension skills.
I’m always on the lookout for wonderful books to read with my children, and I’ve been keeping a list of our favorites. Here it is for you to enjoy:
Key Number Two: Willingness.
When Feisty was just about five, he was ready to learn reading. My precocious whipper-snapper had shown all the signs of readiness. But he was far from willing. He had done all the readiness activities happily enough. To him, it had all been a game. However, when we started with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, he balked. Perhaps the book looked too much like an adult’s book, with all those little letters for the parents to read. Perhaps all those oral exercises were too boring. I’m not sure. (By the way, I know many people who swear by this book. It really does work if you can get your child to co-operate.) But when Feisty decides he doesn’t want to do something, you’d better give up… unless you’re as headstrong as he is.
Continue reading “The Three Keys to Teaching Your Child to Read – Part 2” →
When I first began homeschooling, I read a book that said, “Teaching your child to read is easy.” And it was… for my first child and for my second. You see, there are two conditions that need to be fulfilled in order for a child to learn to read with ease: Readiness and Willingness. For the most part, my first two children were ready and willing when I decided it was time to begin reading lessons. They learned to read quickly and easily.
But then my third and fourth children came along. All of a sudden, teaching reading became really challenging.
Continue reading “The Three Keys to Teaching Your Child to Read – Part 1” →
Mercy for Marthas