I thought I’d update this again for my own information.
My youngest has read:
Ladybird Book 3a, 3b and some of 3c
She has also read to book 20 of I see Sam
And she has started Book 4a of Ladybird - I am now just teaching the words as they come up in the book and she is managing this fine, I do repeat some of the sight words she sticks on
I plan to start phonics with her regularly now.
My elder has read:
Sophie’s Adventures (Dick King Smith)
Has started Capyboppy
She has also now started more independent reading, though resists writing down the books she has read - I was hoping she would keep a list so we could reward her, but also so that we would know what she was doing and what she picks to read. Trying to figure out some way around this.
Tanakit my kids are hopeless at writing down what they read and I am no better. As part of their homework they are supposed to keep a reading log. (Once you finish all the school readers you get to pick your own books) Because they read SOOOO much it is just too time consuming to write it all down. To get around the problem I just get them to take a photo of the books on theiR iPad then if the teacher asks for their reading log they can show the photos or they can write it out. So far so good. it really works well and they can take a screen shot of the cover of any ebooks they read too. They don’t photograph everything but they get enough for me to see patterns and preferences. Their teachers figured out pretty quickly that they read a ridiculous amount and they don’t ask to see the reading logs any more :biggrin: the only time we need to write them down now if for a reading challenge.
(I really hate those things! lol)
For the record
My son age 6 reads short novels now- like Zac powers and Magic tree house but he prefers to read picture books and almost always about dinosaurs and other preditors.
My middle girl Tiana age 8 has got 6 books to go before she “graduates” school reading. So basically she can read anything and comprehends well beyond her years. She loves all the princess and ballet novels and really really loves reading the original versions of fairy tales and older style children’s stories. She enjoys just so stories and for Greek myths.
Natalya age 10 is devouring books faster than lighting. She loves fantasy and is constantly trying to steal my books. I am about to OK Harry Potter for her. I really don’t want her to read anything before her maturity understands the nuances of romance. It kind of defeats the purpose I rekon. She is capable of reading anything I can read. She can speed read most kids novels but rarely does. She does naturally read faster than her peers it seems. She reads a lot of old classics like jungle book, black beauty, 5 children and it, Robinson Crusoe etc and is working through the Yesterdays classics books.
Both the girls are considered “done” with reading lessons. They finished primary school reading 5 years ahead of schedule. I have a little more to do with my son and he will be done, probably another year should get him there. Makes you wonder what all those extra years are for doesn’t it?
My eldest turns 7 in September and my youngest is 3 years and 3 months old.
The I see Sam books I printed out from this website: http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/ - They are not what I call great reading, but the pictures amuse my DD and it was extra very easy reading practice.
My 6 year old does not want to write a reading list - she is reading more and more independently now, but I cannot get her to write them down and keeping up with her so I can write them down is almost impossible now (this has happened recently) She is reading Socks by Beverley Cleary now as a read-to-Mom book. I suspect she is capable of reading anything now - its just a case of keeping her interest - reading cooking instructions and menus in restaurants, shop signs and directions in airports and other large buildings also keeps her interested.
However, she likes to grab my computer, get on youtube and type in TV programmes she wants to watch, or use Skype to type to her Dad and I have some fears about her safety on the computer (luckily it is all in full view of me because of where the computer is situated in the house)
My 3 year old is doing very well with Ladybird sight word readers (the key reading scheme), but has started phonics - she is in that phase where she picks up new words very very rapidly because they are in context and somehow she remembers them, but also knows when to sound out words even though she does not know all the phonemes. She is also taking off with her knowledge of science and other concepts although I have never taught her specifically - we do read a lot though - I have a feeling she is also learning from my older child.
My eldest is now reading Socks by Beverly Cleary for “school reading” and is plowing through independent readers though still prefers to read much shorter books by herself regardless of the actual grade level of the reading - I think she just likes to finish them, so will probably try to get her reading the good picture books I read to my 3 year old as they are short but at a better reading level for her. I am now writing them down for her as she was promised a reward but even despite the reward getting her to write them down is just too much of a struggle - she just makes a pile of what she read and at the end of the day I write them down for her.
My youngest is reading book 4b of Ladybird and has also started the McGuffey Primer - I am using this to teach phonics (not introducing any of the words to her beforehand - she must sound them out if she does not know them) as well as using the Ordinary Parents guide to teaching reading.
DD6 has now taken off with independent reading and is asking for the light to be left on at night - what started initially with very short and easy books has now moved to books slightly below her school reading level - so she is ploughing through The Little’s series at a book a day (they are not easily available here so I have had to teach her to read other books on the internet - not something I was very keen on, but she has taken to it very easily and it will save us a fortune as we do not have a good library system in this country) She is also reading Magical Monty and seems to have three chapter books going at once - since I read 2-3 books to her at once also that is quite a lot for a 6 year old to keep track of - but she seems to manage fine.
DD3 has finished Ladybird 4b and started Put me in the Zoo. She continues with basic phonics (we are beyond simple cvc words now though still very early in phonics acquisition - we have slowed on the McGuffey primer but that was just because we were very busy with other things.) She is starting speech therapy now due to muscle issues - she cannot say certain sounds that she should already have acquired and battles to chew, to put her tongue down and to blow bubbles or even blow through a straw. They tested her up to a 5 year level (she is 3 years and 4 months old) and she did fine on all language issues they tested her on - they did not test further because it would have taken too long and she was losing focus however the fact that she has had this early learning makes it easier for her to start younger with the therapy - I know they had to start many children later simply because they did not understand enough or could not follow directions.
Both children continue to hear multiple read alouds daily - as many as I can reasonably fit in.
Tanikit we have same problem here , no public libraries so we buy all our books and with the way my kids devour books i can see it being very costly. How do you read books from the internet ?? do you use a kindle or ipad or on computer screen ?? . if you have special sites where you find books for free please share with us xxx
viv
We have put books onto an android tablet that my daughter can use. I am reading aloud to both children from a computer attached to a big TV screen because the size makes it easier for me and they can gather round and see the pictures - my youngest asks to read the books after I have and though she just retells most of the stories still she knows how to turn the pages.
My 6 year old has independently read a few books - she has read Anna Maria’s gift to me and is reading McBroom’s Wonderful One Acre Farm though she is perfectly capable of reading this alone - I have a feeling she will take it and finish it outside of school time soon and then I will have to look for something else. I am not keeping track of all her independent reading anymore - I know she finished The Sheep Pig in a day, but she still jumps from activity to activity very fast - so if she is most interested in playing Math Fact games on the computer then naturally less reading will occur. I probably need to make a reading time for the day.
My 3 year old finished Put me in the Zoo and is reading Little Bear now. She is also reading book 5a of Ladybird, but only when she asks for it - the amount of words per page seems to be an issue again and we may need to wait a bit, but she is picking up new words very rapidly now so moving to larger print early readers is probably the way to go. She also reads with me a lot - I read half a sentence and she reads the rest or I let her fill in a few words (not just the obvious ones) She is also playing a lot of Starfall at the moment and doing well with it (she likes the games and Reading is Fun section)
My 6 year old turns 7 soon. I can’t believe she is getting so big. For school reading at the moment she is reading The Toothpaste Millionaire. On her own she has read 5 minute bedtime stories, Jewel Kingdom series, some Enid Blyton books and has now started Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I know she will curl up on the couch and read anything now so I miss a number of books she reads now.
My 3 year old is again reading Ladybird Book 5a and it is going better now after the break from it. We continue with phonics - she has covered ING, NK, SH, CH, TH, CK and we should be starting the long vowels fairly soon if she can handle them (I think she will although sight word reading is still easier for her).
As for reading to them - I have been reading more classics to my eldest (The Secret Garden, Pollyanna) interspersed with other books she has asked for (Running Wild, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone). My youngest is listening to slightly longer picture books now and I have read a couple of shorter chapter books to her. She is also joining us more and more when I read to my eldest - having a 3 year worrying about the bubonic plague was something I was not quite ready for as I have always presumed she was not listening. She also seems to be linking things more and more now - so when I read her My place in Space she remembered the Milky Way from other stories we had read. The large quantities of stories she hears has also helped a lot with her own story telling and her stories are now rich in adjectives and more vibrant language than they used to be.
My 7 year old is now reading The World Around the Corner (Maurice Gee) during school time and a number of books on her own.
My 3 year old is almost finished Ladybird 5a. We started long vowels (silent E) for phonics and she has loved the change and is doing well. She still sight reads mostly, but is getting better about sounding out words when she gets stuck. She is now also writing quite a bit and has learnt in the process to spell a number of words. I am having to get a move on teaching her all the letter formation.
My youngest is hearing about 5-10 picture books a day many of which my eldest joins her for. She is also slowly getting into chapter books - at the moment I am reading My Father’s Dragon and Rootabaga stories to both girls together. To the eldest I have read Lassie Come Home - she enjoyed seeing a real rough collie soon after we finished the book. I also read her The Mud Pony, The Puppy Sister, Mae Jemison, What I like about toads (she has been playing with a friend of hers toads), a drop of blood, various books about cells, Galileo Man of Science, 666 jellybeans and more.
I ran through a very rapid course on polysyllables with my 7 year old and she read them fine. Then I got her to read passages from the Bible which she also read perfectly, so I am now stopping reading instruction. She reads independently and I have a set time for this and she also still reads aloud to me daily but now from passages for school reading which I would normally have read to her. I am gradually going to move to have her reading some of the classics (starting with shorter easier ones) independently.
My 3 year old is reading Ladybird 5b and also 6c. She also started A big ball of String today. She does take and read parts of other books by herself quite a lot now - maybe second children learn to be independent more easily. We continue with phonics instruction and she has covered the alphabetic sounds, blends, silent E, ce/ci/cy, sh, th and ch, ge/gi/gy, ee - I know she knows others from the sight word reading (aw, ea, ai, ew and a couple others come to mind) but I will see when we cover them - she hasn’t needed much instruction actually, but I prefer to know it has been covered. Ladybird 5c expects them to know words where sounds have been left out and to figure which sound is missing and she could do this even when it was the middle vowel that had been left out (they give a picture too) so I imagine spelling should not be too difficult later on.
I continue multiple read alouds. My 3 year old is capable of listening to longer stories now which means I have been able to combine the two every now and then as my 7 year old still enjoys some fun light read alouds and there will never be a shortage of books to read at any level. I finshed SOTW2 with my eldest and have started SOTW3. My younger has become interested in the world map and is learning the countries as her sister has done.
My eldest is 7 (turns 8 in September). She is reading anything and everything. For school I have her read scientific articles on occassion and other forms of non-fiction aimed often at high school students. I am still watching the emotional content of books that I give her to read or that I read to her. I also try to find poems that use good language but that are humorous as my eldest likes things that sound funny. I do also give her easier books to read often - ones she can race through and that are simply for fun.
My youngest is now 4. She is reading at about a first grade level, though many of the books she now chooses to read to me are at a grade 2 or above level. Like her elder sister she has a stamina issue though less so than her sister did at the same age. Today she went to a friends house for the morning and the mother there suggested she could have some money for reading books that her 6 and 8 year old have been using for sight word practice. She told me when she got home that she had read 5 books while there. I continue to work on her phonics and also on splitting multi syllable words that she is unsure of and there has been a big leap in this recently. I will have to continue to look for high interest books with large enough print as it is the print size and not the words or vocabulary that is causing most problems now. I have had her reading books online where I can enlarge the print too which also helps.