There would be a few advantages to homeschooling Lucy, at least until she is reading closer to grade level, but she enjoys attending school AND we need the services they can provide. We were originally approved for her to attend part time when she started school, but she asked to go all day and that seemed like a good idea at the time. The reality is that as much as the teachers are going out of their way to help Lucy, she really needs lots of 1-on-1 time to improve her literacy. The schools just can't provide that level of instruction.
Just this weekend Lucy showed an increased interest in reading. Friday night Steve was helping Alice read a library book. Lucy decided she wanted to read too. We took her library book, "Dr. Seuss's A, B, C" to the bedroom, snuggled under a quilt, and read it together - twice. She thoroughly enjoyed it.
Then one thing led to another and we ended up back in bed with one of her books from China - written in Chinese with pinyin (phonetic transliteration) under the characters - which I read to her! I had no clue what I was reading, but she found it amusing to hear my terrible pronunciation. She also enjoyed correcting me and telling me to try again! Trading roles - Lucy as teacher, Mom as student - I think was very empowering for Lucy.
There will be more opportunity for Lucy (and Alice) to "teach" Mom as I start a Chinese language class tomorrow at our local community college. I tried learning Chinese while we were in process for Alice's adoption and made some progress, but couldn't retain it. I tried again while we were in process for Lucy, but didn't get far. Here's hoping that the third time is the charm!
I think you are incredibly brave and must have a ton of paitence to work one-on-one for a couple hours every day!!! I am not sure if this would be helpful or not-- this is what I am using to teach my young girls to read--in conjunction with also reading them stories. The difference is they already know what a lot of the words mean-- just not how they are spelled.
ReplyDeleteAbout halfway through this book my 6-year old (in kindergarten) was able to read several level 1 readers and some Dr. Seuss books. She likes "Splat the Cat" stories. Many of those books are also available at the library.
An older child may fly through this book. It is is pretty big book-- teaches the phonetic sounds of letters and letter combinations.
The Reading Lesson: Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy Lessons [Paperback]
Michael Levin MD (Author), Charan Langton MS (Author)
Good luck with the Chinese as well!
I hope I have the patience. I'm still learning what pushes her over the edge, what works, what she knows and what she needs. I think I used that book for my older 3 when I was much younger LOL. I may give it a try or Alphaphonics. I've never tried teaching remedia reading, only new readers. Watch for updates on how it goes.... and the Chinese too!
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