Sunday, January 22, 2006

We have a reader!!!

I am proud to announce that we have one more reader in the family-- Tank!  I am so very proud of my big-but-little-4.5yo guy!


 


This last week we started Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (see link in my sidebar) and finished 12 lessons in one week.  Every time he read a word correctly, he'd excitedly suck in his breath and clap his hands.  Words cannot adequately express how cute and amazing he is-- and how my heart melts when he'd clap for himself.  You'd think he just won a million dollars or something!  I must admit that I had my work cut out for me since he already knew all of his letter sounds before we started (thanks to Leapfrog's Letter Factory DVD).  Plus our lessons are extra short since we leave out the writing part of 100 Easy Lessons.


 


What I love the most about this book is that the lessons are short enough for their limited attention spans.  It is also fully scripted-- so it tells you exactly what to say and when.  It even tells you what to do!  So no advanced planning or prep work is necessary...you just pick up the book and get going.  The biggest bonus by far has to be that they are reading real words within the first week!!!  Talk about a sense of accomplishment!


 


Another little incentive I cooked up for him was to create a 100's chart.  Actually it started with 0 and went to 100 (in Math-U-See fashion).  So every 10th number was green and number 100 was in large, bold, very red print.  After each lesson, Tank is allowed to place a small sticker on the number that corresponds to the lesson we finished.  When he reaches a green number he and his big brother get a small treat like a piece of gum or candy.  When he finishes Lesson 100 we ALL get to go to Chuck E. Cheese!  I used this same technique with Dash and it worked wonders-- so well, actually, that he never made it to 100.  After Lesson 80 I couldn't bear to keep him "dumbed down" by forcing him to read the stories in the book when he could read real books instead.  So there was no CEC for him since he never reached 100-- just don't tell him that, okay?  He has yet to make that connection!


 


Oh and we make a very big BIG deal about getting his own library card at the end as well.


 


HIP-HIP-HOORAY FOR TANK!!!


 


 

18 comments:

hsmomof2 said...

I love that moment when a child discovers he can read! How wonderful for you and him!

:-)

Beth said...

Yippee! That is the most exciting moment for this Momma too! I heard one Mom say that it's like giving birth to them all over again, as a whole new world is now laid before them once they're reading... 'tis so true. And what a JOY it was to be the one to share that moment with our kids. I'll never foget Tabitha bounding through the house in glee, shouting and hollering b/c SHE was so excited to be reading. Our kids *love* their library cards too, carry them in their wallets all official-like! That's one of our fave places to go!:^)

jewelmcjem said...

How awesome! We used 100 EZ Lessons with my oldest, when she was about 4.5 too. She liked it for a while, then got bored. The 100's chart sounds like a good way to keep them going. Now, she hates to sound out words. We've backed up and just done easy things unitl her confidence is going again. My younger daughter picked up a Dick and Jane reader when she was about 5, started reading it and hasn't stopped. She has a good instinct for sight reading, but also can sound words out she's not sure of. It will be interesting to see how Baby Boy does when he's ready. They're all so different!

MySmokyMtnHomeschool said...

Yeah! How exciting! I know you must be very proud! It is so exciting to see them learn to read. I just love for my girls to read me stories.


I'd be glad if Jacob would say something besides Dada, Papa, Mamaw, Kitty & Bob! ROTFLOL

Amber said...

I'm SO happy for your little Tank.....actually aren't Tanks BIG? hehehehe......


BTW (read your comment at Jen's), if it were a choice between TN of FL, I'd pick TN too, I haven't literally been to TN (other than the airport), but I saw the Smokies from NC and they are GORGEOUS!!!! We're praying about possibly moving there, please pray too.


God Bless,

Amber


PS~ No more tagboard.

Debismumto4 said...

There is something amazing about helping your child learn to read. It made me feel really excited reading your blog. It is soooo great that us mums get that immense satisfaction and priviledge of seeing our kids learn so much and come on in leaps and bounds.

Hannah my 5 year old has really turned a corner and it seems as though a light has switched on so it is nolonger a struggle but I can now see the pleasure she is getting from her ability to read. Keep up the excellent work and have a great day

love Deb

JennLovesJesus said...

That is exactly what we used for our daughter. We used the Letter Factory DVD, (which now has a big scratch in it, so I need to invest in a new one for the next two children) and then we used the 100 Easy Lessons Book. She loved it and flew through it. Hopefully it will work with our next child, as I've heard some children respond to it and some don't. He loves books and being read to and loves to "do school", so hopefully he'll pick up on it well. I've heard that you can start it with "bright" 3 1/2 year olds, but he will definitely need another year.

What a great feeling when you tell your child that they are officially a reader!

Yeah again for Tank!

Something we do in our family, that I should probably blog about, is lighting the victory candle. When someone in our family accomplishes something or a blessing happens or we just recover from illness, we light a victory candle, usually at dinner time. We then praise Jesus for allowing the accomplishment and have the person pray and thank Jesus for what they did. For example, when our son learned to ride a bike, we lit the candle and he said, "Thank you Jesus that I can now ride a bike" and we elaborated and thanked God for the healthy body that works properly and for providing the bike. It's a great way to show excitement for the child, but to give the credit to Jesus.

Janne said...

Way to go Tank!!!

Woohoo!

TNMOMTO5BLESSINGS said...

Marsha -

I am so excited to hear that your little guy ios reading. It is always such a blessing to watch our children as they learn and grow.


As for the bingo it is actully called dirty rotten bingo cause everyone brings a gift as a prize and than if someone wants what you got they take it away. That's what happened to me.. I left with nothing! Jen wants to do it again so we'll be planning another game in April. I'll be really prepared than hehehe


Be blessed,

Maria

Col323 said...

What a wonderful time for your little Tank!

I'm glad that he has that sense of joy and accomplishment.

There's so much joy to come for him. Reading, reading, reading...brings smiles!

Congrats!

mommylovesdaddy said...

Thanks for the comment on my blog, and also for the reminder!! I'm going to go take a breather right now!! Have a wonderful day, God Bless!

ccpeterson said...

WAY TO GO TANK!!

MommyOAnna said...

Hooray!! Such exciting news!! My daughter is 4 years old, so you have made me very anxious to check into that book!! She too has had some experience with Leap Frog letter learning though, so I am hoping that is a good thing :)


Thanks for visiting my blog and for your shared experience with FIAR!!

sagerats said...

Well done Tank! With such a nifty neato mom how could he fail?


Abiding in the Vine!

hsmom23boyz said...

It IS so exciting when they first start to read! Our youngest just started too, although he is six! It took him forever to "get" it. I love your incentive idea, I may borrow it, my kids LOVE Chuck E. Cheese, and it is a rare treat around here.

eyecorn said...

Oh, how sweet! Congratulations! Thanks for the review, it is always helpful to hear from folks who are using a program. Oh, boy, won't be long until he's reading all the stop signs along the road!

mominpa said...

That is so exciting...I was just doing some browsing for next year (this summer actually) and I must say I have heard a LOT of great things about this book....I may have to really look into it!!


YEAAA for Tank!! yeaaa for mommy!!!

MyChildrenAndMe said...

Yes, we like it cause of the small lesson's and the kids had so much fun tracing the words too. Glad to hear he is reading too.....


Debbie and the Family