Daddy, Papa and Me

She does have problems with 'el' combinations like elm, elk, etc. For some reason she thinks "l" is the first sound. So she'll spell elk like this: Lek. If I ask her to sound out the word she just spelled, she'll say "lek" and then correct herself and switch the letters to be elk. She's doing that less now that we have practiced it a bit. We'll practice that some more and it's added to our 'go fish' game :).

Where she does have problems or issues is reading sentences. She'll read and spell single words without a problem. She has great 'phonemic awareness' and reads pretty well, many words becoming easy to read on sight.

But put those same words in a sentence and she'll do EVERYTHING she can think of not to read them. She'll make funny sounds like the sound is stuck in her throat, she'll look away, close her eyes, change the subject, want to turn the page, anything to keep from reading.

It was getting very frustrating. The day before yesterday was a very frustrating day for both of us. At our 'homeschool' lesson which started out reading a short story made up of only words she knows, I was getting so frustrated I almost just ended it right then and there. She was frustrated too and starting crying when she saw me that way.

Then, that night, when we were reading the Bob Book, the same thing. She reads it to me, and then I read our book to here (Harry Potter right now :). It took forever to get through the Bob Book and we were both getting so very frustrated, angry and upset.

I do NOT want reading to become a chore for both of us! Reading is one of the greatest pleasures in life and I want her to learn that.

So after talking to some other parents online, I decided to stick with the exercises and games and forgo actually reading sentences until she asks to or seemed ready.

The next two lessons went so well and reading to her at night was a pleasure again.

Then there was yesterday evening. About an hour after our lesson which was only exercise and games and went well, she went over to the table and picked up the first book in the second set of the Bob Books. She brought it over to me and asked if she could read it at bedtime.

I was both surprised and a bit hesitant. Surprised because the turn around was so quick! I was expecting weeks, if not months, and hesitant because I didn't want it to become a 'fiasco'** like the earlier evening.

Well, she read it to me. I did it a little different this time. I put a card over the sentence and uncovered one word at a time as she read them, eventually uncovering the entire sentence. Except for one page where she got distracted, the entire (little) book went very well. The story was even half-way fun.

Success!!

This is how we are going to do it for a while. I'll let her tell me when/if she wants to read stories or sentences, and we'll continue with the exercises and games.

It's a balance between pushing and not doing enough. We are finding it :D.

**Oh, and "fiasco" is our Fancy Word of the Day. She's liking our fancy words. I write them on a card and she and I decorate it. They are sticking. I've heard her use doubt and she likes "fiasco" so much she wants that to be the fancy word of the day today too. Today's is "yearn"