Welcome back fellow readers.
Posting on from last night, Besides from DVDs I also made my own books and I made some of my own word cards and hung them around my house explaining what each object was. I took them down each time people came over so people were not aware of what I was doing. You could say I was in the early learning closet and that is because I did not want Miss S being made to 'perform' for others and I did not want to be bombarded with questions from other parents as to 'why' I was doing this. Also I was skeptical myself so I was quietly keeping the results to myself to as I was unsure to believe them or not.
Okay so why post words all over your house. Well I wanted to increase Miss S's vocabulary but I also wanted her to be immersed in learning to read so to speak. I wanted written words to be a part of her everyday life. As I walked by a word each time I would just run my finger under it from left to right (So Miss S knew which way the word went) and said the word aloud. Within a month she knew all the words around the house and she was approx 8 months old. By this time Miss S knew approx 300 words. (I knew by asking her to pick say the word cat out of 5 cards and she was able to. I discovered the words she knew through a process of elimination) and I don't say these things to brag about my daughter. I say this because I believe ALL young children have the capability to learn to read given the opportunity, and to prove to you all that any child can learn and I hope through some of the methods I have used you can find a way to suit you to and begin the journey.
Around the time my Daughter turned about 8 months old I returned to work 3 days a week. So some learning had to be done in the mornings before work and after work not just when it suited me through out the day. I also used the time I had at work in my breaks to create the books. They were very simple books which I made to bring her reading together while Miss S knew lots and lots of single words we needed to build her reading stamina to couplets and then on to phrases and sentences. This part actually took a lot of time and I went a bit backwards because at this time I introduced Little Reader another reading programme but more on that tomorrow night. Back to the books. All I did was by a blank spiral book A4 size and on every second page I wrote a couplet. For Example White Hair, Brown Bear, Tall Tree. etc etc. and once to twice a day (on my days off and weekends) we would go through it. I also wrote up more word cards and made up colours and I would sit on the floor with her and made a couplet game. I would get a colour card. A card with Red written in red and Green written in green and pair it with a noun card gloves, shoes, chair and put the words together. For example I would put green hair together and go in a silly voice that's silly people don't have green hair but people can have brown hair and change the card from green to brown while I ran my finger from left to right. under the card.
Now my biggest problem here was that I was not consistent. I did not show my DD the book regularly enough as well as the cards, but it was still a fun game to play and my dd still learnt something it just took longer because I didn't dedicate myself to a regular routine with Miss S. As in one of my earlier posts consistency is king. As I had returned to work I found I was not in the mood to always play games and after daycare Miss S was tired so it didn't always work, but she did enjoy playing the game on my days off and on the weekends.
Onto Part 3 tomorrow night Little Reader.
Happy Teaching
Kimba
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