What should I do???? My dd6 HATES to read. Hates phonics, hates reading. She enjoys me reading to her and she likes to make up stories by looking at the pictures. But she hates when I try to make her actually read the words on the page. She gets very frustrated, cries, whines..blah blah. Is she just not ready? Should I lay off the phonics and reading work and just read to her and focus on reading comprehension for awhile. I am so afraid I am going to turn her into a person who either can't read or hates it so much she never wants to even try!!! and does she hate it because it doesn't come easy to her?? what does eveyrone think?
She coudl just not be ready for it. I would lay off of it for a while, and just read to her lots. I would totally encourage her story telling by allowing her to dictate stories to me while I write them down and/or giving her a recording device to record them herself. In the meantime, have you had her eyes checked? If she is having problems seeing that would make it difficult to learn to read.
You might try a different curriculum--- we used Bob Jones K5, and they start with picture books and move very slowly and gradually into words. Eventually, you're reading some, and they're reading some. I'd also recommend The Electric Company DVDs. They're great for phonics [since that's all they did!]. Fun songs and cute skits help make the reading go down easier for those who are reluctant or just plain hateful of the process. You might also look into starfall.com [free phonics site] and even read-along books/CDs. My daughter just got an MP3 for her b-day, and we put a Disney Princess read along book on it [one CD came with 3 books to accompany it]. There's a fun little noise that alerts the child as to when to turn the page. Oh, and Leap Frog has the Tag Reader system now. We've been using it as well. It can read the story to the child, but they earn more rewards online if they do as much of the reading on their own as they can. Hope these ideas help - oh, and I second Cheryl's suggestion to make sure and have an eye exam just to rule out any possible physical problems!
See the magenta words? WISE MAMA HERE! relax a bit cause reading is important, go to the library pick out young books, below her level and let her read those for quiet time, but read along with her when she reads. dont worry when she struggles with words, read teh word for her, this is what I was told. MY ds 17 was a reluctant reader finding the right style of book to interest her is important.. it makes all the difference in the world
Oh gosh join the club my daughter was the same but then I found out my husband was a late reader too. She didnt start to read till 3rd grade just like him! I am trying something else besides phonic "site word" like in the old days instead for my son. I think the phonics works for some but not others. I finally got her to read when she read her first mystery novel after that she loves to read now. She checks out tons of books when we go to the library. Sam
Yep! I second the library idea. Also, you pick a book that you know she would like and while you are reading it to her, play like you do not know what a word is and ask her if she can help you. Don't even let her know it is "reading time" just mommy and daughter time. Just tell her you are having trouble with a sentence or word. Then you pick up on the reading again. You can even make it fun by making hot chocolate and get cozy under some blankets.
the mother hubbard site has little books you print off for free and they are word families and you could let her colour the pictures in my dd loves these and she is now enjoying reading because she has coloured it herself
I have not heard of the Electric company is SO LONG! Where can you get thier DVDs? We had such fun with them when I was ( okay yes its true this is the age they came out and we loved it) 12-13 yrs! My friends and I loved this show, cause it was singing and dancing. We listened to records at a camp too!
I rented them initially from Netflix to see if my kids would even like them [since the show was on PBS in the 70's, I thought it might be too dated for them]. But, they loved them! I ended up buying the boxed sets --- they have 2 different sets --- from amazon.com. Each boxed set has 4 DVDs, each DVD having 5 episodes on it. As a child, I didn't really appreciate how the show really was entirely phonics-directed. It didn't have all the stuff in it about how to be friends or how to get along; it was just about teaching kids how to read. I'm sure you can find segments of the show on youtube, too, though of poorer audio/video quality, of course.
Oh my goodness!!! You just gave me a total flashback!! This was my favorite show when I was a kid! I do not even remember it being about reading. I will def. check into getting them for her. Wow, that memory was buried deep somewhere. Now I can picture the show like it was yesterday.
LOL I know! I didn't realize how many of the songs and skits I actually remembered until I found myself singing along to them when they came on. I'd even forgotten Spiderman was on the show for the last 2 seasons! I will warn you, though, that the first season can be a bit painful for the adult to watch [my kids didn't seem bothered in the least]. As with most shows, it takes a bit for them to get comfortable with each other and find their footing. Plus, it just felt 'dated' to me. I far preferred the second season and on to the first one. And wait until you see the faces/cartoon voices you'd forgotten were in it!
