...I do all the reading and most of the writing when we do bookwork? Miss6 really doesn't like reading and when she writes I have to spell things out letter by letter. At best it takes forever and she forgets what she's writing about, at worst the stress and frustration results in tears. She gets it intellectually and that's what matters right?
Maybe you can make a deal with her. She reads one short book a day, and writes one or two sentences or something, and you read the rest? That way she gets some practice, but not so much that you both get frustrated, until she gets better at it.
You might want to look at programs that are less book work intensive for her. When dd, who hated to write, was in 1st grade we used Sonlight Core B. She would do her reader to me outloud and I would verbally ask a question or two about what we read. I read all the history and science to her. With science there was a sheet to fill out but it was mainly fill in the blanks and I used that as a way to teach her how to find the information (no lengthy assignments). I loved their LA program. The way it was laid out is we did copywork on day one, a mechanics lesson on day 2, a pre-write on day 3 (very short talking about what you are going to write and writing down details like adjectives to describe a character or things like that) and day 4 was a writing assignment. The year started with lots of complaints but because it was so laid back (but still meaty) she became comfortable with writing. I also did not worry about spelling at that age, spelling will come overtime.
I agree. She needs to be doing some of the reading and writing herself. She will become a better reader & writer in the long run.
Just so you aren't doing ALL of it, then I see no problem with it. I do 99% of the reading for my 7yo in everything except his phonics/reading. As far as writing, I do about half of what is required of him... which isn't much with what we use.
For written answers, haver her tell you the answer, you write it down and then she copies it. Or, something else we do is have her tell you the answer, you write it down, then you repeat it back to her and she has to write it. Both allow her practice with writing the answer but makes sure that her complete thought is there before she forgets parts of it.
The only reading my son (3rd grade) does for school is for reading/phonics. If I required him to read for other subjects it'd be tears of frustration-he'd learn nothing. We also do a lot of oral work (narration, quizzes) He does copy work fine, but has a problem when having to answer on paper. We're slowly working on getting him to read better and write more answers on paper, but at this point, I really don't see it as huge deal. He's starting to write on his own time now, so I'm starting to require a little more from him. My youngest-loves to read and write, so I let him read a lot of his own stuff, and write short answers. So what works for each child will be different. But for my oldest, we're still doing reading as a subject only not required for other subjects and writing slowly becoming more and more integrated into other subjects, as reading will as a well eventually.... I see no reason to stress out a 6 year old with tons of reading and writing just for the sake of saying she read her science herself or wrote down the answer on a worksheet herself. But that's just my opinion and what works for us...
You need to individualize for each child. If you feel it's working best like you're doing, I won't tell you to do otherwise! Espcially at age six. As she gets older, you may try to find ways for her to be doing more.
I agree that 6 is young and it very well may be frustrating for her. When they're learning to read and spell, it can be daunting to require so much writing. I would continue with what you're already doing (most of the reading & writing) but I would slowly get her into more reading and writing on her own. For writing, try adding copywork at the beginning of the day, when she's fresh, only one sentence. When she's used to doing that, add another sentence. Work up to a paragraph or even let her start her own composition. Once she gets more reading experience under her belt, the spelling and writing will come easier. As for reading, pick out even just one sentence during each lesson, throughout the day to encourage her to read. This is what I did. Many times the books we read aloud at this age have simple words and short sentences. Keep it very encouraging, help her when necessary. I think you will see results. With my older two, I did not do any copywork and it shows. They have a more difficult time composing stories and reports. I started my youngest DD8 from 4 1/2 to 5 years old doing copywork (Bible passages, storybooks, famous quotes) and she is much more skilled at writing than the other two were at the same age. I truely think it is due to copywork. They learn so much-sentence structure, printing, grammar, even reading. I highly recommend getting yours started with simple copywork. Hope this helps
Another thing we did at that age was tied in to reading. We read a short story (or a short chapter from a longer book). I had bought these small "journals" at some homeschool place that had room for a picture at the top, and writing at the bottom. They would draw a picture to illustrate the story or chapter, and then tell me a sentence about it. They could either write the sentence, or I would write it on another paper and they would copy it (depending on their ability).
Each day we do a bit of copy work. I read the question, she answers it, I write down her answer, she copies it into her book. Reading is a major trigger for her tantrums and meltdowns so we only do it until she starts showing her warning signs. We do a bit of spelling each day to help with her reading. Her current words are... that, was, for, are, as. I keep two journals; one about homeschooling and one about personal stuff, both help me to see the progress she is making.
That sounds good enough for HER. And there's nothing wrong with knowing her limits and stopping when you sense her "breaking point" is coming near. And I like the journals. That can be helpful in the long run!
This is something I might struggle with in the future. My oldest learned to read young and enjoys reading a lot so it's been easy for me to have him do a lot of curriculum that he reads to himself. But my 2nd son is learning to read now at 5.5, and I can sense that it will be a while more before reading is something he does on his own for enjoyment. My oldest also hated writing. He's really just broken through that wall since we started school back up in January. I would most often allow him to answer questions orally to me. But my 5yr old enjoys writing and does it pretty well for his age. So yeah, an interesting difference between them. I think as someone else said that there is no one right uniform answer for all kids. I try to remember that this is a benefit of homeschooling but when you're used to teaching one way for one kid it's tricky sometimes to change things up for the next.
Just a thought to add, when one of my dc's were in reading learning stage I was told to read along and just read over the mistakes that child made. So as to take the stress off of the mistakes. I do not recall which one that was because they all read so well that they love reading at this point so it must have worked!
Looks like you got some really helpful feedback. She is just 6 and has plenty of time. There is no need to stress either of you. Whatever you think she might be missing at the age, she can gain quickly a ways down the road. There is no need to rely to heavily on workbooks. Do a lot of hands on and verbal. Continue working on her reading skills and add in some things that will build her hand eye coordination. Jody
