I need some help with ideas for easy beginner readers. My son has been a little resistant to read to me lately. Today he told me it was "boring" -- I thought he meant frustrating because he is new at reading. (5 1/2 years old). Tonight he explained that he was tired of reading the kind of stories he had to read to me, and instead wanted to read interesting stories like I was reading to him. He has been reading BOB Books, some Abeka readers, and some Christian Liberty Press books. He explained that "his" books say things like -" Sam sees Spot. Spot sees Sam. Sam and Spot see me." He says these stories are boring and nonsense (which I really can't blame him). As far as phonics goes we have only covered the short vowel sounds, and some blends. He is doing wonderful on these. Plus he has about 25 sight words he knows by heart. I don't know if there are more interesting books he can read on this level, or if I need to go ahead and begin teaching the long vowel sounds and let him move along. I am using Explode the Code for his phonics program, and we have not yet completed Book 2. However, I plan to skip a few pages and let him finish this up by January. Opinions, or suggestions are greatly appreciated! I want him to love to read -- but to do this he needs to be able to read things that are interesting to him.
There are a few phonics based leveled readers out there that are a bit harder than Bob Books but not many. If you look at the list in the front or back of the those "leveled readers", the phonics based ones are usually marked in some way. Also, I know that some commercial character phonics books are available now....like Toy Story, etc. They're usually with the Bob Books at the bookstore. I haven't looked closely at them because my DS used Hooked On Phonics Learn to Read Deluxe and ETC...plus Bob Books (and a few other readers I had) and it now past that stage and reading Magic Treehouse books to me. I've got HOP Master Reader for him now but we haven't started it. For now, he's just reading the Treehouse books to me. Good luck. Rhonda
Ask your local librarian. Our library has actually divied up the beginning readers by level - level 1, 2, 3, etc - and shelved them accordingly. Have him browse through them. My son is 5 1/2 and enjoys the content. I think it is Harriet Ziefert - I may have misspelled that - who writes some really great ones at varying levels. I've checked out most of the ones she has written. Mind you, she writes at various levels - 1, 2, and 3 - but hers are entertaining and funny. Let me see if I can dig up a title or two, and the correct spelling of her name, LOL. Wow, I spelled it right. Okay, so there is a list of her books here: http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Search/QuickSearchProc/1,,Author_1000018411,00.html (and here is a page about her, if you are interested, LOL): http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000018411,00.html The first page lists only 36 books, but the article says - and I believe, based on how many I've checked out - she's written over a hundred. One of them - how big is big - is a great math-related book. (Well, she has several like that.) I can't remember the name of one of my 5 yos favs, but he generally loves all of her books I bring home. Let me give a caveat: my 5-almost-6 yo is a very advanced reader, and he leans towards the 2nd level, although we grabbed a lot of the first. But he finds the stories engaging. I'll say, too, that we teach reading by immersion rather than by phonics (which is what works best for my first two, thus far), and I really feel that Zieferts books and similar have helped him move along. Her books are definitely NOT boring. SG
Thanks for the tips - I'll try some of her books. I think I might also be holding him back by not going ahead and teaching some more of the rules of phonics. I am afraid to move onto something different and then wish I had taken more time on what we have already learned. I guess we use immersion also because we read CONSTANTLY. If you have suggestions for a good way to move along, or a good ireadiness ndicator..I'm willing to listen.
Here is how my 5 year old freaked us out... And it is free... So much of our reading, is from memory. That is why we can read paragraphs of information when all the letters are scrambled in words, as long as the first and last letters are in place. (See example below) Get a list of DOLCH words. (See links below) Print it. Use it to co-read with your child.... The Dolch list, lists words in the English language in order of frequency. This means that you can use ANY book, magazine.. ANYthing to do this with.... Here's what you do... Take the first word on the list: THE Read TO your child from ANY book. Except when you get to HIS?HER word "THE", He/SHE has to read it. Next time, pick the next word: "TO" This time, when you two read, he/She has to read BOTH words when they come up. And so on with new words... Perhas he or she will learn the first words quickly, perhaps it takes a couple of days or a week, before moving on to the next word.... Continue this route to co-reading books and magazines for a couple of weeks. Eventually, of course, he will be reading whole phrases and sentences. This leads to the obvious discussion about the stop signs (periods, exclamation points and question marks). Not only will you have some great together time, but within a couple of weeks, you will be amazed at what the child retains and can recall, creating their own vocabulary of "Sight Words". And he/she will be bragging about what he can read! This give the child the "Instant Gratification" he/she is looking for, with a sense of accomplishment. And buys some time, while later on, he learns the mechanics of reading, such as word families, phonics, etc... Here is a great Dolch list we used for checking off as we went... http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/pdffiles/record_keeping/tests1_11.pdf And here is the reference to the reading words from memory.... Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Or rather... According to a researcher (sic) at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself but the word as a whole. So give the co reading Dolch words a try....
It sounds like you've got a lot of great advice. I just wanted to throw in what we use as well. I found it on ebay for very cheap and the kids, especially my ds (who has fought me tooth and nail on reading up until this year...and until switching to this book reader). I use actual elem. school readers, the type where it is filled with stories. I got a 1st grade set (Scott Foresman Reading), but there are many different ones. I like them because the stories progressively get harder and harder (within reason) and the kids like the little stories in them, they're not the boring repetitive ones like you mentions. We had tried some like what you're talking about before, and I think that is why ds got so against reading, but after listening to some interesting books (he hated listening though too) and now, this set of readers, he's enjoying it and doing pretty good. Best of luck with whatever you choose and whatever works for you all!
Yes, go over the Dolch words. But also see if your library has "Real Kid Readers". Mine really liked those. Also, about two years ago I saw some classics that were adopted into easy readers. I think there were three or four based on Tom Sawyer...the incident with whitewashing the fence was one...and also onTreasure Island. You might try them.
I don't really have a good method for indication. My technique is <blush> very disorganized, but it seems to work. I'm a huge reader - when people ask me how I manage to read so much I joke (though it's very true) that I tend to let things like housework and sleep slide - so that helps. I put books in my kids beds as soon as they could grasp them. My DD had to beg me to teach her to read because I was afraid of pushing her (she was four, I think), and then she taught her brother when he was three. We just worked on the sounds each letter makes, and then hit the rules as we go. We play(ed) sound games in the car - what words end like 'cat', etc - which works great for pre-readers. But we don't do a step-by-step approach. As I said, this works for my first two, at least; we'll see how it goes with the other two. We check out an obscene number of books from the library - I mean, obscene like about 10 books for each of the four kids cards and another 20-30 on mine and dh's, virtually every week. So they always have something new to read. Most of the books we check out I reserve online. They are at a variety of levels, partially because it's hard to gauge it while online without doing a massive amount of research, and in part because it seems to work best. I have board books for my 20 mos old, picture books for my 3 yo, easy readers of varying levels for my 5 yo, and then larger chapter books for my 7 yo. This gives them the ability to pick and choose what level they feel comfortable reading at. We also have an impractical policy with the books; they are supposed to be put back on the "library shelf" (we have a small bookcase just for library books) each night, but they are allowed to take them throughout the house. I have to do some serious hunting the night before we go to the library (we always go the same day of the week so they are always due back the same day), but it encourages them to take the books wherever they want to read at. There are days when I regret that - at the moment, I have two books MIA - but I do really think that a big part of the reason my kids read so well is because they have lots of opportunities. Sometimes my 5 yo will pick up a larger book and read a couple of pages, but not finish it. A few weeks ago, he managed three chapters of "Mr. Popper's Penguins", which startled me because, as I said, he's generally reading at the Level 2 level. But it was sitting out, and he wanted to know what happened. I should probably be more organized but <shrug> it's working for us so far, so there you go. Apply as needed!
What a great thread! Thanks for all the suggestions and for asking the question! I found several of your suggestions at my library and have them requested!
You sound just like us! we have my bag, the kids all have rolling backpacks and we always end up with a few hand carried books out the door as well..... Today, we returned 81 items..... :roll: That;'s what I get for implementing a new bed time rule.... They can stay up late as long as they are flat, quiet and READING.... He he he he he he :idea:
My dd gets bored with books as well. So now I think I have heard every "Amelia Badelia" <sp?> story out there - cause she thought they were funny! It was something SHE liked at the library and she got them all out!!! They have so many "easy reader" books out - even Star Wars if he likes that!!
Thanks for all the great responses! I will have to try each of them! I, too, am an avid reader. My ds LOVES to listen to us read. He will sit through a classic book such as Huck Finn etc. for up to 6 chapters at a time! I think this is the only time he actually sits still! We tried again today with him reading one of the recommended books someone had said. I guess he is still at a lower reading level because even the level one was pretty difficult. It had alot of quotation marks and apostrophes. We had never really discussed those things, so I went over them today. But since we have only done blends and short vowel sounds he was confused by words that didn't follow the "rules" he was use to. I think I will try the Dolsch word thing someone suggested, along with moving on to some other phonics rules. Just as I was thinking that he was making terrific progress and that teaching reading was a breeze, we have hit a wall and I am beginning to panic...what if I don't teach him something vital to his reading success...etc.etc.etc. Those typical homeschooling doubts we all sometimes encounter.
I also found that the "beginning" readers assumed a basic sight vocabulary! It can be REALLY frustrating!!!
LOL, we tried that one time. Until I forgot to remind my DD it was time for light's out, and I was up late one night, and she was still reading at 1 a.m. - and she was only five or six! I think that's a bit too late but *I* got caught up in my book, so there you go. I would probably still go for it, but both of my older kids are sharing rooms with the younger ones, which makes it harder. Perhaps after Christmas...(they are getting bunk beds)...
Just step in and check on her after about 30 minutes. I have stepped in and said, "Ok, baby. Let's go to sleep and let our eyes rest ok, babe? And they usually don't argue about it, because they are sleepy. Of course we have our times when they talk back, whine, throw a fit, etc.. But hey.They are 8 and 5, so that is normal. But they have had the privilige of reading late taken away and they do not like that. So they are pretty good about it. Last night I went to check on the twins. They had fallen asleep together on the top bunk. I can't get up there and they fell asleep with books on their chest and the little clamp lamp on. I don't want the lamp to stayon, because I am afraid it wil catch fire or burn them or what have you... Anyway, last night was a classic.. I could not for the life of me get those boys to wake up to turn off the lamp. It was hysterical! We had went to a big festival park day, earlier in the day and they were very tired. When I shook the bed and was hollering to wake up, turn off the light... they would sit up, bleary eyed and lay right back down... Sigh.. it took like 10 times... I plan to move the lamp so that I can turn it off if they fall asleep... But it was so funny everytime they fell back asleep... too cute
Jen, what books do your boys like to read? My mom always buys books for the kids at Christmas, and I usually tell her what to get them. I'm at a loss with Phillip this year. He really doesn't LIKE to read, but will if he has to. But if I can find the RIGHT book, he's OK. The librarian suggested POPPY; he read that and then got out all the other ones, too! I saw a book at Half-Price Books today about a Swamp Rat; that's one idea. So what do your boys enjoy reading?
Well, they read Magic Tree House. They read ANYthing with Star wars in it. I am big on letting them devour all types of reading material during free time, such as comic books, mags, etc... So, they also read Graphic Novels (Comic books in paperback format) of Star Wars Clone Wars). They also love any form of "Choose Your Own Adventure" books. They will be getting each a copy of a "Decide your Destiny" books about Star wars clone wars for Christmas. (Same as choose your own adventure, just a different company.) They grab books at the library, like "Nate the great", The books I mentioned above and as far as non-fiction they read anything with gory graphics, like human bodies showing the inside of how things work... or those cool "How things Work" books that show how all kinds of things are made.... Like the books that show the graphical "Explosion" of what is inside a medieval castle... Like this.... http://www.amazon.com Or this.... Inside the Titanic.. SHows the Cut-A-Ways of the ship... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03...11189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0316557161 This is the Star Wars Comic books (Graphic Novels).. http://www.amazon.com And we LIVE for mad libs!
Oh my! I was coming here today to ask a very similar question! My one girl has just exploded with the reading in the past couple of weeks and she's reading everything she can get her hands on and wants more small chapter books. I was going to ask about some others titles/authors and you all were talking about it before I got here! How great is that!?!? Thank you!
You're very welcome! That is why we old timer love this site.. Not only will you get a ton of info, but you also get a bunch of DIFFERENT perspectives on different routes on many subject, not just one way of doing things. Dig around and find what works for you!
OH and I had to really laugh hard when I read about the 81 books going out the library! We do that too! I just love books and love to read and am always pushing the limit quota there. LOL glad to see I'm not alone! :lol:
