1st Grade reading skills

Is this little turtle lost?

Success in 1st grade requires being instant with sight words (1st 100 by Christmas) and, crucially: instant with b, d, g, p, q within words. 

There are brain reasons why this is true and your child will soar. All the stars will be shining just for your child! 

Teachers will not tell you this but I now tutor struggling middle school students, so blunt will serve you better. 1st Grade is critical. Spend big time now - then the later years will be less stress.

 

For a book, consider my Instant Reading Help kindergarten, early 1st Grade at eBay, which is my website. 

Time and energy are limited; ignore backward letters, they will not slow your child, are rarely dyslexia, self-correct by mid 2nd Grade. 

Only b, d, g, p, q require rigorous attention. These five must be correctly printed and instant within words when your child starts reading words in 1st Grade.  A child will fall behind if he or she wonders, is it: olb or old?

Slowly move through consonant blends: bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl, and  br, cr, dr, fr, gr, pr, sr, tr, and sn, sm, sp, spl, scr, st, str (late1st Grade and 2nd Grade).  

And the digraph teams ch, sh, wh, th, as well as rhyming word families, and the tricky phonics in 2nd Grade gh, ph, ce, ci, cy, ge, gi, gy.  Note: digraph letters drop their basic sound and melt together to make a special sound: ch chair, sh shoe, wh whale, th thorn. In blends, letters keep their basic sound and blend with the other consonants: bl blue, cl clip, fl flip, etc.

Until I researched how our brains store and retrieve information, then started tutoring struggling middle school readers, I did not understand that sight words and kindergarten lessons were so critical. 1st Grade is a parent's best chance to be sure your child is in control of name, sound, shape of b, d, g, p, q -- confusing the shapes of b / d and p / q / g when your child starts reading words in 1st Grade is the road to misery. Why? New lessons never stop coming, plus the brain has embedded something even if it is wrong. That incorrectly embedded something will be very hard to fix.   

This is a fatal flaw in our teaching system. NIH shows only 6 out of 50 ever catch up. It is not because the child is not smart enough. Research says it is because lessons are not clearly presented.   I would add - that these vital lessons need to be tracked.  All of my books help the parent keep track of what has been mastered, and what has not yet been mastered. 

 

Feel welcome to write with questions. Have fun reading with your child! Mary Maisner