Backward b, reversed letters, mirror letters

Children start out printing their ABCs backward. It is rarely dyslexia, will self-correct by mid-2nd Grade, and will not slow your child's progress.  Why won't it slow your child? Because your child will not see a backward h or r, etc. in print. Instantly identifying letters in print at the start of 1st Grade is your goal. Only b, d, g, p, q require being printed correctly. Your child must get instant identifying b, d, p, q, g shapes within words by early 1st Grade. Kids know names and sounds but confuse shapes b / d and p / q / g within words.

When a child is not sure if the lettters are dy or by; olb or old - the child quickly falls behind. New lessons never stop coming, which is why it is very hard to catch up.  Teach my rules:

1) Bb rule: Bb is the 2nd letter in my ABCs and b's round face always looks the way words go in a story >>>. Help your child draw tons of giant b's with eyes looking the way words go > and a smile. Repeat the Bb rule together. After reading a story together, look back through the story for b at the start, middle, and end of words.

2) Dd rule: d's straight line blocks d's eyes from seeing the way words go in a story; d is sad. Help your child draw tons of giant d's with sad eyes and a sad mouth. Make a big point of blocking d's round face with d's straight line. After reading a story together, look back through the story for d at the start, middle, and end of words. 

3) Gg rule: g has a fancy tail which tries to reach up to tickle g's round face. Draw giant g's with eyes looking down at g's fancy tail.  **After your child is sure of this form of g use a storybook to tell your child that g in stories has a special shape . You and your child hunt and point to special g in words whenever you read stories together, until your child is sure of school g and special story g. (Do this for capital I also. The Arial font I looks to children like the lowercase l of lamb.  Times New Roman font capital I has lines at top and bottom.)

4) Pp rule: Pp looks the way words go in a story, just like letter b >>>; b and p can see. Draw giant p's with eyes looking the way words go and a smile. Find p at the start, middle, and end of words while reading stories together.  

5) Qq rule: q's straight line blocks q's face from seeing the way words go in a story. Help your child make lots of giant q's with sad eyes and a sad mouth; q is sad because q's face cannot see the way word go >.

Be aware: lower-case online and machine-printed q always has a straight line; lower-case handwritten q has a small hook curved up and away from q's round face, the opposite of g.

Qq says kw, take turns saying q words: quick, quiet, quest, squirrel. Watch for q at the start and middle of words: quick, quiet, queen, squirrel. In English words, letter u is next. .

I use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. All the basics plus tons of special lessons. My info is included with the books, do not hesitate to call with questions!               Have a great day, Mary Maisner

 

Teach ABCs

Your child's fingers will get tired quickly. Five minutes is long enough.

Unlined paper is good until mid-kindergarten. Office Max, Target, Walmart all carry manuscript paper. Watch for manuscript paper with dot-to-dot and arrows pointing the best way to print.

There are 26 letters in our ABCs. Each ABC letter has an upper case form, called a capital, and a lower case form. 

Capitals are used for the 1st letter of a name and for the 1st letter in the first word of a sentence. Lower case letters are used for all else. For all letter practice: Sit with your child and paper and pencil. You start by draw a giant capital and lower-case. Ask your child to trace over your giant letter with his or her finger - several times. Talk about the letter sound and take turns saying words that use that sound. Let your child use the pencil to trace over your giant letter, then make his or her letter. Do not push for perfect.

Only b, d, g, p, q need to be printed correctly. Do not obsess over other backward letters, they will self-correct by mid-2nd Grade, is rarely dyslexia, will not slow your child's reading progress.

Mirror letters b, d, g, p, q can seriously slow your child's reading advancement. It is crucial to be sure your child is not confusing the shapes of b / d and p /q / q when your child starts reading words in early 1st Grade. Do not depend on a teacher.  

Ask your child point to each word as you read a story together so your child is clear that the words in a story go >>>>. Help your child learn the five rules below:

1) Bb rule: Bb is the 2nd letter in my ABCs and its little round face looks the way words go in a story >.  Help your child make lots of giant b's with a smile and eyes looking the way words go >.  Take turns saying b words: boy, bat, ball, bear. Using a story, ask your child to find and point to b in the words of the storybook. Repeat the b rule together.

2) Dd rule: d's straight line blocks d's round face from seeing the way word go in a story. Help your child make lots of giant d's with sad eyes and a sad mouth, d is sad because it cannot see the way words go in a story. But d has many great words: dog, dragon, dolphin. Take turns saying d words. Using a storybook, find and point to d in the words of the story. 

3) Gg rule: the fancy tail of g tries to reach up to tickle g's round face. Help your child draw giant g's with eyes looking down at g's fancy tail. Take turns saying g words: go, goat, green, grass.  As your child goes into 1st Grade, notice that the tail of g hangs below the bottom line of lined-paper.  (Letters with tails hanging below the bottom line when printing are: g, j, p, q, y.) 

**Very important: After your child has control of this form of g, use a storybook to look for g in the words of a story. You will see that the g learned at school is a simple form of g which is the storybook printed form. The school g is an Arial style font. Commerically printed g is  Times New Roman font. Your child does not need to print the Times g but needs to recognize on sight both forms for reading. Both forms of g have fancy tails which is the clue your child needs to separate g from commercially printed q. Notice also, Arial font capital I can look like lowercase L as in the word lamb. Or capital I can have straight lines across the top and bottom; Times New Roman font. Prepare your child. Luckily, only these letters are tricky: b, d, g, p, q and capital I.

4) Pp rule: the round face of p looks the way words go >>>>; b and p can see. Help your child make lots of giant p's with a smile and eyes looking the way words go. Take turns saying p words: pumpkin, pigeon, parrrot. Using a story, find and point to p at the start, middle, and end of words.

5) Qq rule: (parents, online and printed q has a straight line blocking q's round face. The face of school's handwritten q is blocked by the straight line of the tail but the tail has a hook curved up and away from q's face. (The reversed look of g.)

Tip: Do not have your child stop to sound out words when your child is reading to you. Your child will gain stronger comprehension connections if you tell your child any unknown words - and keep reading onward.

This sounds like a lot of rules but your child will feel in control when he begins trying to read. This is a huge factor for success. Remember, a sweet ten minute lesson is more effective than a snarling twenty minute lesson.

I now use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up. All are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

Have fun reading with your child. Thank you, Mary Maisner

Phonics rules

Our ABC letters each have a basic sound but also work together in special teams. English seems confusing but it has very dependable rules. Kids who learn these patterns are more successful. 

Category one: two-letter consonant / vowel teams, such as, ce in once, centipede. (ce, ci, cy always say the s sound)  And gi in giant, engine. (ge, gi, gy usually say the j sound; about 30 words are exceptions, such as give, get, girl, tiger, eager, gear).   

There are also a handful of consonant / vowel teams to teach as families because they involve tiny word groups, such as ight in light, night, bright    and though, through, thought, thorough (silent gh)  and  caught, taught, thought, fought, bought, brought, daughter    and laugh, enough, cough, rough, tough, slough (gh says the f sound).

Category two: two-letter vowel / vowel teams, such as oi / oy  you hear in boy, noise.  

 And ou / ow in ouch, cow     and though, shadow     and touch, much.

And au / aw / ou in pause, paws, thought.    And oo / ue / ew / ou  as in zoo, blue, chew, you.  And oo / ou as in book, could, should, would. 

And ei / ie  as in eight, neighbor, friend, thief.   (The following ancient rule has been thrown out by many, but not me; it is a great spelling guide:  i before e except after c or when sounds like long a as in neighbor and weigh.  Examples of i before e except after c: receive, ceiling. Just to make you crazy, did you see: ancient? And, science; still, most of the time this rule works.)

Complex vowel teams: ous famous, eous hideous, ious serious, uous continuous, tion, cion, sion, tian, cian, xion, cean action suspicion mission Egyptian politician complexion ocean; tious nutritious cious ferocious; ciate appreciate tiate initiate; tient patient cient efficient. (Practiced in my 4th Grade book. Seach eBay: Instant Reading Help 4th Gr, 5th Gr.)

Category three: two-letter consonant / consonant teams, called digraphs, with sounds that "melt together" such as th in thumb, thorn. The digraphs are: th, sh, wh, ch, ph, gh as silent in the light, night group but gh as the f sound in laugh and enough; also gn because both g and n are spoken  - ignore, ignite - when not at the start or end of a word; at the start and end g is silent as in gnaw, gnat, campaign, reign, foreign. (Ghost is the exception.)

Category four: two and three-letter consonant teams, called blends, in which each letter keeps its standard sound and blends with other consonants, such as st in star, stand. Also, str as in street, streak. There are many two and three-letter consonant blends.

I now use eBay as a website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. My books are brand new, full of lessons you will find no where else. They come with my contact onfo, email or call for help.

Have a great day reading with your child. Mary Maisner

5th Grade reading skills

By 5th Grade, classroom reading lessons focus upon evaluating a reading assignment: is it fact or  opinion,   or is it fact or fiction. 

The difference between non-fiction and fiction: 

Non-fiction is facts, true statements that are not made up. A science text about the life of a buffalo is non-fiction about what they eat, where they roam, their enemies, their diseases. 

Fiction is a made up story. Your child could make up a story about a buffalo named Sam that rescued a lost rabbit - that story would be an example of fiction.

Test-taking: 5th graders are required to answer questions about exactly what a text is telling them. Children make errors by assuming they already know the answer, or what makes sense, or what seems possible. But, the questions are looking for specific, exact phrases.

(Example: Why didn't the girl finish the project? A child might guess the girl ran out of time but the text says Grandmother asked the girl to babysit her brother.) 

Help your child by reading a short story together, then ask your child questions that require exact answers. Or, as you wash dishes, have your child read to you a short story - asking questions about specifics as the child reads, or at the end of the story. (Ten minutes at a time is long enough to make progress. Try to have fun. This is hard for kids.)

Word-changing functions 5th graders need: 1) names of vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y), plus short vowel, long vowel, 

2) adding a prefix, adding a suffix, 3) when and how to change letter y to letter i, 4) complex vowel blocks: tion, cion, sion, tian, sian, xion, ous, eous, ious, uous, tious, cious, tient, cient, tience, cience, tiency, ciency, ciate, tiate. 

 I use eBay as my website, people trust it. Search for Instant Reading Help 4th gr 5th gr - 

or Instant Reading Help change y to i    or Instant Reading Help add ed, ing  

or Instant Reading Help tion, tious, tient, ciate  (this book covers all vowel teams)

All books are brand new, laminated with spiral binding. All tricky phonics teams like ge, gi, gy and tion, cious are in bold print. This is a huge help for learning them.  All books include my contact info, email or call for help. Thank you,  Mary Maisner

child dislikes reading

 

Tip: Quit stopping to sound out. The brain's short-term working memory drops all meaning gathered to the point when you stop. This is the way everyone's brain works. Also, many words cannot be sounded out.

Tell your child to only look for and read the "known" words, skipping the unknown. (The brain likes for things to make sense, so those unknown words will begin to pop into place in your child's mind. Comprehension will improve if you tell your child the unknown words and your child keeps reading onward. Example: canoe cannot be sounded out, but the meaning boat will help.)

Also, at a used bookstore, let your child pick out 3 books of his or her interest: mysteries, adventures, jokes, Ripley's believe it or not, etc. Whatever goes home with you will build skills. 

Children do not want to read if reading is too much work. Often the child is missing some of the tiny lessons that make reading easier. Example, letter teams ce, ci, cy always say the s sound: center,  except, necessary /  city, circle, decide,  / cyclone, bicycle, fancy. Notice c says k when e, i, y are not the next letter: concern. This is a rule worth knowing; it always works.

British boys made up the word soccer to distinguish it from rugby. I look at words all day. Soccer is the only exception, I have been able to find. 

All unhappy readers are missing the same tiny bits, which I call the Usual Suspects. My books teach these rules in stories, and Q & A, with an easy comprehension method.

I now use eBay as my website, people trust it. Search Instant Reading Help, all my books will pop up.  Pick the book at your child's current grade level (no grade levels are marked on any of my books). All books are brand new and include my contact info, email or call for help.     

Best wishes, Mary Maisner

 

Child loses place

Any age child can have trouble staying on the correct line of print. This is called tracking. 

Signs of trouble:  skips lines of print, or loses his place,  skips a word, substitutes a word, dislikes reading. 

Try these tips: 1) Have your child point to each word as you read your child a story. 

Later, take turns reading a story with your child. Even as your child starts improving, let him continue to point to each word as he reads, until he gets stronger. 

Let him place a finger at the end of the line he is reading so that he is sure which line he should be reading next. (When your child gets tired, it is time for a break.)

And, quit stopping to sound out. Telling your child unknown, unrecognized words is a much better way to build skills.  

2) Place a plain sheet of paper below the line of print in the story your child is reading. Ask him to move the sheet of paper down line by line, as he reads. (The look of lots of words on a page is scary and confusing for a reader. This reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed.)

3) Strengthen your child's eye coordination with: dot-to-dot pictures, mazes, and puzzles. Also, get a pile of large print used books your child can write in: circle or underline words you are targeting for practice: saw, was, does, goes / these, those, then, them / thought, through, etc.

Tip: use my blog's search box - top left corner - put in backward b and working memory. Wobbly skills make children feel silly at school.

4) Beware: any age child can need eyeglasses. I now use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you.  All are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

 

Thank you, Mary Maisner

Help child decode reading

An example of a code is your phone number.  

Instant recognition of the sound and shape of each of the ABCs is the code your child must know for success. Being slow with any letter (think b, d, g, p, q within words; is it olb or old) means a child cannot keep up, which starts a cascade of misery. 

 

By the time parents see there is a problem, the child is behind. (Remember, your child also needs to learn arithmetic, science, etc. And, classrooms are distracting places.)

Good news: You have already been asking your child to say and point to each of the ABC letters. You have asked your child to tell you an item that starts with each letter, like ant, alligator for letter Aa. Those are the 1st steps of decoding. 

Only b, d, g, p, q must be printed correctly, and identified correctly as letters inside a word.

Ignore all other backward letters, they will not slow your child, is rarely dyslexia, and will self-correct by mid-2nd Grade. There are too many other crucial items to work on. Let's get started:

Sit with your child and a story. You say: I am going to read this story, while you point to each word and read the word with me if you can. 

When you have finished reading the story, you say: you already have a big Speaking Bank. Your speaking bank is all the words you know and use when you talk. Tell me some words in your Speaking Bank (boy, bird, elephant, car, etc). 

Today we are going to start putting words in your Reading Bank.  

Using the story you have just read, pick a word your child would like to know, like dog, puppy, dragon, bird - ask your child to tell you the letters in the word, then you say the word.

 

You say: this word - is always going to use these same letters. Let's look for it again in the story. Find the word repeatedly, if you can. 

Once a child starts getting tired, the lesson is over; but later, ask your child to find his (or her) Reading Bank word again and tell you the letters.  Talk about the letters of the word - those letters make that word what it is.  

Can the word puppy be the word push? No, puppy does not have letter s sound.

Could puppy be bump? No, puppy starts with the letter p sound, not b.

My blog has a search box - top left corner - put in backward b and working memory and how the brain learns to read.

I now use eBay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. All books are brand new and include my contact info; email or call for help.

     Thank you, Mary Maisner