1st Grade reading help

Ignore backward letters. Your child will self-correct by mid 2nd Grade; it is very rarely dyslexia, and will not slow your child's reading progress. Time is limited; work on crucial b, d, g, p, q.

Parents believe preschool and kindergarten will prepare their children but there are 52 letter shapes and a huge variety of sounds. Children know the name and sound for b, d, g, p, q but confuse b /d and p / q / g within words. Your goal: be sure your child correctly identifies b, d, g, p, q within words when your child starts to read in 1st Grade. 

Young readers have to hold many items in their minds and correctly manipulate them.  Teach my letter rules: 

Bb Rule: b is the 2nd letter in my ABCs and b's round face looks the way words go in the story >.  (Kids know b is the 2nd letter; teach both parts of this rule so your child has solid help when reading on his own.)

Help your child draw many giant b's, with eyes in b's round face looking the way words go >  draw a big smile. Take turns saying b words: boy, bear, etc. Use a story to look for b at the start, middle, and end of words.

 

Dd Rule: d's straight line blocks the round face of d, d is sad because d cannot see the way words go. Help your child draw lots of giant d's with sad eyes and a sad mouth. Watch for d at the start, middle, and end of words. Take turns saying d words: dog, dragon, door. Repeat the d rule together. Check your child over time to be sure b / d are clear within words.

Gg Rule: The fancy tail of g tries to reach up to tickle the round face of g. Help your child draw lots of giant g's with g's eyes looking down at g's fancy tail. Look for g at the start, middle, and end of words. Take turns saying g words: go, goat, green. Beware: The tail of handwritten q is the reverse of letter g.

Pp Rule: the round face of p looks the way words go just like letter b >> p and b can see >>.  Help your child draw lots of giant p's with a big smile and eyes looking the way words go. 

By 1st Grade, print the straight line of lower-case p hanging below the bottom line on lined paper. The letters with a tail hanging below the bottom line of lined paper are g, j, p, q, y. 

Qq Rule: q cannot see the way words go because q's round face is blocked by q's straight line. Help your child draw lots of giant q's with sad eyes and a sad mouth, make a big point of blocking q's round face with q's straight line. 

Be clear: 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, opposite of g.

Qq says kw; take turns saying q words: quick, quiet, quest, squirrel. In English words, letter u always comes next after q. 

Also, one at a time, start adding sight words as you read stories together: the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you.  All sight word lists are the same and in the same order. Try to be instant with the first fifty by 1st Grade Christmas. Teaching in stories is the fastest, most efficient path.

After you have read a story together, return to the beginning of the story and help your child look for the words he or she is learning. (Do not push stopping to sound out, tell your child the word. Ask your child to tell you the letters in the word - are there any clues your child sees for recognizing the word next time he sees it? Next time he sees it, tell him the word. Repetition with the word will be more effective then stopping to sound out.)

If you want a book full of quick help, put into eBay search:  Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you.  My books are brand new, full of the basics plus lots of tips and lessons you find no where else.  All include my contact info; email or call for help. 

Have fun reading.  Mary Maisner

 

Fix reading problem

Whether your child is just starting out or is much older you need to know two things: 

1) Our brains have systems which work on their own unbeknownst to us. Everyone's eyes look ahead, alerting the brain to bring up from memory storage the next needed letter or word. 

This brain system gives the well-prepared child an amazing boost. Parents depend upon preschool and kindergarten, but there is barely time to provide an introduction. Kids are not ready for 1st Grade reading.

2)  Kids know name and sound for their ABCs but confuse the shapes of b / d and p / q / g within words. 

Goal: Your child will be able to identify b /d and p / q / g within words like about, able, said, helped, quiet, bag by the start of 1st Grade. 

For help, find your child's grade level below. 

Preschool and kindergarten: See - say of all letters is important but only b, d, g, p, q require to be printed correctly. Ignore all other backward letters, it is rarely dyslexia, will not slow your child's progress and will self-correct by 2nd Grade. Remember your primary goal: your child will correctly identify b, d, g, p q within words by the start of 1st Grade.

Also, start getting instant with the 1st 25 sight words. Ask your child to point to words as you read stories together. Reading words in stories is the most efficient way to gain mastery of lots of words pretty quickly. Sight words have vague meanings. Flashcards give your child no context to anchor the sight words but are helpful review after the child is sure of the words.

Remember, the brain anticipates; being well-prepared will give your child a huge boost. 

1st Grade:  Give your child a pencil & paper. Say:  "I want you to write the 1st letter of: 1) basket, 2) bank, 3) borrow, 4) bump."  Play this every day until your child is consistently correct. Move on to d: desk, dishes, door, drum. Then g, p, q.  After your child correctly prints each letter, review by mixing up the starting letters, say: dragon, pigeon, baboon, guppy, quest. Also, practice sight words when reading stories together. Post on your frig a growing list of sight words; 1st 50 by Thanksgiving; 150 by Easter. Repetition of lessons is key.

2nd Grade - high school: We all read using our short-term memory; long-term is a different storage system. Short-term is a loop system which you want to keep "looping forward, no stops."   (Stopping to sound out is counter-productive, quit doing it.)

Until your child has stronger skills, either tell him any unknown word and keep going, or teach my strategy below, bumpy at first but will reap big rewards. Connect to comprehension:

1) Get a story your child can write on.  Tell your child to look through the 1st paragraph of the story and put a dot under every word he knows, sliding over words he does not know. 

That finished, ask your child to read to himself the words he knew in that 1st paragraph. (You may hear him, ignore any wrong words, do not interrupt.)  Ask your child: what is going on in this 1st paragraph? What's happening?

Now ask your child to read the 1st paragraph to you, sliding over unrecognized words.  Does he think he can now figure out his unknown words?  Tell him the word after two tries of sounding out. The word is probably in his speaking word-bank, but unrecognized in print. Many words cannot be sounded out. These steps are a pain in the neck but the child gets faster within a couple of weeks; it will be worth it. 

(Three of my middle school strugglers made the Honor Roll at their school. A  struggling 3rd Grade boy got the highest grade of his entire class on a year-end social studies test.)

Use my blog's search box - top left corner - to find supporting lessons: compound words, then long vowels short vowels,  then ce,  then ge, then adding ing,  then silent gh, etc.

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

Have a great day! Mary Maisner