Should my child repeat 2nd Grade?

Such a tough question; no parent wants to hear it. One out of three struggling readers has college graduate parents. Whether or not you decide to have your child repeat, start today: use my search box - top left corner - put in backward b and download it. 

Then put into my search box working memory.  Put in how the brain learns to read.

All children getting a slow start are ambushed by exactly the same lessons. Your child is beyond the grade level at which these lessons are taught. 

You are going to need to help your child or hire a personal tutor to teach my book. (One-on-one tutoring, not group tutoring. You have been warned by your school, please realize you want to turn this situation around for your child and yourself. You want to help your child be in control of skilled reading by this time next year.)

Reading tip: Quit stopping to sound out. Stopping breaks the short-term memory, causing all gathered meaning to drop away. Everyone's brain works this same way. Tell your child the unknown word and encourage your child to keep reading. This is will reap much better results.

Fifteen minutes a day will be enough time for a good lesson.   I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. All my books come with my contact info, email or call for help.

Best wishes, Mary Maisner

Should my child repeat 1st Grade?

One out of three struggling readers has college graduate parents. 

Research is clear that children who are not in control of 1st Grade reading skills will have a very hard time catching up because new lessons never stop coming and the basic skills are not in place to help the child.

Reality is that a small set of letters and sight words must become instant; a child is going to stumble around forever without these lessons. The child cannot help himself; reading is a code that must be taught.

Whether or not you decide to repeat 1st Grade, start today:  use my search box- top left corner - put in backward b, then working memory, then how the brain learns to read.   Your child depends on you - my letter rules are not taught in school - your child needs these specific letter rules.

Download the 1st 100 sight words (my books include the 1st 300).  Take your child to a used bookstore (Goodwill, ARC, etc). Get whatever books appeal to your child. Ask your child to find and circle the 1st sight word - the. Work down the sight word list.

Tip: quit stopping to sound out words, tell your child any unknown word, have your child keep reading. Stopping breaks the short-term memory, thus all comprehension is lost.

Instead, show your child how to keep reading using the words he does know. At the end of the page, you ask questions - what is happening on the page, who did what, etc. Then go back to unknown words. Help your child figure them out or tell your child the words. Many words cannot be sounded out. In a few weeks, this method will reap great rewards.

Some parents and children do not work well together - this is common. Get my book and hire a private tutor (not a group tutor or tutor company). You want your child to be in control of skilled reading by this time next year.

I use ebay as my website. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will come up. You do not have to use my books but get a book from somewhere to give you support and structure. 

My books include my contact info, email or call for help. Best wishes, Mary Maisner

homeschool teach reading

Albrecht Durer painted this watercolor
in Germany in the year 1505.

I am a retired elementary teacher with a Masters in Reading Instruction from the University of Colorado. My blog offers160 free lessons to help your child with reading.

Use the search box in the top left corner to look for lessons: backward b, or sight words, or working memory, or compound word story, or short vowel long vowel, or tion, or tious, or silent h, or fix reading trouble, etc.

I now use eBay as my website, people trust it. Search Instant Reading Help all my books will pop up for you. All are brand new and full of color pictures, professionally spiral-bound with laminated covers.

My books use story-reading passages woven between letter skills practice (phonics) and comprehension exercises to be sure your child becomes a Star reader.

Throughout the reading passages the tricky letter teams are in bold print. This helps your child see that the letters work as a team with a special sound.  For example, ci is always in bold because ci always says s: decide, pencil, excite.

All books have a list of sight words for the specific grade level plus a page showing you the tricky phonics teams with several example words. 

For example, team gh is silent in the word set: bright, light, night  / caught, brought, thought; but the team gh says f in the tiny word family: laugh, cough, enough, rough, tough, slough - a snake slough's its skin.

And, you can call a real person anytime you have questions or problems, my information is on every book. Thank you, Mary Maisner

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

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