Reading Rachel

I have finally gotten around to having regular school with Rachel.  She is only 4, but unlike her brothers, she was chomping at the bit and ready to go at 20 months of age.  By then, she knew all her letter sounds, thanks to the The Letter Factory, and was even learning how to sound out 3-letter words.  I, however, kept falling down on the job and could not get around to working with her daily.

Lately, I’ve been working with her in 100 Easy Lessons.  Let me off the disclaimer that while I use 100 Easy Lessons as my spine for teaching reading, I heavily modify it and add my own reinforcements depending on the child and their strengths and weaknesses.  For example, I have never used the writing portion of the lesson as my children are ready to read long before they are ready to write.  And my lesson rarely goes past 5 minutes, not even close to their suggested 20 minutes.  I do like the bare bones of 100 Easy Lessons.  It is also cheap and gets a child up and reading quickly, long before you ever reach the 100th lesson actually.

Here is Rachel with some matching cards made specifically to reinforce some words she is learning is her 100 Easy Lessons book.  She loved these and will do them independently if I just hand her the stack of cards.

The boys would have hated this type of thing.  Sidney would probably have folded the cards into paper airplanes, and Lincoln would have lined them up on the floor to make a road to drive his cars on.