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homeschool mom of 4 trying to fit in some time for writing and reflection

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Reading isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

Posted on September 17, 2019February 1, 2021 by Gwen Shaneck

I’m teaching my daughter to read using the Reading Lesson. I like this book. It’s simple looking with lots of white space. It takes the kids slowly through the process of introducing some of the phonetical sounds. (Nothing like teaching someone to read to notice how much of the English language is not phonetical at all!) And, it is something that you can do quickly or slowly. Pretty perfect for introducing reading.

Before pre-K ended last year, we started going through the book. But, over the summer, with three other kids around, we petered out. Someone, somewhere must have looked through the book with her though, because at the beginning of this school year she was adamant that she did not want to learn to read.

I tried coaxing. I tried complaining. I tried being just as stubborn back.

Spoiler. Didn’t work.

Sometimes it was taking us forever to get through a page.

Then, I decided to set a timer for fifteen minutes.

I patted myself on the back.

I was wrong. She would stare out the window for all fifteen minutes. She would watch the birds, sing a song, or just lie back with her eyes closed.

Fifteen minutes was not working.

I tried a last resort. I broke out the gold stars.

I told her that I would give her a gold star for every page that she completed, or sentence that she read.

I thought for sure that I was a genius.

The first day, I told her my new plan, and

nothing.

It was fifteen more minutes of no reading.

So much for that plan.

But, the next morning she woke up and excitedly announced, “I’m getting gold stars for my reading!”

And, she proceeded to work on her reading.

It’s not perfect. What is? But, she makes at least a little bit of an effort every day. We’ve got our fifteen minutes timer and our bajillion gold stars, and we’re attacking these phonics like they are going out of style.

This post contains Amazon links, but they are not affiliate links.

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Welcome to my little place in the internet. I write about my family and what it’s like to suddenly find myself homeschooling my four children – including a high schooler and two middle schoolers during COVID-19. I also spend some time writing about writing and how I am trying to get more of it in my life.

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