My purpose in this blog is to share ideas that are simple, quick, fun and effective in helping kids improve their abilities in reading, math, creativity and social skills. I’ll tell you what has worked for us and hope you’ll share what’s working for you. The goal is to create a parent group where we can all sit around in a comfortable virtual sunroom, with blooming geraniums, comfortable chairs, cups of tea or iced Diet Coke and share all the great ideas we’ve come up with for our kids or feel comfortable asking for help in areas we’re struggling.
I’ll start with what did NOT work for us. When my older son was about three, I thought it might be fun to teach him to read early. We started doing “reading exercises” up to half an hour a day, which he enjoyed for about one day and then started to dread. I found myself frustrated and sometimes annoyed. The fun quotient was very low. One day, maybe a week into this process, I pulled out a phonics game and he took the entire thing, tipped it over, and shouted, “NO MORE LEARNIN’ STUFF!”
I took a step back and realized the force it down his throat strategy was not working (surprise, surprise) and also took a minute to question my own motives – how much mommy ego was here verses really wanting him to learn to read for his own sake.
I hit the books myself and started researching the subject of reading and looking for examples of what other parents were doing. By using the various strategies and letting go of crazy expectations, we’ve come a long way.
My husband Greg and I met with Kirk’s kindergarten teacher several months ago and she informed us that while the hope is that the kids complete kindergarten at a level two in reading, Kirk was already at a level six, independent reading, (not correlated with grade level – he’s not reading at a sixth grade level). And I think he is even farther along now as I type this morning than he was then (hope that’s not my nefarious ego popping its head up again….)
In the next few posts, I’ll share some of the strategies and games we used this past year to help with Kirk’s reading. I’d love to hear what you’re doing too. Best wishes! EileenSee More
Hi, Eileen! It’s Jenny Fiore writing. I have you on my mind because, well, I just found your Tell Me a Story VHS in my diaper bag from long ago. I’m so embarassed that I never returned it. Please accept my apologies, and if you don’t mind, send your address so that I can drop it in the mail to you. You can write to me at jennyfiore @ sbcglobal.net. Thanks, and hope things are going well. Your site looks fantastic.