Pausing other subjects while teaching reading?

[mamaduke]

Hello Fellow HODies!

Last night at my homeschool support group I was seeking ideas about teaching my oldest to read. He is a wiggly 6 year old. We're doing The Reading Lesson and it seems to be going fine, albeit slow, except he complains about doing school and especially reading, saying it is hard. He doesn't want to do it. I have the book Phonic Pathways and was thinking of doing some of the vowel games and/or eyerobic exercises suggested it that guide.

My homeschool-mom friends suggested I cut out all other subjects except reading, afraid he will get burn out or that he doesn't have mental energy enough to learn to read after all his other subjects. I am the only one doing HOD currently among us, yet they are familiar with the layout since I have shared. Some veteran moms whom I respect say they don't do anything overtly academic with their 5-7 year olds except learning to read and reading aloud.

So, I'm thinking about this. It seems radical to stop what we're doing. I don't want to give up or put on hold our LHFHG program. I see at the very least I could teach The Reading Lesson first in our day instead of last.

Part of his resistance, I'm sure, is that he is the only child really doing school. I try to keep my other littler ones involved with some type of drawing or table activity but that only lasts so long, usually not very. DS perceives the others playing and obviously wants that too. I know this will pan out in time when we all sit down to school together, but actually that is several years away.

My thoughts are that the LHFHG program is not intense although it does cover many subjects. It seems to me he should be able to handle this plus learning reading. I just keep hearing the other ladies in my head warning me not too push him too much.........

Experience? Suggestions?

I'm such an amateur although faithful teacher. Willing to learn

edited to change subject line to "pausing" rather than "halting." Sounds so much better. Thank you Kristen.

[Mommamo]

You know, I personally think it's important to continue learning other things while learning to read. I figure that they'll get it when they get it. Caroline had a terribly hard time learning to read. She was reading CVC words at 2, and that's where it stayed until about a month ago when she just took off reading. Do I think it's the program I'm using now? No. I think she was just ready to learn to read. So I just kept on trucking with the reading at her pace, and we went ahead in everything else (we're halfway through Beyond now). She was way ahead in her spelling than she really was in her reading, and that's okay. I completely understand where the other ladies are coming from, but LHFHG is so FUN and I think that fostering loving learning is more important than pushing to read. And I understand what you're saying too about him being the only one doing school. My 4 yo now is doing LHTH, but it's hard to be the only one having to sit and focus. I think though that your idea of starting the day with reading is a good one. We do circle time, then math, then reading, THEN Beyond so that we get the littles taken care of, then the most focus-intensive work, then left side of Beyond and then right side. And we're done with all of that by 10 most days! I think what you're already doing sounds good, but it is really hard not to second guess yourself some times! I hope all of that rambling helps!

[krismoose]

Is there any way you could occupy your twins elsewhere for 15 minutes while you do your phonics lesson/games with ds? I put a few of my 3 yo's toys aside for "school time" and they each are only pulled out out one day per week, during "school time", which is phonics, math & handwriting time for my ds. Dd tags along for LHFHG readings and activities. I also picked up a few new (to us toys for that time as well. I would definitely do the phonics first, whether you choose to pause LHFHG or not. HTH

[Busymomma1]

My gut feeling is that you could still do LHFHG, but just make sure you do reading 1st thing (after prayer and Bible verses?):-). I've had to do that with my DS age 6. He's wiggly and is coming along slowly, but he's getting it! In fact, the pace is picking up a little. One thing that has helped is that I've offered rewards at the completion of Lesson 10 and then again at Lesson 20. He is so willing to work hard towards a trip to Toys R Us (for a small toy). Reading has been such a challenge for him, and he didn't like to do it. But... knowing he has a tangible reward to work towards has helped so much. We made a really big deal out of it when he completed lesson 10,and he was so proud. And now he is on 18. We only do about 2 pages a day, so as not to overwhelm, but it is steady progress.

So... I think you could keep going with LHFHG, but just do TRL 1st. I think Carrie also suggests keeping reading, writing and math lessons short to maximize learning and minimize frustrations at these young ages, like Charlotte Mason suggests.

Hope that helps! I know how it goes with wiggle boys! Gotta run... kid on my lap and the oven timer beeping!

[holyhart]

I agree with Tricia that starting off with the phonics may be the way to go (after prayer/Bible, but before other academic subjects). It helped my dd. Now that she is a little older and getting to be an emergent reader, it seems to matter less what order we do it in, but out of habit we still generally do that at the beginning. Actually after prayer, worship and Bible reading with everyone, she does her copywork while I work with my little guy on LHTH. Then we take a break and have snack. Then we start in with phonics/reading.

Maybe you could go more slowly with the rest of the academics instead of stopping all together? If he doesn't yet have the ability to do the full day PLUS the phonics lesson, maybe you could do the phonics lesson one day and the next day do the rest of the academics with a phonics game? Just a thought.

[my3sons]

You've already gotten such wise advice here, and I agree whole-heartedly with what's been said. Imagine if the one thing we struggled with in our day became the only thing we focused on for the day . I think continuing the rest of LHFHG will give him an opportunity to shine in other areas. Starting with phonics first thing would be a great idea. I think I'd also set the timer for say 20 minutes or so, and however far he gets in phonics for the day, he gets. That way he can see the end coming in a subject that's a little tougher right now. I also would add in some breaks for him to just play rather than going through LHFHG straight through. This was very important for my middle ds when he began LHFHG (which was very different from my older ds, whom could do LHFHG straight through, and in fact, loved doing it that way.) For my middle ds, he actually needed to play first thing in the day to get the wiggles out. Then, after about 45 minutes of playtime with his brother, he knew he was expected to come to school ready to work hard and learn. After doing phonics and a good portion of the left side of LHFHG, he had another break for about 30 minutes (I think he did a video or played again with siblings). After that, he could come back and finish the right side of LHFHG. For him, this pattern of play/school/play/school was a huge part of the day being a success. Eventually, he wanted to switch and do it all in a row like big brother, but it took a long time for him to mature enough to be able to handle that. So, adding some breaks (with him understanding that he had better come back ready to hit school hard after them ), could also be something to consider trying. One last thing, it may be best during phonics to have the youngers NOT doing anything your older ds would want to do. When they feel like they're missing out on something they'd consider special, it's just an uphill battle no matter what it is you're doing in school. I think he'll definitely come along with his reading, but he might as well enjoy the rest of LHFHG along the way.

In Christ,
Julie

[threegreatkids]

We have a wiggly six year old boy who is struggling with reading, too.

My philosophy has been to continue with other subjects because that is what keeps him motivated to work on reading. His big reward each day is to listen to the Thornton Burgess Storytime after he has completed his phonics and handwriting.

We set the timer for 20 minutes of reading instruction each day. It helps to cap that. Sometimes he's done earlier. I can't wait until that glorious moment where it all comes together and he is really READING

[mamaduke]

Thank you so much to everyone who replied. I think it is best to continue on. I didn't really think there was a problem with what we were doing, just that he is LEARNING to read and it's hard. But when the ladies of my group said I was doing too much........

Yes, I agree I should have phonics earlier, if not first, in the day. As I look at LHFHG, all of the left page is basically the unit-thought tied together, and what I would call BIBLE, at least up to week 19 or so. So when we read the history, it's still Bible, (that may change in the latter portions of the guide) the memory verse, the song, the rhyme in action, all that to me is Bible. Even science or craft or thinking, which ever is in that bottom box on the left of the left page.

So, as wanting to start the day with God, perhaps I'll have prayer to dedicate the day and then do phonics and then start Bible which to me is the whole left side. and then move onto the right side.

If that doesn't work I may have to take more breaks, rather than working through with minimal interruptions.

Keeping them all together really seems to work best, either school or play. But there are just things that ds has to do alone while the littles do something else, even something more fun. Whether they are near or far, ds knows whatever they are doing HAS to be better.

I really like the timer idea. That will be sure to keep it short and sweet! Thanks. Then he can be FREE as he calls it and runs to find the girls.

I also really like the rewards idea, like working up to something at lesson 10 and 20 (I think we're in 6). He will like that.

You all are so FUN to bounce ideas with...............

Be blessed today!

[mariaw]

I have a wiggly 6yo (7 next month) ds in LHFHG, who is also struggling with reading. We have taken a short break (a couple of weeks) from doing anything other than reading and handwriting. We are in a co-op, and he is very aware (and upset about) that he is the only one in his first grade class who can't read. I have 1 older dd whom I taught to read, and even though she is a very different learner, I found this to be an important step with her also:

Ds6 knows enough phonics to sound out most short vowel words, and just started long e in the Reading Lesson. He is getting so burned out on TRL as the ONLY thing he reads (as my dd was with Phonics Pathways, way back when), and I've started transitioning him to real books. I've found a variety that he can read--the Bob Books (although he doesn't care for these much), Pathway readers, Cat in the Hat, etc. If we come to a word that he hasn't learned (like "does"), I just quickly sound it out for him and we keep moving. The pictures and repetition in the books have really helped him gain confidence. One book we were reading yesterday (Cat and Dog) had such a pattern to it, that he could look at a word like "table", see the starting sound, look at the picture, and figure out what it is. By the end of the book (which was quite long), he could recognize words by sight instead of having to sound them out over and over because there was so much repetition.

I'm taking this time to focus on reading for these couple of weeks (and offering good incentives for reading new books!) to build his confidence. Then we'll go back to the full program. I heard him tell his grandmother yesterday, "I don't really like reading, but I'm reading lots of books to earn money, and really, I DO like reading a little bit." That's a HUGE success with this reluctant reader!!

I do agree with what everyone has said, but for us in this situation, it has been like a little "mini reading retreat." Ds needed to get out of the regular routine for just a bit while we solidify some of his reading skills and he gains confidence.

[mamaduke]

What a blessing it was to read your experience with exactly what we're struggling with. Your son sounds like he is in the same spot as my son with reading ability. The titles you mentioned might work well for my ds6 (7 in June). I do notice that he enjoys reading other readers if he can. I should look for more of these to weave in. (I've heard good things about Pathway Readers.) We tried readers once before and he got stumped on the second one when it was too hard. So we just backed up, reread the one we could (Ken and Hen, by Step into Reading) with much triumph, and went back to The Reading Lesson.

We read aloud a LOT; hard books that I sometimes stumble on (Ballentyne, and Stevenson's Treasure Island). He loves it and has a vocabulary to show for it.

What publisher is the Cat and Dog book you mentioned? Sound like good repetition.

Thank you for sharing.

[Samuel'sMommy]

I'm not using TRL so I can't comment on that, but DS had the same problem as some of the other posters where he wanted to read "real books" and not just his lesson. I found some readers at our Borders that he absolutely loves. Here's the link to them on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... os&x=0&y=0
These are fun and colorful and while they aren't quite "real books" he loves them!

[Mom4Him]

Hello Julie!
You have gotten such wonderful advice! I, too, am so thankful for the ladies on this board!
One thing that has worked for us is to wait until a whole different time during the day... the little 2 lay down for naps, little sister has "quiet time" in her room & I do TRL with my oldest girls (they switch between handwriting book & TRL with me) & then they go to have "quiet time" in their room. This has helped in our house, as before I use to do TRL with them while I was nursing, but then the others were too loud, or having too much fun. Just a thought- maybe trying a time when the others could be napping or having a "quiet time" just for those 15-20 minutes.
Praying you will find a solution that works well for you!

[mariaw]

I'm not using TRL so I can't comment on that, but DS had the same problem as some of the other posters where he wanted to read "real books" and not just his lesson. I found some readers at our Borders that he absolutely loves. Here's the link to them on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... os&x=0&y=0
These are fun and colorful and while they aren't quite "real books" he loves them!

Oh yes! We love these also. The "Cat and Dog" book is an OLD I Can Read book that I found at the library.