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We just completed lesson 5 today...YAY ! But, I am wondering when ds will begin to pick up some speed in sounding out the words and be a bit more fluent in his reading. Should I be doing more than just the lessons? This is going really well and he is moving more quickly than I would have expected in the beginning, but still just about 3 pages a day. I am expecting him to begin recognizing more of the words soon. Should I be presenting those key words to him on flashcards so that he begins to recognize them instantly? He does recognize a few of them instantly, but mostly he is still sounding them all out. Thanks in advance!!

We are in the middle of chapter 17 and it is definitely "working," but learning to read is not always something that happens fast, especially with younger children. I see your son is 5, three pages a day is actually beyond the recommendation of the book, but if he can handle it that is fine. We have done two pages a day and I have repeated a page many times the next day if I felt he struggled too much. I also make flash cards from the key words at the end of the chapter and review them everyday through the next chapter. We have seen steady progress, and my son can sound out the words. You will also notice that eventually he will just know more and more words, but that takes time. In the beginning it was tedious, which is one reason we only did two pages. However,the results have been steady and my ds will eventually be a strong reader because he can sound out words. I would just hang in there and know you will eventually reap the rewards.

Countrymom,
Thanks for your input. It really helps to hear what's going on a few lessons ahead. DS will be 6 next week. We too have repeated many pages, when I felt like he needed a bit more practice. He has absolutely shown slow and steady improvement. I probably just need to be a bit more patient. He is my first to learn to read, so this process is new to me. It is so hard to know what is "normal" is the first time around.

Anyone else who would share their experience would be greatly appreciated also....TIA!

I am using TRL with my 3rd child. She's newly 6 (about 2 months ago), and on a good day, we do 3 pages. She is still painstakingly sounding out words, and still forgets sounds over and over again. (I'm going to implement the flashcard idea). If this had been my 1st child, I'd be freaking out, but I've learned with my 1st 2 that THEY DO LEARN TO READ! It seemed that sometime after 2nd grade, they hit their stride. My oldest daughter, by the end of 3rd grade, was reading at a post-high school comprehension level, and my now 4th grade son is an excellent reader. So I don't worry a bit about my youngest, and it helps me to be more patient with her. So I just wanted to encourage you, having been where you are several years ago, don't worry, he'll read, and it will be at his pace, but he'll just hit that point where he takes off. It might not be for a year or two, but it will happen.

Hi Donna!

We are also doing TRL and are alsmost done with Lesson 10 (with my 6 yo). I remember reading the introduction of the book and it says "most children do not do as well as you might expect until about the seventh lesson." I have noticed just recently that my son seems to be getting a bit more fluent, but this isn't coming as naturally to him as it did with my oldest dd. But he is moving forward, and so I am happy.

I do write the key words on flashcards, and we review some of them several times a week. It seems to help.

I used TRL with my oldest when he was 6/7. He caught on really quickly and we did 2-3 pages per day. I'm now using TRL with my 5 year old and it's a much slower progression. He can do 1 page per day, no more and sometimes less. We began in January and are now on Lesson 8.
Your little guy sounds as though he's progressing wonderfully! I do understand the wondering and concern though.

Thanks ladies! I am really happy with the progress that ds is making! I suppose I am just unfamiliar with the process of learning to read. I did make more flashcards, I had already started that, but just slacked the last couple of lessons. So, I will get those going again and just enjoy the ride for now. I am very well pleased with TRL! Thanks again for your input!

OK...so sorry if I am talking this to death!!

We were off from school last week since dh had the week off work. So, as I begin to read my part to begin lesson 6 of TRL, it states "As before, at the end of this lesson, help your child to memorize the key words before you proceed further." We have not been doing this!! So, should I slow down and make sure he has them "memorized" before moving on???

I don't want to jump the gun and start adding new concepts if he needs to have mastered the previous words. He can sound them out, but he does not instantly recognize all of them from memory. I also don't want to stall his progress.

Help!! If I just need to chill out..please say so. If you think I should be doing more work or slow down, let me know.

mommadonna wrote:OK...so sorry if I am talking this to death!!

We were off from school last week since dh had the week off work. So, as I begin to read my part to begin lesson 6 of TRL, it states "As before, at the end of this lesson, help your child to memorize the key words before you proceed further." We have not been doing this!! So, should I slow down and make sure he has them "memorized" before moving on???

I don't want to jump the gun and start adding new concepts if he needs to have mastered the previous words. He can sound them out, but he does not instantly recognize all of them from memory. I also don't want to stall his progress.

Help!! If I just need to chill out..please say so. If you think I should be doing more work or slow down, let me know.

Between lessons we play games with the words on flashcards to simply help build my dd's familiarity with them. I do move ahead before she has them fully memorized, because she picks up the word in context and soundiung out, then when we hit a spot when it all seems to be piling up, we play more flashcard games.

Thank you Florence! I really appreciate your response. I just wasn't sure how commited to memory the words need to be before proceeding. I think we will move ahead slowly and just be sure to review, almost daily, the previous key words.