I recently quit my job and I want to start concentrating on my four year old's educations. Where do I get materials to teach him to read and write? Does any one know any great CDs that teach as he sings? I am not quite sure where to start. He can write a little and loves to be read to. Help.
Hi moms, Thanks for the great request. We just received our leap frog videos and we will also try the BOB books. Thanks for all your help.
I teach Kindergarten and agree with the posts below as far as phonics. In addition to those I use Dr. Jean CDs in my classroom. They are fun songs that cover everything, Phonics, Math, Science, Social Studies, etc. They can be found on Amazon or in teacher stores.
There is a store called Teacher's Tools at the intersection of Grapevine Hwy. (Hwy26) and Precinct Line. It is a great store with tons of workbooks, supplies, books and any other teaching aid you need and it is open to the public.
C.,
My 3 year old is just starting to read. We are using the BOB books (you can see them by going to amazon and typing in bob books - I bought mine at Barnes and Noble for $17). They were written by a former Kindergarden teacher. We are just on Set 1: Beginning Readers and my daughter LOVES them. She is so excited that she can read a book to me!
There are 12 books in the first set. The first book introduces 4 letters so my daughter can already read the first book. Each subsequent book adds a couple more letters. Once they finish all 12, they use all letters (except Q) and all vowels (short vowel sounds only). I assume we will then move on to the second set.
These books were recommended to me by one of my other mom friends and I love them.
Good Luck!
D.
Find Mem Fox's book "Reading Magic". You might also look for some Montessori at Home books "Teach Me to Do it Myself" is the title of one.
I am a reading specialist and I also have a child that is 4 years old. The best things you can do to help your child learn to read is to read to them, play with magnetic letters on the fridge(my favorite are the Leap Frog letters that say the name and sound of the letters, also they have a word whammer that helps little ones begin to put words together), help your child become familiar with nursery rhymes both orally and in print, and play rhyming games and other sing song type games that play with sound. A great website you might want to check out is www.starfall.com. It has lots of interactive games and books and it is all free! Hope this helps.
I've been in Texas 10 years and I will never be at home here! I just had to get that out!
Now for the reading....... I bought my girls hooked on phonics off of ebay and my girls love it! I have one in first grade that could read before she went to kindergarten and I have starting kindergarten in the fall and she can read too!
My other two are learning letters and letter sounds just by watching the older ones!
Also, Try leap frog letter factory dvd and word factory dvd! My kids love to watch those and they really help! I have to warn you though! The song gets stuck in your head big time!
Love, K.
Hi C.,
I was a 3rd grade teacher for several years before I quit to stay home with my kiddos. Funny thing was is that I never taught a kid how to read --in 3rd grade they mostly knew how to read, I was more teaching comprehension. I began to research and talk with other mothers and found the most wonderful book. It is called: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
by Siegfried Engelmann, Phyllis Haddox, Elaine Bruner, Siegfried Engleman, Phyllis Haddox
It starts very slow just teaching letter sounds and brings them up to a 2nd grade level in 100 lessons. The great part is that it tells you exactly what to say - it like gives you a script. We had so much fun with it. At the end of each lesson, there is writing lessons to teach them to properly write their letters. The lessons only last 15 minutes each - perfect for their short attention spans. My daughter is now a fluent reader in Kindergarten and is even now taken up writing her own stories.
There is a DVD called the letter factory by Leap Frog that is great for teaching phonetics. Even my 3 year old is learning her sounds in a "fun" way.
Hope this all helps. It is a great bonding time when you are teaching your child to read. It is something they will never forget as the 2 of you sit and sound out those first words and you see their little eyes light up and the light bulbs come on! Good luck, have fun, and pack a lot of patience!
M.
Hi,
When I was Christmas shopping, I went to a store called Mardel's. They had isles and isles of the stuff you are wondering about.
Mardel's 6080 S. Hulen St., #200 Fort Worth ###-###-####.
And, their is a Teacher Supply right next door.
P.
I was also going to suggest the Leap Frog materials - mine love those videos.
Also - most preschools are registering in the next few weeks - you might want to check into some if he is not already in a program. Most kindergarten teachers will tell you that the social skills are much more important than whether or not they can read in kindergarten. Good luck!
