Learning to read can be a very exciting time, and it can also be very intimidating for the young child.
Recently, I had a discussion with a young mother about teaching her young children to read. She is an awesome mother, and has chosen to educate her children at home. Once that decision was made, she set off searching for the 'right' curriculum. As she combed through one after another, she ended up with a pile of many things that looked good, but still had no answers in sight.
She was so very frustrated by the end of her search, and even more confused than when she began, that she became convinced that she cannot teach her child to read. My heart went out to this mother so I decided to address it here.
In teaching a young child, there are many aspects to consider, yet very simple methods to incorporate to accomplish our goal of producing a well-educated child.
First, a child is more in tune with the little things that you and I have long-since lost sight of. Their senses are coming alive, and ours are going in the opposite direction. You and I might walk across the yard and see the toys left in the yard and hear a siren in the distance; whereas, our child may hear the birds and smell the lilacs in the air and not notice the toys OR the sirens. We are in two different places in life and our focus has changed due to life circumstance.
Believe it or not, most children are right-brained from the beginning. Meaning, they bond with and are sensitive to the "gestalt," a German word meaning "the whole." We in our busy-ness and our all important distractions, force children into the parts. We load them up with too many details and expect them to come out seeing the whole, but WE are the tool which distracts their focus as God created them to be.
Taking all of this into consideration, let us get back to the simplicity of the child's motor functions. Strip away all of the many choices and take it down to a level of simplicity. For instance: Some curricula tell us to present to the child: A says "a" in apple. and to show them a photo of an apple.
MOMMY! Look at all of that information you put before that child. NO! Hold up a simple card with one simple ..a.. on it and say, "a." Do not add anything to it. Let them hear that simple sound while seeing that little shape. Do not put a bunch of information with it. Dyslexia is more often than not CAUSED in a child via teaching METHODS. Many other reading problems result from over stimulation in the teaching methods themselves, too many to cover here. The more stimulation in a learning to read program, the more information there is to distract a child from the basic sounds of the figures which represent letters. First, they must learn the basic sounds, eventually on their own, they will desire to copy those figures just as they draw you and I.
Reading will come on its own as they become acquainted with the true sounds of those figures. They will automatically make the association as time unfolds. Just like they learn that the large ice cream cone standing in front of their favorite ice cream store, represents that icy cold, yummy treat, they will associate the "a" sound in many words. IF WE DO NOT DISTRACT THEM with too much to pay attention to.
Below are a couple of links to get you started on your journey. Hope they are helpful. Meanwhile, do not defeat yourself or your dear wee ones with too much stimulation! Sit back, KISS; I have changed this to KEEP IT SIMPLE SWEETY. Do not fret yourself and do not discourage your children. One more thought, think of how you are affected when you seek to learn something new? If we are thrown a BUNCH of information all at once, even good information, think of how defeated we feel and that overwhelmed feeling we get. Why then, would we believe it to be different for our young, tender wee ones? Focus your TARGET.
=>Click Here!
=> GO SHOPPING HERE For those busy days Momma when you have so much to do, and cannot stop to read, but perhaps you might even like to cuddle and be read too WITH your babies, here is an awesome option. Go shopping here and enjoy your favorite books either together, or as you get some downtime. Sometimes, I want to work on my personal things, and read, so I pop in one of these and listen while I work on my own interests. It is a great way to refresh and just be a lil pampered. Happy journey to you.
I would love to hear from you below, or you can email me at ashoeprint@cyndywahlgren.com
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