Th Reading Lessons

We have taken a breather on the reading lessons, deciding to let Inwe tell us when she is ready for more. She mentions the reading lessons three times a day at least, but only one day has gone so far as to get the book and look into it. That day she used it as a reference to write a note for T. The sentence started out making sense, but quickly deteriorated into nonsense. Still, the effort was there.

I was content to hold off for a while, but Phill is a different story. His idea was that Inwe has be motivated, excited to read. He didn’t think the stories at the end of each lesson were enough of a carrot. So, on Saturday we braved the multitudes at Barnes and Noble bookstore to look for simple readers for Inwe. We ended up with three beginning reader books by Dr. Seuss. We wrapped two for Christmas gifts and left the third out. These were the books we bought: Hop on Pop, The Ear Book, and The Eye Book.

On Sunday Phill somehow got Inwe to read The Eye Book. Most of the words she knows. Phill taught her the other words that she didn’t know. Of course, the way Inwe is learning to read is by sounding out words, so I had to jump in when Phill just wanted to tell her the word. I would tell her to sound it out or remind her if the vowel had a long or a short sound. She did it. She read the book and has asked to read it again. When she asks to read it again she doesn’t really want to do it again. She just wants Phill and I to drop everything and go to her. That’s how gung ho we are to have her confidence up for reading.
And, as much as I hate to admit it, Phill’s strategy is working. She helped him read some of the books for bedtime last night.