My Favourite Curriculum for Reading and Writing
{Primary Grades}
If you read my post "learning to teach", you will know that teaching my second daughter how to read was a wake up call to me that curriculum matters.
Here is a list of my favorite curriculum that I have used with all of my children.
Explode The Code Series
This is a set of books that teaches the sound of letters, combination of sound, words and eventually sentences. It also teaches printing in proper formation. Two in One! My kids love these books, because they go at a nice pace and have a fun format that incorporates the use of pictures as a means of finding the right answers.
They start at levels, A, B and C, which teach the alphabet and its sounds. My youngest daughter, now in KG, finished all three of these last year as she was very keen. They are meant for Kindergarten but I think having a keen pre-schooler use them is just fine.
After A,B,and C, they are divided into numbers as half books. So a student in grade One student would do Book 1 and also 1 1/2. They go all the way up to level 6.
Here is an example of what you will find in the first set of three (A,B,C)
Things to look for:
1. The use of the three lines, with the middle being dotted. This helps the student to properly disperse the letter and get an idea of its shape and size in comparison to other letters.
2. In the example above, they are showing the steps in writing the letter "b". We don't think about it, but we were taught these same things in school. There is a system in how to write the alphabet, and it has value because it, quite simply, makes writing easier. Little thing like, only lifting the pencil off the paper when necessary, smooth writing and eventually transferring this skill into handwriting.
3. Pictures to reinforce the sound.
Once your student has made it through the first and second books, (A and B), they will know the sounds of the Alphabet, and have a pretty good chance of remembering how to write them all. With the exception of an occasional "b" and "d" mixed up! So now the book will introduce pictures and ask the student to write the letter that it starts with. When learning to read, "Start with the starting sound", naturally. You can see in my daughters example below that she wrote the ending sound for "box". They do get into ending sounds as well.
Make your own!
There is a system to learning how to write letters properly, but once you know it (and you do, its just become so second nature you don't think about it), you can easily make your own practice booklets. The dollar store usually has the dotted lined notebooks as well.
This is a booklet I made for my daughter last year. She loved it, and especially that I made it for her.
Watch: Alphabet Booklet
Handwriting Without Tears
The Reading Lessons
This is the second version of this book. The first one had "learn to read in 100 lessons". So if you plan on using it then know there are two different ones. The one above is 20 lessons, however that's not to say that it should be one lesson a day.
They start off with teaching the sound of the letters, in a format so that the child can practice getting faster and faster. Think of the technique of flashcards, except these are all on one page. Same idea.
Once the letters are memorized, the student can move on to combinations of letters, and then eventually words.
You can see that there is a pattern in the way they are introducing new concepts. As the child becomes accustomed to reading words, the book starts to incorporate mini sentences and paragraphs.
Using rhyming words with similar spelling helps build vocabulary.
Bob Books
Bob books are very reminiscent of the books that I first began reading in school. Just think "Jane goes here, Tim goes there." This kind of reading may seem mundane, but, in my opinion, its worked for a lot of years in aiding children to learn to read so it must be worth it. The point is to get your child to develop a joy in reading and have them feeling happy and successful whilst doing so. These books provide that experience for new readers. The books come in box sets (I've even seen them at Chapters),each at their own level, with graduating levels in the books themselves. They are physically small, short and simple, with pictures to help with content. You want your new reader to feel accomplished after they read. So being able to read a whole book from start to finish, is encouraging. Simple and useful.
Journals
Journals are an excellent way to support reading and writing learning. The give practice with lettering and encourage the use of new words. they teach sentencing, punctuation and spacing, all important aspects of neat writing. I buy the notebooks with blank space at the top so that my kids can draw a picture of what they are writing about!
My daughter, Sahira, is not only a hockey fan, but also plays hockey! Shes very enthusiastic and has a whole journal dedicated to only hockey entries! It will make for an awesome keepsake when shes older.
Read, Read, Read!
When my daughters reading really took off, was when she found books that she enjoyed. Reading should be like brushing your teeth - done at least twice a day! read to your kids, let them read to you, have family reading time where everyone grabs their own book and reads quietly. Reading one of the most important aspects of learning, and will become one of your child's greatest assets in life!
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