Preschool Plans

I've never had the privilege of teaching a young one to read.  My oldest two daughters went to preschool and public school, learned to read in kindergarten or first grade, and honestly made me crazy if I tried to help them.  I can remember sitting in traffic once when The Girl was trying to read a book I had memorized (I was driving) and thought she should be able to read.  I can remember shouting "Stop adding letters that aren't there!"  It drove me bananas that they wouldn't just make the sounds that were there and not add anything.  But having been taught to use picture cues, they were prone to guessing.  A lot.

My son also went to preschool and a half a year of kindergarten.  We worked a bit the summer before kindergarten, and one day in January he came home reading fluently.  No effort required on my part.

So, when a friend recently asked me what to do for preschool because she thought her soon-to-be public schooled 4 year old was ready to read, I had to admit I have very little experience on which to base my plans.  I have one last chance to be the one who teaches my own child to read, as she will turn four in just a few days.  And boy is she ready!  Her older sisters have already expressed jealousy at the fact that being at home in a school room with them all day has gotten her reading-ready so much earlier than they were.  I, for my part, have jealously stopped the older kids from teaching the princess anything, because I want to be the one who teacher her!  I don't want to miss it when the light comes on for her!!

The other day, The Princess asked The Girl, "How do you spell Grandma?"  Her sister spelled it for her.  "Wait!" She said after one letter.  She came back for each letter, one by one, and then showed her sister that she had written them, all in caps, on a piece of scrap paper.  The response was a universal "I didn't know she could do that!"  So unless I really stay on my toes, I am going to miss it, again!!

Here's what we're doing with her:
Leap Frog letter factory.  Truth be told, The Princess spent a lot of time in front of the TV this year.  I blame Saxon Math, which has been an excellent program for the Mayor but is realllyyy teacher-time consuming.  She watched a lot of PBS (Word Girl and Elmo).  But she also watched Leap's Letter Factory, a DVD with which she became obsessed over the winter.  And lo and behold, she knows ALL her letter sounds!!  No more use in doing the single-letter flashcards I had.  So, I bought her some workbooks.

She had a pre-school workbook already, but she only half-heartedly worked in it.  She scribbled a lot and guessed at what needed to be done.  So when the new ones came in the mail, I told her this was special and she had to do it only right beside me, and listen to the instructions.  I bought Get Ready for the Code, Get Set for the Code, Go for the Code by Educators Publishing Service at CBD.  She has already breezed through two of these at a letter a day, practicing that fine motor skill of writing the letters, circling them, crossing them out, etc.  I am so proud of her.  She says, "Mommy, I want to work,"  pulls up her chair, and sits at the end of my desk so I can read directions to her.  I love it.  Although I wasn't expecting the distraction of a fourth student so soon, it's better than watching Elmo.

So here are the resources I plan to use going forward.  I just bought Explode the Code 1 & 1 1/2, which start with short vowel sounds.  The previous "Code" books are consonant sounds.  I have to say that I based the decision to buy these basically on the fact that I was hearing of them so often- everyone's using them so the must be good, right?  Not very scientific but so far, I am happy.  I also own Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, which I think you can get at your local public library.  So far, when I have tried to use this with her she got bored very quickly, but I will try again soon. 

Then, we will go to the library and get BOB books, which I used with her brother.  They are very Easy Readers.  In fact I meant to get some this week but was too distracted to find them.  I think settling down to read books together is important- it makes a special time with Mommy and motivates them to do well.  So I will also look for the kind of books that have a word in bold print on an easy left side of the page that the little kid is supposed to read. 

Now, about numbers.  I bought the Leap Frog video that went with the Letter Factory one but was about numbers.  Numbers Ahoy! I think.  It scared her.  So what will I do about numbers??  Well, we count.  Like all of my kids have done before her, she skips 15.  What is up with that?  Sometimes when her brother lollygags in the bathroom at Bedtime, we count down to when we are going to start the bedtime story, with or without him.  I've noticed the value or repetition in the Saxon Math, so I'll make a point of doing that more often and start skip counting with her, too.  I'm hoping that there is some math stuff in the pre-K bridge book Nana put in her Easter basket. 

If blog viewers who have more experience than I want to post recommendations or suggestions (low-cost is best) I would be happy to have them.