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Delightful Reading- how to teach sight words?
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Hello everyone! I was reading over the process of Delightful Reading. I really like this method; however, I am a bit confused on teaching the “110 Most Commonly Used Words” (p.127 in teacher’s manual). Some of the words are portions of word endings or are made from word endings plus a consonant, so that will take care of itself (e.g., is, us, has). However, what about words such as “the, their, were”? I am confused if I should teach these words separately, or if they end up being covered within this curriculum. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Between the word-building on pages 32 and 33 and the reading lessons, all 100 words will be covered in Delightful Reading. Check the Notes column on pages 32 and 33 for the list of a few words that should be covered in the beginning word-building exercises; the rest are incorporated into the reading lessons.
Thank you, Sonya! You are always so helpful. I met you at the Cincy conference in the spring and kept asking you so many questions. You were so patient with me, a complete “newbie”! 🙂 One more question about Delightful Reading— Do I make a list of the words he has done (bat, cat, etc) and then go over them again the next day and/or at a later point? Or do we just do it in that lesson and then he knows it? Thank you again!
You can enter the words he has learned into his Word Book journal, then use that for periodic review in various ways. For example, you might have him read the words on one page, or leaf through a few pages and read all the words that begin with a certain letter, etc. Mix it up and make it a game.
I’m glad I can help!
Thank you, Sonya! Sounds good. We will do that. I appreciate your help. I do have one more question— if he is not getting it, then do I just stay on the same lesson until he does? I am thinking I do that and just go at our own pace. . . that is what my instinct tells me, yet I feel the pressure to go faster. 🙂 I will always remember the quote you put up about feeling “rushed” and how Charlotte wrote that almost 100 years ago!
By all means, go at your child’s pace. Teach the child, not the curriculum. Charlotte encouraged the reading teacher to “be content to proceed very slowly, securing the ground under her feet as she goes” (Vol. 1, p. 204).
If your child is just not getting it, it may be that he’s not yet ready to read. In that case, take a break for a few weeks then try again to see if he’s ready. If, however, he seems to be getting the concept all right and is just stuck on a certain word or word family, put it aside and try again the next day when he is fresh. Above all, keep the lessons short and pleasant. You are establishing a mindset toward reading and you want to convey that reading is delightful.
Thank you, Sonya! I appreciate it. It is so interesting to me, because I am now wondering if he is dyslexic. (Okay, I am a complete “newbie” with all this, so this may not be the case at all). But he confuses b, d, p a lot. And then when we talk about it, he will randomly guess and throw in an answer of “h.” (I am not sure if he is just overwhelmed or if he really thinks it’s h). I am making sure the lessons are short and fun, and we make up little games to go along with it. He shows no other difficulties in other areas— He loves math, being read aloud to, etc. He seems to comprehend quite well. It’s just surprising to me how challenging the reading seems to be for him. He is so ready in other areas. We backed up the last few days and just worked on letter recognition. I am okay to take a break if needed. I am just wondering if this is normal— for children to confuse these letters or if there could be an issue? Thank you again for your guidance and wisdom. I am so grateful. We just love the SM method and have had so much fun with it. I am learning, too!
It is not unusual for young children to confuse b, d, and p. They are used to dealing with 3-D objects that remain the same thing no matter which way you turn them around. You know, a toy car is still a toy car whether it’s upside down, right side up, facing left, or facing right. Letters are a completely different thing; they change depending on which way they’re standing or facing. So it’s normal to have to take some extra time to learn to distinguish between those three letters especially.
Thank you, Sonya. I appreciate your guidance and help. That makes perfect sense— He actually will take a p and turn it around and around and then look at it intently. I realized how this must be confusing to him. I am finding he understands the word families better that have only one of the confusing letters in it (e.g., “ag” only has “bag” and not d and p). I am wondering how they eventually understand when an “a” makes a certain sound and at others makes another. For example, “al” vs. “all.” I know CM did not believe in teaching rules, which makes sense to me. Yet to get into it and to teach it is a whole other thing, and I get concerned that he will not be able to understand what vowels make what sounds as he progresses. Is it that we are essentially teaching him to recognize the “face” of the word— essentially memorizing it? Thank you again for your help. I do love this method and am praying it works for him.
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