Parenting Tips 365

Easy Way You Can Teach Your Child to Read (100 Lessons)

Posted by MamaWendy on Jan 13 2012 | Tagged as: Child 6-7, Preschool 4-5

A few months ago I started teaching our 4.5 year old son to read! After hearing about the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons from a friend, I purchased it and then did nothing with it for quite awhile; life got busy with the end of my pregnancy and the birth of our daughter. And honestly, I was a bit intimidated to try it. But recently I found a way to actually start using the book with my 4.5 year old son.

He has been showing signs of being ready to read for quite awhile. He knew all his letters and the sounds they make when he was two years old. Back then, he was even able to write some basic letters. It was so cute! But I didn’t know what I could do to help him read, until I was told about this book.

Features of the Book

Here are some of the book features:

100 lessons
Uses Distar® orthography, which initiates early instruction
Appropriate for preschool children and children in school but who have not learned to read yet
Parent script provided, expected student responses mentioned, and ways to correct if necessary
Parent’s guide (about 22 pages at the beginning) that explains system and how to correctly follow it, pronunciation guide, and writing chart.
Includes story and picture comprehension and writing

Benefits of the Book

Here are some of the benefits of the book, from my perspective as a mom:

Little time required: I love that each lesson only takes about 20 minutes. This is very doable for me in my busy life; and great for my son. (We finished some of the early lessons in five minutes.)
No thinking of what to say: I love that they actually provide a script of exact wording the parent should use to present the material, and it’s printed in red ink. This takes away any extra work I might need to do.
Anyone can do it: I am not a teacher yet it’s been easy for me to sit down and work through these lessons with my son. Logical and structured lessons make it easy.
It really works: It’s been amazing to me to see how the lessons progress from such basic beginnings to actually provide results. You can see how far my son came by lesson 33 – and we still have a ways to go!

Here is a video of our son reading the story from lesson 33:

If you can’t see the video, click here.

We are currently on lesson 56 and it’s been such a great experience that I wish we would have started sooner! We do one lesson every day; they recommend not skipping any days. Over the Christmas break we did skip a few days here and there and I could tell it was a bit harder to come back to it.

To provide a little extra motivation on the second half of lessons, I put a few stickers on random lessons. When we get to a lesson that has a sticker, my son gets to pick a new book (that I already purchased). I found some reader books on his current favorite topic: sharks.

I will be providing follow-up videos and updates as we progress. I can say that it’s been so rewarding to see him actually read, and to know that I helped him!

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Mom! Dad! Don’t Forget! (Guest Post)

Posted by MamaWendy on Dec 15 2011 | Tagged as: Child 6-7, Child 8-10, Preschool 4-5, Teenager 13-18, Toddler 1-3, Tween 11-12

Since the birth of our daughter 3 months ago, I have been taking a break from the blog – a bit longer one than I had planned. I still want to provide interesting and insightful articles on my blog in the meantime. I will have guest posts from various bloggers, as well as posts by me when I have some time to write. Thanks for understanding. —MamaWendy

This guest post comes from a good personal friend of mine named Pamela who blogs at The Ripple.

Mom! Dad! Don’t Forget!

Remember what it felt like the first time you were out after dark without your parents? How it exciting it was when you had your first hit in tee-ball? What about how absolutely terrifying your nightmares were? The feeling you had when you first drove the family car all by yourself, legally? The butterflies in your belly on your first date? That crazy bike crash when you broke your arm and that incredible pain? Being so excited for Santa to come that you couldn’t sleep?

No? Not until I just reminded you? You’re not alone.

So many of those firsts, so amazing and alive when we experienced them, are faded and dim. They’re there, for sure, but they’re buried deep under all the stuff we’ve experienced and learned and endured as we’ve done what Peter Pan never wanted to do. Grow up.

As parents, we recognize how very fragile and vulnerable our children are, how absolutely in our care they are. We nurture and guide them, teach them and hope for them. We protect them fiercely, knowing what we do about the dangers of this world. But to some degree we do them a substantial disservice.

We have forgotten. As we have grown and begun our own families, a mild amnesia has set in and we have forgotten those magical, horrible, painful, blissful memories of our own childhoods.

When your child is creating art on his own and wants to show you each and every line and color, do you lose your patience? Or do you remember when you were doing the very same thing, desperate for the approval of the people you revered above all else, your Mom and Dad? When your child is freshly pressed and dressed, ready for the important family occasion, and suddenly notices how completely irresistible the puddle in the driveway is, do you see a delay in the outing or do you remember the countless rainy days you spent puddle-jumping? When your teenager is doing her hair for the fourth time in preparation for her first real date, are you exasperated or are you sitting in your favorite chair with a glass of wine, reliving the exciting nervous promise of your first date? So many examples!

I think, as Moms and Dads, we have such responsibility for our children’s well-being and safety that we no longer allow ourselves the luxury of remembering our firsts. I think too that we remember much more clearly the painful hurts of growing up and we want above all else to shield our children from those experiences. Trouble is, forgetting so much of what we went though takes away a tool that we can use to help our children navigate the tricky waters of growing up.

It takes a lot of faith, strength and love to keep those memories close at hand in order to share them with your kids. And of course, the brain knows what it’s doing when it helps you bury memories. But keeping those events of your youth close at hand, and having the faith to let go a little, is a gift your children will appreciate throughout their entire lives, especially as they become parents themselves someday.

Photo copyright Natalie Harding (www.natalieharding.com)

The next time your son or daughter comes flying into the freshly cleaned house covered in mud, dying to show you the frog in their grimy hands, hit the pause button. Just for a second, think about how you may have done that very thing. Think, just for a split second, about the fact that your child is so excited to show you this treasure and how in the not-too-distant-future that won’t be the case. Maybe spare a few minutes to really check that froggy out while you gently steer your muddy kid back outside. Kiss him or her on the sweaty, stinky head and remember your first slimy treasure.

When your child gets their heart broken in two, whether it’s by their first love or the coach who cut them from the basketball team, spare a few minutes. Sit near them, hug them if they’ll let you, share a snack and your memories with them. Although it means reliving something difficult, the bond you strengthen with them is something they’ll always remember, especially when their children have a similar experience.

When your young adult gets into trouble, as they often do while they’re learning and growing, think back to your wild youth. Just because you are in a position of power or responsibility now doesn’t mean you never stole a street sign or had a beer before you were legally allowed to. Be strong, be firm, but be honest and share the lessons you’ve learned along the way.

Remembering our childhood can be beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. Having the strength, honesty and faith to share our memories with our kids and help them along the way can be a powerful way of demonstrating just how much we truly love and care for them. It’s a ripple you can begin today, and watch spread through the next generations.

Pamela is the mother of two grown children. She is also a massage therapist and artist. Her new creative ripple, as she says, is designing and creating unique zombie dolls. You can check them out on her Facebook page, Fiddleheads and Chaos. And don’t forget to check out her blog The Ripple.

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Wendy – ParentingTips365.com

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Our Sweet Daughter Has Arrived!

Posted by MamaWendy on Oct 24 2011 | Tagged as: Natural Living, Newborn, Pregnancy

Hello readers!

Just wanted to take a moment (finally) to let you know that our little girl was born at home on September 8, 2011! Yes, it’s taken me 6 weeks to get this announcement out to you; sorry about that! We are all happy, healthy, and only a little sleep deprived! Needless to say life is crazy and if you haven’t noticed, I will be taking a short break from writing on my blog.

In my absence I do hope to have several guest bloggers writing interesting content for you to read – stay tuned!

In the meantime, here are a few photos of our new family, her birth slideshow (below), and birth story for you to read. And some of my previous articles on midwives, homebirth, and natural childbirth.

Have any of you birthed at home or with a midwife? Leave a comment and share!