www.TheOldSchoolhouse.com
I had been planning to teach these two to
read, I would not have begun the lessons
that particular year, because they were
only;5;and;6;years;old.
A wonderful thing happens at co-ops
when children give weekly presentations: A few of the students give such
great presentations that it motivates
the others to reach higher levels of
skill. Some of the children progressed
from reading their presentations to
using note cards as reminders. Court-ney;noticed;this;and;asked;me;to;put
her presentation on note cards for her.
When;I;asked;her;why;she;wanted;note
cards, since she could not read, she told
me;that;she;wanted;to;be;like;the;older
students.;(Little;did;she;realize;that;her
memorization;skills;made;her;presenta-tions better than the ones given by those
who read reports or used note cards.)
I humored her and wrote a few sen-
tences;on;some;3;x;5;cards.;Rather;than
write her exact report, I made up sen-
tences that pertained to her subject mat-
ter, but they weren’t verbatim to what
she;had;memorized,;since;I;believed;she
would only be pretending to read. Imag-
ine my surprise when Courtney gave her
report that day and instead of sharing
what;she;had;memorized,;she;read;what
I;had;written;on;the;cards.;After;she;fin-
ished her report I exclaimed, “Court-
ney,;did;you;know;you;could;read?”;She
smiled, and this was the beginning of her
reading adventure.
Ben,;who;for;weeks;simply;clung;to
my leg, began to relax and enjoy co-op
so much that he was soon giving reports
as;well.;He;did;not;ask;for;3;x;5;cards,
and he was not reading that year, but he,
too, eventually learned to read without
a formal lesson! Although I did not use
formal reading lessons with the young-
est;two,;I;did;take;advantage;of;oppor-
tunities to reinforce rules of phonics,
Is my goal to stop parents from teach-
ing their children to read? Absolutely not.
Reading;is;a;vital;and;necessary;skill;that
everyone should perfect. What I hope I
have conveyed is this: Children learn at
different ages and in different manners.
There is no magical formula for when a
child should be taught to read, nor is there
one;particular;method;that;will;work;with
every;child.;From;my;experience;I;know
that trying to force lessons on children be-
fore they are ready only creates additional
problems.
Decide on long-range goals and then
make;a;plan;for;reaching;those;goals,;but
keep;in;mind;that;raising;children;who
enjoy learning is far more important
than raising children who can read by a
certain age. You can do it, and you do not
need to worry if your child is not reading
by a certain age, as long as he eventually
learns to read!
Pat Wesolowski
Pat Wesolowski has been married to Don
for forty years. She is the mother of nine
children and soon-to-be grandmother of
nine, and she has been homeschooling
her children for more than twenty-seven
years. Pat began writing curricula for
homeschoolers in 1993. She has written
several unit study guides that can be found
at her website: www.dpkhomeschool.com.
In addition, Pat blogs about homeschooling co-ops and worldview issues.
Make Learning Easier This Year!
For use with teenagers, adolescents, and young children.
Dianne Craft is president of Child Diagnostics, Inc., Denver, CO www.diannecraft.org
A 2-hour parent training
program that brings real results.
Learn to teach your child/teenager
how to store information in
his/her strong, right brain
for permanent storage.
“Teaching the Right Brain Child” DVD
by Dianne Craft, MA, CNHP
Train Your Child’s Photographic Memory
and
Spelling
Right Brain Phonics
Sight Word Strategy
Reading Comprehension Strategy
Test Taking Study Skills
Math Facts and Processes
See a 2-to-3-year growth in spelling in
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programs you have used!
. . . Raising children
who enjoy learning is
far more important
than raising children
who can read by a
certain age.
Anywhere.
TOSAPPS.com
