The 5 R's of Early Education

The 5 R's of early education are: read together, rhyme and play with words, set consistent routines, reward with praise, and develop a strong relationship. 

{Dr. Pamela High}

Stories with Words & Pictures

Do you remember stories like these? I used to love them as a child! This one came from a children's magazine that was given out at church each week and is from when my mother was a little girl. I remember sitting on my daddy's lap while he read the words and I read the pictures. I felt so grown up; I could actually read! Of course I was much to young, but felt so grown up. This story teaches a character lesson mixed in with the adventures of Sally and Billy. 

Children can create their own picture stories. It's a great way to teach writing skills. Using words and pictures a story can be told and the process will engage the child from beginning to end. Stickers, rubber stamps, or small, cut-out pictures from magazines can be used as the picture part of any story. Just make it fun and creative!

I do not think that all the words used in this story are necessarily wise words to use in these times. Although said with endearment, describing the little girls as "fat" is not considered appropriate now as it must have been in the 1940's. Talking about the wisdom of words used to describe something and the feelings they evoke would be something good to talk about with your child. Not only can this story be used to teach creative writing, but it can be helpful in teaching kindness and in choosing words.

Teaching Reading

It is vitally important that children be taught to read, and to read well.  There is shocking evidence that 60 million individuals in the United States, or one-third of the entire population, cannot read.  This high rate of illiteracy prevents individuals from reaching their full potential in life and in the job market.  It is a frightening reality, especially for parents of school-age children.  As a home educator, the teacher-parent may find that teaching reading is one of the most daunting tasks that takes place in a homeschool.  It takes time to give children the building blocks necessary to teach them to read.  For most children the ability to read does not happen overnight, but rather is a process that takes place in stages as they are offered tools for learning and time to internalize and apply what they have learned.  This ability is the foundation of all future learning.  It is possible that children can read and read extremely well! 

It becomes the responsibility of the parent to teach their children to read. Some key elements in teaching reading are:

• Talk to the child a lot from birth and as they develop and grow. This provides the foundation of linguistic information. By listening, a child absorbs the language, accent, and grammar of those who surround him.
• Preparation for reading starts at a very young age. Sensory stimulation is important. Whether it be in the form of a red, black, and white mobile that hangs over a child's crib, or something as simple as turning a light off and on to stimulate the pupillary reflex, activities that encourage development assist in developing overall intelligence and ability. Geometric shapes and the contrast of black and white are some of the first visual items that an infant recognizes. Studies also show that crawling is very important for babies. An infant should be allowed to be on his stomach, on the floor, as much as possible. Crawling helps a child develop neurologically, and it is instrumental in the development of visual pathways to the brain. As children grow, other forms of physical activity, like swinging, climbing, bouncing, jumping, rolling, and gymnastics also assist in neurological development. The development of gross motor skills is vital for youngsters. Strong neural pathways assist the child in becoming a good reader.
• Make sure that words are visible to children of all ages. Small words on a book are not always easy for a developing youngster, so care should be taken to provide opportunity for children to see words in large print and in bright colors. Expose children to written words in their daily life at an early age, just as as you surround them with verbal information. Point out signs, words on cereal boxes, notes on the fridge, and so on. Make them aware that words exist and that they are a valuable part of life.
• Read to your child, starting from infancy. Books can be either commercial or those that you write yourself (large, colorful words). Make reading a daily routine. This establishes value and importance on the task.  This example teaches your child what books are for. Read to them with enthusiasm, changing your voice to express the personality of each character in the book. Use your finger to underline the words as you read out loud, as this teaches the child that words flow in a certain pattern, going from left to right, and from top to bottom of the page. Read frequently and for as long as you keep a child's attention. Reading is one of the foundations of an intelligent individual. Reading to your child is a key component in creating a good reader.
• Tie together the importance of sounds (language) and reading (words) by teaching children phonics.  Instead of teaching the alphabet, skip that task and instead teach the child the letter sounds. You can go with the same sequence of A,B,C. But, instead of saying the name of the letters, model the sounds of the words instead.  If a letter has more than one sound, give them both in sequence. For example, say the sound for soft-sound A then long-sound A, then the sound for the letter B, and sound for soft-sound C and then long-sound C.  Continue through the alphabet. This is an activity that can be set to the music of a favorite song and it should be a routine that is established daily and from a young age. As children grow and you prepare them for more formal reading, the phonetic foundation will have been established. After the alphabet sounds are learned, move on to the more advanced phonograms and teach them with their phonics rules.
• Encourage initial reading experiences using books that are phonetically based and have been written so that the child recognizes the phonograms learned. A phonics reading program such as this free, online reading resource helps the child flow naturally into putting sounds together into words, sentences, and paragraphs. Reading becomes a natural process with this approach.
• Give the child opportunities each day to read out loud to you! Short periods of time throughout the day will be more productive than one longer period of time. For the best in productive learning, always quit the activity before your child is ready to quit! Diminished interest on the child's part is never productive. The key to a pleasurable reading experience is to keep the child motivated and eager. Taking turns with the parent in reading a story is a great way to teach a child to read.
• Pace the learning experience according to your child's needs. If a child was interested in learning, and then you see a diminished interest, it is a cue that the child is experiencing boredom and that it is time to quicken the pace and teach him new concepts. Boredom can indicate that the child already knows the information.  But be aware that there are other reasons for boredom, making it clear that you need to keep in-tune with your child and their needs. Boredom can also result when a child doesn't understand the information being presented. It can also mean that your child sees no useful application for the information being taught. Thus, it is important to clarify concepts as you go along and to help the child see their importance and how it applies to daily life. Interest in a subject goes a long way in helping a child focus their attention.
• Remember that all words a child is being taught to read should have meaning to him. If a child doesn't know that Istanbul is the name of a city in Turkey, it will have no meaning to him. Explain the meaning of words they may not understand. Make reading meaningful. Start out with familiar words and move on from their. Words don't have to be simple to be meaningful and read at an early age. If the child has a dog named Liberated, that becomes a good reading word even though it is not generally a word the beginning reader uses, because the child can associate the word with something that is meaningful to him. Introduce new words at a pace that prevents boredom but that does not overwhelm.
• Games and drills can be fun for a child learning to read! Phonogram flashcards can be laid flat on a counter top with pennies, nickles, quarters, and dimes underneath. Take turns with the child in selecting a card and verbalizing the sound of the letter or letters being presented. If the sound given is correct, the child gets to keep the coin below the card.  See who can collect the most money (teacher-parent, child, or sibling).  If you don't want to use actual money, school tokens could be made instead. Other games like Go-Fish, flashcard games, or pocket games can all be used in teaching phonics and/or sight-see words.  Reading game ideas can be found online if you have trouble coming up with ideas on your own.
• Practice, practice, practice. Reading aloud to your child is as important as having your child read back to you. Read throughout the day, not just from books but from signs, packages, posters, and more. Make reading fun for both you and your child. Make reading a delight! Not only will you be creating happy memories with your child, but you will be establishing a foundation of learning that will serve your child well for years to come.

Learning to Read

It is vitally important that children be taught to read, and to read well.  There is shocking evidence that 60 million individuals in the United States, or one-third of the entire population, cannot read.  This high rate of illiteracy prevents individuals from reaching their full potential in life and in the job market.  It is a frightening reality, especially for parents of school-age children.  As a home educator, the teacher-parent may find that teaching reading is one of the most daunting tasks that takes place in a homeschool.  It takes time to give children the building blocks necessary to teach them to read.  For most children the ability to read does not happen overnight, but rather is a process that takes place in stages as they are offered tools for learning and time to internalize and apply what they have learned.  This ability is the foundation of all future learning.  It is possible that children can read and read extremely well!

It becomes the responsibility of the parent to teach their children to read. Some key elements in teaching reading are:

* Talk to the child a lot from birth and as they develop and grow. This provides the foundation of linguistic information. By listening, a child absorbs the language, accent, and grammar of those who surround him.

* Preparation for reading starts at a very young age. Sensory stimulation is important. Whether it be in the form of a red, black, and white mobile that hangs over a child's crib, or something as simple as turning a light off and on to stimulate the pupillary reflex, activities that encourage development assist in developing overall intelligence and ability. Geometric shapes and the contrast of black and white are some of the first visual items that an infant recognizes. Studies also show that crawling is very important for babies. An infant should be allowed to be on his stomach, on the floor, as much as possible. Crawling helps a child develop neurologically, and it is instrumental in the development of visual pathways to the brain. As children grow, other forms of physical activity, like swinging, climbing, bouncing, jumping, rolling, and gymnastics also assist in neurological development. The development of gross motor skills is vital for youngsters. Strong neural pathways assist the child in becoming a good reader.

* Make sure that words are visible to children of all ages. Small words on a book are not always easy for a developing youngster, so care should be taken to provide opportunity for children to see words in large print and in bright colors. Expose children to written words in their daily life at an early age, just as as you surround them with verbal information. Point out signs, words on cereal boxes, notes on the fridge, and so on. Make them aware that words exist and that they are a valuable part of life.

* Read to your child, starting from infancy. Books can be either commercial or those that you write yourself (large, colorful words). Make reading a daily routine. This establishes value and importance on the task.  This example teaches your child what books are for. Read to them with enthusiasm, changing your voice to express the personality of each character in the book. Use your finger to underline the words as you read out loud, as this teaches the child that words flow in a certain pattern, going from left to right, and from top to bottom of the page. Read frequently and for as long as you keep a child's attention. Reading is one of the foundations of an intelligent individual. Reading to your child is a key component in creating a good reader.

* Tie together the importance of sounds (language) and reading (words) by teaching children phonics.  Instead of teaching the alphabet, skip that task and instead teach the child the letter sounds. You can go with the same sequence of A,B,C. But, instead of saying the name of the letters, model the sounds of the words instead.  If a letter has more than one sound, give them both in sequence. For example, say the sound for soft-sound A then long-sound A, then the sound for the letter B, and sound for soft-sound C and then long-sound C.  Continue through the alphabet. This is an activity that can be set to the music of a favorite song and it should be a routine that is established daily and from a young age. As children grow and you prepare them for more formal reading, the phonetic foundation will have been established. After the alphabet sounds are learned, move on to the more advanced phonograms and teach them with their phonics rules.

* Encourage initial reading experiences using books that are phonetically based and have been written so that the child recognizes the phonograms learned. A phonics reading program such as this free, online reading resource helps the child flow naturally into putting sounds together into words, sentences, and paragraphs. Reading becomes a natural process with this approach.

* Give the child opportunities each day to read out loud to you! Short periods of time throughout the day will be more productive than one longer period of time. For the best in productive learning, always quit the activity before your child is ready to quit! Diminished interest on the child's part is never productive. The key to a pleasurable reading experience is to keep the child motivated and eager. Taking turns with the parent in reading a story is a great way to teach a child to read.

* Pace the learning experience according to your child's needs. If a child was interested in learning, and then you see a diminished interest, it is a cue that the child is experiencing boredom and that it is time to quicken the pace and teach him new concepts. Boredom can indicate that the child already knows the information.  But be aware that there are other reasons for boredom, making it clear that you need to keep in-tune with your child and their needs. Boredom can also result when a child doesn't understand the information being presented. It can also mean that your child sees no useful application for the information being taught. Thus, it is important to clarify concepts as you go along and to help the child see their importance and how it applies to daily life. Interest in a subject goes a long way in helping a child focus their attention.

* Remember that all words a child is being taught to read should have meaning to him. If a child doesn't know that Istanbul is the name of a city in Turkey, it will have no meaning to him. Explain the meaning of words they may not understand. Make reading meaningful. Start out with familiar words and move on from their. Words don't have to be simple to be meaningful and read at an early age. If the child has a dog named Liberated, that becomes a good reading word even though it is not generally a word the beginning reader uses, because the child can associate the word with something that is meaningful to him. Introduce new words at a pace that prevents boredom but that does not overwhelm.

* Games and drills can be fun for a child learning to read! Phonogram flashcards can be laid flat on a counter top with pennies, nickles, quarters, and dimes underneath. Take turns with the child in selecting a card and verbalizing the sound of the letter or letters being presented. If the sound given is correct, the child gets to keep the coin below the card.  See who can collect the most money (teacher-parent, child, or sibling).  If you don't want to use actual money, school tokens could be made instead. Other games like Go-Fish, flashcard games, or pocket games can all be used in teaching phonics and/or sight-see words.  Reading game ideas can be found online if you have trouble coming up with ideas on your own.

*  Practice, practice, practice. Reading aloud to your child is as important as having your child read back to you. Read throughout the day, not just from books but from signs, packages, posters, and more. Make reading fun for both you and your child. Make reading a delight! Not only will you be creating happy memories with your child, but you will be establishing a foundation of learning that will serve your child well for years to come.

Animal Alphabet Game

 Grandpa shares a picture from his vacation.

In the age of information and technology, many resources are available to homeschool families.  These resources assist in education.  Computer, iPads, smart phones, X-boxes, Play Stations, and other electronic gadgets can be used to teach anything from reading and math facts to providing practice for eye-hand coordination.  The typical home life of most families has changed with these new technologies.  But, technology can bring isolation, even when together in a group.  Interaction through planned activities is encouraged in an effort to bring families together in a positive way.  Although they can be considered "old fashioned", planned family activities like the one below can be fun, educational, and interesting.  Why don't you give it a try?  Adapt the game rules to fit the ages and abilities of family members.


ANIMAL ALPHABET GAME


1.)  Use index cards and a marking pen.  Write one letter of the alphabet on each card.  Shuffle the cards.


2.)  Have each family member draw a card from the stack.


3.)  Discuss the letter each person chose.  Practice making the sound the letter represents.  Have the person who drew the card write the letter in upper and lower case (or trace the pattern with a finger or draw in sand with a stick).


4.)  The person who draws the card thinks of an animal that begins with the letter they draw.  Each person in the family chooses an animal whose names starts with the letter they drew.


5.)  Using nature books, encyclopedia, or the Internet, have each child research the animal they selected.    Each person should share (orally):


a.  name of animal
b.  where the animal lives/habitat
c.  tell what features make it unique; describe how it looks
d.  what are the eating habits of the animal
e.  describe the typical habits of this animal, both day and night
f.  what is the origin of the animal; what country can it be found?  identify on a world map
g.  tell how this animal protects itself?  who are it's enemies?
h.  what are the off-spring of this animal called?  what are the babies like?

6.)  After sharing about animal, have the others ask questions about the research done.  


7.)  Go around the circle, having each family member sharing their research.


Follow up activity:  color a picture of the animal; read a book about the animal; find a poem or verse about the animal; write a story; draw a sketch; draw a map of the country where it lives.  Make a giant collage, using the pictures and information shared about the animal each person researched.

An Old-Fashioned Story

Presently they came to the quiet little place on the beach to which they both always loved to come. They had been here many times with their mammas, but this time it was all quite different. They both felt so important.

Somehow they managed to get their tent put up. It was quite a big job for such little people, but they felt they must do it all properly.

The tent fixed, they both thought it must be time to have something to eat. So they opened the all-important lunch basket and began to take out all the little packages they had put in it so carefully just an hour or so before.

How good everything tasted! so much better than a dinner at home! Really they had never had such a lovely meal before. If their mothers could have seen them eating the plain bread and butter as if it were sugar cookies, they would have been quite surprised. Perhaps they would have decided to have that for dinner every day!

How quickly the lunch basket was emptied! There didn't seem to be half enough in it. Doris and Kathleen were so hungry that they ate up everything they had brought; there wasn't even a crumb left.

Then they played games and told stories to each other. Soon the afternoon passed and the time came to pack up. Down came the tent, the blanket was folded up, and the empty lunch basket slung over Doris' shoulder. Then they started for home.

"Haven't we had a lovely time?" said Kathleen.

"Haven't we!" said Doris. "And only yesterday we said we wouldn't speak to each other any more."

"I'm so glad we made up," said Kathleen.

"So am I," said Doris.

Just then they turned the corner of the road, and there, right in front of them, were two mammas standing at the gate of Kathleen's house.

"We're so glad you've come back safely," they said. "We were just coming to look for you.


Then there were hugs and kisses, a welcome supper, a bedtime story, and a trip upstairs to dreamland.

*This was one of my favorite childhood stories.  It came from an original "Bedtime Stories" book by Arthur Maxwell.  I had a modern set of the "Bedtime Stories" of my own, but I enjoyed my mother's childhood set because of the old-fashioned pictures and un-edited stories.  

Stories & Imagination

Experiences can come alive when told in a story.  Words tell the story and a child's imagination creates pictures in their mind, making the story vibrant and real.  Advocates of some methods of reading instruction suggest that children learn to read from books that don't have pictures for this very reason.  They believe that giving only the words aids the child in developing an imagination and creativity.  In a day when television, videos, and movies are the norm, and where children start watching them from infancy, it's wise to take a break at times and allow the imagination to work.  This can be accomplished not only by reading books without words, but by listening to stories.  Parents, grandparents, and older siblings enjoy reading to children.  But sometimes a child's eager mind works faster and for a longer period of time than a loved ones voice can last!  Quality stories on CD and online podcasts are a good resource when this happens.  

Here's an example from history that can help you and your child create word pictures in your mind as you listen to the words.  Purposely try this listening experiment and see what pictures and scenes your minds creates.  When the story is over, spend time talking together, comparing what scenes your imaginations have developed.  Share using all your senses:  sight, taste, smell, touch, and hearing.  The story we are using for this experience comes from Your Story Hour.  It takes place during the Civil War in America and is about the night riders and George Washington Carver.  You can listen to the story here.  Don't forget to turn on your imagination!

Creating Books with Children

Young children love to imitate and create.  Writing or illustrating a book is something that can help them acquire many skills.  Language arts skills are acquired.  Vocabulary is enhanced when a child dictates or writes words.  Spelling is learned as they practice sounds and sequences.  Math skills are developed as they number pages in the book.  And artistic competence and motor skills are fostered as children cut, paste, color, print, and draw.  An entire unit study can be fabricated from an activity as simple as writing and illustrating a book!

When a young age, our children enjoyed books making books.  Here are ideas for several that we made:

1) Use a large scrapbook filled with blank pages to make an alphabet book. Have the child write the first letter of the alphabet on the back flanking sheet on the left-hand side. On the right-hand side of the open page, have the child select a picture from a magazine or catalog showing objects that start with that letter sound.  Glue pictures that start with that letter sound on the right-hand page.  Continue through the alphabet (one letter a day) until each letter of the alphabet has been illustrated.  

2) Use a magnetic photo album (sticky pages with clear plastic overlay) to make a book of verses. Place a picture from a magazine or that the child draws to illustrate a verse on one page. Write the verse on lined paper and attach on the opposite page.  This is a great way to help children memorize Scripture verses.

3) Use a notebook to create a nature notebook. Fill it with dividers, one for each month. Use 12 gallon-sized zip-lock bags that have been punched so they can be fit into the notebook as pages. Place one after each divider. Place clear paper and lined paper in each section. Have the child ‘write’ the book by collecting things from nature and placing them in the zip-lock bags (flowers can be pressed, leaves dried, bugs dried, etc.). Give child opportunity to write poems about what they can see in nature; write stories; find vocabulary words; draw a sketch; paint a picture; etc. Find nature magazine photos that illustrate the seasons or take photos.

Something as simple as a making a book can provide a plethora of learning experiences for the young child!  Take time to enjoy the process and savor learning with the child!