This tip brought to you by our Dad Guru John Valadez
on Aug 19, 2009
My daughter has been reading herself for some time now. Since she is making her transition into the first grade I decided to have her read to me every day. We pick out a level two or three book and she reads it. I’ve realized she is memorizing the words instead of sounding them out. The more she read the book, the more she knew. My goal for her was not memorization, but to actually know how to read. Today, I gave her a new book – one she didn’t memorize. She began reading and didn’t know the word “pulled”. The “u” and “ed” gave her some problems. I had her sound out the word and she didn’t know what I meant.
I was confused because she went through kindergarten and she would read the directions to me from her homework. Not to mention the 250 site words she knew.
My main issue with site words is they teach children to memorize and not read. I decided to teach her how to read; starting with this book. The book is thirty-two pages long and it took us two hours to finish. I wasn’t going to give her any help other than assisting her with sounds. She stumbled on pulled, passed, fell harm, asleep and strong, but she endured and I persisted and she read the entire book on her own. There were times she broke down and cried and I insisted she push forward - she did. Her elation when she finished was all that needed to be said. She hugged and thanked me over and over and accomplished a difficult task on her own. I’m so proud of her.
