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JennGM
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My dh asked me this week about our ds. Now that he recognizes letters and numbers, what's the next step on the road to reading? I talked with my sister and she recommended Montessori Read and Write by Lynn Lawrence. I liked some of the ideas she talked about....but would like some feedback from others about this book.
Any other suggestions? I do want to incorporate phonics into our reading approach.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JennGM
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Bump! Can anyone give me some feedback? Thanks!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Jen L.
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Hi Jenn,
I'm of the "Better Late than Early" mentality. Unless he's asking to read, the reading prep that I'd do is *keep reading to him*. If you really want to do something, I'd consider the Leap Frog refrigerator letters (I just found out they have lowercase letters available!) and the videos.
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Cay Gibson
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Jenn,
Wish I could help more. We just used lots of magnetic letters on the refrigerator, sounded items out as we pulled them from the refrigerator, etc., and used CHC's Little Stories for Little Folks.  I was fortunate to have a swift learner.
Annie is now 4 and I haven't done near enough with her.  We read our FIAR books and that's about it. I need to pull out those Little Stories once again.
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Cay Gibson
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Jen L. wrote:
Hi Jenn,
If you really want to do something, I'd consider the Leap Frog refrigerator letters (I just found out they have lowercase letters available!) and the videos.
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Annie got these for Christmas. It gives you all the phonic sounds. I admit it---I cheat!  The thing is, until I saw Jen's post, I haven't thought about these...much less seen them. 
I'll have to see if Annie remembers where they are.
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alicegunther
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While reading to him, you may consider subtly pointing to the words. This way, he gets an idea of the direction in which English is read, and if he is interested, he may even pick up some sight words.
Two is very young though--my youngest reader was four!
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ALmom
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My kids had a lot of fun with the movable alphabet (my homemade version). We would build a word like cat and then look for other consonents, etc. I cannot remember now how it came about - just was a big game that they started. I think the littlest started taking letters out and putting them together and asking me what it said. At first it said nothing because it didn't have any vowels in it - then we talked about vowels. Then he'd put together some consonents and vowels and ask me what it said. I'd pronounce it phonetically and then he'd ask if it was a real word and I'd tell him yes or no. Then he started building words in families cat, fat, etc.
I don't know if this is Montisorri or not but we also had a 3 ring index card that we cut into thirds. We wrote consonent letters on the first and last third and vowel in the middle.
I imitated and did a lot of this to help an older child who was having trouble (due to vision) and the littles just went to town.
I hesitated to post as I am not Montissori - though I have imitated some of her stuff.
Janet
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JennGM
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I'm not pure Montessori, nor am I trying to get my son to read at this young age. I think I'm coming across as being a pushy mom and trying to make him advanced. I'm not.
I just know all the steps of phonics, sandpaper letters, movable alphabet, recognizing letters are part of the process that will bring him to the reading and wanted a little adivce in that area.
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Rachel May
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Today we started a sandpaper alphabet book for Charles (and Maria). I don't really know the Montessori method for sandpaper letters; I just saw the phrase in a book and thought it sounded fun (that's how I pick a lot of my school stuff).
I cut out capitals and lower case from sandpaper (but I'm thinking of doing the vowels in felt) and used my phonogram cards to help me remember all the phonograms for each letter. In a blank book, I wrote the phonograms lightly in pencil at the bottom of the page I glued the letter to, and then we're going to go take pictures of things that are interesting to the kids and use the phonograms. Charles is a vehicle nut, as you know, so I thought of fire engines, ambulances, police cars etc. I'm thinking one picture per phonogram. (BTW, I'm thinking of doing a color book for him the same way. )
Once it's all put together, I think we can look through it and practice the phonograms together instead of letter names.
My older boys learned their letters by jumping on those foam alphabet floor mats, but I've found that for them, knowing the letter names first has been confusing. Maria doesn't seem bothered by it.
I also have a Little Saints curriculum you are welcome to borrow. One activity the kids loved was posting a large photocopied alphabet on the refrigerator and then they matched alphabet magnets to the letters.
I'm curious if anyone else has felt that what was read contributed as much as how much was read. For example, I read the boys for HOURS a day. We have a varied book diet with many longer books. This week they were able to read Frog and Toad are Friends for the first time. They are almost 7.
When the first 5 of us were little, my family mostly owned Archbooks which are generally written in verse. We had about 50, and read them over and over and over.....We could all read before kindergarten.
I have wondered if the repetition, rhythm, and rhyme facilitated our early reading, since my baby sister was read a greater vareity like my sons and was also a late reader. Has anyone else thought about this?
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teachingmom
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One idea: This is something we did a lot more with my oldest when she was 2 or 3. If you have letter refrigerator magnets, just casually play a game with them saying something like, "This is a B. Can we think of words that start with B? I'll begin . . . 'b', 'b', 'b', 'ball'."
After the two of you come up with 5 or 6 words, you can move on to another letter.
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Marybeth
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What about doing a letter of the week? Do you think Gregory would enjoy something along the lines of Five in a Row? Isn't there an early book in the series?
I was intrigued by Little Saints for Andrew but simply it was too much prep work/time for me.
I second the recommendation for the Leap Pad fridge phonics and dvds.
Marybeth
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Mary G
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For what it's worth, JennGM, the LeapFrog dvds are what pushed both Thomas and Maggie to linking the letters and sounds (it's a pretty tough concept until they get it then they never lose it) and then taking those sounds and blending to make words.
These with CHC's Little Stories booklets by Nancy Nicholson whave really worked for me.....but JohnPaul is still waiting in the wings to start and he's a tough nut to crack ....
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Elizabeth
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Another Leap Frog endorsement here! I heartily recommend it, even though it goes against the Montessori grain. And I have to go with the *read to him* advice as well. Right now, your most imortant goals are to instill a desire to read and a sense of story. That is, you want him to want to know what's between the covers of a book--a great adventure waiting to unfold. Remember, letters--whether moveable or sandpaper or on the refrigerator--are not stories and they are not why we read. They are necessary and they are a part of the picture but the stories are the reason for reading. The time you will have to cuddle uninterrupted with one wonderful picture book after another is very short, indeed. A sense of story includes all those things he'll need to bring to reading: the idea that we read to get ideas;that a story has a beginning, middle and end; that books open from right to left and continue from right to left, front to back;that the pictures can be studied and contribute to the story.It's not too soon for FIAR or B4FIAR.And the booklist in Real Learning has lots of accessible picture books that will only enhance his early childhood.
So, keep reading as your main priority. Make refrigerator magnets and moveable alphabets and /or sandpaper letters available should he show an interest. And casually pop in a Letter Factory DVD while you make dinner--you'll find yourself singing the songs all day long. I also recommend the Signing Time DVDs. There is a correlation between signing and the acquisition of written language as well as spoken language. These DVDs really do enrich and deepen a child's undertanding of how language works. They also reinforce the kinesthetic link between the symbol (a letter) and the sound. A sign is concrete--the perfect bridge. Besides, they're really entertaining!
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Marybeth
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I remember ds really liking placemats at age 2. We had so many different ones for numbers, letters, shapes, etc. It was a great teaching tool-cheap, easy to maintain, durable, etc.
Also, he loved lift the flap books (still does) to keep himself entertained. He was never hard on books so it was easy to have many of those in our home. I know my girlfriend's kiddies would be so excited to lift the flap they would pull way tooooo hard!
Just thought I would put another 2 cents into the discussion.
Marybeth
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humanaevitae
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I have the book Montessori Read & Write. I have found it helpful as they have some good ideas. You may want to order it at your Lib. first but I do use it with my beginning readers. Otherwise if your child already knows his letter sounds, I start with the book Reading Reflex. I believe it was written by a former Montessori teacher. Other ways to get more ideas is to sign up for some of the montessori catalogs like Montessori n such, Montessori Services and Montessori Research and Development. I then use their descriptions and pictures to make my own versions.
For example, I have collected small objects from around my house. I will set 3 out and him to find the object that starts with the "c" sound or give him the letters to match up with the objects. Another activity is to have phonetic objects like cup, dog,and man. Can the child find the different sounds, first orally, then with the letters.
Are these activities too easy for your child?
Nicole
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JennGM
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Thanks everyone for your input and advice. I know it sounds like 1) I'm pushing my son or 2) I'm just clueless about raising a child. I just wanted to make sure I'm on the right track.... Reading aloud we do all the time....I can't get him to sleep because he "reads" the books in his bed for hours after I read them to him. But all these other ideas are great. I have the simple Leapfrog Fridge Phonics...I'll look for the others. Thanks for humoring an insecure mother!
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ALmom
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No, not insecure - just a woman who has to talk to think out loud and sort out the ideas running through us! My dh still laughs about the way women think as they talk - its sort of new insigt for him as it is alien to his male mind!
Janet
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: What’s the Next Step for Reading Prep?
