I have a reader!! What now? Suggestions please!

[Mjv8099]

Hi! I have been reading this forum since my 2.5 yr old daughter was an infant. I have not posted very much and have never posted anything personal about myself. I think it is time to post because I now have a reader and need help deciding how to move forward!!  I have read to her since birth and have been working with her since probably around 6 months old. Before she turned one I would show her flash cards but after a while she didn't want to look at them. After one we watched your baby can read but not consistently because I was afraid of too much screen time. She seemed to get bored with that too but never seemed to recognize any words. I also did Little Reader with her and got through the first semester of it. She liked it but didn't like how many days it would repeat but still didnt show any recognition of the words. She knows all her letter sounds and can tell me any word if I sound it out for her. We have done starfall and reading eggs and she can do both effortlessly. We also still do reading bear. She likes it I think because its only a few words at a time and she learns new vocabulary. She was an early talker and has a very vast vocabulary. She at one point could match animal words with animal magnets we have but would never read me the words without the picture with it. I think she was mainly looking at the beginning sounds because she can tell me the beginning sound of any word.
So recently I was reading on here two different moms with kids about the same age as mine just started reading. One used monki see and one used meet the sight words. Since we had the meet the sight words videos and books already I thought it was time to give those a try. We watched them every day. The first video took her about two to three weeks to learn all the words. The second video took her about a week and it only took her a few days to learn the words on the third video. After each video we would read the correlating books. She has read all of the books now and has learned some new words from them too. She reads at least one book a day and it seems like she is picking up at least one to two words a day.  She also finds words she knows everywhere. I found some books at the library by Margaret Hiilert that use mostly the same words as meet the sight words so she loves that she can read books from the library now. All the other easy reader books at the library were mostly phonics based and she wouldn't know most of the words.
Where do I go from here? What can I do next? I tried showing her YBCR again but she wasn't interested after a day or two. What is the next step? I would appreciate any suggestions! Thanks

[Korrale4kq]

Preschool prep sight words and readers were the key to James' early reading success.
After those we borrowed lots of books from the library. About 30 a week. We read all the early level reader books we could find. James particularly liked the Biscuit books. Those are not phonics based. Once he had read all those he read Noodles (another dog) books, and Henry and Mudge. If you find a series your kid likes it is nice to stick it for a bit.
We just kept reading and reading and reading. When there was a decodable word I would slowly sound it out for James. And we did a little reading bear. At 3 he was able to decode unknown words. And his reading ability improves everyday just by practicing. There isn't much that I have to do anymore except to provide him with books. We discuss the books after he reads so I can assess his comprehension.

[mom2bee]

Congratulations on your little girls reading success! Good job parents! Great work little one .

Now that she's broken the reading barrier, I would say just keep reading. I would look into getting lots of simple readers and read them to her and with her. Continue to read every single day and talk about the story and the pictures and point to each word as you read. If you want to continue offering instruction and structured practice and guidance I would go with 1 or 2 basic programs. (using supplements as needed) but fight the urge to buy, buy, buy  or try, try, try several different things for the sake of trying them.

All the links go directly to their product page/results so please feel free to click on any of them directly

Sight Words:
There are several sight word readers, programs, and websites.
I would look up a few and see which ones seem the most pleasing. Both Amazon and Ebay have several kinds of sight words readers available commercially.

I also recommend looking into I See Sam readers which are online for free. Print them 5 at a time and work on them until your DD can read the words separate of the stories and continue to point out the words in other stories and such as you come to them.

Phonics:
There are a lot of great resources available for free, Progressive Phonics and Soft Schools are two, there are tons, just Google them!

Personally, I really, really like The Reading Lesson and highly recommend it. Check out the freebie section of the site. They have sight words, and samples of the first 2 chapters/lessons available.

I would get either Bob Books or Now I'm Reading books to supplement TRL, as I would say to expect to spend at least 7-15 days on each chapter of TRL , depending on how your girl picks up on phonics.

and of course, read, read, read! I would check out many books with CD's also, so that my little one could have access to a reader even when I wasn't available. Something like Frog and Toad, Little Bear, or whatever is available at the library.

(A simple solution might be to get a newer version of HOP, since I understand that they come with their own readers now.)

I would continue with ReadingBear whenever she is receptive to it. Also look in to Leap Frog Letter Factory, and Talking Words Factory. I dont know why, but they work like magic for sooo many kids to get through that initial barrier.


Sorry, I had written a better, longer reply with more links and suggestions but it got lost. So here is my "Where to Essentials" post. Good luck whatever you decide.

[Krista G]

Read, read and then read some more.  Try to point to the text as you read and have her help you by reading words or sentences as she is able.  Congratulations.  That is very exciting.

[robbyjo]

I would second Bob Books and Now I'm Reading recommendation. Get both.

Edit: I would add more recommendation:
Starfall's Learn To Read
Leapfrog's Learn To Read Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3, Volume 4. You'll need their TAG reading system.
Hooked on Phonics version of Learn To Read.

BTW, if you have CostCo membership, you can buy Bob Books collections much cheaper than Amazon (@ $10 each).

[Mandabplus3]

To get from where you are to fluent reading all you need to do is ensure your child reads something every day. It is often difficult to find books at just the right level but remember each time you read you are teaching not testing. If they don't know a word provide it. If they don't understand the phonics in it explain them and continue reading.
Borrow lots of early readers from the library. Read each one at least twice preferably three times each. Choose from two types. Get sight word readers at your child's reading level and even a little above. Then also choose phonics books that are very basic working slowly up. The online list recommended above is wonderful and so easy to progress through in order!
Also start on Dr Zuess books. Read them to your child and have them fill in some rhyming blanks if they want to. This will help them to begin looking at the word endings rather than just the beginnings. Read any rhyming poetry books you can find to your child. Some fridge magnets building simple word families might help also. Cat, bat, mat, pat etc.
H ave them read every day and you can't go wrong. Congratulations!

[Mjv8099]

Thank you everyone for your responses! We will keep reading every day!

[Kballent]

I had a similar panic last month (you can actually read my blog post about it here: http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/2013/08/keeping-up-with-super-tot.html).  He's been reading for a long time, but became a lot more fluent recently.  Anyway, he isn't interested in BOB books or the boring readers.  He hated the Preschool Prep videos (although likes the books).  He likes books that are interesting, so we do a lot of non fiction or stories with characters he likes.  It is a challenge finding books he likes that have big fonts and only a few sentences per page.  He does like some of the LeapFrog movies like Talking Word Factory and Code Caper.  We also recently started stepping into spelling (you can print the cards I made from http://memorizingthemoments.blogspot.com/2013/08/beginner-spelling-cards.html).  In addition to using Little Reader lessons to learn to read new words, I try to make games.  I use 3 Part Cards with Toobs for matching games (I share all those under Printables).  I have also written new words on mats I made from a cut up shower curtain.  He loves to jump and skip to different words.  I've put words on his pound-a-peg toy and made little sight words zoo's for him to put the animals into.The more he words learns the more he loves to read.  I wish you luck figuring out where to go next with your little one!  I know I've spent many long hours in the night worrying over that very issue!

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