Just rewatched this UK documentary looking through EL eyes -

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/too-poor-for-posh-school/4od

It's about parents and their children working to gain a scholarship into one of the most elite and prestigous schools in the UK. I just found it interesting that Peter Beckwith, the sponsor of the scholarship (who also benefited from a scholarship to the school) said he saw himself as a social engineer. He said the scholarship gave children from poor backgrounds the opportunity to 'enter a new world' and that in order to do so they would need to have certain characteristics including being 'jealous'. He also stated that after this transformation they would be able to go into the world (or back into their own communities I am guessing) and do some good.

I mean I personally found the tone very patronising but wanted to know from you guys how you felt about this idea of whether EL might make your kids so gifted they are social engineered into a completely different world from the one you're in now. In the UK at least there can be very clear differences in social strata. Accents, style of dress, hair do, knowledge, where you socialize can be used to (narrow-mindedly some might argue) ascertain whether a person is from your world or not.

I want my son to be fluid, to be able to fit in anywhere with anyone, but I so do not want him to turn into an insecure or obnoxious git who thinks he's too good for the common man. I don't want an education that turns him into a snob. This is a large part of why I wish to homeschool. But if it weren't possible in the secondary years, I would probably go the private/scholarship root, but have concerns about this idea of social engineering.

Thoughts??

Your comment made me want to cry, and I really don't cry easily. I saw this and I couldn't not comment.  If you can spare 15 minutes please see if any of these are of interest to you http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=philosophical+parenting

MyPashmina, if you're engaged with Stefan Molyneux of Freedomain Radio you may wanna read this http://www.rickross.com/groups/freedomain.html (Rick Ross Institute is a website that collects information on cults and cult-like groups). Also see http://liberatingminds.forumotion.com/t2259-is-freedomain-radio-a-destructive-cult (an entire website set up for people who walked away from FDR).

Nee1, I personally wouldn't focus so much on one area that my child is excluded from exploring other options. I am a believer in the idea of multi-talented, multi-faceted, multi-purposed human beings. One person really can do it all - just not all at the same time. If my parents had groomed me into an artist/thespian I would (still could and dreaming of it!) most likely have been successful, but may have missed my calling in enterprise, in writing, in teaching, in parenting and building a home. OR I may NOT have missed anything at all IF they insisted I got a broad education, while developing my expertise. Yes that would mean more work, but that is the price of being a professional, and I am prepared to require it of my own kids. Some cultures (mine is one of them, I'm Nigerian) believe a child has completed education only when they have a masters degree, but will settle for an undergraduate degree and professional qualifications/development  at minimum (which is what I have!) I am friends with someone from a family of legendary musicians (his father is Fela Anikulapo Kuti), he is a very successful musician today, and he and his siblings were required to get degrees because they needed other options just in case. I take this approach, partly because it is culturally wired into me but also because I wanted to do many things when I was a child (still do), therefore a broad education with "a current area of expertise/focus" would have worked best for me. So it is what I am giving my children - options.

Interesting topic. For a two year old Douglas is amazing ... in public. With strangers he is very sweet, in fact almost too sweet - he does not react if he's being bullied by other kids, looks at them like they must be playing, will try and hug them (yes, hug a kid who just hit him) and will cry if someone is super mean rather than hit back. The worst I've seen him do on the play ground so far is say "wait" and/or "careful" in a firm assertive voice! BUT at home, with me, he can be very very 'assertive' indeed towards me. I suppose he feels more free to be himself (at least thats what I tell myself). I am following Charlotte Mason at the heart of my HS philosophy, particularly her her advice for habit training. I interact with Douglas the way I would expect him to (saying please and thank you) and pull out moments of patience and helpfulness from characters in books e.g. point out when a child is being well behaved. We also make a point of identifying 'not nice' behaviour on tv even if meant as a joke (e.g. a pie in the face type comedy skit). Also bear in the back of my mind advice on this from The Education of Karl Witte, the father did a good job of connecting the child's judgement to God's expectations, with him and mom being earthly authorities, but young Karl apparently understood that it was God he owed the duty to behave well to.

The problem I find is what DS does when he wants to and likes someone is quite different from what he'll do if he doesn't! Kids are honest that way I suppose. Saving this link as I will need to explain at some point soon that there are expectations of him separate from what he FEELS is the right thing to do. Which is what manners mean to me.

I am a long term breastfeeder, my son is 2 years and 2 months old and I don't really have any plans to stop until he's ready to himself. I exclusively breastfed for the first 5-6 months of his life and yeah it did hurt at first because I didn't know how to get him to latch on. Like TmT and Tamsyn, I had planned a natural homebirth, but ended up with an epidural and forceps in hospital, which apparently leaves baby too groggy to latch on as soon as born. That first instinct to latch is important if you can achieve it. Anyway I found getting help from a breastfeeding expert (provided free the NHS if you're in the UK) really helped me learn how to position him for a good latch. Soon I was breastfeeding discreetly while walking to around town with DS in a sling

Don't worry, relax, its a lot more of a natural instinct and process than bottle feeding. But be prepared to do what it takes to get through any tough bits, pretty soon you'll find out its the most beautiful bond (and behaviour management tool!) you've got with your LO

Just saw this    We're facebooking already!

Glad you found the list helpful. I'll check out the readers you suggest, I know Jim Trelease (The Read Aloud Book) says children love series, so maybe that's why J fell so much in love. I want Douglas to have that sort of hunger so will definitely try the doggie readers you mentioned.

Yeah, I went through a period of buying loads of books and DS would pick about 3 of them that he wanted me to repeated read and would positively scream if I even picked up one that I was not instructed to read  I figured out that he really didn't like what he couldn't follow without lengthy explanations from me so I'm trying to stick more with good reading lists, everything from BFIAR he's loved so I reckon I'll follow other than try to guess on my own.

Although I am really coming this close to buying Hooked on Phonics so I have a 'final' set of graded readers that will lead him up to age 8+. I'll go to my local library and see what they've got.

Congrats you have a little reader on your hands    She's definitely absorbing as you teach your older one, I'm pretty certain it's not a fluke and time should prove that to be true! Well done you 

Korrale4kq and Mandabplus3 thanks for your input to the discussion!

Korrale4kq - thanks for so much detail about your LO's reading journey, it was very insightful indeed. I am already seeing a strong trend of my DS wanting to read what interests him, in other words what he understands and enjoys. At the moment lots of animal books, particularly BK reader Day at the Zoo and Animal Sounds. I tried to follow your lead and head down to the library to see what readers we can pick up, I realise this is better than constantly buying books and waiting to see which ones DS will fall in love with. Intersting what you note about James' grammer, Douglas is still pretty monosyllabic except for when he's singing. I'm sure these things will naturally smooth out with time. I was thinking about using this http://www.kumon-english-rrl.com/ as a way of stretching Douglas' reading level without using readers. I can already see that he gets impatient with a story if its not interesting, he's not liked the Bob books much, they seem to confuse him, but he can read other books just fine. Charlotte Mason suggests using rich literature to teach children to read and I'm sort of basing my home-preschool on her philosophies, so this idea appeals to me. Although I appreciate that it may mean slower progress because the stories are more complex. Do you think this sort of approach might break the plateau?

I'm planning to spend time doing more Montessori style activities (hands on) and lots of outings to engage his interest in the world, so that he has more of a background and general knowledge to use to understand our stories.

Love the enthusiasm Mandabplus3 

I talk about it, posted on FB when DS started reading. I did get mixed reception, most people really didn't want to talk about it. They do seem to take it as a challenge to the standard they meet as parents. To answer the question, I have this weird thing (that doesn't always work) I do. I try to tell good and bad stuff together. I am open about my challenges - very open. And at the same time open about my blessings. You get the full picture with me. I guess I used to hope that people wouldn't judge me as boastful if they knew I was also equally willing to talk about my challenges. But people really go with the status quo and being open is a lot weird for most. Over the years of blogging, video blogging and sharing my life lessons people who have followed are starting to accept that at 30 years of age this is my authentic self, and I have some credibility to challenge them with new ideas. At the very least they EXPECT me to have something 'different' to say. Obviously the attachment parenting, toddler-breastfeeding, weird born again (used to be sexy), still cool, christian blogger is going to have successfully taught her 2 year old son to read! 

So yeah I share my EL activities. I am starting a home day care business next year and will share what I do (probably somewhat watered down) through the website. I feel it is received as people receive me ... interesting but not necessarily for everyone  And that's just how I feel it's gonna be until there is a enmasse change in opinions on EL - because people take comfort in sticking with popular opinion on things regardless of reality (perception is reality, they say).  And if the established story gives them an easy, guilt free solution they're gonna take it.

Yeah, very interesting article. I noticed it was by the DailyMail which is a bit trashy in the sense that they sensationalise everything they print, and their readership is the broad majority. People who had a difficult time at school automatically think anything 'schoolish' must be horrible. I find that majority of the parents on here lean towards the nerdy side of life, we enjoy reading and learning *shock horror* and we want to share that passion with our kids *shock horror*. "You mean the only way to have fun doesn't involve a ball and lots of other people?"  Yes. You can have fun all on your own with a good book.

What irritates me about the negative comments and attitudes is how poorly considered and thought out they really are. Perfect example of how dangerous ignorance is. You want to set your kid up to 'need' the company of others to be ok? You want them to separate 'work' and 'fun' totally? Go ahead, but don't judge others who do things a different way. I agree with Mandabplus3, I'm not really pushy now but I intend to have rules and expectations as DS grows older - I'm shocked that some people think that's bad parenting. Doing EL with your kid takes a lot of commitment and dedication to learn how they learn so everyone can have a good time learning and growing together. But the masses, their problem is simply not liking anyone who is different from them, because it causes them to take too close a look at the choices they're making - it's not easily taken for granted that they are  doing the only and right thing with their kids (regardless of sometimes absolutely disastrous results that lead to 'kids these days' type comments) if some odd ball somewhere is doing something different and *whisper* getting good results.

The truth is as with all things, people have their position on any particular issue, and debate or facts aint gonna change that. Debate is really just a shouting match (literal or not) and he who has the majority behind them wins. I am so glad that my DS is as outgoing as you like, too friendly in fact. Loving and playful and charming, like most EL kids tend to be. AND he can read and is learning maths in french and english. In time the wind will blow in the other direction and the masses will take a new fashionable/politically correct position that will become the new status quo they can shout about. Until then, we just have to be satisfied knowing we're giving our all to raising whole hearted and well rounded individuals to contribute to society.

Thanks for chipping in Kerileanne! Just to say Kiwimum that I back up the suggestions given. I never used the Preschool Prep apps so had no idea how much they cost, but if I could give one EL gift to my loved ones it would be Preschool Prep the ultimate package. It works quickly too. We had huge success with colours, shapes, numbers and sight words 1/2. I'm sure it's doing a good job for Douglas with blends and diagraphs, he started reading just as we got into those DVDs, in addition to Reading Bear I'm sure it'll build his ability to keep decoding more words. Glad you've now got those apps in your toolkit! Lots of well wishes 

Thanks Mela Bela!! We're using Preschool Prep for blends and diagraphs. At this point DS is learning very quickly and I want to have enough resources to engage him for the next months if possible. He brought a book to the kitchen while I was cooking and started reading aloud, pointing to each word. He likes to read fast as well, he doesn't like to pause after each word    really blown away by what EL can achieve.

Hi Kiwimum, glad it was of some value to you! I haven't had the chance to record him yet, I'm trying to create the impression for him that its a pretty ordinary thing (compared to for instance the song and dance I break into when he goes potty), but I will try to record him doing it soon. It is pretty exciting so I understand following baby around with a camera  Unfortunately they are all paid items but Montessori House was not too expensive. Preschool Prep though really opened the EL doors for us. I got it on sale but it was still an 'ouch' buy. That said we didn't really use it so much for the reading ... I mean, he knew phonics so never used that DVD, the sight words dvd1 was great, dvd2 he learnt very quickly by the time we got to dvd3 he knew most of the words - I presume from me running my finger under the words while reading. Their readers are pretty good though, I much prefer their readers and BK readers to Bob Books which have ridiculously small print (on same page as pictures) and so far DS is not inspired by the storylines in them, whereas the others are about things that hold his interest. The first DVD of Montessori House really helped with his blending (that and the printable books are not too expensive at all), really helped, so by the time we started doing Reading Bear he had some previous experience of blending. Can't say I know too many free options other than starfall and literactive which read out stories. But I strongly recommend the Native Reading book (even just the free chapters on author's website, which is all I read of it) those tips were really invaluable, esp running finger under words while reading (just a habit now) and having them read words they know during story time and all over the place. Your LO will be there soon no doubt!! 

Thanks Mybabyian! Still feeling pretty chuffed about it, he read two easy readers tonight (with a bit of help also) and is breezing through Reading Bear - decoding words like a dream 

Still trying to get clear on my focus moving forward (slowly getting there) but I suppose its a nice problem to have! Lots on here to help me.

What wonderfully fantastic news!? CONGRATS to you and your little one! I know it took months and months of hard work on your end, so good job sticking with it! And good job to your Little One for cracking the code!
 

For me it was a multi-attack approach

Yes! I agree, "layering the learning" was KEY for us, too! You can absolutely use just one program or two (little reader and probably reading bear as a free supplement would be my top choices) but it goes so much faster and sticks so much better if you apply the immersion method to literacy! Everywhere they look there are words in their naturally occurring environment, they cannot HELP but learn!

Moving forward what's next: More reading practice so he can read for longer periods of time, and slowly building his reading levels and comprehension (vocabulary building).

Yep, now comes the steps of staying consistent to get him fluent.  As long as you stay in your routine, you'll do great! Keep on introducing those words. Not that you want to buy any more materials (haha) but to ensure DD was moving along, we went through the Hooked on Phonics "Learn to Read" Series. From our previous work, she was already able to go up to about 2nd grade with very, very minor issues. (WE only worked on the decoding part of the program, I did not have her read the long books. We would take turns as appropriate with the easy readers, but there are short stories in their books that she built her way up to reading over time. In the beginning, she could only do half a lesson, but towards the end she was able to do one or two at a time., like you noticed, gaining momentum and things went faster. Using a curriculum once we finished with the LR curriculum helped ME stay on track and ensured I was hitting all the bases. After that, we moved up to Master Reader using the computer program only (I would often play it in front of them) and now she is doing the story cards. After that, I plan to do the old school Hooked on Phonics "Your Reading Power" SRA reading comprehension program. It's a bit dry in terms of illustrations, etc, but it is very comprehensive. It's out of print, but it is "classically solid." Learning to read and comprehend doesn't really change with the times, so the materials are still good and you can get them on Ebay. I passed over buying the set at the thrift shop once and regretted it ever since! I just wanted to share that with you in case you get stuck for ideas at some point.

I already recently learned that the Ladybird Peter and Jane series goes much, much higher than I originally thought (I was under the assumption they were more like "Dick and Jane" sight words readers). They are actually graded readers that go up level by level. So, that is another option we are looking into now.  I would like to do a very detailed blog/video review of the master reader program soon, so keep an eye for that if you are interested.

Well done Momma, well done!!!!

TmT, thanks so much for your encouragement and advise, you already know that I was basically trying to walk in your footsteps 

I have been reading through loads of posts here and on Well Trained Mind and Sonlight forums to get an idea of how to proceed (obviously without  purchasing *too* much more  ) and really would appreciate a preview of your HOP review. I previously planned to get it but then thought I could try Daddude's and Robert Levy's approach of just getting stuck into children's books (whilst using something like the Kumon Reading list for levels). I currently use BFIAR and planned to eventually move on to Sonlight, with Saxon for math, and I've read Abeka's Language Arts programme is very good, but I'm not 100% sure how to get DS ready to bridge over to these comfortably, or if he'll need a bridge if we just keep reading (although I like the idea of him having some structured LA programme to get him used to the idea.) - to this end I was thinking of starting Reading Eggs tomorrow (quite cheap and also has a comprehension programme) and maybe when he's older consider JG Reading? What more do you feel can HOP add to these, esp their Master Reader program? And do you currently follow or plan to follow a core curriculum with your LOs whether you homeschool or afterschool? Thanks in advance T 

Hi Tessa,

I just posted describing our recent success. My DS is 26 months old and read his first easy reader back to front last night 

You can read the how here http://forum.brillkids.com/teaching-your-child-to-read/i've-got-a-26-month-old-reader!!-('-)/msg93060/?topicseen#new

Good luck on your journey!