thank you all very much for your guidances..now I've made a powerpoint file of my son's favorite fruits and I want to show them to him for the start to test how much he is interested in learning...and then I will add other things and also start to teach math..I'll be happy if you have some good ideas or tell me important notes

1) Why don't you check out already made powerpoints files prepared by wonderful members of this forum rather than starting from scratch to make your own? I bet your son's favorite fruits have been covered by some one else. Link for the downloads: http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?cat=65.  Fruits may likely be found under the category Objects, Word Flash, or Food.

2) In the alternative, you may get Little Reader. Fruits are extensively covered in the software. Use the 14 day trial version to get a feel for it.

Lately I've been reading a lot about Classical Education. And to be honest I just love it. I started teaching my son Science using books, and lots of repetition. And its going really well. However I hit a brick wall when it comes to history.  I would LOVE to find some easy reader books based on historical events, like Ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece. Any suggestions?

1). 'The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home' by Susan Bauer and Jessie Wise contains lots of curriculum recommendations on how to implement a classical education. (A very good book, by the way). Check out their website: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/.

2). And then search the http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/index.php for possible answers to that question or even still, ask your question on that forum. The forum comprises other parents using the classical model of education.

3). And this site (http://www.design-your-homeschool.com/classical-home-schooling.html) summarises the concepts of classical education. I used the site's recommendations to get the other books and free articles on classical education. Further, the site explains other home-schooling models such as Unit Studies, Charlotte Mason, Thomas Jefferson Education, etc.

How rigidly do you all think it is important to stick to these word lists?  For example, they are all one syllable words which makes it easier to learn the rules of phonics but less interesting in terms of concepts and ideas and general EK.  For example, for ee, I'd quite like to use between as there are some good potential pictures for this.  Does this slow the process overall?  I guess this brings in a bit of whole word teaching rather than pure phonics.  I realise there may not be a definitive answer to this!

1). `Remedial Reading Drills' by Hegge-Kirk (the book whose link I gave above) are not only mono-syllabic words. Check the later drills in the book; they contain interesting words multi-syllabic words.

2). Same thing with the Flesch word list above. Check out the later exercises in the list. Lots of very interesting multi-syllabic words there too.

And I remember reading in DadDude's essay that by going through the Flesch words with his son, his son picked up the rules of phonics so much so that he (DadDude) did not need to complete the entire word list with him. That might be your experience too. (And note that the Flesch word list above is the complete version, DadDude's Fleschcards do not contain all the words in the list above).

Nee,

I was going to recommend Don Potter, but you beat me to it. It is a wonderful resource. Thank you for posting.

You're very welcome.

1) To teach phonics, use  the Flesch word list. The complete Flesch word list can be found FREE on Don Potter's education pages: http://donpotter.net/pdf_files/fleschphonicsexercises.pdf

2).  And FAR BETTER than Flesch words are words in the book called 'Remedial Reading Drills' by Hegge and Kirk published in 1936. Honestly, this is the best list of phonetic words groupings I have ever seen. And this is the EXACT book that Flesch used to teach his Johnny. On page 24 of 'Why Johnny can't Read', Flesch said: ``Fortunately Dr. Harris hit upon a phonics book that was enough in most cases to bring those unhappy children up to par in their reading. (The Hegge-Kirk drills are what I finally used with Johnny. I’ll come back to that book later on.)''
Don Potter has retyped Remedial Reading Drills by Hegge-Kirk and gives it FREE on his website: http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Remedial%20Reading%20Drills%20-%20Margin.pdf

3). By the way, the website of Don Potter (from which all the above resources are drawn) is EXTREMELY good for all things phonics. It has lots of free phonics resources, lots of materials on Flesch, etc. 
Link: http://donpotter.net/education_pages/
 

Thanks a lot nee1
I learn t the useful  link also. thank you once again.

You're very welcome.

Any one introduced writing to your learner? My lil always want to hold pen or pencils to write. She never leave my personal diary also.I have given her writing copy, large sized paper .Instead of several trying now i controlled her scribbling on the walls. She is interested in crayon but loves water colors. Right now i just making dots,and joining the dots to write alphabets,numbers,some easy pictures,shapes also. she is doing constantly fruitfully but not showing so much interest on reading. please suggest me to handle her with your awarding experiences.

Hi iwini,

I highly recommend the book ''Raising Confident Readers: How to Teach Your Child to Read and Write—From Baby to Age 7'. by Richard Gentry.

Dr Gentry explains how to foster reading and  writing skills from BABY TO AGE 7, and I have found his tips very, very useful. He is an expert on childhood literacy and also a member of the Brillkids Team (director of the Advisory Board for Brillkids).

To learn more, check out the articles on his blog at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/raising-readers-writers-and-spellers. Since your focus is handwriting, read his articles on children's handwriting. Also read the other articles too (cos in the reading articles, he's also given tips on handwriting too). And then get his book. His book goes into far greater detail than the articles on his blog.

Hi sonya_post and luke6v38,

Thank you so much for your responses. I am very grateful.

@sonya_post:
1). Based on your recommendations, I have ordered the following books: Tending the Heart of Virtue;  Leisure: the Basis of Culture; and Six Great Ideas. I will get the other 2 books soonest. (I had already read Sayers’ Lost Tools of Learning). Thank you so much for the recommendations. Any other excellent recommendations?

@luke6v38:
1)  Yes, the Ambleside curriculum is really good. But I strongly recommend you read Mason's six volumes.  You will learn a lot. Further, I have discovered that if one understands the underlying theory/principles behind a curriculum or product, one will be able to make more effective use of the curriculum or product.

2)  Mason's six volumes are FREE on the Ambleside website. If you struggle with her Victorian English,, you may start with the Modern English Paraphrase of her writings at http://amblesideonline.org/CMM/ModernEnglish.html.  From there, move on to her original writings at http://amblesideonline.org/CM/toc.html.  If you do not want read this on the computer screen, you may print them out or buy them used from Amazon, etc.

Once again, thank you so much sonya_post and luke6v38 for your responses.  I await further excellent recommendations and insights. Thank you.

I acknowledge that there is no best program - it very much relies upon both on your kid and on you. I think that publication is a bestseller to buy and study, but there are limitless other options each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Thanks wardjacke. That I have discovered: there is no best program.

In addition to the classical education model, I am currently reading the Charlotte Mason series, first the modern English paraphrases of all her 6 volumes, followed by her original writings. Both are FREE on http://www.amblesideonline.org. (Huge thanks to sonya_post for suggesting Charlotte Mason and the Ambleside website).

I have found Charlotte Mason's writings very insightful and have already applied a lot of her recommendations in teaching the child.

Any other suggestions or ideas?

That's exactly what I was looking for nee1, thanks!

You're welcome.

When I first looked into reading bear, I saw that it was recommended for ages 4-7 so I closed the website without reading down the page to where it says it can be used for baby reading. It looks great.

By the way, I've been trying to find Flesch's original list of words organised by phonetic rules but all I can find is his list in alphabetical order - could anyone point me in the right direction?

1.    Reading Bear can be used for all ages. And it is very good. I've read once where DadDude said he was using it with his 14 month old. Try it on your child and see if she likes it. The software is based on the Fleschcards, plus some more stuff.

2.   The complete Flesch word list can be found on Don Potter's education pages: http://donpotter.net/pdf_files/fleschphonicsexercises.pdf

3.   And FAR BETTER than Flesch words are words in the book called 'Remedial Reading Drills' by Hegge and Kirk published in 1936. Honestly, this is the best list of phonetic words groupings I have ever seen. And this is the EXACT book that Flesch used to teach his Johnny. On page 24 of 'Why Johnny can't Read', Flesch said: ``Fortunately Dr. Harris hit upon a phonics book that was enough in most cases to bring those unhappy children up to par in their reading. (The Hegge-Kirk drills are what I finally used with Johnny. I’ll come back to that book later on.)''

Don Potter has retyped Remedial Reading Drills by Hegge-Kirk and gives it FREE on his website: http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Remedial%20Reading%20Drills%20-%20Margin.pdf

4.   By the way, the website of Don Potter (from which all the above resources are drawn) is EXTREMELY good for all things phonics. It has lots of free phonics resources, lots of materials on Flesch, etc.  Link: http://donpotter.net/education_pages/
 

Well, I printed and laminated DadDude's first set of cards today - thank you DadDude!

Glad you've found DadDude's Fleschcards useful. 2 wonderful members of this great forum have converted those cards into powerpoint files:

1.  See  the files of  'annisis' at http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?sa=myfiles;u=38125;pg=2 and http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?sa=myfiles;u=38125;pg=1. Check her files with 'Flesch' in its title.

2.  Another member 'GloriaD' has done a similar thing. See http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?sa=myfiles;u=4872. See her files with 'phonics' in its title.

3.  And DadDude has developed a FREE phonics software (called Reading Bear) based on those cards. Link: http://www.readingbear.org/

If there is one book that you are going to read I would highly recommend the “The Read Aloud Handbook.” 

My second favorite is “Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young American Children.

I agree.

1.    Excerpts of 'Read Aloud Handbook' are on http://www.trelease-on-reading.com.

2.  A summary of `Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young American Children' as published in American Educator is at: http://www.aft.org/pdfs/americaneducator/spring2003/TheEarlyCatastrophe.pdf.

I will check out DadDude's posts to see how he got on with YBCR with his son at that age - thanks.

1.   Yes, I highly recommend that you check DadDude's posts. His son was 22 months when he (DadDude) first discovered that babies and toddlers could be taught to read. So, you are not alone.

2.   In addition, read his FREE book on how he did it at: http://larrysanger.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/How-and-Why-I-Taught-My-Toddler-to-Read.pdf.

3.   And check out the baby reading articles (where he gives progress updates on his boys, etc.) at his blog: http://blog.larrysanger.org/2010/12/baby-reading/.

McGuffey's Eclectic Readers/Boxed [Hardcover]
Has anyone used them or are you familiar with them?

Hi Ayesha,

Yes, I am familiar with them. I found all 6 readers FREE on the website  http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mcguffey%20eclectic%20readers.
Click the link for each reader, download the PDF version, preview it, and decide if you want to print them out or buy from Amazon.

(The readers are out of copyright, hence the download is completely legal).