Punch 1 - Getting Equipped

Getting Equipped

A good teacher is prepared and knows their stuff. In the tabs above (Everyday Enrichments, Letter Pronunciation and Phonetic Words) I have provided you with some important information and essential  tutorials. The guides are there to help you in all the punch lessons and tutorials. So, before you move on equip yourself with the information there. You need to know what you are talking about and HOW to talk it . . . . say it!

Decoding

A child needs the opportunity to discover and connect with the idea that letters make sounds and sounds make words. There are many programs that say they can teach 2 year olds to read or that your child will read in a set amount of time, often saying in just a few weeks. While this seems appealing to many, I believe there is more to teaching reading than just the mere mechanics of it all. Please take a moment to study a bit on decoding. I have provided a short, easy to read article link here: decoding. Understanding decoding will give you a great confidence in "what you are actually teaching" when you are teaching your child to read . . . did you follow that? Anyway, please take a moment to study up on it.

And really, that's more than enough homework for a busy parent. Take your time to be comfortable and know the material. 

Punch 2 - Getting Results

Getting Results

So, you don't want your child to "just read", you want him to read well and enjoy it. You want a kid that thinks outside of the box and knows how to write within one. You are looking for ways to make this happen at home but you think, "I'm not a teacher so what do I do?" and, "Jimmy will probably never listen to me anyway."

Well first, to encourage and empower the parent as teacher, let's put to rest any worries that little Suzy won't listen to you like she does(or will) her teachers. You must believe that you can reach your child and in remarkable ways. You are your child's number one supporter and mentor.

To begin, be open to new ideas and new ways of approaching your parenting. As your child enters, or has entered, elementary school your role as parent increases its definition and responsibilities. Just as your child becomes a student, so you become a teacher, tutor, project supporter and so on. Listed below are some significant ways to influence a strong bond between you and your child for this new adventure.


1. The very first thing you can do to help your child understand, accept and respect that you will be teaching them just as their teachers do is this: Simply tell them. That's right, it's that simple. Over some ice cream or cookies and milk have a chat about the changes that are on the horizon. Be open to, and encourage, lots of questions and allow her to talk or not talk about it. 

Take some time to explain that . . . 

a. soon they will be a kindergartner, or a first grader and it will be so great because they will be learning so many new things including new school yard games

b. they will have school books, new teachers, a cafeteria, auditorium assemblies etc.

c.  mom and dad went too, so we know all about it and can answer any question

d.  you are excited because you will be one of her teachers too, getting to help with  homework

e.  you went to school too and you already know everything she will be learning

f.  you think it would be so great for him/her to learn some things even before K or 1st grade starts and that you can teach him/her right here at home

g.  when you know how to read you can learn about anything in the world

h.  Ask your child if he or she would like to learn to read(or read more). Tell them that you would like to help teach them.

2. Now for you as teacher, don't take yourself too seriously. Remember, a child's mind is like a sponge and you are responsible for keeping a never ending flow of water to it. Instead of "teaching" think of yourself as sharing information. When you say, "the sound for Mm is mmmm", you have shared a part of the code, you have given information. Everything we teach is information. Some information is a seed for future cultivation and other information becomes a tool for immediate use.

3. Be open and ready to leave what you are teaching to pursue what your child wants to learn. This is what we teachers call "emergent curriculum". The idea is to always be open to exploring the interests and ideas your child may "emerge" with.

4. Play a game and teach nothing, JUST PLAY THE GAME. When a child is playing a game they are learning many things. Sometimes we need to let the nature of the game do it's thing while we just have fun playing it.

Getting results may ultimately be about creating a warm, trusting and comfortable learning environment. Be sure you know what results you are looking for.

Punch 3 - Communication and Praise

Communication and Praise
Clear, age appropriate communication along with a good sense of humor will go a long way in getting and keeping your child's interest. Use humor as much as possible! When we laugh our defenses are down and we feel connected to the people we are laughing with. Laughter is a great tool for remembering material and enriching our relationships at the same time.


There are books, articles and teachings galore out these days debating all of the psychological ways to praise and not to praise our kids. Debates about wether to say or not to say things like, "I'm proud of you.", "Good job!" or "Well done."  If you have read these teachings and heed to these "new" advices out there, then hold on tight, I may offend you. Call me old school, but GIVE ME A BREAK!! Who in the world doesn't want to hear "Good job!" or "I'm proud of you." ESPECIALLY  from their own parent, PU-LEASE! As adults we still need that, we long for it from our boss', our spouses' and guess what, as our kids get older we will long for it back from them. Kids, heck, human beings need to be praised and so long as it is coming from your heart, from a genuine place, the words are secondary. Ok, off my soap box now, sorry.


So, here are some really helpful, inspiring, encouraging, motivating, maybe old school phrases to help keep you fresh and your kid feeling good. This may be a good section to print and keep handy for reference.


Praise
And at the top of my list "I'M PROUD OF YOU!"
- Way to go champ!
- You rock!
- Awesome!
- That is so cool, you did that so well.
- WOW, you did that?
- SOOO great!
- That's what i'm talking about
- You are very smart, you understand so much.
- Way to learn!
- You are on fire today!
- Niiiice, very nice
- Swell (had to put that in there, it's just so fun to say, makes me laugh every time)
- Right!
- (gasp) We have got to show mommy/daddy that.
- That's right! You are getting it.
and yes - Well done! and Good job!


Correction
- Only say the sounds you see
- Let's try that again
- Close, it's (give the sound or word)
- Actually, it's this
- I think you know this, try again
- (instead of saying "no" try a sound as a que) 


Child not responding
- It's OK if you do not know something. If you don't know then I get to teach and you get to learn, we both get to do our jobs. My job is to teach, your job is to learn.
- I will tell you the answer, then we will take a break and try again.
- Did you forget or do you not know it? (forgot = tell them, doesn't know it = tell them)
- We are not in a hurry, take your time and think about it. 
- We'll come back to that one.
- Maybe I didn't teach you that yet.
- Let me try teaching that a better way.


When it comes to teaching, remember it's mostly about good clear communication. You know your child; listen and watch, find a grove, avoid a rut. Keep it real!

Punch 4 - Where Do You Start?

Where do you start?

The most intimidating part of teaching your child to read is wondering where to begin. Well, rest assured, you have already begun! Every time you read a story to your child you have given a reading lesson. Every time the two of you talk about a story you have read, you have given another. But where do you begin with the actual teaching and decoding of phonics? Well, most likely, if you are reading this blog you have a child that probably knows how to *spell and write his name. The letters in his name are the most familiar letters to him, he is 100% comfortable and confident in knowing those letters. The letters in your child’s name are usually the best place to start. 
*If she doesn't know all the letters in her name then focus on those letters until she does, then move on to "a first lesson" below.

A Very First Lesson

You need to prepare for the lesson:
1. Know how to introduce letter sounds. The Letter Pronunciation tab above is a vital tool for you to use. Review it and practice the phonetic sounds out loud. Sometimes you think you are saying a single sound but you are really saying two or three. Be careful not to add sounds at the beginning or end of a letter.


example: "r" is just rrrrr, not eerrrr, say rainbow, now begin the word and just hold the "r", that is how you teach the r sound.


2. Take a look at your child’s name, I will use Justin as my example. Write all of the 2 and 3 letter words you can, using the letters in your child’s name.

For Justin I would have: 
in, it, is, us, sun, sin, tin, nit

3. Now, on a separate piece of paper list the letters from the most used vowels down to the least used consonant from your word list.

Justin letters would look like this: 
i, u, n, s, t, j

Trouble shooting names: Let’s say you are dealing with a name that yields only one, two or no 2-3 letter words at all. If you can yield at least one 2 letter word use it and pair it with a few other letters to create several 2 and 3 letter words. Should the name yield no words, you will need to be creative and think of using the most common letters and/or letters your child knows.


trouble shooting example 1:
- Your daughters name is Hannah
- Take advantage of the “an” teaching this as her first word.
- Introduce two or three new letters: c, t, p, m, r, f, or v
- Add these to "an",  and teach can, tan, pan, ran, fan etc.


trouble shooting example 2:
- Your sons name is Jake . . . YIKES! You've got your work cut out!!
- Teach the short "a" and "j" sounds
- Introduce "m"
- Now you can teach am, jam and mam


trouble shooting example 3:
-Your sons name is Clay (as in Matthews #52, Green Bay Packers . . . Go Pack Go! yeah, I did that)
- Focus on c, l and a
- Introduce t, n and p
- Now you can teach "an" then, can, tan and pan 
- Now you can teach "ap" then cap, lap and tap

Giving the lesson: Teaching sounds and words

1. Give your child the paper with the letters and ask him to tell you what the letters are. If he knows the sounds, have him tell you those secondarily. 

2. Begin with the first vowel on your list and teach him the short vowel sound.

'a' as in apple or and 

'e' as in end or egg 

'i' as in inside or it or in

'o' as in octopus or ox

'u' as in underwear(sure to get a laugh, which always helps) or umbrella

3. Move to the first consonant on the list that will make a word with the vowel you just taught and teach that sound. 

4. Wether it be an hour or two days, practice these 2 sounds with chants, clapping, marching, words etc. until your child is confident with them.

5. Then with s-l-o-w, d-r-a-w-n out sounds, that blend from one to the next, make a word and read it. Have your child repeat it, sliding his finger across and under the sounds. You will say the word s-l-o-w-ly and then you will say the word fast. "Say it slow. Say it fast." use this language when teaching.


example from Justin: teaching "in"
say it slow: iiiiinnnnn  say it fast: in

To master one word is a huge feat. It is the first lesson in decoding, the first key to unlocking the code is making the connection between letters, sounds and words. In only days you will be teaching several new words at a time as you move through your list. Your child may even discover some on his own, and that is even better. When your child has an inquiry about sound, answer quickly with the sound and a word example, simply give the information and let him play around with it.

Take your time and celebrate each accomplishment.

Punch 5 - Bananagrams

Bananagrams

This little banana bag of capital letter tiles can be an essential tool for phonics fun and it's loads of fun for spellers of all ages. You can purchase Banagrams here, or just about anywhere toys are sold.


When my kids were little I would have them play with the tiles from my old Scrabble game. I would use the tiles as a means of introducing a sound and then sliding sounds together to make words.


I was so excited when I discovered Bananagrams. The tiles have a great feel and weight to them and they also sound cool on the table or shaken in the bag. Along with my kids, I have many adult friends I play the game with and I regularly use it in teaching.

Despite the fact that all of these letters are capitals, using them as a means of spelling and sounding out words will produce wonderful results. Below is a list of ways you can put these fun tiles to use.

1. Instead of writing letters and words, use the tiles.
2. Allow your child to put letters together however he wants to and sound them out with or for him.
3. Have him find letters for his name, or write words for him to copy with the tiles.
4. Play a matching game.
5. Have him lay them out in alphabetical order (then count them).
6. Take a walk around the house leaving tiles on items that correspond with a given letter. ex: put a "P" next to a 'plant', put a "T" on the 'television' or a "B" on the 'bed' and so on. Then as you stay in one room, see if he can recall where a certain letter is. So you would say, "bring me the B's" and see if he can do it.
7. Have him match and stack them (great for eye hand coordination).
8. And of course, enjoy playing the game as suggested with adult family and friends. It's a blast!

*Important note: When making words with these tiles separate sounds and slide them together as you verbally blend them together. This gives a natural visual to the verbal happenings of blending.

Punch 6 - Alphabet Charts

Alphabet Charts

Letters should be accessible and available for viewing everyday. You want to have purposeful alphabet charts posted or hung in ideal places for spontaneous on the spot learning and practicing.

I am partial to home made charts made with your child because you can produce a greater variety of sizes and styles. Also, your child will take much pride in your work and/or work you produce together.

Type of charts to purchase or make:

1. Traditional upper and lower case

2. Lower case only

3. A chart laid in one row

4. A backward alphabet, for fun and a true test of the knowledge of the letters regardless of order

Exercises to do with alphabet charts:

1. Using his finger to touch each letter, have your child READ the alphabet and not sing it.

2. Say a letter and have your child touch it

3. Say a sound and have your child touch it

4. Say a word and ask him to find the beginning sound

5. Have her spell out any words she knows pointing at each letter in order

6. Ask her to point to a letter that comes "after" and "before" another letter (i.e. "show me what comes after Hh")

7. Have your child copy the alphabet with crayon, marker,  highlighter, pen or pencil - this can be done over a few days for the child that is still learning to form letters - do it on blank paper allowing them to "make it their own" - don't trip out over proper formations and straight lines, this is suppose to be "fun work"

8. Try to sing the alphabet to another tune - it's hard . . . but fun to try

It's nice to replace charts once a month or so, this keeps things fresh and fun.

Punch 7 - Mastery

Focus On Mastery

In your teachings you want to accomplish mastery with each new introduction of information. It takes time to lay a foundation and set a spring board for diving deeper into phonics and decoding which ultimately lead to fluent reading.

Be confident your child has mastered the phonetic sounds of each letter in his name and subsequently the word list you created in punch 3. It's OK if your child needs to spend 2-3 days or 2-3 weeks reviewing the same information. We are looking for mastery in understanding the relationship between letters and sounds and the moving from sounds to words.

One child may completely "get it" on the first try, for another it may take a few days, and another weeks. Either way each child will have a moment when it all clicks and they start to run away with their newfound reading skill. Johnny B. Good may click in January while Susie Q. clicks in March, chances are, come June they will be reading the same books.

Do not let peer pressure in. No matter what your neighbor's daughter is doing, your son and her could still wind up at the same college.

The Name Game

Should you have a letter from your child's name that is not used in any words from your list, simply introduce another letter, or two if necessary, to make a word. Much like I showed you with Hannah.

Example: With Hannah we did not use the Hh, so I would introduce the short vowel sound Ii and letter Tt with it. Equipped with these two sounds, and what we already have, I have a whole new list: it hit, hat, in, ant, tin, tan at.


Hang your word lists up and practice, practice, practice. Repetition is boring for us, but not for your budding reader.

Punch 8 - Vowels

Vowels
A-E-I-O-U and sometimes Y, our vowels . . . this is a vital punch! Vowels are the vocal sounds in our words. Including Yy as a vowel, every word has a vowel letter and every word has a or several vowel sounds. Without vowels we can't sound out an-y-thing and therefor we can't read an-y-thing. This is information your child needs to know.


So, it is time to show these letters as a group and name them. It is time to teach your child what vowels are. The first step in this process is to single these vital letters out from the pack. We will do this visually and audibly.


Visually create charts such as these:

With a simple hand made or computer generated chart you can see how easy it is to make the vowels stand out. Be creative with your charts and also have your child make his or her own periodically as a lesson. As we did with regular alphabet charts in earlier lessons, simply read and point to the letters, do not sing the alphabet song. 








Audibly there is nothing like a catchy song, chant or rhyme to impress the brain. That's what great commercial jingles are all about:
* >Sorry- audio glitch - back up by 4/26/11*
*                                                                  >*
This is a chant I do that kids ALWAYS respond to, they love it. Be sure to say it slowly and clearly to them a few times before you put it into it's faster chanting rhythm.


In practicing the vowel names the charts and chant should be a daily activity until the letters are mastered. Practice writing the vowels out of order and asking him to name them. Likewise say the letters out of order having him write them. Mastery in this case would be your child's ability to answer "What are the vowels?" and "Why are they important?"

Punch 9 - Syllable Count

Syllable Count
This is fun and kids love to do it. Take a moment to remind your child what we learned in punch 8 about vowels: every word has a or several vowel sounds. We will now convert that information into the concept of syllables. You will teach your child to recognize that words have parts, those parts are called syllables and the vowel sounds make the syllables.


Introduce the word:
- separate the syllables and have little Sara repeat: Syl • la • ble
- do it again while taping your chin with each syllable 
- say and have her repeat: syllable


Share the information:
- every word has one or more parts/or sounds/or syllables
- every syllable has only one vowel sound


The syllable count:
This is the fun part and where they start to get it. First, take your child's name and say it slowly with a clap at each syllable. Second, say it again but while saying each syllable put up a finger to count the syllables.
- clap: Jef • fer • y (3 claps)
- count: Jef(1 finger up) • fer(2nd finger) • y(3rd finger)
- Share: YAY, Jeffery has 3 syllables
Continue with this game, exploring any and all words and names you both can think of. Do silly words, super heros and princesses, items you see in the room, words from a favorite book. Be sure to do one syllable words too like mat, big, mom, dad etc(refer to the phonetic words tab above).


The idea with the syllable count is to start programing your child to recognize that words have parts. We must recognize a part before we can make a whole. 


This is a simple game and generally kids take to it very easily and enjoy doing it.