by Donna | Sep 21, 2010
Children who learn to read naturally, without reading instruction, are raised in an environment that is conducive to learning to read naturally—an environment that creates a love for learning and a very perceived need to learn.
While I have never had a natural reader myself, I tried all throughout my children’s learning days to create this type of environment. It has created outstanding learners and avid readers in the Reish home.
One of the “rules” that Ray and I had for our children’s early education was that if something could be taught informally (and painlessly), we would teach it that way (as opposed to using workbooks or “curriculum” for something that can just as easily be learned while driving down the road or snuggling on the sofa).
That is one thing that I truly loved about the “natural reader learning environment.” Why get a workbook to teach capital letters when you can teach it while you are running errands (from all of the store signs)? Why get a program for rhyming words when nursery rhymes, silly songs, and I spy games on the road can do the job without the stress? The “natural reader learning environment” fit how we thought young children should be taught—regardless of whether our kids truly became natural readers or not.
The environment described in the last couple of days’ posts is extremely conducive to teaching a myriad of things that kindergarten and first grade curricula often use workbooks, worksheets, and other “formal” approaches. And kids do not even know they are doing “school” with Mom and Dad while running to the hardware store or cuddling during an extensive story time!
Here are just a few of the skills that the research on natural readers indicated are learned/enjoyed by kids in this environment:
1. Contact with print
2. Thinking skills
3. Comprehension (especially when a wide variety of materials is presented and discussion follows)
4. Expanded vocabulary
5. Enunciation and pronunciation
6. Love of and need for reading
7. Sentence patterns
8. Relationship between parent and child—the most important one of all, of course!
Create a “natural reader learning environment” in your home—regardless of your kids’ ages….and watch the interaction with print increase; the love for learning grow; and the positive relationships bloom.
by Donna | Sep 20, 2010
“You may have tangible wealth untold; caskets of jewels and coffers of gold,
But richer than I you could never be; for I had a mother who read to me.”
So what were the commonalities I found in studying the environment of “natural readers”?
Common Characteristics of Natural Readers:
1. Interaction with adults—these kids were with adults a lot—and definitely not around peers more than adults. They had adults on hand to discuss things with, to answer their questions, and to provide examples of proper speech patterns, etc.
2. Much book handling by the child—these children were surrounded with books that they were permitted to interact with. They were often found at very young ages with stacks of books around them, just looking at the pictures, making stories in their minds from the pictures, etc.
3. Print abounds and interest in print is evident by itself—not only did the homes of natural readers contain books themselves, but they also contained all type of print. The parents of these children read magazines, journals, newspapers, etc. I think the “interest in print” part probably began with something like a parent saying, “Honey, look at this whale they found beached on the coast of Florida,” as he or she brought the little one up on to her lap to see the picture that was provided with the article in today’s newspaper, etc. This type of activity causes a child to become interested in print.
4. Tapes and books are used—nowadays, of course, this would say “cd’s and books are used”; however, this is the reason why I began using book and tape sets a few times a week for my preschoolers and elementary children—and why we have used audios (talking books, radio dramas, etc.) every week of our lives since our oldest was one year old. “Tapes” and books show our children the benefits and “fun” that reading provides.
5. Memorization takes place—these natural readers often followed a certain pattern—they memorized a picture book (usually many), then through the memorization, they began making print-sound-word connections. That is, when they turned the page and recited, “If you give a mouse a cookie,” they began to understand that i-f says if and y-o-u says you. Natural readers were experts at memorizing large portions of text.
6. Interest in writing words and “language experience” activities—many years ago, there was a movement in education to replace phonics instruction with “language experience” activities (also called a “whole language approach”). Phonics proponents everywhere were up in arms at the thought of “activities” of writing what the child said (dictation) for him, making little homemade books, etc. taking the place of phonics instruction. While I am a strong phonics proponent, I believe that these “language experiences” and “whole language” activities augment the reading instruction greatly. And, of course, the natural readers in the research were exposed to these types of activities early and often. These kids were the ones who dictated thank-you notes to Mom to go to grandparents and colored a picture to send along with it; they were the ones who had a chalk board in the kitchen in which Mom or Dad wrote the day of the week each morning; they were those who “said” stories aloud and parents copied it in little “journal” books for the child. And on and on. Why wouldn’t these types of experiences and activities increase a child’s relationship with print and love for learning?
7. Experiences related to literacy and books—these obviously include the types of activities listed in number six, but these kids knew from birth that books and reading were important. They were the ones in a double stroller at the library lawn sale as toddlers—child in front seat with back seat full of picture books. They were the ones who had their own “book basket” in the corner of the nursery almost from birth. In other words, they were immersed in literacy and books from an early age.
8. Self-regulated behavior and risk taking—This characteristic related to how they “organize” their little lives. These kids would pull all of the Curious George books off the shelf and stack them up to look at after lunch. They often had little learning systems in place at ages four and five. And they were not afraid to be wrong. This, of course, stems from not being talked down to or made fun of when they did ask questions. These kids were risk takers because taking risks in learning (“Mommy, is this word (dapper) ‘Daddy’?”) yielded information that helped them in their quest to learn. The questions did not yield put downs or “you should already know this.”
9. Read to often—Obviously, a link has to be made from the squiggles on the page to the sounds that those squiggles make in order for a young child to teach himself to read. Thus, a child must be read to (or follow along with books and tapes) in order to learn to read without formal instruction. Now, this is not to say that a child who is read to will automatically learn to read early and on his own. I read aloud to our first three kids three to five hours everyday for years and years—and not one of the three was a natural, or early, reader! But it certainly created a love for print and learning in my children!
Tomorrow—how does this reading environment teach informally what could take years of instruction to learn?
by Donna | Sep 14, 2010
I know I sound like a broken record, but these things are true! Our children will only develop strong study skills to the degree that they have developed other strong habits and routines.
We had a rule of thumb for when “school” began in our home: When a child learned to obey and do the every day things required of him, he was ready to “do school.” This was not some half-baked theory we had. We knew that if a child could not be counted on to brush his teeth in the morning, he could not be counted on to do hard math problems. If a child did not come when he was called, he would certainly not follow through on his reading assignments when Mom or Dad was not there checking up on every move he made.
That is why we have stressed “Preventive Parenting” so much in this blog. There are certain orders to things that just plain make sense. When we do this, this happens. When we are successful in smaller things, we can be successful in larger things. And on and on—all biblical principles that we see played out in all areas of our lives. Every time we fashioned a part of our life after these principles, we found success. Every time we tried to “put the cart before the horse” in some area, we did not.
In our home, each child got a morning routine chart around the age of three. This picture chart (links for many of these concepts will be given below) tells the child what he needs to do fist thing in the morning. Following through on these task, “reading” a chart and being accountable to Mom all help prepare the child for later “study skills.” Once the child has mastered morning routines consistently, he is ready to move on to “chore time.” Again, we used a picture chart for this.
After the morning routine chart and the chore chart were accomplished, we moved onto daily school charts—charts that showed what the child should do each day in the area of devotions, school, independent work, etc.
Obviously, if you have a five year old in school who doesn’t obey or brush his teeth, you probably do not have the option of going back and only doing these things until they become habitual. However, emphasizing those things, bringing in daily habits a little at a time, etc. will go a long way in helping your child also become a good student. A person who is lazy at home is nearly always lazy at work and at school. It is up to us parents to help our children become successful in life—and in school.
Links from previous posts:
After school routines: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-239-creating-after-school-routine.html
Slowing down activities: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-230-introducing-study-skillsslowing.html
Start each day the night before: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/08/day-224-organizationpersonal_31.html
Priorities are what we do: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/08/day-207-priorities-are-what-we-do.html
Links for chore charts, reading charts, and more: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-186-links-for-charts-for-reading.html
Resources for chores, home management, and more: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-113-114-resources-for-chores.html
by Donna | Sep 7, 2010
I know I said we were switching to study skills—and we really are. I have fifty pages of notes, outlines, and articles that I have done on this topic…so it will not be a matter of whether we will do study skills here, but rather where to wind it down. I want to help families with their kids’ study skills but not give so much information it becomes overwhelming. Pray for me!
However, before we dig in to those study skills (next week, honest!), I have been pondering something that my niece and her husband asked me and Ray at a family get together this weekend: How did you keep motivation going strong when your kids were little? How did you (Donna) get up and do everything you wanted and needed to every day with all those needs and all of those demands? How did Ray get up early and teach kids, then go to work, then come home and serve all evening too? Didn’t you just want to be lazy sometimes? Didn’t you just want to do what you wanted to do sometimes? Didn’t you just plain not want to do it at times?
We gave them the short answer—see everything as a big part of a future, unseen-as-yet picture; do the next thing; see others who have done it; take breaks, etc. etc. But I have since thought of more ideas about this topic and want to share it here over the next week.
My niece and her husband have their hands full even more than we did fifteen years ago—they have the same number of kids twelve and under as we did; however, they have three kids three and under—and those demands are huge—never-ending, and extremely tiring. Therefore, I hate to give pat answers. I never liked receiving pat answers—just do what you need to do; keep going; it’s not as hard as it seems; it’s worth it. All of that is true, but I always wanted more than one liners—I wanted the nuts and bolts, and I know many young parents still want the same.
So, today I will give the “pat” answers, if you will. The one liners that I truly believe are pertinent to this discussion. Then over the next week, I will try to put those one liners into motivation, inspiration, and “tools” that are useable.
1. Attack the first hour of the day first.
2. Watch out for time robbers.
3. Attack one thing at a time. Attack the most crucial, pressing matter(s) first, then move on to the next
4. Cut yourself some slack. Take time off when needed.
5. Don’t take on extras or unreasonable goals that detract from what you really need to do.
6. Try to find role models with older children—those you can look to that will encourage you that all of your hard work is worth it and will pay off later.
7. Look into your children’s hearts. They are so precious. This will reveal the great need to keep doing what you are doing.
8. See each need you meet, each task you carry out, each lesson you teach, each heart you touch as of eternal value—not just for the here and now.
9. Spend time with your spouse. Be one in your marriage, as well as in your parenting.
10. Do not view the husband as the breadwinner and the wife as the child raiser. We are both parents—and we are in this thing together.
11. See the intense years as needful and crucial. These are the years that the foundations of Christian character, self control, and spiritual development are laid.
12. Trust God.
You can do this!!! It is so worth it! Things will never be perfect…we have things to deal with even now with our kids (grown ones who still need discipling and ones at home who need us daily in many areas of life) every week, but it is worth it!
I thought it was so hard, that the intense years would never pass. But we kept at it….just kept on doing the same things, the same hard things, day in and day out, knowing that the little glimpses of rewards we saw and the joy that small children bring would some day be bigger glimpses of rewards…and joy unspeakable.
by Donna | Jul 30, 2010
”A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.” ~Lemony Snicket
Jakie and I are the only ones who regularly enjoy story time nowadays (sniff, sniff). However, sometimes we can talk Josiah into joining us, and occasionally, if we are reading a chapter book, Jonathan will listen from the dining room as he does school or works on a project. Of course, we all enjoy listening to chapter books and devotional type books together, especially when we are traveling.
Story time is one thing that I for sure do not regret spending the hours upon hours in the past twenty-seven years of parenting. When I had several small children, we would get the babies to sleep then cuddle in Mommy’s bed and read for one to two hours, then drift off for afternoon naps (including Mom!).
My first reaction to that is “How did I ever find time for that nearly every weekday afternoon?” And my answer is that I found the time because it was a priority to me. We find the time for everything that is truly important to us. (And I found the time for the nap because it was essential during the fourteen out of seventeen years that I was nursing and/or pregnant!) I stayed home most days and just invested in my kids and home—and I don’t regret it at all!
Obviously, storytime does not have to be just before naps. However, just like anything else we want to do, if it is important enough to us, we will put it somewhere in our schedule where it will for sure get done. For us, this meant attaching whatever we wanted to add to our schedules to something that was already in our schedule. (Another Gregg Harris tip from long ago!) For me, this meant attaching story time to just after lunch—right before naps. There in that spot for twenty years it got done “more often than not.”
I am forever grateful to good friends who taught me the art and beauty of the afternoon story time—right before naps—which we have adhered to during all of my days with napping kids. In the past several years, Jakie and I no longer nap, so we have our story time just whenever (oftentimes at night). I mark it on the calendar nowadays, making sure that we have three or four sessions each week of thirty to ninety minutes. (If I don’t keep track of it carefully, I can easily go a week or two without story time…it’s harder to fit in with only one child who is still at the storytime age, especially with so many olders and their needs.)
by Donna | Jul 23, 2010
Today when I was cleaning out some old files, I found two tattered sheets of notebook paper from nearly twenty years ago. It had three columns I had made with pen–with each of Joshua (now 27); Kayla (now 24); and Cami (now 22) all written at the top of each column. Beneath each name was a list of things–songs, verses, rhymes stories, etc.
What was this twenty year old list for each of my first three children? It was a list of things that I was going to put on cassette for each one of them that year. A cassette that each one would have for himself or herself with my voice singing (!), reciting, etc. things that I wanted them to learn, things they loved, things I wanted them to hear over and over again.
Guess what? I never made that tape. Now, thankfully, I don’t have tons and tons of regrets as a parent. I wasn’t always perfect by any means, but I don’t look back over my nearly twenty-eight years of parenting with long lists of things that I wish I could change. (Everybody has some regrets, of course.) However, I regret not making these cassettes. I mean, really, how long could have they have taken? An hour each perhaps? They weren’t going to be studio quality, have sound effects or music, etc.
Obviously, it’s not a huge deal–and they all still love me (talked to each of the three for thirty to sixty minutes each one-on-one today, for example!), and they eventually learned their ABC’s, the words to “Victory in Jesus,” and many, many Bible verses in spite of my laxness. However, I want to use this tattered sheet of notebook paper to encourage all of our Positive Parenting 365 readers to not put off those awesome things you want to do for or with your kids. To not get to the end of your kids’ childhoods and wish that you had done this or that–especially to wish that you had or hadn’t done something that would have truly made a significant difference in the lives of your kids.
Read some of the cool stuff I was going to put on each child’s tape below…so fun just thinking about it!
Joshua–
1. WW II facts
2. “My Country ‘Tis of Thee”
3. “Lord’s Prayer”
4. Old Testament book song
5. New Testament books
6. Hard addition facts
7. “Victory in Jesus”
8. “For Those Tears I Died”
9. 21 Rules of This House
10. Name, Parents, Phone, Address
11. Odd numbers; even numbers
12. Skip counting
13. Twelve Disciples
14. Micah 4:8 song
15. Fruits of the Spirit
16. “Count Your Blessings”
17. Proverbs 15: 20
18. Character definitions
19. “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
20. “We Three Kings”
21. “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
22. “Are You Washed in the Blood?”
23. Proverbs 1
24. Some trust in chariots verses
25. The Christmas Story
26. Psalms 61:1-3
27. Ten Commandments
28. Verses: Be Kind, Obey, Happy Is the Man
29. Psalms 100
30. Pledge to the Flag
Kayla
1. ABCs
2. Numbers 1-50
3. Old Testament book song
4. Twelve Disciples
5. B I B L E song
6. Twelve Men Went to Spy on Canaan song
7. A says a and a rhyme
8. When Mom or Dad says come….
9. “Happy is the man” verse
10. “Friend Show Self Friendly” verse
11. “Lord’s Prayer”
12. Serving from Galatians 5:13
13. Ten of Twenty-One Rules
14. “Count Your Blessings”
15. Sunday School Rules
16. “We always…”
17. “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
18. “Thanks for the Blood”
19. The Christmas Story”
20. Name and Parents
Cami
1. “Eyes of the Lord are everywhere”
2. Bible Time Nursery Rhymes
3. ABC’s
4. Numbers 1-20
5. Only a Boy Named David
6. When Mom or Dad says come…
7. “Obey Mommy and Daddy”
8. Church rules
9. “Kindness”
10. Twelve Disciples
11. Character qualities
