Teaching Reading with Bob Books

Set 1, Book 9

2012-01-27T07:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, f, hard-g, short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, w

Introduce or review numbers 1-10

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for

Read: Set 1, Book 9 ("10 Cut-Ups") pp. 1-4

Click here for tips on teaching Book 9.

Lesson Two

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, f, hard-g, short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, w

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for

Read: Set 1, Book 9 ("10 Cut-Ups") pp. 5-ff

Lesson Three

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, f, hard-g,short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, w

Word building: skipped because we needed a short lesson that particular day

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for

Read: Set 1, Book 9 ("10 Cut-Ups") pp. 1-ff

I'm pretty sure all of my students have read all of Book 9 at once on their second time through. I think this is because, as long as they are not struggling with the numbers, there aren't any other new concepts in the book. It's a good practice book.

Set 3, Book 6

2012-01-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, toes, Ahh, Ohh

Introduce new sight words: my, are

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 6 ("Kittens") 7-ff

Once again, I added a new word to an old chart. This time, I added "her" to the -er chart. The word "are" doesn't quite follow a rule, but I find children pick it up faster if I explain that it is like an ar blend word. Eventually, I need to start a chart for y says I as in fly, my, etcetera. One more word, and I will.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 6 ("Kittens") pp. 1-6

Lesson Three

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, toes, Ahh, Ohh, my, are, what

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book6 ("Kittens") 7-ff

Set 3, Book 5

2012-01-25T07:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes

Update blend charts: add fish to the sh chart, and summer to the -er chart

Introduce new sight words: toes, Ahh, Ohh

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 5 ("Summer") 1-ff

It isn't very often that I have you return and add new words to an old chart, but I think that this helps sometimes. We are reaching the point where our students know a lot of rules, and just need help learning when to apply old rules they know to new words they are learning.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes, toes, Ahh, Ohh

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 5 ("Summer") pp. 1-ff

Set 1, Book 8

2012-01-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g,short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, w

Introduce new sounds: f, u

Word building: mud, fun, run

Introduce new sight word: to

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Read: Set 1, Book 8 ("Muff and Ruff") pp. 1-4

Click here for a discussion of Book 8.

Click here for a tip on teaching double consonants.

Lesson Two

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, f, hard-g, short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, w

Introduce new sight word: for

Word building: huff, hug hut

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to

Read: Set 1, Book 8 ("Muff and Ruff") pp. 5-ff

Lesson Three

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, f, hard-g, short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, w

Review sight word: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for

Build new words: fuss, bus, gum

Read: Set 1, Book 8 ("Muff and Ruff") pp. 1-4

Lesson Four

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, f, hard-g,short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, u, w

Word building: gun, sun, hum

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, to, for

Read: Set 1, Book 8 ("Muff and Ruff") pp. 5-ff

Set 1, Book 7

2012-01-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g,short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new sound: j

Word building: jam, job, Jig

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Read: Set 1, Book 7 ("Jig and Mag") p. 1-3

I know we usually read four pages per day, but I found that breaking this book into three pages and then five pages meant that we could introduce only one new sound per day during the lessons.

Lesson Two

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new sound: w

Word building: wins, wit, wig, wag

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Read: Set 1, Book 7 ("Jig and Mag") 4-ff

Lesson Three

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, w

Review sight word: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Build new words: tip

Read: Set 1, Book 7 ("Jig and mag") pp. 1-5

Lesson Four

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, j, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, w

Review sight word: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Build new words: tip

Read: Set 1, Book 7 ("Jig and mag") pp. 5-ff

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Read More:
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Set 3, Book 4

2012-01-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes

Introduce new blend: ar

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book4 ("The Red Car") 1-6

Click here for a tip on introducing the ar blend.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes

Introduce new blend: or

Introduce new sight words: we, push

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 4 ("The Red Car") 7-ff

Click here for a tip on introducing the or blend.

Please note that when you introduce the or blend, you can take for and or off of your sight words list. They are now--ta da!--rule-following words.

The word push is a sight word that uses the sh digraph. Don't be afraid to reinforce the sh rule while simultaneously teaching it as a sight word (due to the less common sound the u makes in the word).

Lesson Three

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 4 ("The Red Car") pp. 1-6

Lesson Four

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 4 ("The Red Car") 6-ff

Kindergarten Set, Book 10

2012-01-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, over

Introduce new blend: o_e

Introduce new sight word: goes

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set K, Book10 ("Sun Sets") 1-6

Click here for a tip on introducing the o_e blend.

I might add that when I introduced this blend, I took slowly began to take "over" off the sight words list. Show your student how it follows the O-Something-E rule, and even put in on your card if you like, for daily practice. This was handy for me, as my particular student has struggled with learning "over" as a sight word, but caught on instantly once it was following a rule she knew.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set K, Book 10 ("Sun Sets") 7-ff

Lesson Three

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, goes

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set K, Book 10 ("Sun Sets") pp. 1-ff

Book 10 is a pretty quick and easy read--fun for the students. This is the last book of the Kindergarten Set, so I moved on to working only with Set 3 for a while.

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Read More:
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Set 1, Book 6

2012-01-18T07:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new concept: ? (the question mark)

Word building: top, pot, pop

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 6 ("Dot and the Dog") none

Please read the Tips on Book Six: Cadence and Basic Grammar.

I usually put the question mark with the sight words for a short while, and we remind ourselves what it is and why we use it every lesson for a few lessons, and then we stop reviewing it, and it has always worked out fine.

If you are wondering why there was no reading...well...Q.-Age-Four started causing trouble, and so we were unable to finish the lesson. I am more concerned with attitudes at this age than I am with reading ability, so the reading had to take a back seat to attitude adjusting.

Lesson Two

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Review sight word: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Build new words: it, bit, sit, mit

Read: Set 1, Book 6 ("Dot and the Dog") pp. 1-4

Lesson Three

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g,short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Word building: bag, rot, hog

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Read: Set 1, Book 6 ("Dot and the Dog") p. 5-ff

Lesson Four

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new concept: ? (the question mark)

Word building: hit, man, not

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Read: Set 1, Book 6 ("Dot and the Dog") 1-4

Lesson Five

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Review sight word: O.K., the, The, a, A, ?

Build new words: did, and

Read: Set 1, Book 6 ("Dot and the Dog") pp. 5-ff

Book Six was a nice book, mostly reviewing concepts, before moving on to Books Seven and Eight, both of which introduce new sounds and new sight words.

Set 3, Book 3

2012-01-17T14:42:00.000-08:00

My apologies for accidentally taking last week off! It wasn't my intention, but our first week back at school ended up being busy, busy, and the blogging just didn't happen. I'm trying to get posts scheduled for the rest of this, so hopefully we are back to normal for the time being.

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, over

Introduce new blend: all

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 3 ("Frogs") pp. 1-5

Click here for a tip on introducing the all blend.

Some of the Set 3 books have a lot going on in them. Don't be afraid to write in your books. I know, I know. It sounds like a terrible thing to do, but it can be helpful! For instance, if you find that your child is not readily identifying an all word as such, even after a couple days of practice, taking a pen and underlining the sound exactly as you did on your practice chart can go a long ways.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, over

Introduce new diphthong: ea

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book3 ("Frogs") 6-7

Click here for a tip on introducing the ea blend.

We only did a couple pages for this lesson because I was trying not to introduce too many new concepts at a time. There is at least one word that the book wants to introduce as a sight word that I prefer to introduce as a rule-following word instead.

Lesson Three

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, over

Introduce new blend: i_e

Introduce new word ending: -er

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 3 ("Frogs") 8-ff

Click here for a tip on introducing the i_e blend.

Click here for a tip on introducing the -er word ending.

Lesson Four

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, over

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 3 ("Frogs") pp. 1-ff

Kindergarten Set, Book 9

2012-01-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk

Introduce new sight word: over

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book9 ("The Trip") all

Not long from now, we will learn the rule for the word over, and we will move this from the sight words to the rule-based words. But for today, just do it as a sight word.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk, over

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book 9 ("The Trip") all

Set 1, Book 5

2012-01-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new sound: short-i

Word building: bit, sit

Review sight words: O.K., the, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 5 ("Dot and Mit") p. 1-3

Lesson Two

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new sound: p

Review sight word: O.K., the, a, A

Build new words: map, nap

Read: Set 1, Book 5 ("Dot and Mit") pp. 4-6

Lesson Three

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g,short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Word building: tip, hip, rip

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 5 ("Dot and Mit") p. 7-ff

Lesson Four

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Word building: top, pot, pop

Review sight words: O.K., the, The, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 5 ("Dot and Mit") p. 1-4

Lesson Five

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, short-i, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Review sight word: O.K., the, The, a, A

Build new words: it, bit

Read: Set 1, Book 5 ("Dot and Mit") pp. 5-ff

Set 1, Book 4

2012-01-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Sounds to review: short-a, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new sound: b

Word building: bat, bad

Review sight words: O.K., the, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 4 ("Mac") p. 1-3

Lesson Two

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Word building: gag

Review sight words: O.K., the, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 4 ("Mac") p. 4-ff

Lesson Three

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Review sight word: O.K., the, a, A

Build new words: nag, sag, drag

Read: Set 1, Book 4 ("Mac") pp. 1-3

Lesson Four

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Word building: not, rot, hot

Review sight words: O.K., the, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 4 ("Mac") p. 4-ff

Set 3, Book 2

2012-01-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some

Introduce new sight word: hello

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Flip to digraphs section and review.

Read: Set 3, Book 2 ("Lolly-Pops") pp. 1-3

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello

Introduce new diphthong: ew

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book2 ("Lolly-Pops") pp. 4-7

Click here for a tip on introducing the diphong ew.

Lesson Three

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello

Introduce new word ending: -ies.

Introduce new (silly) sight word: awk.

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book2 ("Lolly-Pops") pp. 8-ff

This is an extremely slow pace through the book, I know. You can go faster if you like, but I find that the Set 3 books have a lot packed into them, and it is easier for most of my students to have only one or two new things introduced per day. So even though they are reading fewer pages, they are actually learning new sounds at a faster rate than ever before. It is completely up to you as far as how quickly you would like to proceed.

Also: here is a tip for introducing the word ending -ies.

Lesson Four

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some, hello, awk

Review appropriate sections in the binder.

Read: Set 3, Book 2 ("Lolly-Pops") pp. 1-ff

Kindergarten Set, Book 8

2012-01-03T14:03:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book8 ("Frog Sat") all

Click here for a tip on introducing the rule-following word off. This is only necessary if your child is confusing it with the sight word of.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book8 ("Frog Sat") all

Just FYI: This is the last of the Kindergarten Set lessons for a while. Personally, I thought my daughter needed to practice a little more before really engaging Set 3, which is quite a bit more challenging. At this point, I began to alternate the two sets until we completed reading all of the books from the Kindergarten Sight Words set.

A "Card" for You

2011-12-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

See you in 2012!

Kindergarten Set, Book 7

2011-12-23T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some

Introduce new blend: sh

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book7 ("She Did It") pp. all

Click here for a tip on teaching the digraph sh.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book 7 ("She Did It") all

Set 1, Book 3

2011-12-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Introduce new sound: h

Introduce new sight word: the, a, A

Review sight word: O.K.

Build words: hat

Read: Set 1, Book 3 ("Dot") pp. 1-3

Here is a tip on teaching the sight word the.

Also, please note that I tend to teach the children a and A separately. This is because most children who learn a (as in I saw a dog), will not recognize it as being the same as A (as in A dog crossed the road). It is good, though, to point out that they are really the same letter, so that the children start making the connection that words can be spelled the same, regardless of any capitalization.

Lesson Two

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, m, n, short-o, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new sound: hard-g

Review sight words: O.K., the, a, A

Build new words: God, gas

Read: Set 1, Book 3 ("Dot") p. 4

Lesson Three

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, soft-s, hard-s, t

Introduce new sound: r

Review sight words: O.K., the, a, A

Build new words: ram, rat

Read: Set 1, Book 3 ("Dot") p. 5

Lesson Four

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Review sight word: O.K., the, a, A

Build new words: hag, tag

Read: Set 1, Book 3 ("Dot") pp. 6-ff

Lesson Five

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Word building: practice some of the words built on previous days

Review sight words: O.K., the, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 3 ("Dot") p. 1-3

Lesson Six

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Word building: again practice some of the words built on previous days

Review sight words: O.K., the, a, A

Read: Set 1, Book 3 ("Dot") p. 4-5

Lesson Seven

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, hard-g, m, n, short-o, r, soft-s, hard-s, t

Review sight word: O.K., the, a, A

Build new words: cat, rat, hat, mat, sat

Read: Set 1, Book 3 ("Dot") pp. 6-ff

I like to write out at five times in black, and then use my colored pen to add different letters to the front. This helps illustrate the logic of the words--that at always says at, and that different letters added to the front of the word change the word.

______________________________
Read More:
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Set 1, Book 2

2011-12-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sounds: short-a, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Introduce new sounds: c, d

Build new words: Dad, cat

Read: Set 1, Book 2 ("Sam") p. 1-3

Lesson Two

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Build words: mad, sad

Read: Set 1, Book 2 ("Sam") pp. 4-7

Daughter Q. had a few days where she could only handle about one page per day. We did our little reviews, we got through a page (occasionally more, but only when it was a reread or there were very few words on the pages), and then she jumped down.

Sometimes she did this before we were officially finished.

I have learned to say, "Are you done? Or do you want to read one more page?"

It's not that I want to be completely child-led here, but rather that reading one page is enough at this age and stage and for this particular child, but I don't want to stop her if we're under ten minutes and she really wants another page. So I ask, an inevitably she sees Toddler O. driving our battery-powered Jeep in the backyard (that, incidentally, a neighbor child outgrew and we got for free thankyouverymuch). She decides it is her turn to drive, and she leaves.

Just like that.

So on to the (admittedly short) lessons.

Lesson Three

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Introduce sight word: O.K.

Build new word: mad

Read: Set 1, Book 2 ("Sam") p. 8-ff

Remember to keep working on smooshing those sounds.

Lesson Four

Review sounds: short-a, c, d, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Review sight words: O.K.

Build new word: tan

Read: Set 1, Book 2 ("Sam") p. 1-ff

Yes. All of a sudden on the fourth lesson, she read a whole book. She is a bizarre reader. Some days it is very slow going, and other days she acts like she already knows how to read and doesn't hardly need lessons, at least not in regard to what we're working on. So we just keep plugging away, and go fast when she's ready to go fast, and slow when she needs to go slow.

I still maintain that her lesson patterns are weird.

Kindergarten Set, Book 6

2011-12-20T14:47:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who

Introduce new sight word: come

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book6 ("Milk") pp. 1-7

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come

Introduce new blend: ink

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book 6 ("Milk?") pp. 8-ff

Click here for a tip on teaching the blend ink.

The book acts as if milk is a sight word, but the word follows the rules just fine and the students should be able to figure it out okay. You get bonus points for leaving the couch, taking the child to the fridge, and verifying that it does in fact say milk on that carton inside.

Lesson Three

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who, come, some

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book6 ("Milk") pp. 1-ff

Kindergarten Set, Book 4

2011-12-19T16:53:00.000-08:00

Time to pat ourselves (and our students) on the back. One hundred days! If you've been following these lessons straight through, that means you've given around one hundred days of lessons. And look how far they've come. If your student is like my student, a hundred lessons ago, she didn't know the sounds of any of the letters.

Isn't that amazing?

In the past one hundred days we've read 30 books. We've learned the basic sounds for every letter (save q). We've learned two diphthongs, one digraph, one blend, and two word endings.

This is the amazing thing about teaching. A single day never really feels like much, but all of those small moments add up to something big: reading.

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero

Introduce new sight word: who

Introduce new blend: ook

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Kindergarten Set, Book 4 ("Who?") pp. 1-ff

Click here for a tip on introducing the blend ook.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, who

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Review Read: Kindergarten Set, Book 4 ("Who?") pp. 1-ff

Set 1, Book 1

2011-12-17T08:30:00.000-08:00

When I commenced reading lessons with Daughter Q., she was still three-years-old (a few months away from four). I always knew she would read earlier than Daughter A. (who began at just under five), but later than Son E. (who began almost exactly on his third birthday). I still think there is a lot to be said for beginning reading lessons closer to five years of age, but sometimes children are just ready, and we have to go with it.

I will say, however, that with three-year-olds it is of the utmost importance that we keep the lessons to ten minutes or less. We do not want to overwork their little minds, or discourage them when they are just starting out. As for my "preschool" time with Daughter Q., we often begin with a story, or a couple activities from her Kumon cutting and folding workbooks. We do ten minutes (or less) of reading, and then I send her outside to play with her younger brother.

And this only three or four days per week.

So I will show you what we did for Days 1-3, and you will see that it is much slower than we would do with a five-year-old. That is the nature of the beast. If you teach a child something at 3 it will take you a month or more. If you teach them at 6, it'll take you ten minutes. But if they insist on learning at 3, then take the long road you must.

As my husband likes to say, "'Tis my duty to."

Ahem.

Lesson One

Introduce new sounds: short-a, m, soft-s, t

Build a word and practice sounding it out: at, Sam

Read: Set 1, Book 1 ("Mat") pp. 1-2

NOTE: Please remember the prerequisites for commencing with reading lessons!

Lesson Two

Review sounds: short-a, m, soft-s, t

Read: Set 1, Book 1 ("Mat") pp. 3-4

If reading only two pages per day seems slow, you might be interested to know that I had anticipated only one! When I taught Son E., I think it took a month to get through all of Book 1. Just remember that slow and steady wins the race.

Or something like that.

Lesson Three

Review sounds: short-a, m, soft-s, t

Introduce new sounds: short-o, n

Build new words: Mom, not

Read: Set 1, Book 1 ("Mat") pp. 5-6

At this point, she was slowly understanding the idea of trying to slide the sounds together as she read so that it is easier to figure out the word. This particular child has always had a good memory, and it is coming in handy for her as she quickly memorizes the words and knows them anywhere. She has proved to be one of the easier children to teach.

Lesson Four

Review sounds: short-a, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Read: Set 1, Book 1 ("Mat") p. 7

I can't remember why we only read one page. Did we get interrupted or distracted? Or was the page difficult? I'm sorry...I should have noted it in my binder.

Lesson Five

Review sounds: short-a, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Build new word: Tom

Read: Set 1, Book 1 ("Mat") p. 8

This was the first time my daughter read "The End," which appears (appropriately) at the end of each Bob Book. I never really bother to teach it. The vast majority of children know, even at the young age of three, that stories end with "The End." I just point at it and tell them what it says, and they can usually read it the next time they finish a Bob Book.

It is important to keep in mind that it is helpful that they distinguish the two words from the very beginning. Soon enough, she'll be reading "the" in a story context, and she will already know it. Here is a tip on teaching "the."

Also: remember to tell your student if you plan to have them read most of the books twice. This avoids any unnecessary disappointment.

Lesson Six

Review sounds: short-a, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Build words: Mom, sat

Read: Set 1, Book 1 ("Mat") pp. 1-5

Lesson Seven

Review sounds: short-a, m, n, short-o, soft-s, t

Read: Set 1, Book 1 ("Mat") p. 6-ff

Set 3, Book 1

2011-12-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero

Introduce new sight words: said, come

Introduce new word endings: -y and -ed

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Set 3, Book 1 ("Floppy Mop") pp. 1-ff

Click here to see tips on teaching the -y and -ed word endings.

Click here to see notes on introducing sight words.

Lesson Two

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero, said, come

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Set 3, Book 1 ("Floppy Mop") pp. 1-ff

Set 2, Book 12

2011-12-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Review sounds: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, g, h, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, short-u, v, w, x, y, z

Review sight words: A, a, The, the, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, zoo, into, was, car, do, now, saw, ow, wow, bow, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, down, then, no

Introduce sight words: zero, too

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Set 2, Book 12 ("0 to 10") pp. 1-4

A few things:

Book 12 is where Daughter A. slowed waaaaay down. Part of it was that her brain jumbled up a bit on some things, but a lot of it was simply that our weather changed here and she was more interested in what was outside the window. When this happens, I try and make lessons super short, knowing the novelty soon wears off.
I am not a stickler on learning the word "zero" at this stage. In fact, I wish they would have left it out and simply utilized the number symbol, but my guess is that they were trying to emphasize that 0 the number is not O the capital letter.
I wasn't going to introduce "too" as a diphthong, but my daughter noticed it. ("Mommy! Too is just like zoo!") See? I felt obligated. See my notes on introducing "too" here.

Lesson Two

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, g, h, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, short-u, v, w, x, y, z

Review sight words: A, a, The, the, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, zoo, into, was, car, do, now, saw, ow, wow, bow, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, down, then, no, zero, too

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Set 2, Book 12 ("0 to 10") pp. 5-8

I was pleased to discover that Daughter A. remembers her number symbols, even though we haven't reviewed them for a very long time. It seems that reading 1 is One daily for months when she was four totally paid off.

Lesson Three

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Set 2, Book 12 ("0 to 10") pp. 9-12

Notice anything?

That's right: I cut out reviewing the letter sounds. She knows them. She has mastered them backwards and forwards. I might add it back in when we learn alternate letter sounds, but for now, it is a better use of time to do the binder review.

Also, as our students learn that some of their sight words are actually digraphs or diphthongs, we can migrate them off of the sight word review list and assume that we all have them in the proper sections of our binders.

Lesson Four

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero,

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Set 2, Book 12 ("0 to 10") pp. 1-6

Book 12 was hard for Daughter A., so reading it a second time was imperative before moving on.

Lesson Five

Review sight words: A, a, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, into, was, car, do, saw, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, no, zero

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Review Read: Set 2, Book 12 ("0 to 10") pp. 7-ff

Set 2, Book 11

2011-12-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, g, h, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, short-u, v, w, x, y, z

Review known words: A, a, The, the, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, zoo, into, was, car, do, now, saw, ow, wow, bow, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, down, then

Fun sight word practice sentence: Go into the pink car.

Introduce sight word: no

Read: Set 2, Book 11 ("The Sad Cat") all

Remember that if the lesson is getting too long, you can break the book into halves, reading pages 1-6 on the first day and 7-ff on the second. My student just happened to be speeding through books for a few days...before she slowed waaaaaay down, of course.

Set 2, Book 10

2011-12-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

Lesson One

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, g, h, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, short-u, v, w, x, y, z

Review known words: A, a, The, the, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, zoo, into, was, car, do, now, saw, ow, wow, bow, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, down

Introduce new digraph: then

Read: Set 2, Book 10 ("The Red Hen") pp. all

See my tip on introducing the digraph word then.

Again, I had the child read through an entire book, all at once. Some of these books are more for practice than anything else, and if your student needs to go slower, break the books down into two days.

Lesson Two

Sounds to review: short-a, b, c, d, short-e, f, g, h, short-i, j, k, l, m, n, short-o, p, r, soft-s, hard-s, t, short-u, v, w, x, y, z

Review known words: A, a, The, the, to, so, O.K., for, or, pink, zoo, into, was, car, do, now, saw, ow, wow, bow, shh, Do, out, fly, bird, of, put, bye, go, Go, down

Review appropriate sections in the binder

Read: Set 2, Book 10 ("The Red Hen") all