teach a child to read

I was training to be a teacher, 2 years ago, i had the oppertunity to be the reading coach every tuesday mornings on my free period from collage it was great. one woman said to me a few weeks ago that she is doing this job now but she has many children that make up words and she feels that they wont be succesful in their lifes when they get older she said they made up wordsbecause they were obviously not bright enough. I could’nt understand this as i found when a child makes up words at least they are trying. most children are teriffied of getting it wrong so have a guess, this isnt nessisceraly a bad thing i made up words, i guessed, i can read, i have a good job, im not very good with spelling i will admit but i try and to this day i still guess because its better than not trying at all. sorry for my little rant, i just feel that people can sometimes expect the wrong things out of you in life due to their lack of knowledge. making assumptions and saying your not going to be sucessful is a real downward spiral for some people saying things like that can affect your self-esteme, ok so a child thats 6 is having difficulty reading but who’s to say that he isnt faboulous at maths, science, history or art. as a teacher you have to look at a broad spectrum, learning to read can open up so many oppertunities but for some it takes longer than others, every child is an individual with individual needs and when teaching a child to read this should be remembered!!!

Almost a year ago, I started teaching an 8 year old boy to read (2-3 hours per week one on one), as I felt that his reading level was below what would normally be for an 8 year old. Now I have achieved this goal – he can read most everyday words by himself, although he still stumbles over new words occasionally. I am finding it difficult to teach him how to write though, and am trying to find out a technique to do so. I will see how it goes….

I taught Jared his ABCs. Then we learned the sounds they all make and started putting them together. It was a very long process… but very worth it! Being able to read is certainly one of the most important aspects of life. I’m so excited to have been a part of that in his life. :o)

I am teaching my son to read, he already has gotten down the main words and can put sentences together. He will be reading on his own soon.

Lucky to do this everyday…I’m a teacher!

and read constantly. With Sesame Street, alphabet wall murals, books, constant reading to him, he picked it up on his own and we worked with him to perfect his skills. The first thing he read on his own were signs on buildings while we were out driving. So cool. Now he’s a junior at USC, majoring in English-creative writing.