Saturday, November 10, 2007

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket D'S SURE-FIRE WAY TO TEACH CHILDREN TO READ WITH CALVIN & HOBBES

We laugh at how much Zander's journey through life is mirroring Jamin's. He shocked us all yesterday. I've been working on Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. He wants to READ and I decided he didn't need all the names and such - I'd teach him sounds so he could read. I'm trying to work with the excitement.

He loves his reading lessons, but told me Friday he was ready for "real books" and wanted to READ stories not just words - we're on lesson 10. I explained that we would read real books but that he needed to read these lessons first.

Later in the day, he had scanned our library and found vol. 1 of the complete works of Calvin and Hobbes.
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We all cracked up. 10 years ago Jamin decided to quit phonics and somehow taught himself to read with the very same reading material. Who knows? Maybe I'm on to something.

Seriously, Jamin taught himself to read with Calivin and Hobbes and then went on to read Lord of the Rings. I have no clue HOW but he reads well. LOL
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9 comments:

Jodi said...

The Calvin and Hobbs reading method, I love it!

Zander knows what he wants and how he wants to get the job done, cute.

Anonymous said...

LOL, our AJ (challenged 8 y/o learner) prefers Calvin too! It's the only book he'll voluntarily sit and sound out the words when alone.

His school homework requirement is minimum 20 minutes/night 5 nights/week (school wide for his grade level).

He'll watch the clock and bail at 20 minutes. When he's alone w/Calvin, he'll spend twice that which is amazing for his short attention span.

Way to go Alexander for being motivated to read!!

Jennifer said...

At what age do you recommend they start? DS is only about 3.5 yrs, but he already understand that letters mean words. And he pretended to sound out a word the other day. (somehow he got the word "motorcycle" from the actual word "embroidery." LOL!)

Anonymous said...

Sis:

For sure Jamin and Alexander are very much alike. Alexander looks, acts, and is adorable just like Jamin was.

What a nice grown up type brother he has to observe.

l/p

Jen said...

If you think about it, Calvin is probably a lot like them too. They must relate. :-)

Romany said...

C&A was very important in the reading development of my kids too. Also, the Asterix books (Goscinny & Uderzo) and the Tin Tin books (Herge), colourful and hysterical, short burst of effort which bring great rewards in terms of a) laughter and b) feelings of accomplishment.

As an ex-SN teacher, I always recommend them for struggling or reluctant boy readers.

DeEtta @ Courageous Joy said...

Dorothy, I'll look up the books you mentioned.

Jen, I don't push reading. I wait for them to beg. ::snort:: That has happened around here between 4 - 10. LOL

Anonymous said...

Maybe you could write a reading curriculum centered around C&H....just kidding. It's great that he's taking the reigns and trying to read!

Jen in Az.

Cynthia said...

LOL! Whatever it takes! Go with it.