Creating readers with early elementary children

Creating Readers with Grades 1 & 2

For many families, even Waldorf ones, learning to read can be a stressful time for both parent and child.  The Waldorf approach to reading lends far easier than other approaches but there are still times when we want to do a bit more to reinforce what they are learning.

I have been asked many times what I recommend for readers, my answer usually depends on where the child is on their reading journey.  If they are beyond the new reader status then I love the readers that AWSNA puts out under the titles Fee Fi Fo Fum, As My Heart Awakes, When I Hear My Heart Wonder and Sun So Hot I Froze to Death – these are written by Arthur M. Pittis.  I like these especially for secondary readers because they can also serve as great main lesson material for children who are reading well – Fee Fi Fo Fum has a selection of fairy tales, As My Heart Awakes and When I Hear My Heart Wonder have a selection of fairy tales, animal tales, fables and some saintly tales, while Sun So Hot I Froze to Death has some great hero tales and wild stories.  They are listed for 2^nd to 4^th grade, but depending on your child, they could be read in 1^st through 3^rd as well.  My oldest son (he has ASD) got to a point where he wanted to read on his own very early and finding appropriate reading for his level proved to be challenging so when these books were published it was a happy day in our home!  We own them all and my children have really enjoyed them.

Now when you are just starting your reading journey you need something far more simple!  If you want to buy readers, there are time tested ones like the Dick & Jane series (my daughter loves these) or the good old McGuffey’s readers, but if you want more Waldorf flair, lol, then there are some great little readers by Shelley Davidow, published by Whole Spirit Press.  They are fun and easy with cute drawings.

For those wanting to take things even further or wanting to work on their own books (saving some pennies,) I recommend a couple ideas – of course the main lesson books of a child are a great place to start if you can make the sentences simple enough and you can also make your own readers.  Jodi M. from

Georgia

on our list shared the idea she used for making her own readers, we liked it so much that we went another step.  I remembered how much my daughter loved The Seven Year Old Wonder Book by Isabel Wyatt and the imagery of the little girl setting out the wonder book for the fairy folk to draw and write in.  I thought we’d take that idea and run with it a bit – only Mommy is the one doing the writing!  Our video clip explains how we put it together.  I started with very simple words that my daughter could build on, turned the words into a story and each day she gets a new portion – even more fun, she gets to illustrate the story as she is working on reading.  This has worked wonderfully, she’s been excited to see what I’ll write next.

Here are some simple word lists to get you started:

Of course, use your child’s name!

Start with short vowel sounds:

A – cat, hat, sat, fat, rat, ran, Sam, and, swam

E – jet, set, then, get, rest, slept, pet

I – it, sit, his, did, swim, big, pig

O – top, stop, mop, soft, got, not, dog

U – up, jump, just, tub

Suggested sight words (add more if your child is ready):

Saw, was, of, a, the, onto, he, into, so, go, they, by

Our first little story looks like this:

“Ellie had a cat.  He was soft.  He slept a lot. He was fat.  Ellie had a soft, fat cat.” (pg1)

“The cat got up and ran. STOP CAT! Ellie saw a rat and got up to run.” (pg2)

“Ellie saw the cat stop.  Ellie sat to rest.  Ellie saw the cat, he crept up on the rat.” (pg3)

“No rat, just the cat and Ellie.” (pg4)

We added to it with this:

“Ellie has a big dog and a soft cat.” (pg 1)

“The dog swims in the mud.  Is he a pig? NO! He is a pet dog.” (pg 2)

“Ellie went to get a tub to wet the dog. The dog swam and swam in the tub.” (pg3)

“No mud.  Just the dog in the sun.” (pg4)

Once your child has mastered these short vowels, you can introduce the idea of “E Helper Gnome” and her friends.  That is in a different blog post. 

As Ellie moved through learning the short sounds into those that needed “E Helper” we also tackled “ay” and “ai” – there are so many words you can make from these.  If you are having a hard time coming up with them on your own, ask one of your older children to help you – I’ve got older boys that just love shouting out the answer to their sister’s work (like it makes them look smarter! LOL)

Comments

[Kristin W]

This was very helpful! Thank you Melisa!

[Tammy]

Three cheers from Kayla and Tammy! ;)