Reading out loud....getting it done

Have you ever looked at your school schedule and wondered how on earth you were going to get all that reading done? Maybe the books are too advanced for the child to read on their own or maybe you are moving your kids through the subject together so need to read it aloud as a group.
This year I will have 2-7th graders, a 6th, 4th, 2nd and Kindergartner plus a 3 year old and toddler. I've used the free online curriculum Ambleside Online since the beginning but have decided this year for the sake of simplicity to combine everyone to the same History rotation and use TruthQuest History guides.
These changes will require that I gather all of the 6 older children together in one place and have their relative rapt attention while reading our chapter or book in history.
The problems that I have experienced in trying to get this done have been as follows: morning - toddler distracting, best time to do the 3 r's; afternoon - little ones need naps, chores need doing, mom can't stay awake to read for more than about 10 minutes! evening - supper to clean up and frankly with hubby working 2 jobs I am e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d........
So finally after much prayer and much trial and error we have finally hit on a method that works.......for now.

Insert: Mealtimes
Now the caveat to this method is that my dear husband is not able to join us for breakfast or lunch M-S and at least 2 nights a week is at his night job and not able to be with us for supper. Which means that our mealtimes can be utilized for our read alouds.
Food=quiet children
Not only are my kids occupied with eating, my toddler is lovingly strapped into his booster seat happily munching away. This means that we can spend part of our mealtime in reading. Mornings and Lunches we often read poetry and have our bible time and in the evening we can read our history books.
Problem solved.......for now.

If you've ever had the problem of your wall maps falling off of your walls then you need to try these. I have both the world and U.S.A maps posted on our dining room walls. Works great for times like tonight at supper when we were reading about the revolutionary war and could point to the map and find the places we have been reading.

52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge

Gasp!

I just found this blog and am getting chills at the possibilities. I love to read.....no let me rephrase that, I am addicted to reading and to books. Just ask my DH, he'll tell you.

I blame my mom really, ever since I was a child she would buy a book and then crack it open to smell the inside....you know that "new book smell". Ahhh, nothing quite like it and yes, I do the same:) She also took great care to pick out the perfect book for Christmas to give to each of her children, a practice that I am doing my best to emulate.

So I'm taking this challenge and my only goal is not to get obsessive with it. Got to remember, slow and steady wins the race, I don't need to read 52 books this month:)

Go ahead and join yourself.....you know you want to
52 Books in 52 Weeks

Jessica

Reading Lessons

Thanks to the information shard by Penny Gardner our reading lessons this year have been enjoyable, productive and easy.
I had been using Phonics Pathways but for our family it was not a good or enjoyable fit and I ended up avoiding it out of frustration rather than pushing through the lessons. After reading the advice given by Penny I purchased a copy of Reading Reflex and promptly devoured its concise, highly informational contents as soon as it arrived.
Not only did it fill in the gaps that I felt were missing from other programs it also exposed the areas in which my kids where not making progress but able to slide by without my inexperienced teacher eyes noticing. I have noticed the most improvement with Thomas; when teaching him using a phonics method he breezed through certain portions of it because he has a very good and well used visual memory. But on occasion I would catch him not knowing how to sound a word out and blending sounds inappropriately.
With the phono-graphix approach outlined in Reading Reflex I have been able to stop this trend and take him back to the basics of the sounds. As they frequently point out our language began not as an alphabet but as sounds blended into words. The focus is not that "A" says "c(a)t" but that this (A) is a picture for the sounds "c(a)t", (a)rrow, and (a)lter. It is very easy for children to realize that a picture can represent different things; for example a child has no problem understanding that a rose, a carnation and a dahlia are all flowers even though they look very different. In the same manner a child can easily comprehend that there are different sounds that have the same word picture.
At the beginning of the book the have a few tests that help you to know exactly where your child's knowledge base is at. Although initially this was rather discouraging to me it was also a good prognosis of Thomas's problems in reading.
Over the past several months we have continued on through each of the games in the different levels laid out very clearly in the book. This is something else that has made this book such a gold mine, we spend our time (15 mins) playing games! Each game has a stated purpose and a goal to reach but is broken down in such a way that both teacher and child find the process fun.
Initially I would spend 15 mins. 4x a week with both Thomas and Alissa but now we have found a better schedule with a reading lesson on Mon-Wed-Fri and reading practice on Tues-Thurs. They have both made great progress and are reading very fluently on their own. I will be excited to see where they test out at the end of this school year as compared with when we started.
If you have been struggling with a phonics program and don't know where to turn I would highly recommend not only Penny's article and other ideas but the book Reading Reflex as well.

I also have employed Charlotte Mason's suggestions on teaching sight words (they do exist in our language) and have found good success with that as well. While I don't advocate it as a sole approach it has been very helpful especially to give the added boost to the children's reading confidence.

Poetry

I have always loved poetry and am now getting back in the mood for writing some. I pulled an old book off of my shelf the other day knowing that it was poems of Robert Louis Stevenson but never having read any. What a treasure! There is just something that breathes and lives and awakes in me when I read poetry. Thought I'd share a bit from him.

Picture-books in Winter

Summer fading, winter comes--
Frosty mornings, tingling thumbs,
Window robins, winter rooks,
And the picture story-books.

Water now is turned to stone
Nurse and I can walk upon;
Still we find the flowing brooks
In the picture story-books.

All the pretty things put by,
Wait upon the children's eye,
Sheep and shepherds, trees and crooks,
In the picture story-books.

We may see how all things are
Seas and cities, near and far,
And the flying fairies' looks,
In the picture story-books.

How am I to sing your praise,
Happy chimney-corner days,
Sitting safe in nursery nooks,
Reading picture story-books?