Reading, Spelling, Penmanship and Very Simple Grammar

My six year old has been learning the alphabet and how it works on time4learning.com, starfall.com and abcmouse.com.  All that I really have had to do up to this point is supervise.  This year, we are moving on to practicing reading with McGuffey's Eclectic Primer.   We are going over the letters, words and sentences on each page, over and over again.  I point to each item and read it with her as many times as she is willing and energetic enough to keep repeating it.  Each lesson is very short and simple. 

After we have done this, I give her a writing tablet that I purchased at the dollar store.  It's up to you if you want to use the imaginary line paper or wide ruled paper.  I have used both with my older children and it has really depended on the child as to what worked best.  Tarja seems to want to write all over the page, so we are currently using the imaginary line paper.  With that tablet, I have already printed out her full name and the current date.  We read that together and talk about it.  The rest of the letters, words and sentences are copied from her lesson that we read together out of the McGuffey reader.  I point out certain important things about her work.  For example, if there is a name on the page, it starts with a capital letter.  The sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark.  What kind of punctuation marks are they and why are they being used?  If she makes a mistake, she is to draw one, neat line though the mistake and try again.  No scribbling allowed.  She is instructed to write as neatly as she can. 

There is a method to this madness.  We have seen and read new works, particularly new site words by reading from the McGuffey primer.  Instead of moving on to something else and taking time to forget about what we just read, we are getting another exposure by copying the letters, words and sentences.  By copying the letters, words, and sentences, we are getting extra reading practice with the addition of which letters make up which word and how to print them correctly.  We get to practice writing sentences with punctuation marks, and get to add capital letters where they belong.  We get to commit our reading to memory, thereby turning our youngest children into children that are being exposed to and can remember great literature. 

For older children, you can use this same method with any book or even the Bible.  The Bible is a great resource, because the words and language can be very challenging.  It doesn't get much easier than this.

Have a Great Day!
Laurel Santiago