With Alexis now in Kindergarten, she often has homework. With her age it's usually just something that she needs to remember such as parents names, phone numbers, addresses, etc. This week we were given a sight words kit. In it are words that are used so commonly that she shouldn't have to sound them out but should learn to recognize them. We are supposed to work on these words every day so that by sight it becomes easier for her. This is hard for me to do with her. We both get frustrated and by the time she might actually have been learning, we just end up giving up. I'm not a teacher, and I don't really know how to teach her. I don't feel that I have the patience to help her with this. Are there any suggestions? What can I do to be the most help for her?
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Teaching the Young...
With Alexis now in Kindergarten, she often has homework. With her age it's usually just something that she needs to remember such as parents names, phone numbers, addresses, etc. This week we were given a sight words kit. In it are words that are used so commonly that she shouldn't have to sound them out but should learn to recognize them. We are supposed to work on these words every day so that by sight it becomes easier for her. This is hard for me to do with her. We both get frustrated and by the time she might actually have been learning, we just end up giving up. I'm not a teacher, and I don't really know how to teach her. I don't feel that I have the patience to help her with this. Are there any suggestions? What can I do to be the most help for her?
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7 comments:
Well, the best advice I can give is: Lock her in her room, with only broth & crusts of bread until she learns it!
Just kidding....I have no idea! Let me think about it.....
That's tough! I have no idea how I'm going to help Katie when she starts learning harder math than addition and subtraction!
Maybe have a word of the day or of the week and put up pictures or a card of the word so she can see it a lot? I'm a visual learner, so anything visual always helped me learn faster. But, I'm not a teacher either. Maybe my mom would have some good ideas!
make it a game! that way she can both learn and have fun and neither of you have to feel frustrated!
print the words out on different colored construction paper. Show her the word, have her sound it out a couple of times and then put a piece of tape on it and go put it on the item (if the word is mom have her put it on you.) For words like and and the you can put them around the room (maybe hide a few) then show her the word on the paper and have her go find the word where its hidden.
maybe let her color a picture of the words or have her spell them with letter blocks.
Make cards you can shuffle and remove once she's learned the word. Look for the words in picture books and signs.
Words are our friends!
My advice is to take the pressure off. She'll learn them in time. Just make it fun and light hearted and do it at her pace.
I agree with a couple of the comments....no, not yours, Tavan..! I think working on one word at a time...at her pace like Annie said. You could place that word in unexpected places for her to discover that day or week or whatever. Light and fun - I agree!And she will get it.
We try working on things when we are not stressed out or tired or aching to get wiggles out(key times of day you only know). Also, keep the sessions short (do three, five minutes sessions, or whatever), and kids always have more fun if we have fun. Our kids know our moods sometimes better then we do. We have to reflect the fun of learning or else they will just view as stress. Just like with potty training, if everyone is stressed, take a break.
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