Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Word Hopping

A few months ago, Elizabeth seemed to be taking an interest in sight words. She wanted to participate when Matthew and I looked through his sight word flashcards. She was recognizing "Matthew" and "Elizabeth".

So I jumped at the chance to make her a set of sight word cards. Unlike the picture/ word cards that Matthew started with, Elizabeth's word cards do not have pictures. Each is made of 5-1/2-inch x 14-inch white posterboard with huge red letters, patterned after the word cards described in Glen Doman and Janet Doman's book "How to Teach Your Baby to Read." But like the initial word cards I had made for Matthew, I used words that were of high interest to her.

It took me several evenings to make around 60 words and plan which ones to start with. Then I started with our sight words. After a few days, it didn't seem like she was really paying attention to the words. Maybe I took too long making the cards and she lost interest. Maybe she just wasn't ready to learn it. Maybe she was just interested in the idea of it - the "if big brother is doing it, I want to be part of it" thought process.

So I stopped and decided we would try again in a few months. We put the giant word cards away.


Recently, we rediscovered her word cards. But instead of using them as flashcards, we scattered a few on the floor and hopped on them. It became an addictive and fun sequencing game for both of them.

Taking turns, I'd give Matthew a sequence of 3 or 4 words to hop on. Elizabeth received 1 or 2 word sequences. She wasn't really recognizing all the words yet but with some guidance, she was happily hopping on the words like Matthew was. "What big brother can do, I can do too."

8 comments:

Adrienne said...

So cute!! Such bright little ones you have!! And you're so creative with your teaching!!

Rochelle said...

What a great idea. Matthew is the king of sight words. Alayna has come a long way but still isn't super interested in them.

Ria said...

@Adrienne, thanks! I get my ideas from other moms and just making them up as I go based on what the kids are interested in and knowing how to keep their attention. A lot of trial and error. :-)

@Rochelle, thanks! Alayna is darling! I'm sure she's honing her skills in other areas and focusing on other things for now.

malor said...

This has been a very inspiring post. I am starting to teach my 2.5 y/o son to read. English is such a complicated language. My dilemma is should I teach phonics or sight word... Anyway, I read reviews through the link the you gave and came into conclusion that probably both should be taught.

I learned through phonics first because I learned to read Filipino first which is simpler and more phonetically correct language. However, English is different...

CPJ said...

Thanks for sharing wonderful ideas!

Ria said...

@malor Matthew was also around 2-1/2 yrs old when I started to teach him sight words. I have several posts on how I taught him and some resources I used, if that would help. I think they are all in the "reading" category. I agree that Filipino is more phonetically correct. Once you know the sound of each letter from the alphabet, you can sound most words out. I learned Filipino when I was in high school but have been hearing my parents speak it since I was little. The only thing that got me with Filipino language was the intonation/ inflections in words. For example, "Makati" when said slowly through the whole word means the city Makati, but said quickly without pauses, it means itchy.

@CPJ, you're welcome. I'm happy to share and it makes me happy to know when something I post has been helpful.

Heather said...

Hi I’m Heather! Please email me when you get a chance! I have a question about your blog. HeatherVonsj(at)gmail(dot)com

Tri Haryadi said...

your kids are so adorable and cute too :)