We're actually just starting to work through AO Year 1 Free Reads. I've been reading Pinocchio for a while now, but it's slow going. Having to do readings for both of them everyday leaves me with a lot less motivation to do other readings again later. We only have about 6 chapters left of Pinocchio, then I'll start reading Peter Pan.
I had tried getting Pooh interested in reading some of them on his own but was unsuccessful until recently. I've been having him read Stuart Little to me. I think a big obstacle with Pooh was that he would come across words he didn't know and if I'm not there to ask, he'd prefer not to read it. Also, there is the interest factor. It's not as exciting to him as history is so he feels he has to work harder. He had already read part of Stuart Little months ago but never finished it. Thankfully, the day we started back on it was a day where we were reading about Stuart at the dentist's office. Pooh giggled all the way through that part because of the man in the chair trying to talk. I was reading that part and made sure to make it just as if I were in that chair and the dentist's tools were in my mouth. Very funny indeed!
I'm assigning Pooh his free reads from now on. His next assignment will be Little House in the Big Woods. I'm hoping that eventually he'll get to the point where I start the book with him, but then he follows up with it in his own time. Although, I've never read any of the Little House books so I'm anxious to hear the stories. LOL
I found a copy of The Tale of Despereaux the other day and he started reading that book all on his own! He reads everything out loud. Everything. Exactly when does the silent reading start in child development? I've been curious about that. One nice thing about him reading aloud is that it keeps Tigger entertained!
I plan on us being 'behind' on free reads. That, to me, is perfectly ok. I want to take them slowly, not only for my sake as regards time, but for Pooh's sake with his readiness to read them. I've got two boys to read to and myriads of things going on all the time, so it's good for Pooh to be able to work on some of the easier free reads himself. I'll continue to tackle the heavier duty ones myself. Some books I know he'd take one look at and completely freak at the thought of reading them. Pinocchio was one and Peter Pan, while catching his interest, looks quite a bit wordier than Stuart Little. Pooh still likes pictures here and there in his books too. Really, who doesn't appreciate a well drawn picture to go along with a great story?
Some of the other free reads like Charlotte's Web and King of the Golden River I'm still hunting down. I keep hoping they'll turn up in the used book shop I frequent, but so far, nary a sight of them. We have a home school conference coming up and I plan on hitting the book fair so maybe I'll find a few treasures while I'm there.
Well, that's how we've been handling things so far. Got questions/tips? Leave a comment or shoot me an email!
3 comments:
Hello! Good to meet you. I went to your site from a link on the yahoo group.
Do you only use the books if you can hold them in your hand? I coudn't find King of the Golden River at our library so I used a copy from the files and downloaded a pc version. My girls also enjoyed listening to Peter Pan on librivox. Do you ever use those for the free reads? I do because it gives me a chance to do housework while they listen or we all listen during lunch or while we are in the car. The only bad thing about librivox is that sometimes the readers change and it is hard to understand some or they just aren't as good as others.
About reading silently - my two oldest girls are only a year apart in age so I started them together in the same grade. They loved reading aloud to each other at first. Now one gets irritated at the other who doesn't read as fast. But I still have them buddy read aloud at times. I also have them reading more independently so they have to do it silently because we share the books. So one will be reading Squanto while the other finishes math. Things like that. One dd hates to read silently and just goes even slower then too. I usually only have her do it silently when it is a very short reading. Something else that has helped is to let her listen to the librivox reader while she looks at the same book in her hand. So I guess until Tigger needs Pooh to be more quiet you can let the oral reading continue, but you might want to have him read a few things silently for practice; maybe Aesop Fables.
It is always nice to meet other AOers! Blessing to you! Eva
I also used an on-line version of King of the Golden River. It was an interesting story and my oldest dd thought it was fun.
I also got to your blog from AmbleRamble. Thanks for the peek into your homeschooling experience.
Thank you ladies. I really appreciate tips from readers that are traveling the same path. I'll check out that online version of King of the Golden River!
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