Books 1-3

On the day she read the cards through twice we decided that Alice knew all of the words.   She had even started to recognise the word “here”.    Alice read through the book, all on her own and with a little bit of “nudging” she managed to read the whole book.  She could see my delight and she kept screaming with joy after each sentence.   She got tired towards the end of the book but she carried on and she read the whole thing.  She was ecstatic to have finished it and just couldn’t put it down.

Alice was excited to start reading the second book.  After looking at the new words she then wanted to pick them out in the text.   She read the first few pages of the book with four new words.  I had to prompt her on the new words and a little nudge on a couple of the other words but she read through the pages and wanted to carry on.  She found the added ‘s’ to some of the words confusing but I explained the meaning and she then understood.  She was disappointed when I said that I felt it was enough reading for tonight.

Alice wanted to continue her reading through book 2 but I was concerned that it might be a bit late in the day.  In fact, although Alice did well, she was just too tired to pick up on all the words. She doesn’t seem to notice at the moment that she is reading the book on her own, so I have to keep reminding her, to encourage her further.  Alice was thrilled to finish book 2 and read the last two pages very easily.

Alice was excited to start book 3.  The new words “house on water” sunk in immediately and she read them confidently. Alice read pages 5 and 6 but needed lots of help with ‘come’ and ‘we’. The next day she picked up ‘come’ easily.

By page 11 of book 3 at first it seemed like Alice had forgotten nearly all the words.  She seemed keen enough but lacked concentration.  I think it was probably due to it being her first day back at school and also having not studied it so much over the weekend.

By the end of book 3 Alice seemed to have really got back into her reading.  Maybe a day off helped.  She is like a different child when it comes to reading and writing now.  I was thrilled to see how pleased she was and Daddy was really impressed and surprised with how well she was reading.

At page 11 of book 3 I had to be a bit strict with Alice and make sure she remained focused. I was a little disheartened with the backward step Alice had taken when she was forgetting the words. The next day, Alice didn’t want to do her reading today but when she started reading she seemed really fresh to it.  Alice seemed to have picked up almost all the words and is just struggling with a few new words. It still amazed me that by reading the words within the text she seemed to pick them up so easily.

I feel totally relieved and feel like we have found a way of capturing her attention to learn to read and I now feel like there isn’t a problem at all.  She has changed from a child who had no interest in reading to a child who absolutely loves it.

Next: Books 4-6