Need suggestions for Kindergartener & "sight words" & my patience.

[Samckitt]

My daughter is in kindergarten & we are trying to teach her her sight words: and, an, the, my, me, fun, yes, no, & so on, small easy words that she should know by quickly looking at it & not having to sound it out. The problem is she doesn't want to try & I run out of patience, get p!ssed, raise my voice & then she starts balling.

So to those of who have kids & have gone through this process, do you have any tips that will make this easier for both her & myself/mommy?

Thanks

[LateNight72]

Try making it a game, or making a game which contains the elements.

A buddy of mine used Index cards, made two sets of cards. One set was his daughter's set and the other was his/wife's set (2 player game). The basic principle was that each person would flip a card over and the first to say (and finish) the word won that round. Tally the score and who ever 'wins' the most rounds, wins the game.

Side note - Let her win some rounds & games. If she continually looses she'll get turned off of the game.

You can also let her decorate & draw on her set of cards. That should get her more interested in playing.

[cheapthrillz]

^^^^ Good suggestion. That's how I would approach it.

[Paul_J]

My wife has been teaching 4 year old and kindergarten for almost 20 years. She said that Latenight72 has a great idea. Let her help make the flash cards and decorate them. Also, read TO her a lot. Let her pick out some books.

[class67]

My daughter is in kindergarten right now as well and I am going through the same thing. I/we put all the words on flash cards and repititously show them to her, I will sound each word out to her the first couple of times, she eventually picks it up. The thing with my daughter, is if she is the slightest bit tired or cranky I will not even try. I try to go over them with her when she is fresh, like in the morning while she eats breakfast or after dinner when she has already had her fill of cartoons...lol.

For words that just won't click with her, words like "the, was or were"...I will just randomly, out of nowhere spell the word out to her and she has picked up on them that way as well.

She actually is doing really well with them as we offer a prize or something fun as incentive for her after she passes here test(s).

[GBodyGMachine]

Good luck man. I was a rebellious child, and hated having to learn. Flash cards never really worked for me, but having one of my parents read to me and following along as they read was probably the easiest way to get my attention.

Jeff

[Kenova]

My two sons struggled with reading for their first three years, to the point my eldest was in a remedial reading class. The wife and I did everything to have the teachers teach our kids phonetically, but they would have nothing to do with such an "archaic teaching method".
During the Christmas break we bought a book on phonetics and taught them ourselves. By time the holidays were over they had the basics down, and with some extra reading there weren't very many words that would stump them. By February the teacher pulled my eldest out of the remedial reading class.
I wish I could have been there to see the look on the teacher's face when my wife (I sometimes refer to her as The Dragon Lady) slapped the phonetics book on her desk.
Call me a dinosaur if you like, but as far as I'm concerned teaching kids to read phonetically is the only way to do it right. This "Whole Language" teaching method is pure BS. But that's just the opinion of some old fart in the Great White North (who has kids that can read).

Ken

[Roadbuster]

My two sons struggled with reading for their first three years, to the point my eldest was in a remedial reading class. The wife and I did everything to have the teachers teach our kids phonetically, but they would have nothing to do with such an "archaic teaching method".
During the Christmas break we bought a book on phonetics and taught them ourselves. By time the holidays were over they had the basics down, and with some extra reading there weren't very many words that would stump them. By February the teacher pulled my eldest out of the remedial reading class.
I wish I could have been there to see the look on the teacher's face when my wife (I sometimes refer to her as The Dragon Lady) slapped the phonetics book on her desk.
Call me a dinosaur if you like, but as far as I'm concerned teaching kids to read phonetically is the only way to do it right. This "Whole Language" teaching method is pure BS. But that's just the opinion of some old fart in the Great White North (who has kids that can read).

Ken

Ken,
What was the phonics book you used?

I would of loved to see the look on the "teacher's" face as well! :)

Jon

[CarlC]

Don't hesitate to find out if the school has a speech and language pathologist. Though they usually deal with speech problems, they may be able to point you in a direction that is right for you daughter. My wife and I learned a ton on how to teach a child while making it seem like a game to them. Yes, both boys our boys were in an early intervention program, and both now excel at school.

[CHRIS67]

Make some flash cards, keep it light and fun.

[Kenova]

Ken,
What was the phonics book you used?

I would of loved to see the look on the "teacher's" face as well! :)

Jon
I honestly can't remember Jon, it's been a good twenty years and the book is long gone.
I do remember my brother buying Hooked on Phonics for his kids, with great success. There is a bit of a price tag attached to it, but he didn't have any trouble getting his kids to the table for their "lessons". (I think it helped him too. LOL)

Ken

[Roadbuster]

I honestly can't remember Jon, it's been a good twenty years and the book is long gone.
I do remember my brother buying Hooked on Phonics for his kids, with great success. There is a bit of a price tag attached to it, but he didn't have any trouble getting his kids to the table for their "lessons". (I think it helped him too. LOL)

Ken

Thanks! Hooked on Phonics is on the list to get!

Jon

[barraza]

How old is your daughter? Kindergarten is what first grade used to be. My son is in kindergarten but had a late birthday so is one of the oldest in the class. He has had a very easy time, but there is definitely a point where the "light comes on". Most of the kids in the class that seem to be having more of a problem are on the younger side. I wouldn't worry yet, some studies have shown that there is no difference in reading ability by 2nd grade, between kids that start reading in kindergarten and ones that start in 1st grade.

Kindergarten is also the point that "school" stops being just fun, and starts being work. Some kids are definitely more stubborn when being pushed into the work part. My son digs his heels in when I try to push, but likes reading on his own. The key is a balance between being forceful enough to make sure progress is being made, and have patience at the same time. If you are pushing hard enough to get mad and she cries, that is too hard.

[67z28]

My 4 yr old is learning to read. We have bought some book sets that is setup like a childs book with single sylibal (sp) words in them and she loves them. They have small sentences in them also like Sam and Jan can sit. Makes her feel like it's her books not something we came up with. There is like 10 or 12 little books in a set and get harder with each book.

[Kenova]

...... They have small sentences in them also like Sam and Jan can sit.....
WHOA! Flahback!
Reminds me of my first "reader" at school.
"See Spot run. See Dlck and Jane run with Spot" LOL.

Ken

[Tom Welch]

When you get upset she senses it ASAP, gets nervous and then starts crying because she didnt make you happy. Its basic psycology for you and mount everest to her. After all you are 'superman' in her eyes, and she made you mad. Difficult to overcome the meories of last time she "failed". Get a handle on your anger, take a break evry few minutes if you need to. You are teaching her with your every move and sound. Be careful what YOU teach HER. Remember that your approval is the highest praise she can aspire to at her age. Think about how completely a little girl loves her Daddy. It gets easier when you can remember this stuff. We have 3 kids and I made every mistake in the book, but we worked it out. Keep it up, sounds kind of wimpy but love finds a way to work these things out.

[Patrick]

Make it fun. Kids are attracted to things that are fun. Plus their attention will be more focused for a longer period of time. My daughters really got into it if there was a small reward at the end.

[shmoov69]

Hmm, I'm trying to get my 3 1/2 year old son to actually read and NOT just memorize the words like that. Maybe I'm going about it backwards! No help here!

[Steve Chryssos]

Tape the sight cards to the objects themselves. Leave them there for three days. One on the refrigerator that says "refrigerator"; one on the TV that says "TV".......

[Magntik]

Our twins are learning the same thing.
Have you seen the Leap Frog Tag and Books?
It's like a pen that your child moves over the words in the books that go with it and it says the words aloud.
Our boys love it. And are to the point of only "scanning" the words they don't know.
I think it helped them with the sight words they already knew by seeing them used in a "real" book.