r.e.a.d

I purchased this book from Amazon and started on the program to jump start Caelum's literacy skills. There are a lot of reasons why I want Caelum to start reading early. First, for me, reading is the best way to learn. As an early reader myself, I remember that thirst of reading anything I could get my hands on. When I was kinder 1 in poveda, I remember reading storybooks while my classmates were at the playground. My mom taught us early and thus we developed the love for reading. I remember also poring through each volume of Childcraft and memorizing my Why? book. Second, it really is proven that early reading supports a child's progress in the big schools later on. As a preschool teacher, of course I have to think of what is developmentally-appropriate for Caelum (because reading at 3 is definitely not, according to DAP standards). My directress would be scolding me if she learned I was having daily lessons with Caelum using a teacher-directed (!) and non- hands-on (gasp!) method. ;)

BUT:

1. Caelum learned the alphabet through a song and a poster on the wall from Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (without formal instruction) at 24 months
2. He knows all his letter sounds already
3. He's progressing well and can now read some CVC words!

So at the moment, we are on lesson 17 and he can read sentences such as: "see me eat". Of course his attention wanders and he prefers to be the teacher rather than the student. He looks forward to these lessons somehow and likes our one on one time. Personally, I think this is an excellent book, it takes on reading phonemically (which is the best way) and gradually builds on skills learned. There are times when I have to repeat lessons to get Caelum to master the tasks but overall, I would recommend this book.