Favourite Learning to Read Tools!

I was looking back over some posts being a little nostalgic and came across a previous post I wrote about us abandoning phonics. Well we didn't abandon it completely, but I found this fantastic book called 'Teach your child To Read in 100 easy lessons', you can read that post here. 

I cannot praise this book enough, I believe this book transformed the twins reading progression and helped them become the good little book readers that they are, it also helped them with their writing, I cannot believe it has been three years since we were on that book.

I love looking back on some of the posts I have written over the past few years, it is lovely to see the progression that the kids are going through. I was apprehensive when I started this blog, but I am so very happy that I did now, the memories put smiles on my face, the moans and groans I used to get while we used the 'Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons', I can hear myself saying to them "Yes but it's working, lets stick it out a while longer"... 

They actually agreed with me and although the twins found it a tad monotonous, it was working, they could tell it was, so even they too wanted to 'stick it out'.

That was a good decision from all of us, I feel. If I had to choose two favourite tools that I have used with the twins on our educational Journey so far, I have to say this book 'Teach your child to read in 100 Easy Lessons' and reading eggs have to be my absolute favourites, you can grab your copy from ebay here, there are some really good priced used ones on ebay or sign up to reading eggs below.(click on the reading eggs Free Trial).

Although I do believe that by limiting the twins screen time and concentrating more on physical books instead of electronic devices has helped them no end.

Focusing on using two methods, electronic device and books has given them a love of reading that I never had as a child, well not until I was an older child, it was not until about the age of 10 that I started to pick up a book of my own accord and enjoy reading just for the sake of it.

It is really lovely when the twins ask me to get a certain book, they now have a growing wish list of books they want to read!.


If you want to see some of the books we have read take a look at our Book of the week list. If you have any books you would like to suggest and think we will enjoy then please feel free to leave me a comment on the book of the week list comments thread.

Book of the week - Where the Sidewalk Ends

We fell across this book by accident while looking for poetry inspiration for our infrastructure project, the poem we came across contained in the book is called 'Where the Sidewalk ends', (see Infrastructure roads poetry).

The poem is an adult poem, one of very few adult poems in this book, the rest are all silly children's poems, for instance my favourite one is 'A Running Giraffe'. because it is funny and imaginative and makes you laugh out loud.

The book is funny and full of creative and imagery flair, not only is it entertaining for the adult kids but also entertaining for the smaller kids too.

When the book arrived I read a couple of the Poems out loud to myself and the kids overheard and came running to listen to more, giggling along to each poem.

When I had finished I put the book down on the table to make a coffee, only to come back with Oliver eagerly reading away to himself. Bingo, what a great book, it must be to have inspired Oliver enough to pick it up.

The bonus to this book  is that Shel Silverstein has a great educational website to go along with his poems, packed with fun and games.

I purchased my copy of the book on ebay (click through here) as it was the cheapest place I could find to buy it, used of course but still in great condition.

This book brings laughter and smiles all round, inspirational enough to spend the rest of the day making up silly poems after reading it.

Shel Silverstein was one of those authors that broke the rules not just with his grammar but in life too, as before he wrote the children's books he wrote for Play boy and rubbed shoulders with Hugh Hefner.

Here is a little bit about his history..

The surprisingly sex filled life of Shel Silverstein

Despite his controversial lifestyle and works, he should be on every households book shelf, he was an award winning, witty, cheeky and mischievous, artistically talented and not afraid to challenge boundaries.

Shel Silverstein has many works available I think there are about 11 children's books that he produced and they are classed as classics and they can be purchased on eBay (click here), it has been said these books shaped many a child's growing up years and continue to inspire the next generation of poets.

I will certainly be having a rummage through the eBay listings and seeing what I can lay my hands on, Shel Silverstein has definitely earned a place on our bookshelf!.

I am so very grateful to our 'infrastructure Project' as although not really related, we would never have discovered Shel Silverstein without it.

Infastructure - Roads - Poetry

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends. 

The kids liked this poem, we discussed the language used and looked at the theme of colour used in the poem to make descriptions, such as 'the grass grows soft and white', Oliver decided the poet was describing diseased grass and coupled with the line 'Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black and the dark street winds and bends', Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow,  the poet must be describing a place that produces the asphalt for the roads to be constructed hence the description of Asphalt flowers, the asphalt flowers being a metaphor for a description of no flowers just asphalt. where flowers should have been before mining. and the feeling that we get from the poem is that people just wanted to leave that grim mine.

The kids were very observant whilst looking at the poem and came up with the conclusion the poet was American, because of their use of the word 'Sidewalk', they also decided that the use of colour within  the poem was a great way to use rhetorical metaphors.

We then decided to go and look at what other people were saying about the poem and see what analysis others came up with.

We found that we where way off the mark in our observations about the poem, we were looking at it in a literal sense, but we were right with a couple of things those were the fact poet is American and the use of metaphors and rhetoric within the poem. It turns out the poem is about children's imaginations and how far away adults are with their imaginations, essentially telling adults to go to the place where the children know, for adults to see the world like a child, to find the joy in life that children have.

The poet in this instance is using descriptions referencing a state of mind rather than in a literal sense.

This was a great lesson in Rhetoric and Metaphors.

It always surprises me how engaged the kids get with this kind of thing, they really enjoy learning about the use of language.

There is a mission on now for them to come up with a poem of their own we have also purchased the book to have a look at his other poems, the book is aptly entitled 'Where the Sidewalk Ends' by Shel Silverstein.(click through to purchase from ebay)

Shel Silverstein also has some great educational resources to go with his writings (click here) there are games, puzzles, audio's and printable on his website for you to explore, with a wonderful poetry workshop downloadable kit, the kids are using this to help them come up with a poem of their own.

Encouraging a love of reading in children: Raising Kids Who Read.

I recently read this book called Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents and Teachers can do by Daniel T Willingham. > You can buy it here <

The book provides practical solutions for cultivating a love of reading that lasts into adulthood.

For me it is important that the kids love reading, our house is full of books and we spend a lot of time reading books, the kids love reading, especially Oliver.

This book resonated with me as some of the techniques he talks about I have done with the twins and I can tell you categorically that it works.

The science-based approach in Raising Kids Who Read applies to kids of all ages.

Education expert Daniel T. Willingham's Research-based, concrete suggestions to aid teachers and parents in promoting reading as a hobby Age-specific tips for developing decoding ability, comprehension, and motivation in kids from birth through adolescence Information on helping kids with dyslexia and encouraging reading in the digital age Debunking the myths about reading education,

In the book William's suggests to parents to not just give commands, but ask a lot of questions to show that the purpose of language is to acquire new knowledge, not just communicating one's own wishes. 

There are many familiar ideas that I have always put into practice such as family reading time, having lots of books accessible around the house, using silly voices and changing names, letting the children choose their own books,  magazine subscriptions. For us it was the Free Lego Life magazine which they love, this is for children aged between 5-9 years old and they receive 5 copies a year, my two love the arrival through the door of their Lego magazine > FREE LEGO MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION <

This is not a book about teaching reading, but about trying to create reading habits, it is an informative, smart, and yet simple book!...