Reading to Mommy...

I have been trying to get things together and plan for our 2010-2011 year, so I have not been very diligent about Robbie's reading lessons. I figure that we have plenty of time to work through them when our school year starts (the day after Labor Day). He asks for lessons (and we do one or two per week), but mostly he is just reading some books, attempting to read others.

I've learned that he absorbs and retains phonics rules. It still amazes me. I've never had to remind him after the initial exposure that:

2 e's together say "eeeeeee"
ay says "aaaaaaaaa"
th says "th" (he even seems to intuit whether it should be a soft or hard "th" sound as he sounds out a new word)

His fluency fluctuates, which I expect.... but it is also the reason I've decided not to use Progressive Phonics. We gave it a whirl, but neither of us like the choppiness of me reading most of the "stories" and Robbie reading the occasional word. He got bored with this. He prefers phrases and short sentences.

He is loving the "I See Sam" books and would be flying through them if I didn't have my rules. He needs to read a book a minimum of 3 times, interspersed with other books, over a period of a few weeks. This usually helps with his confidence and his fluency while ensuring that he is not simply reciting the books from memory.

Lately, he's been trying to read every bit of print he sees anywhere in our home or out and about. I can't wait until our new school year starts because I know we'll both have so much fun. I'd start now, but I haven't quite finished my plans... yet.