Teach a Child to Read with Children's Books, by Mark B. Thogmartin

I found this book when my 12 year old was a baby, and loved it. I planned on using it to teach G, but the teaching style did not fit her learning style. Then I used it with L, who liked the reading part, but not the writing part.

Today I started using it with M and we are both excited. Here's the method in a nutshell. The parent picks at or above level reading books for the child to read. Then the parent picks a phonics pattern that is in the book to discuss with the child. The parent and the child list other words that have the same pattern. The child then writes a sentence using a word from the list.

There is a little bit of parent preparation, but I find it is worth it. The book includes easy-to-use record keeping and lesson plan forms. Also, there is a list of books arranged by reading level.

I only used it with L for about 3 months and he made tremendous progress. Then I just had him read books to me for his reading lesson.

We'll see how long I will use it with M. My next post will be her writing from the first lesson.