I can read!

A few months ago when Grandma Carol was here she remarked to me that she had a feeling I was going to have a hard time homeschooling Noah because he wasn't very open to instruction. I had noticed this too and shared her concern. We had tried talking to him about letters and the sounds they make (and other things) but he just got this weird look on his face and tuned out.

My sisters-in-law Laura and Tina have been telling me about these LeapFrog DVDs that their children just loved to watch. It really helped them learn their letters and the sounds they make. I admit I was very resistant to this idea because I'm not a big fan of children watching videos. But finally I got the first in the series, LeapFrog Letter Factory. Noah and Claire LOVED it and w/i 3 or 4 days (one viewing per day) both were learning their sounds. We eventually moved on to LeapFrog Talking Words Factory 1 and 2.

Well, that was all Noah needed. They both have been very interested in letters and we've been working w/ Noah on sounding out words. Tina lent me her book "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and I have been working w/ Noah from that. It is painfully repetitive, so we mainly just read the words it has to sound out and the little stories w/ pictures it has. It introduces one letter/sound at a time so that is good review for him. So far he is doing very well, wanting to cover 3 or 4 lessons at a sitting. He asks to do the "book w/ the sounds". I am so happy that he is eager to learn! I think he enjoys the extra one-on-one time w/ me as well.