Memorizing, not reading

[WWMama]

My oldest (will be five in March) is way into learning to read, knows all his letters, the sounds, putting the sounds together and is starting to read simple books. Here is the problem. Once he reads a book once or hears a book once, the kid has it memorized. And so the second time he goes through it, its totally obvious to me that he's not reading, he's just regurgitating the story that he remembers, word for word. (don't ask me where the incredible memory came from, because I certainly don't have it!) How in the world do you work on learning to read actual words on the page with a kid who memorizes the book that quickly? I obviously want him to be paying attention to the letters and words, not just playing things back to me. We do lots of flashcards (without pictures, obviously) and that works great, but as soon as we move to a story format or anything that would be "the same" the second time, we run into these issues? Do I just need to invest in a WHOLE BUNCH of different books so we aren't reading the same thing ever in the span of a couple weeks? Thanks in advance for your help!

Amy

[Jazzy]

Maybe you could make word lists and have him read those for practice. Or have him read words you write on a dry erase board.

Other than that, he probably just needs more time. It was hard teaching my oldest to read because I didn't understand the progression. He may just need more time before he moves to the next stage of actually reading books. One day your son will just take off with it and you'll wonder what all the worry was about.

[Theodore]

Go to the library, there will probably be piles of books in his reading level. Take out as many as you can and cycle them

[WWMama]

Thanks for the suggestions. I started to wonder if I was doing something wrong, like the wrong progression or whatever, but I don't know. If you make him slow down and actually read the words, then he does it. He would rather just do it as fast as he can from memory. So who knows. Theodore, I think you're right. I think I'm going to cycle through as many books as I can. Thanks.

[Ramona]

[WWMama]

[Ramona]

[Lauxa]

I think just going to the library a lot is the key. I remember getting about 20 books a week from the library when I was younger. I really liked series books... the Little Miss series, the Letter Box series, Clifford, Curious George... anything that follows a similar structure and style from book to book. It sounds like at this point he can read and your challenge shifts from how to teach reading to how to keep new and interesting material on hand.

[Shari Nielsen]

I agree w/ going to the library and taking out different books each time so he can't memorize the stories.

You can also check out different sites on the web. Try www.starfall.com. Make a powerpoint of different words that he may see in the stories that he already knows and flash those by him to see if he really knows the words.

[Decrease]

I love the library idea but here is a suggestion that my music teacher told me before.

She was a progeny in music and when she heard a piece once, she could immediately play it back without ever seeing the sheet music again. Her music teacher then would have her play the piece correctly once and then the second time her teacher would make her play it backwards. It didn't make for great music but for a great lesson in reading music.

[Mathmom]

Dear WWMama,
You wrote: "
My oldest (will be five in March) is way into learning to read, knows all his letters, the sounds, putting the sounds together and is starting to read simple books. "


IMHO, learning to read is like a big puzzle. There are many pieces to be put together. When your child is ready, he will read. If something you are doing, or that you try works, let him do it. If he doesn't like something that you try, get rid of it. The goal should be for him to enjoy reading. I like to think that learning to read is a mystery. We can describe all the parts--phonics and recognizing words, and all that. I think it is tedious to young children. Be patient, and show him that you enjoy reading and the rest will come naturally.


p.s. You don't need to buy too many books. Kids love going to the library and checking out books. Let him know he can check out his favorites again. It works well to let them pick out their own books. My 2 yr old is picking out her own books.