Top Ten Myths of Reading 7

Myth 7. Make the child perform.

Truth: Instead, have no control issues or power struggles. Use no anger or shame. Do not pressure the child to perform. Stay calm. Using force, punishment, or criticism is damaging. When the child wants to quit partway through the cards, then STOP. Pick it up later. Keep it fun.

Does this sound familiar? How many times as parents have we tried to help our kids with their homework or piano practice, only to have the whole thing end up in a fight? Your child screams, “That’s not the way my teacher did it!” You get frustrated when he won’t listen. Eventually one (or both) of you goes to your room and slams the door.

The Godfrey Method insists that you de-fuse this scenario before it starts. One of the cardinal rules is to have no control issues or power struggles. Never force the child to respond or perform. Learning at home should be fun and joyous. 

"But how?" you say. I make bonding-time fun and joyous while learning. At first, I present the phonics picture-letter cards from "A Funny Boy Was Prince River" to my child, saying the sound and then the accompanying word. I go through as many letters as my child wants. If s/he loses interest, we stop and pick it up again later.

After a few times of me saying the sounds and words, my child will start to say them after me or with me. A few times after that, my child will say them first before I do. It's really marvelous to see him/her light up with understanding!

Once a few letter-sounds are well known, I form small 3-letter words and show my child how to sound them out. I have whole lists of these words in the HELPS from previous blogs.

We sound out each letter separately, left to right. Next we say each letter-sound slowly while blending it into the next one (like a piano slur from one note to the next). Then we "say it fast!" The children love this, and after hearing me say the sounds slowly, in sequence, without a break or breath between, they can say it fast (recognize the word) all by themselves. They feel so smart!

Once my children can sound-out several small words, they are ready to move on to the phonics speling rules, which help them learn alternate sounds and be able to decode any new word properly. We do NOT guess by context. No, no, no.

Eighty percent of words follow these rules. The rest are Platypus words, and children find this concept easy to understand. Just have fun with it. Remember, Keep It Simple for Success (KISS your child).

http://thegodfreymethod.com