Home Early Learning Play School (HELPS) now available

Hey Moms! All the activities from the series, It's Not Rocket Surgery! for early reading the right way, are now published together in one place! Home Early Learning Play School (HELPS) is here: http://www.amazon.com/Home-Early-Learning-Play-School/dp/150789404X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423921195&sr=1-1&keywords=Shannah+B+Godfrey

So, you've used A Funny Boy Was Prince River with your child, who now knows all the beginning phonics sounds, but you wonder what to do next? All of the Home Early Learning Play School (HELPS) activities, each previously found at the end of each volume of It's Not Rocket Surgery! by Shannah B Godfrey, are now together in one book.

This amazing book has each of the spelling rules presented in fun activities that help your child understand phonics, how to decode words, and become an excellent, confident reader!

You'll also find the answers to all of The Godfrey Method mottos:

Early reading the right way.

Keep It Simple for Success (KISS your child) with The Godfrey Method.

Learn how to overcome the Top Ten Myths of reading.

Dress your child's mind for success.

Reading is hearing with your eyes - phonics, phonics, phonics!

The two most crucial things kids need, quality parent-time and excellent reading skills, together.

Nurture your child's nature and notions.

Dyslexia is induced - it's the disease you get from sight-reading.

"No Child Left Behind" has become All Children Left Behind.

Just say NO to Common Core!

How to put your children on the launch pad of life and watch them soar!

http://thegodfreymethod.com/content/HomeEarlyLearningPlaySchoolHELPSarenowallinoneplace 

10 ways to nurture your young child's gifts

Every child is a unique. What are the best ways for you to nurture your young child's gifts?

         First and foremost, NEVER teach your baby to read by sight-words. This will only hinder his/her capabilities later in life. Use true phonics by direct instruction, starting with The Godfrey Method books like A Funny Boy Was Prince River.

        Some children learn more quickly than others due to genetic and/or environmental factors, mixed with personal motivation. Whether a child is noticeably gifted or not, his parents can still enhance learning and give him an advantage in school.

        Parents can put too much pressure on children to perform, and they can put too little pressure on them. The best way for a parent to enhance a child's learning is to provide a stimulating learning environment without forcing a young child to learn. One of the most important steps is to use flash cards (and other teaching methods) only while the child is interested. When the child is ready to stop, you stop. Never try to force the child to finish the whole alphabet in one sitting. Later, you can pick up where you left off.

        Learning should be adult-guided wherever possible. Children learn best by answering (and asking) questions, and adults do best by guiding those leads along with the lesson plan. (Home learning is important, even in conjunction with other school attendance.) Yes, it's important to regularly introduce the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic, music, and art, by direct instruction, but if the child is interested in tigers, then study books about tigers to introduce language arts. Go to the zoo together.

        Children's brains need some rest time. They need a break between school and homework. They need a break between school and tutoring. The goal is to have a child who loves learning and knowledge of all kinds. Too much pressure can backfire, causing a child to hate reading, math, or other areas. Do you want a child who can get good grades but can't actually think or analyze for himself?

        To maintain a balance between encouragement and pressure, keep your motivators positive. Give rewards for achievements, not punishments for failures. If a child is not achieving to his ability, look for the root cause. Is there quiet time provided at home for homework? Do the parents read a lot, themselves? Be a good example. Turn off the TV and the games and have quiet time (we do this at 7:00 p.m. each evening). 

        Understand that different children learn differently (see Vol. 8 of my book, It's Not Rocket Surgery!). Try new approaches. Whatever the goal, we parents have to remain calm and not get into a power struggle with the child. This is extremely important. Don't make learning a chore that kills the love of learning. The goal is true knowledge, not just the ability to ace a test. Maintaining a balance between encouragement and pressure requires consistency and variety, simultaneously. No easy feat!

        Regularly work on the basics and occasionally introduce a little variety for fun. Do family field trips. Point out science and art in nature around you. Teach fractions and chemistry with cooking projects. Use Cuisenaire rods (way cool) for hands-on fractions and math. But never, never call a child lazy nor link his core character to grades and homework. Trying to motivate children to excel without putting too much pressure on them can be a balancing act. But so worth it!

        Sometimes success comes from practice, practice, practice, which children can hate. The old saying, ‘Practice makes perfect,’ is true in anything - math, music, art, sports, reading, etc. Some children are self-motivated to practice, especially the things they love, and some aren't. Find positive ways to motivate your child.

        When your child doesn't want to practice the piano or do homework, set the kitchen timer for 15 - 30 minutes and have a race to see how much s/he can get done. Offer a reward for focusing on the task until the timer dings. Achieving little bits here and there add up and make a good compromise.

        Another idea is to allow the child to do a pleasing activity after doing an unpleasant one. Something we have done is to have "TV bucks." We printed fake TV dollars and laminated them. For every hour that my child reads, I give her one TV buck. Then when she wants to watch TV or play a video game, she has to pay me a TV buck for each hour's worth. This keeps the reading time up and the TV/game time down, and links them together as a reward for good effort. (Or you can keep track of reading time vs. TV time in a notebook.)

        And finally, when your child fails at something, put your arm around him or her and say only positive encouragement. True self-esteem comes from accomplishment, but "you don't have to win every battle to win the war". Being gifted comes from internal motivation, so watch and see what excites your child and develop those areas, without excessive force. There are many hands-on ideas to try in Vol. 1 of It's Not Rocket Surgery! for young children, so I won’t repeat them here.

        Remember, being gifted is a combination of your child’s genetics, environment, and attitude. As the Serenity prayer says, "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference!"

        Yes, it is possible to raise bright, gifted, and genius children in a happy environment.

        I must thank one of my readers, Mr. Pavel Ryzlovsky, for helping my research on Project Follow Through and the Whole Language mess (see Vol. 4, 5, & 6). In response to my articles on www.examiner.com he commented:

“Dear Ms. Godfrey,

        “I must say that, over years, I have been reading all those prizes for the "Whole Language method of reading" in disbelief, and I patiently waited for the moment someone would start debunking the myth it was constructed upon.

        “I can tell you that the method* you justifiably exposed has also been called to assist promotion of the same sort as reading in instrumental music teaching, and so it's been doing considerable damage there, too.

        “Thank you, and I sincerely hope that your article makes the whole mountain of wrong teaching and poor reading shake. All the best to you.”

        So I sent him Cathy Froggatt’s wonderful article, Whole Language at the Fork in the Road,  http://www.nrrf.org/satire_WL_at_Fork.html. His second reply was:

“ Dear Ms. Godfrey,

        “Thank you kindly for sharing this story with me, it's a really good satire. I would like to add that, with the whole population's silent participation, we have already accumulated several obstacles to good-quality language teaching. The other one I see that will need to be tackled is our adherence to student-oriented learning.

        “I remember reading of a study which was conveyed to determine what sort of language-teaching system has been the most effective one. This study was unprecedented in its scope (and was done at an unprecedented cost of some $10mln) [even more]. It found that teacher-oriented education has been consistently bringing the best results, in every aspect several times better than the student-oriented type.

        “The outcome of the study was disseminated among the teaching districts throughout USA; however, only one tenth of their total number embraced the teacher-oriented system; in other districts both parents and teachers refused it as "too demanding" (for children and teachers).

        “The sooner we recognize what's wrong at the roots of our approaches the better. We have a long way to go to get out of the trouble we put ourselves into. Regards, Pavel.”

        I researched and found the study to be PFT. Later, Pavel sent me the link to Don Potter’s website, http://www.donpotter.net/ed.htm, full of the wonderful writings of Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld and others. Thank you, Mr. Ryzlovsky. There are many of us crying that the emperor (whole language and sight-reading) has no clothes!

        *And, thanks to Glynne Sutcliffe for leading me to Laurie Rogers’ website, http://betrayed-whyeducationisfailing.blogspot.com, which shows how the same faulty method has been used in “reform” math, causing even more damage. Also see her http://www.saferchild.org.

        There is a marvelous resource called, “Are You Willing to Try Something at Home?” from Davis County, Utah, Spectrum Gifted Program. It gives parents ideas of things to do with their children that are fun learning activities. It is broken up into sections that help a child’s mind learn to solve problems:

Divergent thinking (all the possibilities)
Convergent thinking (selecting choices)
Planning
Evaluation
Decision making
Creativity
Forecasting
Communication

        The materials in this workbook give parents ways to help their children develop these skills to become good problem-solvers in life. I noticed that they’ve changed the name to Davis Enhanced Education Programs (DEEP, formerly Gifted and Talented Programs). http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/213810114132536240/site/default.asp. Contact them for a copy of “Are You Willing to Try Something at Home?” at 801-402-5140 (FAX 801-402-5333), or Sheri Sauvé, Supervisor, and Jayne Barkdull, Administrative Assistant, atjbarkdull@dsdmail.net

The district website offers two documents: Depth, Complexity, and Higher-Order Thinking and Strategies for Advanced Learners. Take a look!

        One day the realization hit me that being gifted is just that – a gift. I didn’t personally do anything to get a great memory and logic, it was given to me by God and nature. It may have been genetically passed on to me from my parents, which is still a gift. I had nothing to be arrogant about because my giftedness wasn’t a personal accomplishment, just a gift.

        What if my mother had taken antihistamines at the wrong time in pregnancy? What if oxygen had been deprived during my delivery? What if I had been dropped on my head as an infant? Then I wouldn’t be gifted, I would be handicapped.

        What if my father hadn’t taught me to read by phonics at age three? Hadn’t nurtured my gift? So I learned gratitude for my gift, plus a realization that others had different types of gifts to be appreciated. I think it is important to help our children be humble about their giftedness, not arrogant. It is called a gift for a reason. Use it for good things in this world. One of the best ways to help children learn to use their gifts unselfishly is by serving their fellow man, helping make the world a better place in their corner.

        As discussed in a previous blog article, being gifted is a combination of genetics (nature), environment (nurture), and attitude (the child's own viewpoint and choices). It’s not all genetic. I like to say, “Intelligence is one-part nature, one-part nurture, and one-part inner motivation.” There are many different kinds of gifts and talents, and each should be encouraged and celebrated. Not all are academic.

http://thegodfreymethod.com/content/StarLightStarBrightHowtonurtureyourchildsgift

10 Top reading myths

The top ten myths of reading are a pet peeve of mine.

Let me debunk the myths and show you the right way to do it easily and well.

(These were also listed as part of the Spy Code Book in the appendix of It's Not Rocket Surgery! Vol. 1, “Catching Humpty Dumpty.”)

        Traditional ways of learning aren't always the best, and don't work for many kids. Most of us make these reading mistakes. The truth seems counter-intuitive at first. Teaching phonics early the right way brings out a child's imagination and opens the world of possibilities for the future.

        Myth 1. Teach the letter names, like in the alphabet song.

Truth: Instead, teach only the letter sounds. Do NOT teach the letter names. It is confusing to young children that the letter name u (you) doesn't say the sound "y" (yuh), the letter name y (why) doesn't say the sound "w" (wuh), and the letter name w (double-you) doesn't say the sound "d" (duh). Teach only one sound per letter to start, the sound given in the picture. Children easily pick up the alternate sounds and the letter names later. Keep it Simple for Success (KISS your child) with TGM.

        Myth 2. Teach the capital letters.

Truth: Instead, teach only the lower case letters, at first. They are the most common in written language. Children easily pick up the capital letters later, too. Again, Keep it Simple for Success.

        Myth 3. Wait until the child is older, can talk, etc.

Truth: Instead, start my phonics as young as 18-24 months old. The Godfrey Method picture-letter phonics cards can and should be used with young children and preschoolers. The earlier their minds are stimulated, the better. Don’t worry if a small child can’t say some sounds yet like, k, g, l, or r. S/he will still understand the phonics cards, and will improve pronunciation with time.
        This will also help prevent dyslexia, since speech problems are a precursor of it. It’s best to teach the picture-letter phonics cards before kindergarten, but they can help older children come up to speed, too. The Godfrey Method picture-letter cards can be found in the appendix. An enchanting, colorful version can be found in my books, A Funny Boy Was Prince River.

        Myth 4. Teach sight words.

Truth: Instead, teach only by sounding out words. Phonics structure the brain properly for maximum reading capability. Phonics actually heals the dyslexic brain. I have never met a phonics reader who couldn't sight-read, but have met plenty of adult sight-readers who couldn't decode an unfamiliar word. They get embarrassed and must guess.

Teaching children to guess based on context is one of the worst practices in schools. About 80% of English words are phonetic and follow the spelling rules for sounding-out, with about 20% of words having to be memorized.

We call the words that don’t follow the rules, ‘Platypus Words’. Platypus animals have features that don’t follow the normal rules of taxonomy. When explained, children understand this concept very quickly when they begin reading. There is a list of beginning-platypus sight-words in the appendix.

        Myth 5. Finish the whole alphabet before making words.

Truth: Instead, start making small words with known letters as soon as possible. Children don't have to know all 26 letter sounds to start blending some together. Try making simple 2- or 3-letter words as soon as possible. There is a wonderful beginning-word list in the appendix.

        Myth 6. The schools will do it.

Truth: Parents may not be spending enough time with the child one-on-one. Instead, parents must spend quality time teaching phonics to their kids. You must spend such time with your children for their best progress and growth. Children who can read before kindergarten feel much more confident in school and are happier. Use the picture-letter phonics cards as often as possible. The minimal amount for success is about once a week. Much more is recommended, even daily if desired.

        Myth 7. Make the child respond or reply.

Truth: Never use force, punishment, or criticism. Instead, have no control issues or power struggles. Use no anger or shame. Do not pressure the child to perform. Stay calm. When the child wants to stop, then STOP. Pick it up later. At first, go through all the cards aloud without expecting the child to repeat after you. When s/he is ready, s/he will repeat after you on his/her own. Eventually s/he will say the sounds and words without your help. Keep it fun.

        Myth 8. Use baby talk or simple words only.

Truth: Instead, raise your kid's vocabulary by using normal language. The picture-letter cards in A Funny Boy Was Prince River and accompanying story will increase a child's vocabulary. A two-year-old will not know what a quail or a yak is. S/he learns about them as you say them. Take every opportunity to reinforce and point them out on television, in a magazine, at the zoo, or in the countryside.

        Myth 9. Reading is just a mental activity.

Truth: Touch and other senses should also be used with reading. Instead, use tactile or kinesthetic teaching and have the child touch and trace each letter. On the picture-letter phonics cards, you touch your finger on the card under the letter on the left and say the sound, then touch under the picture on the right and say the word of the picture. Example: (as you move your finger from left to right) say, "ă, apple." Later let your child touch them.

        Myth 10. Let the child ‘discover’ reading.

Truth: This is not teaching the right way (as proven by PFT in Chapter 5). Instead, follow The Godfrey Method exactly as found in the book, A Funny Boy Was Prince River. The unique PICTURE-LETTERS are the first part of making phonics connect with a child (which squiggly line makes which sound). Each card has a letter and a picture, made from the letter shape, which begins with the proper letter sound. The second part is the WAY they are taught, which is just as important. Then follow-up with the rest of the HELPS in It’s Not Rocket Surgery!

        I would love to hear your success stories. If you have questions or comments, please contact me at shannahbgodfrey@gmail.com

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/head-start-10-top-myths-reading

11 ideas for early math the right way

A Good Foundation - Early math the right way

      An early math skills foundation is almost as important as early reading. It’s definitely the runner-up in priority. The maths and sciences increase our ability to think of various possibilities to solve problems in all areas of life. And the foundation of maths and sciences is good reading ability.

      The best way to develop a mathematical mind is with patterning. Helping a child see patterns in the world around her is the first step in understanding spatial and time relationships, very important to math reasoning. 

      And the best way to ensure that your child can develop to his/her full potential is to start early to provide fun learning experiences. Here are some ideas for creating a child’s stimulating environment.

1.       An easy way to do this is to have your preschooler sort the silverware from the dishwasher, as discussed below.
2.       Making repeating patterns with building blocks or colored paper, paint, or crayons are also good ways to develop patterning ability.  
3.       As a parent, you can limit the mess without limiting your child's need to explore by providing bottom drawers in the kitchen full of accessible stuff to play with. Clear, plastic tubs can work, too. Children usually prefer real-life things over toys, and can tell the difference.
4.       Let your child help you sort silverware from the dishwasher, which is also good for her math and reading brain development. Place clean silverware onto a clean table, and have your child sort piles of forks, spoons, and butter knives (no sharp knives), as well as small and large spoons, etc. Then he can help put them into the proper slots in the drawer.
5.       Have play-crawling time, even with older children. Those who crawl more often do better in math and reading, as the Montessori schools found out years ago. Having play time to chase each other while crawling around the house is a great way to link the physical body's spatial and timing relationships with the brain through hand-eye-leg coordination, thus increasing learning capability.
6.       It's a good idea for parents to allow these kinds of play time at least once a week, if not every day. Children who learn spatial relations and patterns in the world around them usually do much better with the academics of reading, math, and science, as well as the artistic talents. Spatial and time relationships are intricately linked with our brain's ability to understand the patterns of numbers, phonics, and words.
7.       Besides patterning, a child needs to learn what numbers mean, such as the proper amount of dots next to each number. Playing non-gambling games with dice is a good way to start.
8.       With youngsters, I also play ‘Go Fish’ with playing cards, which have the number and its amount of hearts (spades, diamonds, or clubs) on each card. Rook cards and Uno cards don’t do this.
9.       When learning addition and subtraction, I also show my kids a number line that goes into infinity in the positive direction (shown with an arrow), and into infinity in the negative direction (shown with an arrow in the opposite direction), starting in the middle at zero, going both ways, to the right and to the left. It starts to prepare their minds for the idea of negative numbers, like being in debt. Or like digging holes versus building mounds.
10.       Playing with money and money values are also great games for math development.
11.       Calendars are another way to teach math skills, believe it or not. Besides learning the months, children learn the repeating patterns of days, weeks, months, and years. I always make my year-long, learning-calendars in a circle for maximum patterning. See the example below.

              A circle calendar looks like a pie, and it’s easier to show a half-year, quarter-year, and the continuous nature going from December to January of the next year. It also shows which months are exactly six months apart, which is handy and very visual. In this way, my calendar is introducing simple geometry ideas, too.

      Pictures taken from http://www.abcteach.com/directory/teaching_extras/calendars

 

                       Months of the Year Calendar

It’s also possible to show the continuity of days in a week shaped as a circle. See figure below.       

      Pictures taken from TGM books: "A Funny Boy Was Prince River", "A Sunny Kid Was Prince River", and "A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette".

 

                        Days of the Week Calendar

(Just for fun:)

Monday's child is fair of face,

Tuesday's child is full of grace,

Wednesday's child is full of woe,

Thursday's child has far to go,

Friday's child is loving and giving,

Saturday's child works hard for a living,

But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day

Is bonny, blithe, good, and happy.†

†[I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 309-10.]

      Give your children every possible advantage to be their very best selves by exposing them to many wholesome experiences and, without excessive pressure, motivating them to achieve. There are many different types of intelligence that deserve recognition and expression.

More about learning math the right way is discussed in Volume 10 of It's Not Rocket Surgery!      

      Without these preventatives, the cracks in your child may be math incompetency, low self-esteem, caught in the downward educational trend, lower IQ, slower learning capacity, and/or poor decision-making skills. You are the key. It’s not rocket surgery!

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/good-foundation-11-ideas-early-math-right-way

Top Ten Myths of Reading 4

Myth 4. Teach sight-words.

Truth: Instead, teach only by sounding-out words. Phonics structure the brain properly for maximum, efficient reading capability. Phonics heals the dyslexic brain.

My illustrator Leah Shingleton says, “I have never met a phonics-learner who couldn’t sight-read, but I have met plenty of sight-readers who don’t know how to decode an unfamiliar word. As adults they must often guess and feel embarrassed.” This sad scenario can be prevented by teaching children to read early the right way.

My co-worker Dave was taught to read by the sight-reading method back in the 1940s-50s by the old ‘Look Dick, See Jane’ method. He can read functionally but always wrestles with new words.

Learning to read by memorizing the shapes of words is confusing, like trying to memorize thousands of hieroglyphics. NEVER do this:

Teaching children to guess based on context is one of the worst practices in schools and lowers self-esteem. Later, sight-reading will naturally follow sounding-out the words, but should NEVER be first.

The educational system has been going backwards for several decades, now. Many schools teach sight-reading in kindergarten. Several commercial early-reading programs are also based on sight-reading. If your baby can read by sight-reading now, he probably will struggle with reading as an adult.

Sight-reading has many names, like Whole Language. Don't be fooled. It can trigger dyslexia, too.
If you want your children to be their best, keep them away from the Whole Language method of reading. I focus on phonics often in my columns, and there is a very important reason for this. Successful children know how to read well- it is the foundation of everything else- and that is impossible with the Whole Language method. Why, you ask?

The Whole Language dogma is a pernicious propaganda that has nearly destroyed reading ability in all the English speaking countries; not just the in United States, but it also invaded the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and possibly New Zealand. What surprises me is that the governments, universities, and public school administrators turned a deaf ear to those proclaiming that this emperor has no clothes.

(Of course, the children of the government elite attend private schools where proper phonics is taught.)

The Whole Language fiasco* convinced leaders and teachers that phonics was low-level sub-skills. It indoctrinated them to think that explicit, systematic phonics was lower-order thinking. This is completely the opposite of the truth, but several nations swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. Is there a purposeful, dumbing-down of future voters, here?

What the Whole Language doctrine put in place of intelligent phonics was a system of ‘natural’ learning (we know that even though language is natural to humans, but reading is not. It must be taught). Whole Language taught a ‘cueing system’ where looking at the context of the sentence helped the child guess at the unknown word. Yes, it said guess. What a slow, frustrating, error-filled process.

There is no more damaging method that guessing. My son is a perfectionist. If he guessed wrongly, he would be distraught, give up, and his self-esteem would suffer deeply. Luckily, his mother taught him phonics early and right.

Then Whole Language goes on to say that children can get others to help them guess, called cooperative learning. They ask the question, ‘What would make sense, here?’ They see what letter the word started with and how long it was, and guess at possibilities from the limited words that they learned by sight-reading. How horrible! And it doesn’t help them with isolated words, such as signs, where there are no pictures, clues, contexts or cooperative partners. The children are confounded and confused. Basically, a Whole Language reader is still illiterate.

True comprehension and 'meaning-making' come from decoding a word properly by phonics, getting it right in a short amount of time, knowing what it is, and knowing the rest of the sentence words with confidence. Not from guessing.

Take a look at spelling bees. Most winners of spelling bees spell by phonics. They are able to hear the sounds in the words and take them apart. They can build words from root words, adding prefixes and suffixes, so they can also deconstruct them for spelling. Phonics makes it easier to remember which spelling goes with which homonym, too. These children don’t have to memorize thousands of sight words.

They have been able to make sense of words on a foundation of phonics rules, and can decode new words, with only about 42 sounds. That is just sheer genius. It is higher-order thinking. It even makes it easier to remember irregular spellings.

Have you or your children ever taken piano lessons? Students are taught each note’s name, sound, place on the piano and in the musical staff, individually before putting them together into chords, measures, and complete songs. Once those are mastered, they can move on to more complex pieces and learn to add nuances to the music with soft and loud, slow and fast, slurring or staccato, etc.
Wouldn’t it be ridiculous to learn piano the Whole Language way? The piano student would have to learn whole songs by sight, guess through context, cooperation, comprehension, and meaning-making. How many whole songs can a child memorize by sight? Not many. But any student who has a foundation of individual notes can build up to any and every tune out there. It is the same with phonics and reading.

*Whole Language at the Fork in the Road, Cathy Froggatt, Former NRRF North Carolina Director, Right to Read Report, February 1998

http://www.thegodfreymethod.com/blog/top-ten-myths-reading-myth-4

Tonya Fullencamp's ("The Kids Did It") review of Pretty Bette

Check out Tonya Fullencamp's ("The Kids Did It") review of Pretty Bette at http://thekidsdidit.com/2012/12/the-godfrey-method-review-and-sweepstakes-holiday-gift-guide.html 

The Godfrey Method Review and Sweepstakes {Holiday Gift Guide}

DECEMBER 2, 2012 BY TONYA23 COMMENTS

My twins have apraxia of speech which means they have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words because their brain has problems planning to move the body parts for speech (lips, jaw, tongue). They know what they want to say, but their brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words/sounds. Which results in limited and difficult speech ability. Michael and Lucas (five-years-old) have been in speech therapy since they were two-years-old and they both have come a long way. They work hard every day and have tolerated me correcting them constantly for over three years now. It’s now time for them to learn to read and spell and I’ve been so nervous about teaching them the wrong way because I don’t want them to fall behind. It’s is also very common for children with apraxia of speech to have trouble learning to read and spell. When I was introduced to The Godfrey Method I was excited to see how well my boys did. I first watched a YouTube video which brought me to tears. I knew at then that it may be a long road teaching my boys to read but The Godfrey Method was going to help, and help make it fun.

The Godfrey Method was created by Shannah B Godfrey, mother of 14 children, who taught her children to read before kindergarten with this method of phonics. The Godfrey Method helps teach your children to read before kindergarten, or during in our case. The picture letters and colorful pages will help your child learn phonics faster and easier, prevents dyslexia and is teaches them to read the right way!

After working with my twins for a couple months we have made great progress and continue to love The Godfrey Method. Their favorite book “A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette” because the illustration is amazing and it helps them read by combining the letters and pictures. I’m anxious to order other products that The Godfrey Method offers. My two-years-old, Max, has also taken to this method and I am floored that he took to this so fast. He is not able to read just yet but he loves to try and he does well with the flash cards that come with the book. I cut and laminated the flash cards so they’ll last longer. We work with the boys more and more, making learning fun and easy makes me a cool mom. “A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette” is a great stocking stuffer for your little one or even a great gift for a friend with young children.

http://thegodfreymethod.com

Home Early Learning Play School (HELPS) 2

Home Early Learning Play School (HELPS) 2 - Spy Mission 2, Tools, Secret Codes, Code Book, & Reporting:

Action Plan 2: Sounding-out (reading) two- and three-letter words from the list. Discussing syllables and one-syllable words. Rhyming games. Blending sounds slowly, then say it fast! Start with a review of the previous sounds, then move ahead to new sound. Use magnetic letters in 3-dimensional shapes. Discuss directionality of letters. Making play-dough letters. Finding the next Secret Codes. See Code Rules 2 – 5. 

Use Phonics Charts 2 – 4.

Spy Game – The Secret Codes:
                Spy Mission 2: Discover what the words say and mean.

                You (child) are the world-famous spy, Cody Breaker! Your second mission is to sound out the letters for each word in the Phonics charts 2 – 4 in the appendix. Choose a word and say each sound separately, left to right. Then blend the sounds together slowly, left to right. Then say them fast! You have read a word. Have the Spy Chief (mom or dad) demonstrate how to do this with you. Have her explain the meaning of the word, if needed.

                Try at least 3 new words each day, or as many as you want until you’re ready to stop. Report to the Spy Chief regularly about what you have found (parents, avoid the temptation to show pictures with the words, since it is very important that your little spy does not learn to read by sight. Sight reading will come naturally later and should not be taught here.) Start finding words you can sound-out in the world around you.

Spy Tools:
                Spy Chief, start using The Godfrey Method phonics charts, found in the appendix, with your child. You can start introducing the words once your little spy knows some letter sounds. The words are written progressively, adding a new letter to each section, in alphabetical order. Introduce the Spy Code Rules 2 – 5 below, so that reading wires on the left side of your child’s brain where it belongs. Sight-readers and dyslexics wire on the right side, which causes problems later. We don’t want the child to become “prompt-dependent” on pictures of the words, and NEVER encourage your child to guess. The sounding out of word-letters individually, then together slowly, then together quickly! is very important to excellent reading skills.

The Spy Code Rules 2 – 5:

Spy Code Rule 2: One-vowel rule: when there is one vowel in a word, that vowel usually says its short sound. (Note: The Godfrey Method starts with the short sounds of a, i, o, & u, but uses long e because of rule 4 below and the words in the first phonics charts.)

Spy Code Rule 3: The ck rule: ck says ‘k’ and usually follows a short vowel.

Spy Code Rule 4: One-vowel exception rule: when e, o, or y is the only vowel at the end of a short word, it usually says its long sound (‘ē’, ‘ō’, or y ‘ī’).

Spy Code Rule 5: The l rule: when l comes at the end of a short-vowel word, it is usually doubled (tell, fill, bull).

Spy Code Book:
                The Spy Code Book is now the charts and rules found in the appendix, below. The Spy Chief must follow them for vital mission success. The rationale and tips for each point are given there.

Spy Reporting:
                Show your spy (child), Cody Breaker, how to report what s/he has found by writing the words s/he has learned so far. To truly understand the code, s/he must master writing the code him/herself. Practice two or three words each session, or more if the child desires. Use the Century Gothic font as your letter-shape guideline. For example, a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z is the easiest style to learn to write. Remember to print each letter in its left-to-right sequence, and in its proper bottom-to-top or top-to-bottom orientation, like cursive does, as explained in the Chapter 1 HELPS.

http://thegodfreymethod.com/blog/home-early-learning-play-school-helps-2

HELPS – Action plans – Spy Code Rules

Phonics Charts 2 – 4.

Phonics Chart 2: Small Words – Set 1       (Short Vowels ă, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ, except ē)

ă, b, c:            cab    

d:         add     bad     cad     dab     dad

ĕ:         be

f:          fab      fad

g:         bag     gab     gag

h:         had     hag     he

ĭ:          bib      bid      big      dib      did      dig      fib        fig        gig      hid       if

j:          jab      jag      jig

k:         kid

l:          gal      lab      lad      lag      lib        lid

m:        am      bam    cam    dim     ham    him      jam     mad    me      mid

n:         an       and     ban     bin       can     din       fan      fin        in         kin       man    nab

            nag     nib       nil

ŏ:         bob     bog     bon     cob     cod     cog     con     dog     don     fob      fog      gob

            hob     hog     job      jog      lob      log      mob    mod    mom   nod     on

p:         bop     cap     cop     dip      fop      gap     hip       hop     jip        kip       lap      lip

            lop      map    mop    nap     nip       pad     pal      pan     pig      pin       pod     pop

q:         (see the letter u)

r:          ear      rag      ram     ran      rib        rid        rig        rim       rip        rob      rod

s:          as        ask      asp      gas      has      his        ins        is          sad      sag      sap      sin

            sip       sir         sis        sob      sod      sop

t:          aft       at        bat      bit        cat      cot      dot      fat       fit         got      hat      hit

            hot      it          its         jot        kit        lit         lot        mat     not      nut      pat      pit

            pot      rat       rot       sat       sit         tab      tam     tan      tap      tat       tin        tip

            tog      top      tot       eat      tag      ant

ŭ:         bud     bug     bum    bun     bus      but      cub     cud     cup     cut      dub     dud

            dug     dun     fun      gum    gun     gut      hub     hug     hum    hut      jug       jut       

            lug       mud    mug    mum   nub     nun     pub     pug     pun     pup     quid    quip   

            quit     quiz     rub      run      rut       sub      sum     sun      sup      tub      tug                 

            um      up       us        tun      suds

v:         van     vat      vim

w:        wag    we      wig      win      wit       wok    wop

x:         axe      box     fax       fox       lax       lox       max    mix      nix       ox        pix       pox

            sax      six        wax     tux       fix        tax

y:         yak      yam    yap     ye        yum    yup

z:          zag      zap      zig       zip       zit

Phonics Chart 3: Small Words – Set 2       (Short Vowels ă, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ, except ē)

ă, b, c, d, ĕ:   bee     deed

f:          beef   fee      feed

g, h:    heed

ĭ:          biff

j:          jiff

k:         back   eek     geek   hack   hick     ick       jack    kick

l:          dill       eel      feel     fill         gill       heel    hill        ill          kill        lack    lee      lick

m:        deem meek  miff     mill

n:         inn       keen   need  nick

ŏ:         dock   doff     doll      hock   jock    lock    loll       mock    moll   off

p:         beep  deep  jeep    keep   pack   peek   peel    peep  pick    pill       pock

q:         (see the letter u)

r:          deer   jeer     leer     peer   rack    reed   reef     reek    reel     riff        rill         rock

s:          bass    boss    hiss      kiss      lass      loss      mass   miss     moss   pass    sack    sass

            see      seed   seek    seem  seen   sick     sill        sock    mess

t:          beet   feet     meet  mitt     tack    tee      teed   teen    tick      tiff        till         tock

            toss     tree

ŭ:         buck   buff     bull      cuff     cull      duck   duff     dull      full       guff     gull      huff

            hull      luck     lull        muck  muff    mull     mutt    null      puck   puff     pull      putt

            quack                 queen       quick  quid    quill     quip    quit     quiz     tuck    muss   quail

v, w:    wee    weed week  wick    will       we     

y:         yack   yuck  

z:          buzz    fizz       fuzz      jazz      razz

Phonics Chart 4: Extra Silent Letters – Set 1         (Short Vowels ă, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ, except ē)

adze    axe      beak   beam  bean   beat    deal    dumb    ear    eat      eave    eke      eve

fear     gear    geese give     gnat    gone   have   heap   hear    heat    heave knack knead

knee   kneel   knit      knob   knock knot     lead    leaf      leak     leap    leave   limb     live

meal   mean  meat   neap   near    neat    numb  peak   read    real      reap    rear     sea

seal     seam   seat    tea     team     tear     weak     weave       zeal