Learning to Read

   Well, I'm on child number 4 here with learning to read and she's doing well.  She's super excited and probably my most motivated reader (I'm assuming that's part girl as much as anything else).  I'm using the book Reading Made Easy.  It's a lot like Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons but... more fun I think.  I used it with all my kids for a short while and then we tried other things as they got bored with it.  For Hannah I purchased the cd-rom of workbooks so I can print them out as we go and she loves it.  I love it because I only print what I want and they are exactly what she's learning and they don't require a ton of handwriting yet which is good because she's just beginning.  She ends every session feeling smart and proud.  That's how I want to end.  She's also caught on quickly that every lesson ends saying something along the lines of, "Great job!  Now it's my turn to read YOU a book.  Go pick one out."  If I try to skip that part...well she would never let that happen!  I just started reading her little chapter books on horses so she gets 1-2 chapters after we read.  The other thing I've used with her and Elijah were the Leap Frog Learning DVD's.  Those have really helped reinforce letter sounds and blending words.  Well worth the $10.  I can't believe I only have one more after this!  I have always kind of dreaded the time and energy it takes to teach reading and now I'm feeling a little sad that stage is almost over....well Addie won't start for a few years but you know what I mean!