A Quick, Easy Tip for Beginning Readers

My almost 6 year-old is still a beginning reader.  She is soaring through All About Reading Level 1, which we love!

She looks so forward to the reading activities that we complete each day and she can’t get enough of the Readers.

Much to my surprise, she really enjoys reading the fluency sheets.

When my older daughter worked her way through All About Reading, she didn’t care for the fluency sheets.  While she read through them because I asked, they weren’t her favorite part of the program.

However, my almost 6 year-old asks to read the fluency sheets.  Go figure!

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Easy Tip for Beginning Readers

My daughter’s favorite part of the fluency sheets are the sentences, which are usually in sections.  You read the first section of the sentence, then the second, then the complete sentence.

Here’s an example:

Less mess

Less mess is a thrill

“Less mess is a thrill,” said Mom.

She feels such a sense of accomplishment when she masters the phrases and can read the final sentence!

Have I mentioned my almost 6 year-old is wiggly?  I mean really wiggly.

She’s the type that can fall out of a chair while sitting down.  So she has a very hard time keeping her finger under the word that she’s reading. 

During our reading time one day, I noticed that our Little Miss Muffet sequencing cards where still lying on the table.  I picked one up, turned it over (so the picture wasn’t a distraction), and tried using it as a place holder.

She held it under each section so her eye would stay focused on the word she was reading.

It was the perfect solution for my wiggly girl!

So we decided to make a special reading pointer for her in her favorite color: purple.  We simply took a piece of card stock and taped it to a popsicle stick.

This easy little trick has made her reading time even more fun and focused.

Now when it’s time to practice those reading fluency sheets, she grabs her purple reading pointer, and off we go!

Do you have extra wiggly kiddos?  Any tips you’d like to share? 

Lauren Hill

Lauren Hill is a Christian mom to 5, ages 19 to 7. She homeschools her children in the classical education tradition and is currently in her 15th year of homeschool. She creates engaging worksheets and hands-on printable activities for Preschool and Elementary age children to supplement their daily studies.

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