Teaching Sight Words To Your Pre-Schooler

The Pre-School question. To send or not to send? Everyone has their own opinion, and everyone has their own circumstances. I went to pre-school. I never ever in a million years thought my child would not be in pre-school at age 4 and a half. But, that's just the way the cards fell, and I'm actually totally okay with it! No matter what your opinion is on the matter, you can always find ways to educate your child at home, or enhance the education they're already receiving elsewhere. 

Ivy is ready to read. But, since she's not in school, no one is teaching her. I guess that's my job! I actually teach dance at a pre-school once a week, so I asked the 4 year old class teacher what I should be doing with Ivy at home for kindergarten preparedness. She was sooo helpful. First, she told me that pre-school is about socialization. So, make sure Ivy is in social situations. (She gets all the free dance classes she wants through my work, goes to library story time, and is at church multiple times a week- CHECK). She said I could also have Ivy start with tracing some letter, number and shape worksheets, which she gave to me. Then she gave me a list of Sight Words. I thought to myself, "yeah, right." How in the world could Ivy possible read the word "two" or "because"? Here is the sheet she gave me: 

After looking at it, I came up with an order that I wanted to introduce to Ivy

(cause I'm a control freak like that)

Here are the 7 steps we took in learning these sight words:

1. Create a space to do your sight words

Each morning after breakfast we cleared our dining table, and sat down to learn. It was the same place every day, and signaled it was time to do sight words. 

2. Set a realistic pace

I introduced about 4-6 words to Ivy each day. I created my own index cards and introduced them in the order above. I also wrote the next day's words in a different color, just to help differentiate what was new that day. Some days she was super on it and hungry for more words, other days all we could do was review words from past days. You know your child and their limits. You have to be able to "read" your child and then instruct them accordingly.  (At this point, we only went through the 2nd column, because then I moved on to non-sight words, ending in -ab, -ad, -am, -an, etc. I'll do another post about that later. We will go back to the 3rd and 4th column at some point.)

3. This is about memorization, not sounding it out

The teacher inside of me wanted to explain everything about every word to Ivy. But with sight words, now is not the time to do that. Hold out a card, read it, make her repeat the word. Move on to the next word. Keep doing this with your 4-6 words for the day until they can say them on their own. Sometimes making them spell it helps to reiterate and remember it better. Tip: before learning new words review the words from the days prior so they feel like they are already succeeding, because they know those words. Also, make sure you mix up the order, otherwise they might memorize what comes next, instead of the word itself.

4. Make it into a game

Ivy liked to put a bunch of the cards out face down, flip them over herself and read them. She felt ownership in that she was in charge of this aspect of her learning. I would also put two cards out, and ask her to point to a certain word. IE: "Point to the word 'she'."

5. Pull out the difficult words to review at the end

If your child continues to struggle with a certain word, help them say it, then put it to the side, and review it at the end. Don't spend too much time making them "get it." You and the child will be frustrated. Ivy still struggles with "who," "my," and "and." Your child will "get it" eventually-- so don't you get discouraged about it!

6. Make Connections

The learning doesn't stop at the dining table where we do our sight words. When you are out and about, look for the sight words you're learning. Kids love to see that these words are actually used in every day places. 

I got these Hello Kitty "learn to read" books at a garage sale and we've been reading them at night for probably the last year and a half. When we started sight words, I took them out and showed Ivy where her sight words were in the book. She loved making that connection. 

7. Advanced: Make sentences!

If your child is ready, they might want to try out reading some sentences with their sight words! 

Here are some examples: 

"he is out"

"I see you"

"who are you"

"she is two"

They also get a kick out of making their own sentences… even if they make no sense, haha.

I hope this helps if you're in a similar situation to us! Kids love to learn, and as parents, God gave us the privilege of guiding them through this journey called life. Even if you don't have time to sit down and write out words on index cards, you can turn almost anything into an opportunity to learn! A hug = a lesson in love. A drive = time to talk and sing. A walk to the mailbox = a glimpse into nature or a talk about driveway safety. Make every moment count! 

Aloha, Rebecca

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Teaching Memory Verses to Pre-Schoolers

In my first month of blogging, over 2 years ago, when Ivy was just 2 years old, I talked about teaching her to recite the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness & self-control. (You can read that post here). That was the catalyst to where we are today. She's now 4 years old and learning her 10th Bible Verse. 

A couple of weeks ago (when we were only on 9 verses) I wrote them out on flash cards, because she's starting to recognize more sight words and bigger numbers (past 10), so I wanted that educational aspect of learning to correlate with our biblical learning. But, flash cards is not how we learned these verses. 

Most of the verses I am teaching Ivy are verses I had learned as a kid, mainly from growing up in the AWANA program at Hope Chapel Kihei. Also, my mom kept a couple copies of the "Four Spiritual Laws" in the console of her car, and whenever I would be waiting on her, I'd pick it up and start memorizing the verses, because that's what I always heard you were supposed to do with that little yellow book. Memorize it! You never know when someone is gonna come asking you how to get saved! (I'm not even joking… this was/is my thought process.)

Every kid is different, but here's the steps we took with Ivy in memorization:

1. Pick a specific time of the day to learn and review the verses with your child. 

It worked best as part of Ivy's bedtime routine. Maybe for your kid it could be after dinner, or as soon as they wake up or while driving in the car or even while they're in the bathtub. Whenever it is, do it at the same time every day.

2. You need to have it memorized, before they can have it memorized. 

You and your child will have most success if you memorize the verse first.You're going to be repeating it over and over for them, in a variety of ways. And some days, they won't feel like saying it at all, so you might as well memorize it right off the bat. 

3. Teach each verse in segments. 

For the Fruit of the Spirit, I taught her the first 2 (love, joy) one night, then added in the 3rd and 4th the next night (peace, patience), then the next night taught her how kindness and goodness both ended in "ness", then the next night told her how faithFUL and genTLE had the same "UL" ending, and then finally finished with self-control. We stuck with this verse for a week or two. I didn't even add in "But the fruit of the Spirit is" or "against such there is no law" until later. For each of the verses you see in this post, pay attention to when the verse goes to the next line. These are good groupings to teach them in segments. (i.e.: teach line 1, then line 2, etc).

4. Repetition is key.

Say the first line, then have your child repeat after you. For the following verse, I would have Ivy repeat "I can" after me 3 or 4 times, before moving on to "do all things" and repeating that 3 or 4 times, then repeating "I can do all things" a bunch, then add "through Christ" and so on. Repeat. Repeat again and again. Combine. Repeat. 

5. Teach the Verse Address.

"1 Corinthians 11:1" may sound like a mouthful for a pre-schooler, but if you don't teach the reference now, it's way harder to teach it later. It's also helping to teach them numbers. I screwed up and taught Ivy the following verse as "2 Corinthians 10:1" for like 6 months, and then I realized I was wrong, and it's taken quite a few weeks to re-teach Ivy, and she still says it the wrong way most nights. :( My bad!

6. Some days you'll be the only one saying the verse.
There were some nights where Ivy just didn't feel like saying the verses. Of course I tried to encourage her to do so, but in the end she would just ask me to say them. So I did. Happily. I never wanted it to become something negative. After all, this is God's Word! And it's okay for her to hear it being said, even if she's not the one saying it. That's still helping her learn.

7. It's okay to simplify for kids.
I'm not trying to push for a new kids version of the Bible or anything, but sometimes you can let words go… like "hath," or "yet" or repeating "might" a million times. Believe me, I took many courses in New Testament and Old Testament and have listened to countless teachings on the importance over which translation is most accurate, most inspired, most understandable and I respect all the research being done to try to find the purist form of God's Word. But just like you would bring over a stool for your child to reach something up high, sometimes you have to make adjustments to make these verses accessible to your children. For example, the following verse actually reads: "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Our version isn't too different, but a little less wordy.

8. At this age it's about memorization, not meaning.

Again, don't start a debate with me on this. Of course the meaning is ESSENTIAL. It's why we teach our kids Bible verses! But, some things they just won't understand until they are older. Sure, I explained the word "abundantly" to Ivy, but she would be bored out of her mind if I forcefully explained the entire verse in detail, the way I would to an adult. My goal is that these verses are being "written on her heart" so that when she is older, she will remember them and things will start to click, just like they did for me. I memorized the following verse when I was 5 years old and have never forgotten it. And how cool did I feel for being able to say a word like "abundantly" at that age?! 

9. Spend at least a week or two on learning a verse before moving on to a new verse.

Ivy can say the first 8 verses listed in this post, and we've been working on #9 for about 4 weeks now. She always remembers the last part of #9 "it is the gift of God." Remember, I started the Fruit of the Spirit over 2 years ago, and we are just starting our 9th verse… it takes time and repetition. The older she gets (she's 4 1/2), the easier it is to teach new verses, but I'm in no rush. Neither is she. 

10. Recite each verse, in order, every day. 
This goes for all the verses you've learned (not the ones you haven't learned yet). Prompts are okay. For example, all I say is "And it shall" and Ivy will be able to finish the rest of Acts 2:21 on her own.

11. Choose the verses you want your child to learn.

I chose these 10 verses for a few reasons: either I knew them myself, or my husband knew them, or I felt like they were important yet simple/short enough for her to grasp, or I heard them in church and quickly wrote them down because I liked them and wanted to teach them to her. You can totally use the verses I use (they're tried and true for us) or make up your own. 

Let me know if you have any questions about this. It's been super rewarding for us to do with Ivy. We live in a world where our religious freedom and freedom of speech is slowly being taken away, and I wouldn't doubt that in our kids' lifetime the Bible will be somewhat inaccessible. In preparation, I want God's Word written on Ivy's heart, so that it will be with her always. 

Aloha, Rebecca

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Trunk Shows. Dance Shows. Mermaid Shows.

Ok, there's no actual mermaid show, but there might as well be! Is it just me or do you also have a million things going on? Well, on top of my full-time job, Ivy's 4th birthday earlier this month, ampersand dance company's 2nd concert series, and Halloween tomorrow, I've been gearing up for my first trunk show! My sister-in-law is hosting it over on Kauai so the whole family will be flying over for the weekend. If you're on Kauai, here are the details. Please stop by and say hi! I'll have bunting, headbands and kids aprons. 

I've been loving getting my branding together since switching from "Jed & Ivy" to "Ivy &Co." (Btw- Jed's mom will be selling cupcakes at the trunk show!)

As soon as I get back, we will be putting the finishing touches on inside ampersand, the dance concert I'm directing which opens Nov. 15. If you're on Maui, I hope you can check out this show. It tends to sell out, so get your tix early. 

And since I don't know when I'll get to post about Ivy's mermaid costume, here's a sneak peek. 

And, like clockwork, as I sit here writing this blog post from the chair at the hair salon, the opening song from ampersand's debut concert back in January has begun playing on the radio. How do I tell my hair dresser that I'm compelled to get up and dance? :) 

Aloha, Becca

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In Hawaii, we Upcycle Ukuleles

Ok. Honestly, I'm the only one that I know of who has upcycled an ukulele in Hawaii. 

Or anywhere, for that matter. 

You see, one day Kit came home with a  a really nice ukulele. 

That's great and all, but Ivy is 3 and just wanted to bang that thing!

She really needed a junk ukulele that she could go to town on.

 I found this gem at a garage sale. The ukulele, not Ivy.

 Yes, that's a Super Why sticker on it. It's covering a hole. These things are a dime a dozen at every ABC Store.

Don't forget the Thomas the Train sticker on the back.

I covered the knobs in tape, and kilzed it. (See the hole?)

A little paint, modge podge and some fabric, and oila!

It sounds terrible, but she can drop it, bang it, or pretend to be a Hawaiian pop star and no one can scold her. :)

Aloha, Rebecca

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