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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Goldmine for Parents!, July 14, 2008
This review is from: Mommy, Teach Me to Read: A Complete and Easy-to-Use Home Reading Program (Paperback)
I'm very attracted to Maria Montessori's work. I've spent a long time researching and reading her works and about how to implement her philosophy. I love how Mrs. Montessori really recognized the potential of a child in learning. She recognized the absorbent mind at the young ages, and illustrated how there are different sensitive periods of learning. It's easy to recognize how children need the tangible, sensory types of learning at a young age. She really did see the beautiful gifts of a young child, and tried to respect the child.
I am so excited that I found such a goldmine for incorporating Montessori approach in the home for the younger ages. I bought Mommy, Teach Me! and Mommy, Teach Me to Read! by Barbara Curtis. Both are slim volumes, packed with encouragement and information, but not intimidating or overwhelming. I would say she's a modern Elizabeth Hainstock, but makes the Montessori in the home even more parent friendly and less intimidating and scientific. The emphasis isn't about making one's own materials, like Hainstock, but more about making it all approachable and doable for mothers in the home.
Mrs. Curtis is a mother of twelve and homeschools her children and does understand the needs of a child and busy SAH moms. She had AMI training and taught Montessori in the classroom. She shares her knowledge and experience with other parents. She recognizes the role of God and our spiritual lives in education.
Mommy, Teach Me to Read! is just what I need right now, since my son is on the brink of reading. Mrs. Curtis explains the sensitive period for reading happens before the child is six, agreeing with Montessori "the first five years of a child's life involve a period of intense absorption and learning. God has built into each child the potential for seeking knowledge."
The book is broken down into three stages, Birth to Two Years, Two to Five Years, and Five to Seven Years. The first stage is laying down the groundwork, first by the way we talk to our child, and then by reading to the child, from a very early age and continually. Incorporating books isn't in the Montessori approach; beautiful picture books weren't in Maria Montessori's day, but we have them now, and we should incorporate them in our learning environments, even if we are using a Montessori approach. The books Mrs. Curtis suggests throughout to read-aloud or for early readers are those that have stood the test of time.
The next level, two to five, is when the learning-to-read happens. It's all based on a phonetic approach using the 3 period lesson Montessori style. She uses simple terms like the Sound Game, the Letter Game, and the Word Game, but they all incorporate the Montessori approach to language (sandpaper letters, movable alphabet, phonetic objects).
The final stage, five to seven, is reinforcement and further exploration into language, showing patterns in grammar, although not necessarily identifying parts of speech.
And it all is very natural and doable. Mrs. Curtis emphasizes that this is is just an approach, "[i]t's not a straitjacket," so take what works for you, and move on if it doesn't. For those mothers who are seeking approachable and successful ways to teach your preschooler at home, especially to learn to read, I highly recommend both of her Mommy, Teach Me! books.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must-Have for Every Parent., March 3, 2009
This review is from: Mommy, Teach Me to Read: A Complete and Easy-to-Use Home Reading Program (Paperback)
My son, Holden, was born 9 weeks prematurely. We naturally assumed that he would have some developmental delays. He was a very late talker, and honestly we were starting to get very concerned about his overall development. At age 2 he had only a handful of words. I had been reading Mommylife for about a year since I had found it on a pro-life blog ring and I knew that Barbara had written "Mommy Teach Me" and "Mommy Teach Me to Read". I knew we had to do something, so I decided to get the books as a first step.
I honestly didn't expect much success. Even at 2.5 my son was barely talking and I figured that "Mommy Teach Me to Read" was going to be shelved for years. I was more focused on just trying to teach him some basic concentration building skills. We did several activities. He especially loved the button sorting and shape puzzles. He still wasn't talking much, but I noticed his concentration was getting much better. Prior to starting his activities he would jump up and leave half way through a book. Now, he was starting to sit through the entire thing and ask for more. I was thrilled!
Around this time he started acquiring more language so we started playing the phoneics game. His progression was exactly as Mrs. Curtis described it in Mommy Teach Me to Read. First I'd say "let's think of mmm words" and he'd say "dog" or some other random word. So I'd give him example after example after example, and he finally realized that an "mmm" word was "monkey". Huge breakthrough!
We did this for a long, long time and he stayed at this level for probably about 6 months. Somewhere during this time we started to show him letters and he was able to make the sound. We started letting him watch signing time and Wordworld and he picked up the names of the letters on his own through those shows. I was a bit worried he would become confused, but it seemed to only cement his understanding of letters.
I made flash cards of the list of 3 letter phonetic words found in "Read" and for the past month or so we've been going over them. He got the individual sounds, but wasn't putting together that they made a cohesive word. Last week he started sounding out the letters in stop signs and said the word STOP. Huge celebrations abounded.
The next day we sat down with the cards. His big breakthrough came about 5 cards in when "hug" came up. He sounded it out and then said "hug". He looked at me and said "HUG!?" and gave me a hug. I felt like Annie from the Miracle Worker. He went on to READ every word that I gave him. He was actually making the connection that duh ah duh said "dad" and that "dad" meant Daddy.
So we bought the Bob Books that were recommended and he read the entire first book! I am confidant that he could have read far more, but I didn't want him to get overwhelmed so we stopped there for the day.
I am so beyond thrilled that my little preemie is reading at 3.5 years. I'm also elated that he's not just sounding out the letters, but actually comprehending what he's reading. This is huge because my son has struggled with comprehension in the past and really seems to be making a breakthrough.
I am so thankful that I found Mrs. Curtis' books because her techniques have completely opened up my son. He is so excited to be reading and now asks us for books. I've also noticed a huge change in his behavior since about 2 weeks ago when he really started catching on to everything. He used to have terrible temper tantrums, but he's starting to tell us more what is wrong and even putting himself in timeout! It feels like a light bulb has gone off and he finally understands language and its uses.
I recommend this book to all parents. It, combined with "Mommy Teach Me", should be handed out at birth! I feel that they have prepared my son for a lifetime of learning. I can't wait to use begin teaching my daughter.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really works for children under 6!, April 5, 2009
This review is from: Mommy, Teach Me to Read: A Complete and Easy-to-Use Home Reading Program (Paperback)
I originally bought this book to teach my Kindergartner to read. As a homeschooling mother of six, I'd already taught my three oldest children to read, but thought there must be some tricks to help my new reluctant reader.
I did find some good reading activities, which I tried and my Kindergartner's reading skills improved immediately. But what caught my attention was Barbara Curtis' recommendation that you teach your child during a window of learning before they reached Kindergarten age.
I thought it was worth a try. I have a 4 year old, and when I started working with him, he didn't know his letter sounds or alphabet. I took the book's suggestions, and tried teaching him his letter sounds before teaching him the alphabet.
I read him the same story daily for months at a time, and taught him little rhymes to help him remember his letter sounds. I tried the reading box, which Barbara Curtis recommends to help children make the leap from concrete to abstract when learning to read. He is now able to read beginning books with help. The best part is that he is able to sound out the words much easier than his 6 year old sister can, because we took advantage of the development window!
I cannot praise this book highly enough. I also bought Mommy Teach Me at the same time, and the two work very nicely together. If you have preschool aged children, buy this book today!
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