If anyone out there has ever helped a child learn how to read, you will understand this post.
If you have never sat as your kindergartner sounded out the word “dog”, then I invite you over tomorrow to enjoy this process.
Abby is learning how to read.
The good news is that she is very open to this new milestone and would like to try it at every possible moment.
The bad news is that she is very open to this new milestone and would like to try it at every possible moment.
For instance, she feels very strongly that she should read me the grocery list. So, now I make sure that instead of scrawling the items I need in an illegible (to anyone else but me) combo of print/cursive, I take my time to make the list neat and organized for her.
What is the first word you see there on the new list?
If you said butter, then you can come with me next time to the grocery store.
If, however, like Abby you saw the word “butter” and said “broccoli” then you are probably still learning how to read.
This goes on for the entire list…
Me: (in my “first leg of a marathon” fresh, patient and nice tone) What does it say next, honey?
Abby: Marshmallows.
Me: (still in my fresh, patient and nice place) Hmmm, I don’t remember marshmallows on the list, so maybe try that one again.
Abby: Macaroni.
Me: (waiting a beat to ensure I still at least sound nice and patient in my tone) No. See, macaroni is a long word and that word on the list is kind of short. Why don’t you try to sound it out?
Abby: Mmm, Iii, Lll, Kkk. Marbles?
Me: (On the inside, I’m rolling my eyes and exasperated. On the outside, Mother effing Teresa. It’s like the When Harry Met Sally orgasm scene for parents faking patience) Gosh, I don’t think they sell marbles at the grocery store and also marbles doesn’t have the “k” sound in it.
Abby: Mmm, Iii, Lll, Kkk. I don’t know.
Me: (my ears ringing from the number of times I have mentally screamed this word that she has just sounded out TWICE because ‘milk’ when phonetically pronounced sounds exactly like the word it is. Thank God I wasn’t shopping for a K-N-I-G-H-T) The word is milk. And now Mommy needs to hold the list since the 45 minutes I allotted for this shopping trip have been spent on successfully only managing to get butter and milk.
Abby: Okay. Can I get gum? I see it on the list. Right there at the top.
Me: (realizing Abby has actually been using magical thinking in making this list her own grocery wish-list) The word you see for gum is actually grocery and no.
So, maybe asking her to master a grocery list right off the bat is setting her up to fail. I get it. We can move on to something a little more her speed.
When we go out to eat at our favorite restaurant, we always play Hangman as a family. Playing with Abby is especially fun, since she uses a rotation of five total words. Mom. Dad. Abby. Emma. Cat. Let me repeat that last word there, in case you missed it. CAT.
But don’t guess the answer too quickly, because then she is annoyed that she “NEVER gets to win and Emma ALWAYS gets to win and it is just NOT fair at all”. Good times.
In picking out some new books from the beloved Scholastic book order form, we came upon one called Happy Cat.
All the parenting experts tell you to give your child achievable goals so they can feel good about themselves when they reach them. Needless to say, I was about to win parenting with this one. After sounding out the word happy, I told her to read the next word, feeling kind of smug and proud of myself.
Abby: Christmas.
Me: What. (The rest of what I wanted to say isn’t safe for use, since if you’re on this page you know how to read all sorts of words, I bet. So feel free to read into my ‘What’.)
Seriously, y’all. She looked at the word “cat”, a word she actually knows how to spell, thankyouverymuch and said Christmas. Because they both start with “c” and apparently the only thing that matters to a new reader is the first letter of a word, even if it happens to be the ONLY word they know.
She now brings home a nightly reading log and buddy book that has been assigned to her by color. Her color is green. I think we can all assume what level green is by the title of the first book that came home. It was called See the Reptiles.
We successfully navigated the title on the cover AND the title page and then arrived at the first page.
The sentence read: See the snake.
Again, Abby herself had read the title of the book and the title page with no help, so you can imagine how surprised I was when she looked at that sentence and declared she had no idea what it said.
Wow. This was clearly going to take a while.
We finally managed to get through the entire 6 page book, and she was only about an hour and half late for her bedtime. And I was only about a second and a half away from a full on mental breakdown.
My son word calls or makes up his own story when he doesn’t want to work on reading too. I love how she added new items to the grocery list.
Thanks Deirdre! I am sure she figured if she tried hard enough she could score some gum! Glad to know your son does it, too! 🙂
She will get there, patience is a virtue is what they told me, I looked at them like they were insane… but whatevs… you get my point, right?
Totally Amber…although, I feel like patience is just plain exhausting! 😉
I know it wears you out, you want her to not only survive but thrive, & she will, with you as a momma, chin up, my friend, XO!!!
Yup, I totally know I am in for this next year and have a feeling you will be reading all about it soon enough on my blog. Emma will be in Kindergarten next year and god help me for all the new reading goodness that will be shortly headed my way!
It is something Janine! I totally remember my Emma doing it, too, and she can now successfully read, so I know it is temporary but LORD, I am already tired! 😉
I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. I am in the same stage with my son. Now that he is in first grade, he’s getting a little better and actually reading level one and two books on his own (mostly anyway!) But he does the same thing - sees the first letter and just starts guessing any word that goes with that letter. It’s frustrating. It’s a journey… I’m worried about helping him with trig one day if I can barely help him with something I KNOW how to do! LOL.
Oh, 4th grade math is already KILLING me! Seriously, I cannot tell you how many times Emma shows me a problem, and I have to secretly go Google how to do it! 😉
So glad to know I am not alone in this reading journey! 🙂
My daughter who is 4 makes up her own story for books and she does pretty good if its an easy book. My son and that reading him and I don ‘t get along with it and he hates it but that math he is an ace. I don’t read bedtime stories to them anymore I make my son read to all of us so he can practice and she picks up from him more.
Yes, I definitely make both my girls practice reading out loud, and it is a great way to make sure they are keeping up their skills…but it is also exhausting! 😉
Have some coffee and make it Irish and you won’t be bothered at all. You’re welcomed.
BWAH HA HA HA Roni! Love it! 🙂
How sweet! Yeah, teaching the little buggers how to read is one of those major milestones right up there with walking, feeding themselves more than they do the dog, going potty (IN the potty), and driving. Oh wait! Erase that last one I don’t want to traumatize you any more than necessary 😉
Driving??!! Oh no, I can’t do it! Never mind! I will take learning to read forever!! 😉
I feel your pain! Since she’s getting the initial sounds correct, maybe have her cover the rest of the word with her hand and work one sound at a time? That would slow her down and tame the impatient guessing…
Great idea Sarah!! I am TOTALLY doing that tomorrow night! 🙂
I.
Love.
This.
Now see if she can read that for you and you’re good to go. 😉 Seriously, though? Peeing. As in I laughed out loud. Fo’ sho’! xo
BWAH HA HA HA!! I cried with laughter at this comment!! So funny! 🙂
Oh I am laughing so hard! I remember those days!! Marshmallows, Christmas, gum…gee, I wonder what’s on her mind?
Can’t imagine Michelle?! 😉 🙂
You are a saint! lol
My 11 year-old grandson was sitting with his 6-year-old brother who was reading and I heard the older one say “sound it out.”
Oh yeah, I definitely hear Emma doing the “sound it out” when she reads with Abby, too! 🙂
This is very funny Ashley. I really like your replay of the conversations. Milk to marbles is pretty tricky. What’s your favorite restaurant that lets you play hangman? Also, was it like this with Emma?
We eat at a Mexican restaurant near our house (yummy considering it is NC!) and the back of the paper kid’s menu is perfect for some Hangman! 🙂
I love how they make up stuff for their own personal gain.
Like “marshmallows”- because how often do people really buy these.
Too funny! Was laughing hysterically…
And great job Abby, she’s totally trying her hardest.
xoxo,
KG
Right KG? The answer about is marshmallows is almost never…except at Thanksgiving for sweet potatoes. But, yeah, she is creative! 😉
Even more grateful that teachers exist. Although I’ll never forget the day that each of the girls successfully read a book 🙂
Right Kristen?! I am definitely getting her teachers an extra special Christmas gift! 😉
So funny and so true. I hated the teaching to read process. The word that really drove me crazy was trying to teach the word “the”. Go ahead. Try to sound it out.
That is one of her “lifetime” words, which means they just memorize it. Thankfully! 🙂
Wow, this makes me super excited to work on reading with my oldest next year! Better start working on my fake patience NOW!!
Start working on it Nicole. Because it is definitely an exercise in patience! 😉
OH MY GOD!! Thank You Lord Jesus that all 3 of my children got their reading skills from their mother. ah, hem. Me. 🙂 They all just “got” it.. Sorry for you suffering and future meltdowns. Have a blessed day!
I so wish I had the “just get it” kids, but I don’t! Although, my older one can now successfully read so there is hope! 😉
BWhahah.. yeah my boys took to reading like a duck to water. We were blessed in that area. The youngest could do it but like your little one pretended he didn’t know words he did know. Then would turn around and be reading a book his older brother was reading without batting an eye. I am talking he was in 3rd grade big brother in 8th.. umm yeah. It will get easier, I promise.
So, what you are telling me is that maybe she is just faking it?! 😉
Thank you so much for this post!
I’ve been in a bit of a funk today and this whole thing made me laugh and laugh!!!
I totally feel your pain and all I can say is WINE - lots and lots of WINE!!!!
Wine…I can get on board with that! 🙂
That is made of “win” which is totally how Abby would pronounce wine! 😉
Really funny article, Ashley! I know she will get it soon. In the meantime you may have to just buy marshmallows.
Exactly. If nothing else, I can stuff my mouth full of them to muffle my screams, right?! 😉
Well. To be fair, I like Christmas a whole lot better than Cat.
We’re headed there..soon. Scarlet is four and very interested in spelling/reading.
That is totally how they hook you Tamara…brace yourself! 😉
Dear Dog, I’m not looking forward to this stage! Hopefully Zoe’s crackerjack memory will help—as it is if I miss a word in Ten Apples Up on Top (because she likes to hold to book and wave it in the air making me nauseous) she’s all over me with the correction. BTW, I totally read into your “what?” You know a shocking number of expletives!
You read into it exactly correctly then Liz! 🙂
Oh yes, when they hold the book for you, it is the worst!
Oh, my friend. I was a second grade teacher in my former life so I was subjected to hearing kids read every single day for 6 years and even then I was not at all ready for how much I absolutely loathed helping my kids learn to read. It drove me crazy when they would read a sentence and on the next page was the same sentence and they had no idea. I have MASTERED the internal scream.
Yes, AnnMarie, I bow down to you. Seriously, HOW DID YOU DO IT??? I can’t handle that with ONE child, much less a classroom full!
I’m telling you, either you can spell or you can’t. It starts at this age. End of story. I don’t care if you play phonics tapes while they sleep, some of the kids just won’t get it. I have one that can spell better than her father and the other one. Mmm iii lll kkk Mickey Mouse! Don’t worry, it will keep driving you crazy forever. How’s that for some good news!
Wow, Stace, thanks for this really uplifting comment that totally only made me rock in the corner crying for an hour! 😉
OMG I am seriously dying over here! Dying from laughing. Dying from total empathy. Dying a little everyday while we do the same dam^ thing at our house. It’s slowly but surely starting to improve, but lord help my time, I’ve thought we might both implode a few zillion times. This is why having to homeschool is in my top three list of my ideas of personal hell.
And the whole “using the pictures as clues” to figure out the words bit has totally backfired a few times.
Sentence to be read: “Mat sat on Sam.”
Sentence Charlotte “reads” very definitively: “Mat sat on top of Sam’s head.” Me: “Point to the words when you say them. Are that many words on the page?”
C: (scans finger across page) “um? but that’s what is happening in the picture. Mat sat on top of Sam’s head.”
Me: “Well yes, but that’s more words than are written down. That is not what the words on the page say.”
C: “Well, why not? That’s what’s happening. We need to get a better book.”
Me: headdesk. headdesk. headdesk.
So happy we’re not the only ones! Sheesh!
Crying with laughter at Charlotte using the pictures for clues…oh my God, yes, I so totally get that 100%!!! Thank God you feel my pain! 🙂
This is exactly what it’s supposed to be like at first. You want to pull your hairs out one at a time. But your support and patience is just what she needs. By the end of First Grade, she will KNOCK your socks off. (Knock won’t be on the list either, hopefully) 🙂 As an ELED teacher and reading specialist, this is my LOVE and it never gets old seeing a child learn to read for the first time. Go Abby! She’ll be awesome!
I am holding you to this Karen!! If my socks are not knocked off I am sending her your way for a crash course! 😉
Ha! This is awesome. All of my little ones when starting to read would read a little and add in a lot of additional items. It’s really cute looking back on it, but I can see the frustration and remember it when I was REALLY trying to work with them.
Yes, I do hope that one day I will long for the days of inserting different words…you give me hope Jenn! 🙂
Oh my goodness… this is just too stinkin’ cute!!!!!!!!!!!! I was babysitting for my sister’s kids and one of them would say random words and ask me how to spell them. It was adorable. One of the words was “nightmare” lol
HA HA HA! Nightmare is adorable! Love it! 🙂
I feel ya….I’ve worked in kindergarten and first grade classrooms. It’s so sweet, and yet so painful (in a makes-you-want-to-pull-your-hair-out kinda way). Kudos to you for your patience, and hopefully soon it will click for Abby!
Let’s hope so Bev! Tonight’s book was entitled “That Bug”. That was a fun one! 😉
Oh my I see this in my near future!
Totally Natalie! 🙂
Oh my gosh! I can totally relate here! Learning to read is an excruciating process…for parents!
You said it Rabia…for parents!! 😉
Been there, done that, still there some days with my middle kid who struggles with reading and writing. He has come a long way, believe me, but when he is tired or hungry, you should hear some of the words that he says for words that he normally knows without issue (i.e. the, from, who), and don’t even get me started on spelling! Wowzers! That’s when we have to stop and evaluate where we are (i.e. does he need a snack or a break or just a refocus). It sounds a little bit to me, though, like she might be enjoying the benefits of being wrong in her word choices, i.e. the late bed time and extra time in the store. Sometimes those things keep kids guessing instead of trying, if you get me. She might also be like my middle kid who sometimes just wants to rush through without thinking because he wants to be done or is anxious to please, etc. I’m sure in time she will be a great reader, though, especially with her great interest in it. 🙂 (On a side note, your cursive is not horrible; I think it’s better than mine! You should see my husband’s - YIKES! Talk about chicken scratches! 😀 )
I do think that being tired and hungry does make a big difference, honestly. I know that for me personally it explains a lot when I am in a bad mood! You bring up a great point Julie! 🙂
OMG going through the same thing right now! Sweets wants to read, so I grab some Dr. Seuss books with the easy 3 letter words…Ed, Fred, Ned, Ted, and the next word would be Bed…she looks at it, sounds out Bb Ee Dd and says “Brown?”.
OMG going to need patience….
I BURST out laughing at this comment, because YES!!! A million times yes! We just went through this exact same situation this afternoon!!!
My daughter does this too. Or she’ll look at something I’ve written and be like, “Oh yay, this says here that I’m going to get all the My Little Ponies for Christmas!” Uh. No it doesn’t.
HA HA HA Amber! She is a girl with a dream…a dream of My Little Ponies! Love it! 🙂
Oh my! I fondly remember teaching children to read. In my former life, when I was a teacher, I did a lot of one-on-one with sounding out words. I can tell you this, the fact that she at least recognizes the first letter of the word is promising!
Thank you Kristen! Well, that certainly makes me feel good! 🙂 Phew!
My son used to bring home these little “decodable” paper books from school. They were the most boring stories ever, and about 10 pages long. They were things like Cindy Feeds the Ducks and Tommy Ties his Shoes. Not really the best way to instill a love of reading. I mean Dick and Jane were more interesting then those. I had to listen to him read one almost every night then sign it and send it back. It did take forever to get through them. It was torture.
Oh yes, I know exactly the kinds of books you are talking about it…mind-numbing torture!! 😉
This cracked me up, even thought it wasn’t amusing to you at the time. Can’t wait for a post on how you tackled math!
Oh God, can you even imagine math?? That is enough to bring on full crying! 😉
Math. Sucks. That is all.
I am laughing so hard I can barely type!! Ok, hold on…..
And I’m back.
I didn’t think there was anything worse then potty training but this has it beat by a mile!!!
I think my fav was “Thank God I wasn’t shopping for KNIGHT!” but I’m not sure b/c there was just so much funny!!!
Thanks Allie! Glad you enjoyed it…you get the pleasure of doing this times two!! I will start praying for you now! 😉
LOL! I think they all do that. See the first letter and then go on. This is why I have no idea why my daughter has chosen to home school. I can’t take it when it’s homework much less my entire responsibility.
When Ryan was little some of the first words she learned were sale and coupon (seriously). I suggest a trip to the mall!
Your daughter is clearly a saint! That is all I can figure, because wow, just homework alone is doing me in! 😉
Abby’s very first sight word (the word she recognized on sight) was Target. So I get! 🙂
I so get this. The funny thing is that my oldest is in 3rd grade and will still do this if he’s reading too fast. He’ll just make words up. Of course, he’ll get all the big words and insert different words for the easy ones. Drives me nuts.
I have a feeling this will be an ongoing problem for us, too Jenn! UGH! Bracing myself now! 😉
This is my favorite thing all day. I was laughing so hard, and was totally able to hear the entire hilarious conversation in my head. So great! Y’all should get her some BOB books. They are amazing for early readers.
PS That first grocery list looks like a Crock Pot Thursday recipe!
BWAH HA HA HA! It was for a crockpot recipe!! 🙂 And it is a delicious recipe, by the way! You should totally feature it!
So glad you enjoyed this! We have the BOB books leftover from Emma…I need to break those out again! 🙂
OMG. I love you right now. My girls are now amazing readers (ages 7 and 8) but I SO remember those days!!!
So, there is hope Jeannine? Thank you! I can definitely make it to age 7!! 🙂
OMG, we’re just starting the reading phase with my kindergartner and already it’s killing me!! And we’re not even quite as far along as you are! And I have no patience for teaching. My mother used flashcards to teach me and my brothers to read when we were 3 or something, and I have no idea how she did that.
Your mother is a rock star! I vaguely remember the use of flashcards in my own youth, but not enough to actually be effective with them now! 😉 So glad you are feeling my pain on this one! 🙂
Oh, how well I remember those days. My kids are 15-22 now, so there isn’t much sounding out going on. But you did bring back a memory for me. My older kids often helped the younger ones with homework. Sometimes dad did. Dad did not learn phonetics. Dad has heard me tell my kids to sound it out many times. Dad decides to help daughter with reading. Daughter gets stuck. Dad tells her to sound it out. She tries but can’t. Dad gets frustrated and thinks she isn’t trying. I know you can do this. I’ve heard you sound things out when you read with your sisters. Why won’t you try? Just sound it out. Daughter tries again and gets more frustrated. Older daughter looks at book and says, “Dad, algae isn’t a sounding it out word.” That was about the time dad quit helping with homework.
Good luck. It sounds like you exercised great patience. I hope you rewarded yourself with some alone time and chocolate. You earned it.
BWAH HA HA HA at that story Robin!! Love it! That is exactly how those situations always go when dad tries to help, right??!!
I couldn’t stop laughing! I so remember these days and in a few more years will be headed back in them. What on earth was I thinking?! lol
LOL Miranda! Maybe when you do it again, it won’t be so bad? By the way, that is a total lie. I am on my 2nd round of this and it is just as bad. Sorry! 😉
And this is exactly why we have children when we are young and have a teeny, tiny bit of patience remaining, not when we are old and impatient and crotchety. Sending zen vibes your way. Ommmmmmmm…….
Thanks Mo! I can use all the zen vibes I can get, sister! 🙂
This is totally my life right now. We are working on sight words, and little man is a total goofball! Add to that, he just started kindergarten at a new school that teaches a COMPLETELY different style of hand writing from his last one. It’s like learning a whole new alphabet for him! But, he is enthusiastic and so am I. More so after my 1st glass of wine.
Which handwriting style are they using? We are doing Handwriting Without Tears, which I have to say lives up to its name…for the children! 😉 Not for me so much! Yes, everything is more fun after a glass of wine, right?! 🙂
He was learning block writing in pre-school, and in this school they use D’Nealian style writing. A modified cursive writing. We’re a week into school and he’s starting to pick it up, but he gets pretty frustrated. Wine does make the homework a teensy bit easier.
This is EXACTLY where I am teaching my daughter to read. My husband almost blew out an artery in his forehead with the word “the”. She’d read it 20 times then comes across the word again and can’t figure out what it is. Of? I? Her guesses don’t even make sense!!!
Deep breath. I have a new plan. I bought a couple cheap-o packs of letter magnets. I’m going to put them in a metal cookie sheet with sides and see what words we can build. Praying for patience…
Also, I’m SO sharing this link. This totally deserves to go viral!
Thanks Sabrina! Imagine how much easier it would be to cope with the nightly reading if my post about it about went viral! 😉 🙂
Seriously, though, the refrigerator magnets idea is genius, and I am definitely trying that…like tonight!
The whole reading the same word a million times and then still not getting it is what makes me feel insane…I am with your hubby totally on that one!!
Let me know your results. I’m about to go try it. This might cause me to question my choice of homeschooling. My boys learned the basics of reading at school before we pulled them out. My daughter’s reading is all on me.
I am the little train that could who hopefully isn’t put out for decommission…for trying to read the darned story!
Hahahha I’m just now fully realizing how lucky we are that Miles taught himself to read.
We have enough of these types of exchanges without reading being part of the mix.
Yes, Robin…see if you can corner Miles and get his advice about how to get Abby to teach herself! 😉 🙂
I’m there now with my middle child. However, he’s had the advantage of using HeadSprout, Reading Eggs, and many other online fun game resources to help him learn to read. Those resources have made it fun for him, and a heck of a lot easier on me.
I struggle with the whole patience ordeal big time! I don’t have a teacher to send to them to…I am their teacher. 🙁 However, it really is fun to see them reach that new milestone when they do.
Oooh! Fellow homeschooling mom! I’m looking up those resources right now. I’m always looking for something new to try with the kids. Thanks for posting the suggestions.
This is hysterical! Yes I am laughing at your expense! I am dreading facing this challenge in the coming years! I love that she was so sure she saw “gum” right on up there on that list! LOL ~Leah~
She is obsessed with gum Leah! She feels like we need to buy it every single time we are at the store!! 😉
Laughing! You should hear my story when I (a homeschool mom) was teaching my oldest how to read! Thanks for sharing my SITS Day yesterday!
You are quite welcome! I bet you have lots of stories! 🙂
Welcome to my world! I go through similar things almost every day. 🙂 Luckily, I teach second grade, so it’s not quite that bad, but bless their hearts, some of them are still trying to figure it all out!
I can only imagine what kinds of things you encounter on a daily basis in the classroom! You are a saint!
Ugh! I was frustrated for you reading this post. My daughter would call out the most unrelated words…drove me nuts. Good luck, hopefully it won’t go on for too long. I do love the words she was calling out though…lots of happy thoughts in her mind.
Thanks Stephanie! Glad to know I am not alone in this happening!! Hope it stops very soon! 😉
Oh, I am so right there with you! I get the double joy of my child learning to read in English and Castilian Spanish. She reads better in Spanish because it is truly phonetic, but has no idea what she is reading. Dios mio!
I cannot even begin to imagine trying to do this in 2 languages!! YIKES!! So glad to see you commenting here! 🙂 Thank you!
I LOVE this post!!! Learning how to read is just such a crazy time. English language is such a tough one. I mean, our kids are taught the sounds letters make, and then we ask them to sound out tough - they want to see TUF.
Anyway, good luck on the beginning reading. It’s a fun time, yet stressful at the same time. We love Scholastic book orders!
I’m following via Pinterest, G+ and twitter. =0)
You are so right Kim! The English language is definitely tricky, especially when it comes to words like tough!
Scholastic book orders are the BEST, right! 🙂
holy crap! when it comes time to read, i’m just going to tell my kid, that he needs to learn when he’s at school. it’s not something mommy knows how to teach. omigoodness. you know what’s worse than teaching someone how to read? teaching someone how to spell. my husband who is in his forties, mind you, cannot spell…like at all. i’m always telling him to sound it out, so i can relate to your mental breakdowns. he’ll ask “does christmas have two ‘s’s at the end? so christmass?” how do you spend a lifetime celebrating christmas and not know how to spell it?!?!?!
BWAH HA HA HA!! I am DYING over the Christmas spelling! That is hilarious! Definitely encourage the reading learning at school Catherine…good call! 🙂
So feel your pain! LOL… I would move to books with no words, like “Tuesday,” and let her come up with any words she wanted to! Forget that whole reading thing for a whole. ;). G-o-o-d l-u-c-k.
HA HA HA! Great idea…surely just letting her make up the words will build up her imagination, right?! 🙂
A few years ago when my niece was 3, I decided I was going to teach her to read. We didn’t make it very far, and after reading this post, I’m glad!!
Be so glad Tara! It is a total no good deed goes unpunished kind of deal!
OMG we are dealing with this in my house with my second oldest…. His older brother had zero trouble…. His younger sister is reading fluently at age four…. He looks at “that” and guesses every freaking word that could start with a T. Ahhhhhh!
I feel your pain Jessica! I wish I could say it has gotten better, but we just spent an hour reading “The Bears’ Picnic”.