Dot, on the other hand, was completely different. She did not go to Montessori school. When she was 4, I got All About Reading pre-reading. We did all of the lessons. While going through them, I noticed that she struggled with the sound games and became extremely frustrated at times. We went very slowly, and I did not force her to play games that she found upsetting.
After that, I thought we would go right into Explode the Code Book 1. That proved to be far too difficult. So, we did Explode the Code's pre-reading program, which was immensely helpful. It also took a while, and I think we finished when she was 6. At the same time, she tried a handwriting class, which she found extremely frustrating. She also worked on phonics and sounds as part of a weekly kindergarten homeschool class.
At the time we moved house, she had turned 7, and the concept of using sounds to make 3-letter words was just starting to click. She had difficulties that her brothers never had: adding sounds that weren't there, lack of sound awareness, doing lots of guessing, struggling with very simple word blends. Letters D and B constantly mixed up. When writing, letter reversals were constant. (Her focus and concentration, however, are excellent.)
Still, her reading skills improved. We continued with Explode the Code, and it gradually got easier. We bought every BOB book in existence, and she read them repeatedly. She seemed to need a lot of reinforcement on the basics.
I didn't push her, and we didn't spend an inordinate amount of time on reading and phonics, just a little bit a day. Explode the Code, BOB books, The Good and the Beautiful handwriting.
I have tried very hard not to let my stress and my ideas about timelines for reading interfere with her process of developing the skills of reading, writing, and spelling. Her brain is ready when it's ready!
Gradually, we finished Explode the Code Book 1 and tried Book 2, but it was too hard, so I got book 1.5. One day Book 2 was very easy, and we skipped a lot of it and moved into Book 3 and worked through it pretty quickly.
Gradually, she started reading words in the wild more frequently. She graduated the BOB books and reads things like George and Martha. We are currently working in Explode the Code books 4 and 3.5 and continuing with handwriting. Her dad reads to her at night, and she reads to him, and she listens to hours a day of audiobooks.
She loves to write and illustrate stories for fun and loves calendars and her planner that she got for Christmas. Her spelling is unusual but shows consistent improvement.
Meanwhile, I found out that at least two of her cousins have a dyslexia diagnosis. I also talked to many homeshool moms with children who had that diagnosis, and it seemed like Dot and I were already doing what was recommended for reading difficulties (phonics, individual attention). I suspect she could qualify for a dyslexia diagnosis, and we might want to have testing at some point, especially if it can be done in a convenient and inexpensive way.
I also have homeschooling friends whose children have far greater
struggles than Dot. Some have chosen to use a professional reading
tutor, and that is something I would absolutely want to utilize if I felt we were stuck. But as I am seeing steady progress, I have not explored that route.
At the age of 8, Dot keeps making steady progress, and I think she is doing great. She has a very solid foundation in phonics and continues building on it.
Most importantly, she loves reading and says that it is her favorite subject!
