not a reading expert

I’m not a reading expert 

BUT I hung out with one 

So I know …. Absolutely nothing! 

Except I know how to read. 

My patient has a little sister 

Who comes in every day for “school”

Where we read, write, and bedazzle. 

She’s 6 is 1st grade. 

English is a second language 

For these kids. 

And their English reading is

Falling way way way (way) behind. 

I started to read at age 4. 

And was the best reader in the class at age 5. 

We didn’t have kindergarten-

Age 5 was first grade for me. 

So I made a map of how to proceed. 

1. Reading flash cards - just words. 

Rapid recognition. Lightening round. 

Here I made 200 cue cards. 

We do about 100 a day. 

Mostly one syllable words. 

2. Reading for comprehension - paragraphs. 

3. Writing the words by rote. (Visual copying)

4. Writing from hearing the spoken words. 

5  “Fun With Words”

Introducing concepts like

Rhyming, alliteration, adjectives etc

Naming verbs, nouns, etc. 

6. Being read to in English. 

That’s the most fun. That’s the reward!

I asked mom to get some library books

But she always gets the wrong reading level. 

They have Quran classes already 

All in Arabic. 

Insha Allah means “God Willing”

Or If God is willing. 

These kids tend to reverse 

lower case b,d, p,q, and y. 

Plus, she tends to transpose

And read from  right to left. 

She’s not dyslexic- 

In her primary language,

She’s spot- on. 

To further complicate matters, 

The primary spoken language is Pashto. 

We nurses work on the rough spots!

True confession time:

Nursing was not my first choice

For Army School. 

Language was. 

So I have that much going for me. 

Plus Pediatric Nursing most always 

Has a Speech and Language 

Component built in. 

So I have decades of experience with this. 

Name Something Game:

Fill in the blanks. 

This is fun and silly. 

I bought a book with activities 

And glossy pictures. 

I want to make this fun. 

She’s 6 in first grade and struggles. 

It’s never too early to start. 

Next - Math With Skittles!