ReviewQueen

Learning English: How to Hold a Slippery Snake

This summer, I am spending a lot of time teaching my daughter to read and spell. It is thrilling work, and she and I are both really enjoying the time together, but the process brings me face to face daily with the quirkiness of the English language. I am always explaining why some letters are "silent" in some words and not in others, or why a "y" can bring so many different types of sounds to the party - depending on the word.  

She has been tricked by our crazy English words so many times now that when she encounters a new word now, she asks me, "Which letter is silent this time?" She is learning quickly that words are often always what they seem. The word "hay" was one of her spelling words this week, and we had to delve into homonyns when she began confusing it with the word "hey." It felt like a cruel trick to tell her that some words sound alike but are spelled diffently and have different meanings.    

These lessons are in such stark contrast to her math lessons - when the answers are clear and logical. She knows that if she follows the rules of addition, the answer is reliable. But she has already learned that is not the case with her letters and words. Language is more finesse, more guess work, and more challenging. Even if she knows the rules, she may still get the word wrong. I hope that learning to read English is not only helping her learn to read, but is also teaching her about the value of perserving with a challenging task-of trying to hold a slippery snake in your hands.    

And I haven't even introduced her

to punctuation yet...

Resources

EasyBib

EasyBib is a great, free resource for organizing your citations and building a bibliography to meet APA or MLA guidelines.

The OWL at Purdue

Purdue hosts a wonderful writing resource in its Online Writing Lab. The site details MLA and APA guidelines for in-text citations, grammar and mechanics, professional and technical writing, and the writing process. It is easy to navigate, provides clear examples and clarifies sometimes tricky guidelines.  

Get Ready to Read

This site provides guidelines and suggestions for getting your child ready to read.

Reading Rockets

This site is a comprehensive source for early literacy skills for parents and teachers. Wonderful site with plenty of resources for teaching children to read and write.