Kira’s English journey: ‘Reading is fun’ to ‘This is too easy mummy’

Kira learnt her alphabet last year, however having just turned three years in April 2020 she was not my focus in the reading department as Sophia had blossomed with a new reading scheme of Peter and Jane and was really keen to learn to read. 

This was the year when I learnt that age is not the determining factor when children can learn to read, ability has little connection to age. The childs personal interest will determine how successful they will be within the subject. 

I had started reading with Sophia at the age of four because I thought that was the age they needed to start learning. I discovered the error in my teaching ways as she was not ready and it was a negative experience for her initially as we couldn’t understand why she wasn’t learning the words. She however came into her own at the age of five. 

Consequently, I was not focusing on teaching Kira officially, I just read her bedtime stories and encouraged her to keep the alphabet fresh in her mind.

Kira had other ideas. This is also the year I realised the extent of her gifted talents. She took her teaching journey into her own hands and one day in May she was sat on the sofa rocking back and forth (stimming) with the 1a Peter and Jane book in her lap. I dismissed it merely as a cute picture at first, Kira pretending to read. 

That was the first and last time I underestimated her. She read the book straight through with ease. I thought she had memorised it from listening to Sophia reading it, so I passed her 1b and she read it without a pause. Within a week she had read the first six books and was bored, ‘This is too easy mummy’.

She started with the 'Usborne very first reader' book set and by Christmas had completed all 50 books, reading both the child and the adult section. She would talk about the story and react to them as well, so it was clear she was reading and comprehending, not simply learning to decode the words. I considered her graduated at this stage and left her to enjoy her new skill and explore the freedom of the bookshelf. 

I came across her in the reading corner reading ‘Funny bones’ one day, chuckling away at the story. She has read random pages to me from across the full range of Peter and Jane books, including 12a which is aimed traditionally for a reading level of a ten year old.

Kira can confidently read random signs, flyers and street signs with 95% accuracy and can read plain printed text, some cursive, and can read my handwriting. In her review in August 2021 she read over 600 words from plain flashcards and written lists, ranging from basic cvc words, up to words including ‘algorithm ‘, ‘computing’, ‘structural', and ‘engineering'. She is gifted too with spelling and learnt 143 words verbally throughout the course of the year.

At the beginning of the year she started forming letters freely on paper and would write one letter per a4 page. She has shown lovely improvement over the year and now can write up to ten words per page. She loves writing the alphabet in both lower and upper case and 1-20. Her favourite new lesson is to write out her spellings that she’s asked, and to copy out pages from her favourite books. She writes within double spaced lines, and leaves large spacing between her words, which are recognisable.

She can identify basic punctuation, and is beginning to understand the significance of it within writing. She can give examples of action verbs, nouns, contractions and ‘ing’ words, and loves playing the opposites game. She loves to role play and makes up little stories to act out with toys, changing voices and using range of emotions. She loves workbooks and will frequently ask to work through one.  She has completed the following, which clearly demonstrate her growth within this subject this year. 

·        3-4yrs Reading

·         3-4yrs English

·        4-6yrs Gingerbread man

·        4-6yrs The Ugly Duckling

·        5-7yrs Snappy Learner Phonics

·         5-7yrs Snappy Learner Spelling

So dear reader this is Kira's English journey this year. We discovered she is incredibly gifted academically across the board, and as such to never underestimate her. She sets her own pace and it is my job to keep abreast with her level and provide her with revelant resources. She loves learning and is a joyful student, so long the environment is right for her. She processes new information incredibly fast in unorthodox methods which work for her. 

Kiras autistic stims include rocking back and forth and spinning. When she's in her stimming zone there is nothing she cannot learn. She is fascinating to watch. The beauty and freedom of homeschooling is that she can learn in whatever environment suits her and she feels comfortable and confident enough to be herself and consequently she can blossom and soar.