All is well! Elizabeth willingly and without resistance sits down to her daily practice session. That alone is a major accomplishment.
Further, she was a chronic guesser, using her wonderful word sense, her memory, and the pictures to put it all together. She just did not want to slow down and decode.
Now, more often than not, she begins with decoding! As such her accuracy, especially on the smaller words (on, of, for, it, if, and) is nearly 100% and we are only 6 weeks in!
The other major advancement I noticed is her trying to read words around the house, out and about, etc. She NEVER used to attempt words outside of a reading session. Her brain really seems to be picking it up and using the skills more naturally. It is thrilling to see this progress.
Finally, your training and emails are invaluable. One of the major strengths is the one-to-one coaching through phone calls, where I can get my exact questions answered.
The focus on the psychology and mindset are genius, as well, for both parent and child, with effects that go far beyond the reading relationship.
Before the system, we spent three years trying to get her to sit down to read. Not once did she do so willingly. Most of the time, her heels were dug in and she was sour.
Now, outside of the system, we sit down at the end of the day to do her reading and she does so without resistance!!! I think she feels as if she has the skills to do it.
More importantly, I’ll bet she feels the difference in me as a reading partner. I work to keep it positive and no longer try to get her to push through her discomfort like a drill sergeant. If she is fatiguing or getting frustrated we simply end the practice with a simple, “Let’s take a break and come back when we feel better.”
I remind myself, “That’ll do pig” (Babe reference David told me about when I asked him whether we are looking for perfection). The phrase reminds me to see the big picture, celebrate progress, keep everyone positive and, importantly, help her to keep doing the work willingly and with consistency.
It all makes the practice much lighter, and that feels better to both of us. I would not have had this perspective without the coaching provided by your training.
All in all, great work. So glad you are out there doing this work.
– K (at lesson 50)