In her pre-kindergarten year, Second Daughter and I read some alphabet books (though not as extensively as I did with Second Son) and played lots of phonogram games from the Phonogram and Spelling Game Book. She's always loved games. Then we worked through the lessons in The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. With First Daughter, I waited until we finished all of the lessons before reading any "real" books, but I realized later that wasn't necessary. With Second Daughter, we started reading books together after her official lesson each day so she could have some actual stories along with her phonics.
First, we alternated paragraphs. (I would read one, then she would read one.) Then we moved up to pages. Eventually, she would read half of a chapter or a whole chapter out loud to me.
The combination of The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and reading books together worked very well. She can read! If, however, I were just starting out to teach multiple children to read over the next decade (as opposed to having taught four children to read over the past decade), I would be very tempted to buy the Foundations series. (This is not an affiliate link and I've never seen it in person, but I did purchase and use Essentials with First Son and, a little, with First Daughter, and I have heard good things about Foundations.)
Unless otherwise noted, all of these books are from the library.
The kindergarten books (2014-2015):
- The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc (library) - I remember this sweet day.
- Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon by Cynthia Rylant (purchased at a library book sale)
- Harley by Star Livingstone
- Henry and Mudge The First Book by Cynthia Rylant
- Henry and Mudge and Annie's Perfect Pet by Cynthia Rylant
- Tye May and the Magic Brush by Molly Bang
- Curious George: A Home for Honeybees by H. A. Rey
- Henry and Mudge in Puddle Trouble by Cynthia Rylant
- Henry and Mudge in the Green Time by Cynthia Rylant
- Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel
The first grade books (2015-2016):
- Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel
- Blaze and Thunderbolt by C. W. Anderson
- Henry and Mudge in the Sparkle Days by Cynthia Rylant
- Dinosaur Time by Peggy Parish
- Sammy the Seal by Syd Hoff (own)
- Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea by Cynthia Rylant
- Henry and Mudge Get the Cold Shivers by Cynthia Rylant
- Daniel's Duck by Clyde Robert Bulla
- Hot Fudge Hero by Pat Brisson (own) - Such a good book!
- Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps by Cynthia Rylant
- Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel (own) - Second Daughter still enjoys this book, years later!
- Little Sister, Big Sister by Pat Brisson (own)
- The Giants' Farm by Jane Yolen (own) - This book has a candy recipe in the back that First Son still likes to make!
- Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie by Peter and Connie Roop (own)
- Saint Germaine and the Sheep by Eva K. Betz (own) - She also read the other books by Betz published by Neumann. They are beautifully bound books and make good gifts.
- A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman (own)
- The King's Equal by Katherine Paterson (own)
- Anna, Grandpa, and the Big Storm by Carla Stevens (own)
- The Shoemaker's Boy by Joan Aiken (own)
- Lulu and the Duck in the Park by Hilary McKay - I wrote about this series before.
- Saints for Girls from Neumann Press (own)
I posted First Son's first fifty books of kindergarten. Apparently I intended to post more but never did and I suspect I don't even have them written down anywhere. Here's the list of books he read with me in first grade.
First Daughter didn't have any kindergarten books (because I was waiting to finish The Ordinary Parent's Guide), but here are her first grade books.
