learning assumptions

One of the first things a homeschooler has to do is overcome the learning assumptions made in school. For example: Galen at school read a book a week and that week they studied the words and read the book everyday, then he was to bring it home and read it.

That method had the effect of being able to read the handed out books very well, but in Galen it also created the assumption that he could only read what the school sent home. I have been showing Galen that he can read everything. We have been reading boxes, packages, all sorts of books and everything else we find with text on it, and he is finding that he can, and that's it's not that hard (also that Mom can always help him break down a word).

In a few months I expect to have instilled enough confidence in his reading that he will sit down with just about anything and enjoy it for it's text.

Galen seems to instictivly know what the word is (when he actually looks at it) but often he second guesses himself. However, he has all the natural abilities for speed reading in place.

Once the world of text is open to him, I will no longer be able to walk him through something. He will read about it and end up teaching me!