Kiefer really tried hard this morning whilst reading Tom the dog from his Reading Eggs book collection.
He had to really concentrate because this particular book is very tricky.
At this specific level (Level 2, Book 53), the difficulty jumps significantly compared to the very early “Tom” stories.
In Levels 1-20, books usually have 1-3 words per page (e.g., “Tom sat.”).
By Book 53, the program expects a child to handle full sentences.
This means Kiefer has to track with his eyes from left to right without losing his place.
He often requires I follow the words holding his finger (this also helps him stay engaged) but we will read the same book daily so he learns this skill.
We do often block all but the word he needs to concentrate on, so he can learn without getting overloaded with the rest of the sentence.
Earlier books focus on simple CVC words (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant like cat, dog, sit). Book 53 introduces blends, where two consonants appear together.
Level 2 starts mixing phonics (words you can sound out) with high-frequency sight words that don’t follow standard rules yet (e.g., the, said, was, to).
At this map level, the stories actually have a plot. Instead of just “Tom is big,” Tom is now doing things in a sequence. This requires working memory – Kiefer has to work so hard to decode the words that he may not remember the first part of the sentence.
Mixing singular and plural in Book 53 is difficult because it changes how Kiefer has to process a word both visually and phonetically.
He does remarkably well with these and corrects himself when I try to prompt him to check the word.
He performed really well and pushed himself to concentrate on getting it right.
I rewarded him with a hug and some free play on his tab.
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