School, Surgery, Training

What a wild two months August and September proved to be!!!  

SCHOOL

August 15th Chase began Kindergarten.  I worried about how he would transition to Kindergarten and made a list to help his teacher get to know him - which included strengths and struggles

•   He loves to draw and I consider his trains and people to be the best artwork on my refrigerator (and cabinets, and walls)!! 
•   He knows most of his alphabet and is working on learning the sounds to them as well. 
•  He knows his colors and shapes. 
•  He can count to 20 by rote, and usually can count 20 objects (he tends to skip 13).  We are working on counting backwards by 10. 
• He often thinks outside the box, and always amazes us when he does so. 
•  If you show him how to do something, give him time to process it, then show him one more time he usually can do it for you.  He is obsessed with trains and when he was around four he would ask me over and over to draw him a train.  Finally he started to draw them himself.  He does this with other things as well.  He really learns well with flashcards and repetition. 
• He loves to write letters, and enjoys doing his “work” when he is in the mood to focus. 
• He is a funny boy, and loves to laugh. 
• He loves to be read to, and is eager to learn how to read on his own. 

There are some things that he struggles with, which I thought would be beneficial for his teacher to be aware of.

• He iss a creature of habit.  The first time he does something is usually how he will do it FOREVER!!!  It would not be a good idea to let him be the line leader, door holder, etc. the first day of school.  He will want to do it every day (then again, he may want to do those things anyways).  
• Being a creature of habit he likes to have a special spot that is all his.  However, if he does have a special spot be prepared that he will “defend” that spot.  In preschool he was once told to sit down on an elephant on the carpet.  From that moment on HE wanted to sit on that elephant.  If another child sat on “his” elephant he would have a meltdown.  After that he would shed his coat and backpack, push people out of the way to get to that spot, and when his teachers began to either stand on that spot or put other children there he would have a meltdown. 
• We are working on taking turns.  This was a skill he worked on at Community School.  He doesn’t take turns well, and HAS to be first.  He is obsessed with winning.  We work on this on a daily basis at home. 
• He easily become overstimulated – and once overstimulated becomes aggressive and impulsive.  He is a sensory seeker.  
• He does not do well with transitions and sometimes will exhibit unusual fears and anxieties. 
• He doesn’t understand boundaries.  He doesn’t read social queues or facial expressions well.  At preschool when the children would show their annoyance at some behavior Gavin would do he would get closer to them to examine their faces and giggle.  His interactions with other children can get invasive.    He can be touchy/feely which can turn aggressive. 
• When he gets upset he likes deep pressure – I plan on making him a weighted blanket that can be kept in the classroom so that when he needs a sensory break with deep pressure he can cuddle with his blanket. 
• When he does something wrong when asked why he did something he will say “I didn’t do anything”.  He is always IN THE MOMENT and doesn’t understand that his actions that happened in the past have consequences

So far he has had a great year.  His teacher put several of my suggestions into play and he has started off strong.  In fact he has done so well that the teacher felt that he didn't need to have his 150 pull out minutes to go to the special education room.  This caused some tension (as it was in his IEP) but we got it cleared up and he now goes to the Resource room for 200 minutes a month.  They are in the process of changing around his IEP so we shall see how that goes next week at our first parent/teacher conference of the year!! 

Surgery

July 14th I went to the hospital to have my knee checked out.  A week later I had to have an MRI - that was pretty intense.  At the beginning of August I had knee surgery for a meniscus tear.  It has been rough going.  My knee now warns me about cold weather and rain - and it is still working on healing back to health.  It has become abundantly clear that I need to lose weight - which is a good goal.  My kids need a healthy mom!

Training

The most exciting, and I feel life changing event happened in the middle of September.  I took Chase out of school for two weeks and we headed to Columbia, Missouri to attend a two week intensive ABA therapy seminar.  We had the fortune to stay at the Ronald McDonald house while we were there.  During those two weeks I learned powerful positive strategies to increase positive behavior in my son with Autism.  Not only that, but I have been able to implement those same strategies with my other two children as well.  I am a totally different mother and can't wait to share what I learned with my readers!!!!

New Friends

  

Finding The Trouble Zones

Disclaimer - First and foremost - I am just a mom trying out ideas on how to best help my child, and sharing what I am learning with others.  What I share should NEVER be taken as any form of medical advice.  Remember that Chase's sensory needs are going to be different from your child's.  What works to calm him down, get him through the day might not be what your child needs.

Once you have figured out your child's daily routine it is so much easier to then look and figure out when will those possible trouble zones occur?   Let's start at the beginning shall we.  

• He does not like to be woken up.  He likes to wake up on his own.   
• Getting him to get dressed is a HUGE challenge.  Keeping him dressed is a bigger challenge.
• What is he going to do with himself from the time the bus picks him up at 8:15 until class starts at nearly 9am? I haven't decided if he will eat school breakfast or not - probably a daily "let's see what is on the menu" type of deal. The principal mentioned needed parent volunteers to read to kids while waiting for class time.  This can either be a winner with him - because he loves to be read to, or a loser - because he will want to be up and around.  Not only that but with so many children in one space he is going to be ALL over the place.
• Reading, writing time - He has a hard time focusing on things.  He struggles with sitting down.  He will work well with some of the time with someone one on one - however left to his own devices and he will draw trains.  His classroom has 25 children in it already - this should be fun.
• Good news is he does get pulled out of classes for 150 minutes a week for specially designed instruction plus an hour of OT and an hour of PT.
• Once a week on Tuesdays he will be pulled out of school early so that I can take him to OT = principal already knows this and we are both aware that I will still be getting a system generated letter knowing that I am interfering with his attendance - but that his OT supersedes the importance of staying in school.
• I worry that after being in a school environment all day "learning" that when he is home and i want to work with him one on one he will be resistant.  We will TOTALLY play this by ear -
• Thankfully we have already set up a very regimented bedtime routine that we all enjoy.  Both Chase and Emma call me on it when we don't do our routine - so that is good.  It is just actually staying asleep that will be the problem!!!! 

Okay - good thoughts - what else?  What are some things that I know he struggled with in the past that could be potential hazards in the future?

Chase went to preschool for the past two years.  At Head Start he had an assigned chair.  As long as his name was on the chair he was okay if it got moved.

At the preschool run by our local School District Chase Chase sat down on the elephant at the beginning of the year and the rest of the year he would race to that spot.  He would shed his coat and backpack, push people out of the way to get to that spot, and when his teachers began to either stand on that spot or put other children there he would have a meltdown.  (The teacher's began to do this as a way to help him learn flexibility).

 Each day when I got him off the bus, after riding for less than five minutes on the bus, either a child or the bus driver would inform me that he wasn't keeping his hands to himself.  I don't know how many times the bus driver would say to me "You need to talk to Chase about how important it is to keep his hands to himself."  I would smile, say "okay", and attempt to have the conversation with him.  "But I didn't do anyfing."  Would always be his response.  He thinks very much in the moment, and when talking to him about past transgressions he doesn't quite get it - because it isn't what is happening RIGHT NOW.  Right now he ISN'T doing "anyfing".

If you start a routine with him be prepared to continue it, and have massive meltdowns until he gets used to the new routine.

He doesn't deal well with transitions. 

Chase enjoyed recess.  He liked riding the tricycle, playing on the slides, and towards the end of the year playing with other children.  I'm choosing to be optimistic here!  He will create his own routines on the playground, I am sure.

And as I mentioned in my first introductory post about preparing his sensory diet HE JUST MIGHT SURPRISE US!  Still - being prepared is a good thing - and it helps Momma stay calm - which keeps him calm and EXCITED for Kindergarten.  Which is why we have a calendar posted that he crosses off each day in his excitement for school to start.

In all this preparation the question exists: Is a schedule and a plan going to be the proverbial magical wand?  No!  Will a schedule prevent all future meltdowns?  No!!  Will each day have bumps in the road?  No!!!  Will we continue to use a picture schedule for the next few years?  Probably not, I know myself - I'm too much like my mom.  I get bored easily and we will switch to something else that works down the road.  Change can be good - just as long as I keep in mind that Chase does like to know what is going on, and just because something works one day that it might not work the next.  

And because it might not work the next day it is important to have a bag of tools up our sleeves!  Leading us to our next homework assignment:

Homework Assignment:

• Make a list of activities that you can do that would work throughout the day.
• What activities will wake Chase up and put him in a good frame of mind for school?
• What can we do to help make the bus ride a pleasant ride for all involved and ease some of Mommy and Daddy's anxiety? (with school starting in two weeks this is one of the things my dear husband is worried about the most!)
• What can Chase do while he is waiting for school to begin?
• What can be put in place in the classroom to give Chase structure and stability?
• What sorts of activities can Chase do that doesn't make him stand out when he needs to take care of his sensory needs?
• What can we do to make lunch time successful in the cafeteria?
• Will Chase enjoy the chaos of Recess or will he need more structure?
• What will help Chase when he is not able to focus because he is overstimulated?
• What will help Chase when he is starts to get sluggish and is no longer alert - which happens when his body starts to unwind and he gets tired or overstimulated.  (interesting how he can become sleepy or wound up by being overstimulated - no just one or the other).
• What can we do to help with transitions, which he struggles with?
• Read this great blog posts from a mom who has been there, done that!  Hartley's Life with 3 Boys: Sensory Diet

In this series

Creating A Sensory Diet - Intro
Creating a Daily Schedule
We Have a Schedule, Now What?
Finding The Trouble Zones

We Have A Schedule, Now What?

Today was one of my best days in a while with Chase.  I instituted the picture calendar last night and he LOVED it.  When he woke up this morning, okay when I woke up (mentally, not physically) he looked at me and said, "Mommy, where is our calendar thing?"  I quickly planned the first part of our morning, showed the kids, and they immediately began to do the first item on the list - GET DRESSED. It took us a while - but when he was dressed he asked, "Can I take the picture off?"  What a motivator!  The morning ran smoothly and we got out of the house with time to spare for Emma's 3 year check up.  He needed to be reassured that it was for Emma, but he was fine otherwise - especially with the knowledge of a lollipop afterward.

The kids were hungry, so we went to our local amusement park because we have meal vouchers there.,   As we approached the front gates we had this conversation:

Me: "Chase do you want Pizza or corn dogs for lunch?" 
Chase:"Pizza"
Me: "Emma, what about you?"
Emma: "Pizza!"
Me: "After we eat we are only going to ride the train, okay?"
Chase: "Can we ride the Ferris Wheel, too?"
Me:  "Okay, the Ferris Wheel too!"  I agreed as the two rides are right next to one another.

We got our vouchers and headed for the pizza joint.  Chase held my hand and I knew we were going to have a great visit.   Once we got there I went to get our food and I looked down and Chase was gone.  I panicked for a second until I looked at his favorite umbrella table.  It is amazing how he goes directly for his table (which is hard when someone else is sitting there).  When we enter the park he always gets a map and pours over it planning his trip (which he knew what this trip would entail).  He was sitting at the table reading his map.

After eating we headed for the Ferris Wheel.  Emma started crying over spilled water, dropping her cup, Chase sitting where she wanted to blah, blah, blah.  It was clearly nap time.  I told Chase we needed to go home for nap time.  Oh, the devastation.

Chase: "But, you said I could ride the train!!!"Said with big fat tears rolling down his ruddy cheeks.
Me"Oh, honey.  You're right, I did promise you the train."  I realized that although Emma was in meltdown mode with a little bit of cuddling she would settle down.  If he didn't get his scheduled train ride we would be in meltdown mode for HOURS.

It is important that our children learn flexibility, and that sometimes the schedule will have to be changed - but whenever possible for their sake and ours it might be good to stick to the schedule.  As soon as I had Emma cuddled on my lap with her head on my shoulder as we waited for the train to arrive she calmed down.

Chase sat waiting so patiently (he had his intense look on his face that often makes me wonder "What are you thinking about.") until he heard the train.  Oh the excitement, the joy, the smiles on peoples faces as they watched him get all giggly!  I'm glad we stuck to the schedule!

Fast forward to bedtime.  We don't really need the picture schedule for the evening, but he requested it.  More so that he could take off the pictures when he was done putting on his PJ's, brushing his teeth, read a book, go to bed!  I tucked him in bed with his sleeping bag, square blanket (he's had since birth), Cars blanket, his fathers Chiefs fan throw blanket, and finally his trains weighted blanket.  I swear that kid is going to sweat to death - but he surprises me.  A few minutes later he comes running out the bedroom door.

Chase: "Mommy, Mommy, we forgot to take the bed time picture off."  He says with near panic in his voice.
Me: "Okay, you know where it is, go take it off."  I say as I am cleaning something off in the sink.
Chase: "I did it, Good night Mommy."  And he runs back into his room and crawls under his mountain of blankets.  Within minutes he is asleep.

I am now alone, revisiting the day and thanking the idea of creating a picture schedule that was suggested to me two years ago by his preschool teacher - wishing I had tried it earlier!

In This Series

Creating A Sensory Diet - Intro
Creating a Daily Schedule
We Have a Schedule, Now What?
Finding The Trouble Zones

Creating a Daily Schedule

Disclaimer - First and formost - I am just a mom trying out ideas on how to best help my child, and sharing what I am learning with others.  What I share should NEVER be taken as any form of medical advice.  Remember that Chase's sensory needs are going to be different from your child's.  What works to calm him down, get him through the day might not be what your child needs. 
 
I called the school today to find out what the Kindergarten schedule would look like for Chase.  Taking what I learned from the principal (she took nearly an hour talking with me, answering questions it was lovely) I have put down a preliminary schedule for us to follow.  Obviously it is still summer time, we have our Wednesday free summer movie series that get us out of the house, and our season passes to the local amusement park, so we shall see how those work with this new schedule.  It might be interesting!!!!

Anyway, here it is:

7am Eat Breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed
8:00am  free time before the bus comes
8:15am School bus arrives
8:55am School begins with calendar time - discuss what they plan on eating and what the day "looks like".  (The teachers will use a picture calendar so the kids see what is planned.  I really like this idea.)
Morning - Reading, Writing block time.
1050-11:20am  Lunch
11:20-Reading, Writing, Free choice
Early Afternoon - Specials
Afternoon - Math
3:30pm Schools dismisses
4pm arrives at home/snack
4:15pm Free time
5:00pm Dinner
6:00pm One on One work with mom reviewing weekly skills,
7:00pm Free time
8:00pm Night time routine - bath, brush teeth, PJ's, read a book, snuggle with mom/dad
8:30pm Bed

It wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be.  A few years ago his preschool teacher sent home some laminated pictures that could be used in creating a daily schedule.  I need to find those and use them.  There is a really great website they recommended called Do2learn.  For an annual fee of $99 you get access to their make-a-schedule full colored picture cards.  I haven't done that yet - I find their black and white ones semi-sufficient.

Here is a what our schedule looks like tomorrow morning.

Pictures downloaded from Do2learn

What Chase will do is after he accomplishes each task he will put the picture in a box.  When we are done with the last item I will put the next part of our daily schedule up and he will continue the process all the way to snuggle time with Momma before bed!

Homework Assignment:

1. Okay, now you have the schedule created.  What next?  Well, I know for us it will be looking at the schedule and seeing when the difficult parts will be.   Make a note by the times that your child struggles with - whether it be getting up in the morning, reading time at school, going to bed at night or all of the above.   By noting when those difficult times might be for Chase I can prepare ahead of time and also create a list of activities to help aide in that.  
2. Keep a journal to capture different moments with your child.   I'm looking forward to this assignment for myself.  Not only will I write the moments that stress Chase out, but those glowing moments that 20 years from now I can look back and hold those memories close to my heart.  I kept a journal when I served my mission and there are so many precious moments that would have been forgotten if I hadn't!  I know, because of the last time I read my journal I thought to myself over and over "I forgot about that!  Yeah, that was a cool moment!  Geez, I sure did learn from that experience!"

In This Series

Creating A Sensory Diet - Intro
Creating a Daily Schedule
We Have a Schedule, Now What?
Finding The Trouble Zones

Creating a Sensory Diet - Intro

Disclaimer - First and formost - I am just a mom trying out ideas on how to best help my child, and sharing what I am learning with others.  What I share should NEVER be taken as any form of medical advice.  Remember that Chase's sensory needs are going to be different from your child's.  What works to calm him down, get him through the day might not be what your child needs. 

I've been wanting to create a sensory diet for Chase since I first discovered he had SPD.  I started pouring through books, talking to the OT at school, made an appointment for OT over the summer - as of yet we don't really have one set up.  One of my biggest trials in life happens to be patience.  I'm not very patient, and I find that Heavenly Father has often given me opportunities to improve.  I believe this is one of those instances!!!

I find myself a bit anxious as the first day of Kindergarten looms ahead of me.  Chase it truly excited - and when I talk to him about school I make sure to stay positive - but inside I am a quivering mess. 
I'm going to share something with you all.  It isn't any big secret if you know me, especially since I share it with most people anyways.  I suffer from anxiety.  This sometimes causes me to worry about things that I have no control over.  It reminds me a lot of my son - hmmmm, wonder if Mommy has anything to do with some of his anxiety (probably).   

I admit right now that I am stressed out about how Chase is going to do in a classroom of 25+ students.  I worry that he will fall between the cracks.  I stress that he will be a lonely child like his father and mother were as children (we were both introverts - not necessarily by choice).  

In the last couple of days I have had my mother, one of my best friends, and Chase's case manager tell me that everything is going to be fine.  

Mom - 
"Remember how you struggled with learning to read?  Look at you now, you have your Masters Degree in reading!"  
"Your brother struggled with similar behavior issues and look at him now - he is a successful nurse (he has his BS in nursing - and works with critical care patients).

My Friend - When I told her his school case manager (different from the state's case manager) was a lady I worked with in the high school four years ago she said "See, no worries".  Shen then gave me some great advice about being relaxed about school starting and how to approach his teacher (which I will share with on a different post all together).  

His Case Manager from the state - "You never know - HE JUST MIGHT SURPRISE YOU!"

With that in mind - it is still important to have ideas in place to make his transition to Kindergarten easier for him (okay, AND for Mommy!).  This is why I am setting up a sensory diet!!!!I have found some great sites that give suggestions - and I have decided to note our "Sensational Journey" into the school year.  The first step is to work out a schedule, find activities that give proper sensory input, and experiment.  Hop on board as we begin the first leg of our trip!

I came across a great article on Ehow.com  How To Create A Sensory Diet.  One of the first things the article reminded me is that although Chase struggles most in proprioceptive and vestibular input there are days when his other senses are affected as well!  Not only that, but one day an activity will work like a miracle and I think to myself, "Cool, I can do that every time he starts bouncing on the walls."  The next day I try it and it makes him bounce off the walls even more, or he has a meltdown.  SIGH!!!!

There is an answer:  Just as in any diet if you eat the same thing every day you get bored, and start to become resistant.  Case in point:

I'm the one in the front row with the blue checked dress

When I lived in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I ate rice and beans and some sort of meat (normally chicken) at every lunch date we had.  After my first month in Ceara, Brazil we had a special luncheon at the Mission President's House.  The Mission President is the one in charge of our spiritual, emotional, and physical well being while we are out in the field for the year and a half to two years we are away from our families.  My companion (we are always paired with another missionary or two -  2 Cor. 13:1 In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.) told me that the meal at the Mission Home would be the best food our entire mission.  I was utterly excited!  I don't remember what I imagined what the meal would be like, but my mouth salivated.  I was so tired of rice and beans, I was ready for something delicious.

I quivered in anticipation as the first dish was placed on the table: RICE.  My heart sank to the pit of my stomach as the second dish was placed on the table: BEANS.  I began to sob - yes, literally SOB when the third dish was placed on the table: SOME SORT OF MEAT (I think it was chicken!).  I don't think I stopped crying for about an hour.  My Mission President and his wife were at a loss because they couldn't understand what I was saying.  They were from Sao Paulo Brazil and although they spoke pretty good English they couldn't quite understand the garbled words coming from this weeping young woman.  My companion happened to be an American, and she attempted to talk to me - but I was too much in shock.  The thought hit me that I had another year and a half of rice and beans for every, and I mean EVERY meal.  SIGH! The good news, not every meal was rice and beans.  There was pasta every once in a while (no spaghetti sauce, just pasta with oil - maybe some cilantro if we were lucky), and some of the best beet and potato salad you can imagine!  By the time I went home I had lost quite a few pounds, and I did gain a love of rice and beans (although NOT every day).

The moral to this story - it is important to find a variety of activities that can both stimulate and calm down the senses to best help Chase.  Not only that, but it is imperative that we get an idea of what happens during a typical day - so that we can prepare and implement some of the activities.

Our first assignment:
Chase Starts Kindergarten in 2 and a half weeks.  He has had a bit of an unstructured summer, which has been interesting and often frustrating.  It has been hard to juggle five different people  let me tell you.  The next couple of weeks we begin to create a bit more structure to prepare him for what he will be facing in the classroom.  I will contact the school and find out what time to expect the school bus, when class starts, when he will eat lunch, when his special classes (gym, library, art, music) will be, when will he be pulled out for Speech, OT, etc.  I will set up our day to kind of mimic these activities - which will be fun for Chase and Emma - they love to "play" school.  The weekends have pretty much been the same for 5 years - so that will continue to be the same.

By noting what his daily schedule is we can then begin to put the pieces together as to what causes meltdown, curb some of the excess energy, help him focus, and everything else his little body needs.

In This Series

Creating A Sensory Diet - Intro
Creating a Daily Schedule
We Have a Schedule, Now What?
Finding The Trouble Zones

Alphabet Play With Stickers

The other day as I walked through the school supply section (this time of year I do it each time I'm at the store just hoping to find another treasure) I came across some alphabet stickers.  I knew I would find a treasure!!  I had several ideas in mind to use theses stickers - but the one I chose for Chase was the following:

Historically Speaking

Historically, reading instruction followed three main theories on literacy instruction.  There is phonic instruction, Whole-language instruction, and the balanced approach.  It is actually fascinating to go back and read where all these approaches came from, how proponents for each one argue about how they are the best!  For me, I think use them all until you find a good fit for the particular child - because children are different. 

Phonics Instruction:

1. Teaching children alphabetic principle is key.  Learning the alphabet doesn't come by just looking at words.  I know when I learned both Spanish and Portuguese until I learned their alphabet the letters on the books I purchased didn't make sense, not even when I tried.  I mean try saying the word tabom.  You probably pronounced it ta-bomb (unless you speak Portuguese).  It is actually pronounced ta-bong (the g being only slightly said.)   If you look back at earilier colonial america reading instruction started off with hornbooks you will notice the alphabet with a syllabary printed on each of these little paddles.  I found a neat website that not only has pictures of a hornbook - but instructions on how to make one for my kids.  I see a project in my future.  Teaching the alphabetic principle was so important to Noah Webster in the early 1800's that he developed spellers which included alphabetic instruction as well as sentences and literature.  His greatest contribution to the world of literacy is of course the Websters Dictionary (Elias, 2009).
2. Learning to read sight words quickly and accurately is integral to learning how to read
   
3. One thing that I don't agree with phonic instruction is that "context is not the primary factor in beginning word recognition" (Sousa, 2003, p.65).  If children aren't able to put the word into context in their every day life then the word is just foreign.  When I learned Portuguese I learned best when the teacher drew pictures up on the board next to the word.  I had context.  I was able to learn.

Whole-Language

Whole language came about as a backlash to the sight method (basically children learned large amounts of texts through rote memorization).  The only thing good that I see that came of the sight method was the importance of comprehension questions after memorizing text.  Whole language includes the following bits and pieces:

1. Whole language"integrated aspects of the phonics method in basal readers.  Teachers began to use charts to hold words, phrases and sentences so that students had a more hands on experience" (Elias, 2009, pg. 4-5). 
2. Reading material that the student finds interesting is key to motivation and to learning (Monaghan and Barry, 1999).  
3. Children use meaning, the rules of grammar, and phonemes - which are the smallest unit of sound that is sed to create meaningful words to learn to read.
4. As they begin to decode words and find meaning through context clues they begin the road to fluency. 
5. Phonics instruction is important but should be put on the back-burner of learning how to read.  

Balanced Approach

In the late 90's early 2000 several reports came out from the National Research Council (Snow et al., 1998) and the National Reading Panel (NPR, 2000).  I will have to devote an entire post to these great studies at another time.  What they basically came up with is that no two children learn the same and that you should take the good aspects of both phonics and whole-language instruction!  Imagine that.  David A. Sousa (2003) does a great job of describing the balanced approach

1. Don't stick with one reading program because children are not cookie cutter gingerbread kids.  They have different needs, different ways of learning.  Mix it up.
2. Phonemic awareness is CRUCIAL!!!!!
3. Children need to learn the alphabetic principle - learn the alphabet and the sounds, and the relationship between letters and phonemes (the smallest unit of sound that is used to create meaningful words).
4. Learn strategies for decoding words (phonics)
5. Read for meaning
6. Read good, good, very good literature - not just the regular stuff - "enriched literature"

Resources

Elias, G.E. (2009).  Reading Instruction Timeline. 

Managhan, E.J., & Barry, A.L. (1999). Writing the Past: Teaching Reading in Colonial America

and the United States 1640-1940. San Diego: International Reading Association. 

Sousa, D. A. (2005). How the brain learns to read. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.