Ladybird Tuesday - Teaching Reading

I'm pretty sure that the Ladybird books taught me to read. I definitely have fond memories of Peter and Jane, and being confused at school when we were taught to read using books with children of different names. Teaching Reading is the handbook of the Ladybird Key Worlds Reading Scheme, published in 1969. I'm finding it very interesting at the moment because my son starts school soon, and although I've not really pushed it we are starting to look a little bit at letters and how they fit together.

The book goes into a lot of detail about the process of learning to read, with some interesting thoughts about when a child is ready. Several pages are devoted to various research papers sharing different opinions. There is also a list of nineteen questions, of which the majority should be answered with a 'yes' before beginning a formal approach to reading. They relate to things such as health, well-being and home background as well as things like being able to re-tell a simple story and draw representationally.

There are plenty of pre-reading activities suggested, such as going for an educational walk, or arts and crafts. Then once you are satisfied that it's time to teach the child to read the book goes on to discuss the different methods for teaching reading and suggested activities to help you with them. Of course the focus is on the Ladybird reading scheme, and there are lots of pictures taken from books in the series. There are also lots of wonderful images of industrious children reading away.

There is a lot of information crammed in to this little book, and I'm going to need to have a thorough read. It does all make me feel rather inadequate that I'm not doing all the things suggested in the book myself, although of course it is aimed at teachers and Harry will be introduced to all this when he starts school.

If you love Ladybird books, do pop over and visit Ladybird Tuesday, where Being Mrs C is assembling a really comprehensive catalogue of Ladybird books and reviews.

Below you can find links to all my Ladybird Tuesday book posts.

Snow White and Rose Red
Hansel and Gretel
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Three Little Pigs
The Old Woman and her Pig
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
The Railway Children
A Little Princess
A First book of Aesop's Fables

A Ladybird Book about Knitting
More Things to Make - For Special Occasions
Easy to Make Puppets
Learning to Sew
Stamp Collecting
Tricks and Magic

Prehistoric Animals and Fossils
Dinosaurs
Stone Age Man in Britain
Great Civilisations - Crete
Charles Dickens
Nelson
Lives of the Great Composers Book 1
Lives of the Great Composers Book 2
The Story of Music

Plants and How They Grow
The Ladybird Book of the Night Sky
Sea and Air Mammals
The Farm

The Story of Nuclear Power
The Motor Car
How it Works - The Computer
How it Works - The Rocket
The Story of Ships
The Postman and the Postal Service
People at Work - The Nurse

Understanding Numbers
Talkabout Clothes
Going to School
Teaching Reading

Stories of Special Days and Customs
Christmas Customs

Girls and Boys - A Ladybird Book of Childhood