Reading Readiness.

I found the following list helpful.  CM Reading lessons aren't an exact science, and nothing is set in stone as it were... so these ideas do help to have some idea of what to be working toward.

Early Language Arts Skills:

Pre-reading Skills

• can ID the name and sound of each upper and lower case letter almost by reflex (which should have developed out of or helped to develop new attention to differences in the appearance of the letters -which is a foundational skill in learning to read and spell the CM way - this prerequisite skill cannot be emphasized enough)
  
• associates the sound of each letter with a given word (such as d for
  dog, b for baby.)
  
• through word building experiences, understands and is comfortable with the concept that two or more letters can, at times, make only one sound(ie- th, ng, ph, etc.)
  
• is familiar with the concept of rhyming sounds
  
• understands the concept that a specific group of letters (a word) is a symbol for a specific idea
  
• can visualize some of the words explored through early word building
  
• has enough habit of attention skills and application of will to attend to the instruction given in short CM styled lessons (but keep them short, even if that means that less than a whole lesson is studied)
  
• wants to learn to read
  
• has appropriate visual development (to know this for certain requires an
  examination by a qualified professional such as a developmental ophthalmologist. The symptoms of poor visual processing appear much like laziness or fatigue or etc. If, during lessons, you become concerned about weak visual memory, contact your local professional and make an appointment.)

Composition - Word Sense - Linguistic Patterns

• informal recitation of nursery rhymes, 'real poems', and
  scripture
  
• reading books over several times
  
• these two help to develop word sense and linguistic patterns
  
• (the reading of a story *one* time is used for 'attention', which is different than developing linguistic sense)
  
• the child's telling of his own day
  
• the child's interactions with you about nature
  
• these two help to develop descriptive and narrative 'composition' skills
  

Information compiled by Lorraine Nessman and posted to the AOy0 e-mail list HERE.