The Three R's

The Three R's is a great book for any parent. In fact, I was so impressed I am ordering additional copies for my sisters and best friends. I apologize in advance for the length of this review.Someone complained that the book "...did not teach you how to teach your child..." or "...short and rambling...workbooks were better..." and while they are entitled to have their opinion maybe they missed the point. I have had the books two (2) days now and based on the advice (based on theories) I am very impressed with the information the book does put forward.1. The book describes different methods, especially those of the standard preschool and primary school and critiques methods based on philosophies, theories, and research. In some instances, she said "...the fact that they can does not necessarily mean they should." and provides reasons to support her methods.2. The book seems logically laid out, building information in each section as a teacher would any student. And could be read specifically for particular child's age as the methods are in progressive steps/stages.3. This book is not a workbook. The book encourages parents to develop an attitude of education in everyday life with their child(ren): "Use real life for teaching."; "Real life is daily. It is close at hand. It offers the best learning opportunities your child will ever have."; "Pushing does not work"; "...begin...at a young age...". It also mentioned that the strategies taken by workbooks use a backward approach (i.e. with reference to learning modes) and could lead to frustration of the child.I purchased the book because I wanted my daughter to start doing Math: 2+3=5. But having read the book, I realize that this stage is the last stage of the learning modes (symbolic mode) and as a preschooler I should get her more involved and comfortable with counting and moving real objects (manipulative mode). "Symbolic thinking doesn't happen overnight. We need to give our children time....We should not start arithmetic teaching with 3+2=____." [lol...exactly what I had planned]. It mentioned teaching addition and subtraction initially with numbers whose sum is not more than 6.The book talks about pushing children beyond their capability to satisfy the parents' ego "It usually is not the baby who shows any readiness or eagerness to learn to read early, but it is too often an over-anxious mother pushing for it.".I remember my Mom getting sea shells for my sisters and I to count because we could not afford workbooks (or even have the variety present in today's market). We also got paper to write almost endlessly, we were writing scribbles! At the end of each day my Dad would go through our writing and find letters and ask us to identify them if we could. Seems their approach was closer to the point! The book also suggests everyday activities for the parent and child that would help build the skills in The Three R's, with guidance on how to increase difficulty with mastery. I usually give my daughter a jockey-back from the bed to the living room on mornings. From my readings last night, I learnt that "Every day a portion of our children's conversations and problems should involve numbers and other arithmetic concepts: big, small, long, high. Comparisons. Measurements. Counting." So this morning she had to count down from 5 to 1 for me to `lift off' the bed and from 1 to 5 for me to `land' on the couch. And yes in preschool they practice counting from 1 to 30 and I won't change that, but I can change how she feels about The Three R's from home.I have not read the entire book - my daughter is in preschool starting Grade K next term. So I read sections applicable to her age and just a little ahead so I can know what signs (questions, behavior, etc.) may be signaling that she is ready to move on.I hope the publisher is not annoyed that I used so many quotes, but I was impressed.

The strength of this great little work is in its simplicity. These guides do not tell a person exactly what to teach or when...rather they offer the very basics of how to teach basic skills (with some great brief explanations of why one should consider doing things this way) and let the teacher move forward with their own student(s) in mind. After reading my way through multiple books on how to teach, what to teach, when to teach, how children learn, phonics programs, math curriculum, etc...I've found this the most helpful guide I own regarding HOW to teach because of it's simplicity and flexibility. Too much of anything is overwhelming...for children and adults alike...and we naturally figure out the necessary details after we have a firm grasp on the basics.Read this knowing it is not a curriculum guide. There are no lesson plans included (though there are games/activities for each level of reading, writing, math discussed). This approach relies on real life experience, real books and writing with actual meaning to the student, and common sense...it will not look like a public school or packaged curriculum. It is not fancy, and there are no gimmicks or step by step instructions. Those who will appreciate this work are those who recognize the power in simplicity and can make some decisions about WHAT to teach on their own.

As a homeschooling mom that (like many homeschooling moms) feels a bit like I'm messing up, I love this book! Ruth Beechick uses clear, easy to follow, common sense instructions to teaching your child(ren). I have not read all of the book yet, nor implemented all of the advice, but what I have seen so far is good. She uses common sense, sometimes old-fashioned, time-tested methods. This probably leans most to classical homeschooling but really anyone could pick and choose what to use. It is not by any means a "curriculum". It is a guide to follow. We all taught our kids to speak and probably write their name. This gives the natural progression to teaching reading and learning to write. It also follows with arithmetic as well. Overall, I am very pleased and I am anticipating ordering her follow up book for 4th grade and above.

Loved the valuable knowledge this gave us as first time homeschooling parents.

This book completely demystified teaching my son the three R's, and at such an affordable price. Before I read these, I was still concerned that I wouldn't do as good of a job as a trained educator -- but this really breaks it down and even makes it fun for my son. Each chapter had several helpful activities that helped hone my son's skills without worksheets and without having to buy extra stuff from a specialty store. I look forward to using it on my daughter this year. I'm buying my fourth set, since I keep loaning out my copies and never get them back! It's an economical, encouraging, practical resource for teaching K-3.

The great thing about these little (28-30 pages) guides is that they truly give you all you need to start successfully homeschooling your K-3rd Grader in 3 core areas: reading, Language (Grammar) and Math. They are jammed packed with details and wonderful "how-tos", not rhetoric. I imagine that you can design a whole year's curriculum with just this packet, and a collection of very good books. Do yourself a favor, ditch the urge to buy those expensive curriculums with bells and whistles. Buy this first. I just wish I found this series BEFORE I spent hundreds of dollars on buying and selling things I didn't want or need. When you have finished this, I suggest you read Beechick's You Can Teach Your Child Successfully for more wisdom on schooling 4th-8th Grade.Enjoy.

The only resource I’ll ever need for teaching my young children how to read, write and do math. Simplifies everything. Back to the basics - this is how everyone needs to be teaching their kids.

As a home-educator with several years of teaching under my belt, I picked up this little book and was surprised to find how much I still had to learn from it. What I like about it is that it is full of common sense. Beechick isn't trying to sell you anything (well, except this book!): rather, she's trying to give you the confidence to know that you can successfully educate you child through the early years without needing to be a qualified teacher or any other kind of 'expert'. After trying out so many different 'schemes' (most of which are expensive), it was refreshing to be told that they weren't necessary, and that a lot of the conclusions I'd come to through experience were spot on because they were simply common sense. If you feel worried or intimidated by the thought of teaching you primary aged child, read this book and you'll feel a lot better! It's not just advice, by the way, there are tons of practical tips and examples too.

This is a great book to refer to while home schooling

Es muy funcional

wow for such a small book, i am amazed at all the information it has! I will be homeschooling my son and this book will be a tool that i will keep on going back to! i HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!

Very helpful resource to have at my disposal