7. Baby-Bye

The lesson, step by step

1. Warm up

   Have your child reread a few lines of Lesson VI, for example:

   Willie, will you run upstairs, and get my needle book from the bureau?

   Praise smooth reading and help with any word that sticks.

2. New words

   Point to the new words at the top of the lesson:

   spiders tickling stay neck nose secret crawls legs beck ope goes toes speck choose dot nod shoes spread believe six

   Say each word and have your child say it after you. Clap the parts of long words. Then point to words in any order and let your child read them.

3. Read it aloud

   Look at the page together first. Then your child reads the poem aloud, a line at a time. Pause a little at the end of each line.

   Here are a few lines from it:

   Baby Bye,

   Here's a fly;

   We will watch him, you and I.

   Read it a second time, more smoothly.

4. Talk about it

   SayWhat are the speaker and the baby watching?

   SayHow many legs does the fly have?

   SayWhy does the poem warn the fly about spiders?

   SayListen for rhymes: Bye, fly and I. Can you find more?

   Let your child look back at the page to find answers.

5. Tell it back

   Close the book.

   SayTell me what the fly does in the poem.

   Let your child talk without stopping them. Afterward, help with anything left out by asking "What happened next?"

6. Copywork

   Write this line from the lesson for your child to copy, or let them copy it straight from the book:

   We will watch him, you and I.

   Check capital letters, commas and the mark at the end.

7. Spelling

   Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: legs, nose, toes, six, neck.

   Check together and fix any mistakes right away.