Attention span can vary greatly with each child, and even from day to day with the same child. Read all of the directions in each lesson before you begin, and always do these lessons in sequence. This is important because one skill builds upon another, and each practice reading reflects knowledge of all the letter sounds learned up to that point. At first, work only a few minutes a day. It is the habit of sitting together for a lesson that is important to establish - you will gradually find yourselves spending more time with these lessons.
Success breeds confidence and enthusiasm on the student's part, and a desire to do more.
However, lessons never need to be longer than 10 or 15 minutes to show real progress . Keep studying one lesson until your child knows it thoroughly. The goal is not just to impart knowledge, but to make it automatic in recall. As lessons get more complicated, he may even spend days working on the same page. Following is a sample lesson plan for teaching the short-vowel sounds.