Do I need a formal reading program…

Hi Amy!  I think it will vary based on the child, but you can dig into this (IMO) by observing how your DD figures out new words.  What does she do when she comes across a word she doesn’t know?  Does she have a set of skills (such as sounding out) when she comes to a word she doesn’t know?   Or does she have a good habit of asking you for help with every unknown word? If she’s truly making the effort on the unknown words (ideal), just make sure she doesn’t get out of this habit as she gets older. 

Here’s why, IMO:  As she advances, the books get more exciting.  Kids want to read more and more as the books get more meaty (yay!), and what follows also is the ability to read more quickly.  Of course, it’s a great skill to be able to read quickly – as long as the reading is still careful and accurate!  If, through reading quickly, a reader picks up sloppy habits along the way, such as skipping unknown words or making-up-a-word for words unknown, well, now you’ve got a sloppy reader. 

In my house, my boys enjoy their books so much, they would choose books over a movie any day.  But just as you never usually enjoy having to push the pause button on a movie during an exciting scene, my boys would rather skip a word and get on with the excitement of their book, than to sit back and ponder (or struggle) over an unknown word in a book.  Skipping it and moving on means they get more of the story – sooner – (probably they need some work on self control, LOL!)  But I am a firm believer that if my boys had ingrained and solid skills in figuring out unknown words, they would not be in this habit of word skipping.

So again, for your DD, if the skills for getting through unknown words are fairly tried-and-true at this point, by all means don’t bother with a formal reading program.  Do nothing right now except reading aloud (or buddy reading) with her, give her tons of great (age appropriate) books, and see how things go.  Just keep an eye on things from time to time.  In 4 or 6 months (of no formal reading program) do a little check-and-see, i.e. pick up something that you know she read and enjoyed, find a couple of challenging, multi-syllable words, and a couple of phonetically awkward words.  Put the words to her and see what she does.  If she struggles with it, then maybe you think about going back on a formal reading program for more in-depth phonics or de-coding.  But if she does fine, then clearly you have a child who doesn’t shy away from unknown words and you’re good to go 🙂

For my eldest two boys, I gave thought to your current question, and I opted to drop the formal program when they began reading decently (grade 3 level).  Eldest son was 8.5 and second son was 7.5 when I made this choice.  I just wanted reading to be enjoyable and more CM.  I was convinced I could go this route given that they both LOVED reading so much.  I still had them read aloud to me from (non-phonetically controlled) graded readers until 5th grade level, but I let them loose on good literature alongside of this, with no other formal program. 

In the end, though I’m thrilled that my boys love reading and adore their book time above all else, I do kick myself a bit…. because as I mentioned, both of my boys, now almost 10 and 11, somehow developed this habit of word skipping!  Ugh!   Clearly we did not do enough practise via a formal reading program on how to approach unknown words by syllable.   I did have my boys read aloud daily from graded readers, Stuart Little, Paddington and such and I helped with unknown words as we came to them.  I recorded the words in a word book and we looked at the words via magnets and on the white board.  But it was all just on a case-by-base basis; we never actually did drills or strategies on HOW to de-code unknown words, which is what you get from a formal program. 

As a result, now, in leisure reading (which my oldest boys do probably 3 hours a day, morning, noon, night, in the car, while sitting in trees, you name it…) they think little of skipping words and have even built a habit of word substitutions (I caught one DS saying “acquaintance” instead of “actuality” – without hesitation….and the other, again without any pause, said “specialty” instead of “specificity”).  While I’m confident that this will be solved (at least partially) in due time with maturity (DS11 does come to me more often now for help with unknown words than he did 6 months ago…he is starting to clue in that he’s “missing” out by skipping words), it’s going to take time, and I rather detest the fact that the habit was formed in the first place.

(so, Amy, now you know why third son, DS7, is using RLTL 🙂  DS7’s older brothers are kind of in awe of their little brother’s abilities on phonogram sounds and how he figures out words. 

Hope this helps!  I am certain the answer to this question will be different for every child.  Know your child’s habits and you’ll have the answer, or, as is often said here, “Teach the child, not the curriculum.”

Blessings, Angie

My dd 7 picked up reading quickly when she was 4. We continue to use ETC and read aloud, but on her own I know she is a “sloppy” reader. She skips words or make them up and never comes to me, though I encourage her to. I am hoping the ETC and reading aloud to me will eventually help.