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Phonics
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Ladies, I need some reassurance that I am doing the right thing. My DD5 is reading really well now. We used a combo of sight word study and Sing, Spell, Read and Write phonics. I did this because she really wanted to learn how to read and was motivated by the songs. So many of my friends are still using a phonics program with their children who know how to read. Do you believe that is important? I think I should just keep her reading and practicing. But now I’m getting “the sweats” that I haven’t researched a phonics program for this year. I’m planning on starting First Language Lessons with her in January, only because she really wants to! (I used it last year with older DD, and younger DD wanted to do her own Language Lessons as well!) Please let me know if you think I’m steering her in the right direction, or if I should be doing some phonics reinforcing. You always know just what to say to encourage me!
Faith 🙂
I continue to review phonics with my guys up until 6th grade and beyond if they are still not quite getting it. Here is a hodgepodge of things we do interchangeably:
I have them read a paragraph or so to me daily for just the purpose of phonics review and they understand that’s what we are doing with that 5 minutes. I then either point out something that they are missing, or I just say, Great, and we move on.
I will often keep one ‘phonics rule’ in mind for the day and I bring it up periodically. Sometimes there is a chart they can add a word to that goes with that particular rule.
I will have the older ones teach the younger (multi-tasking!).
Blessings,
Cindy
Hi Faith,
My seven-year-old was an early reader. We’ve never done a Phonics program but Phonics is a state requirement here so for his scope & sequence we used Ruth Beechick’s booklet “A Home Start in Reading” for some very light guidance (mainly so I would know how t address it in his portfolio). He moved from pre-reading, blending & decoding on his own by five (he loved being read to from infancy and we love(d) reading to him) and then we worked on fluency (ie reading aloud with good expression, read silently then narrate, and continue to listen while we read aloud to him). If he bumps into a word he can’t pronounce or an unusual word in his reading we “learn” a new phonics rule.
For our portfolio we stated our goals for him in reading & phonics and where he is in accordance with those goals, then listed the books he has read by himself during free reading time and those that we read aloud as a family (outside of his scope & sequence). I also looked up the Lexile reading level of the books he’s read as a point of reference if I am asked about it.
HTH, it’s just what we did with our early reader. Our second child seems a much different learner.
Best,
Richele
We used MFW’s Kindergarten last year. I have an older DS (he’ll be 7 this week), so I don’t really know if that’s what has made it so easy for us or not, but we got the phonics down pat last year.
I did get MFW’s 1st mostly because I was scared to not “do enough” like you…but after about 3 weeks of it, we are thinking about dropping it. We’ve just been reading (Pathway Readers, Scholastic Level 1 readers and some of the books from VP’s catalogue)…we just sit down together, he reads, I correct him if he makes mistakes and give him phonics rules as they apply and he needs them. I’ll ask for a narration, and then he makes what he calls a “book report” – which is a drawing of the story with the book’s title and author on it. He also does about 5 minutes of copywork a day (scripture verses mainly) and we read that together before and after he does it, so I guess that’s more along the lines of sight word/dictation. I like this the best, and don’t see us continuing with our “real” 1st grade phonics program.
Just my experience. HTH – Kathi
I know this may go against the grain of a true CMer, but if he enjoys workbooks (my son LOVES them) you can go through some of the Explode the Code workbooks to review phonics rules. They can be a lot of drill, but seem to cover all the rules well and are cheap. My son also read very early and I’ve questioned how well we covered all the “rules” as well. We did pretty much what you said you did and he breezed through phonics and learning to read. I let him do the ETC workbooks as he likes and he enjoys coloring the pictures (he looks at it more as a fun thing than a school thing). That’s what we’re doing for now to reinforce phonics rules. I also get him to read aloud to me and I watch for words he may struggle with or if he stops to sound something out I make sure to point out whatever rule applies.
Faith, please don’t sweat! If the goal of phonics is to give keys to reading and your daughter is reading well, you’ve obviously done something right, whether it was systematic or incidental. Continuing reading, both aloud herself and you reading aloud to her is a great (and inexpensive) way to reinforce the phonics rules. I do not know anything about FLL, except that it is considered a “classical approach.” If I realize that fear is pushing or motivating me, I try to slow down, take it to my husband and get his perspective as well as to the Lord – much better to be led than pushed. Anyhow, sounds like you are a loving mom doing a great job!
My kids do minimal phonics when learning to read and then they review phonics when they are doing prepared dictation and learning to type. Typing has a lot of phonics review!
Ladies, thank you so much for your advice! You really have made me feel good about my choices. I do have her read aloud to me all the time, and I just correct mistakes as we go along. I guess I was worried because she seems to be so much of a sight word kid (meaning that she doesn’t really have to sound words out, she just knows them), that I was worried she wouldn’t have those decoding skills. But she has proven to me that she does, and I will continue to take your advice as we go along on our journey. You have come through for me once again!
Many thanks, Faith 🙂
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