K Webster's Speller to teach reading, weekly schedule

[ElizabethB]

I'll add to this each week. You may have to adjust, but it might be helpful. Basically, you should work through in the same order, doing 5 to 10 minutes of work a day at the beginning, building up to 10 to 15 minutes a day by the end of the year.

 

1. Leapfrog until they know letter names and sounds. (Better a talking frog than me!! I enjoy teaching phonics overall, but not saying the sounds of the letters 1 million times.)

 

2. Explain that you are teaching syllables, and vowels at the end of syllables will say their name (You will explain the y when you get there. Tell them 1 thing at a time!)

 

I do a 4 day week, here's week 1:

 

D1. Teach BA BE BI BO BU in uppercase from a white board. Do one at a time: /b/ (the sound of B) /a/ (long a) makes BA. (bay) Then, do the same for BE, BI, BO, and BU. Tell them that BE is also a word. (In our house, bobo is a word (name of a stuffed frog), so we wrote that, too.) Have the student write and say each syllable, using magnetic letters if they cannot write well (you will need 6 sets.) Then, say, "Y at the end of a syllable has the same sound as long I, it says I." Explain that it is both a syllable and a word. Then, sound out each quickly across then read them all across together. Then, sound out one at a time DA, DE, DI, DO, DU, DY. (Do is not doo but long o do as in dodo.) Then, read them across together.

 

D2. Do the same for F, H, and M. (FA, FE, FI, FO, FU, FY...) You can tell them that this may be the origin of FE FI FO FUM. (MA is MAY, not ma. Explain that this is a syllable, not a word, if they know the word Ma.)

 

D3. N, R, and T.

 

D4. W, L, and P. (PA is PAY, not pa. Explain that this is a syllable, not a word, if they know the word Pa.)

 

(Yes, we are skipping the C's and G's. They can wait until later, it's a bit confusing.)

[Mom2absh]

Thanks for posting this, Elizabeth! I've been wondering about it - I always do better with an actual walk-through of a process!

 

J

[ElizabethB]

Thanks for posting this, Elizabeth! I've been wondering about it - I always do better with an actual walk-through of a process!

 

J

 

You're welcome!

 

My daughter moved much faster, a boy who has not had some exposure to spelling might move a bit slower. My son could spell about 20 words when we started, and had also played a few times on "ABC pocket phonics," a spelling/phonics iPhone app.

[ElizabethB]

Week 2:

 

D1. SA, SE, SI, SO, SU, SY and ZA, ZE, ZI, ZO, ZU, ZY (only 2 because he needed more time after the weekend break.)

 

D2. Reviewed short vowel sound and told him that when syllables and words end in a consonant, they are short. AB, EB, IB, OB, UB and AD, ED, ID, OD, UD. We also made a few 3 letter words that he suggested after hearing these syllables.

 

D3. MA ME MI MO MU MY contrasted with AM EM IM OM UM. Explained long/short difference. We also made the word MOM, which he already knows how to read and spell. (But, we like it!)

 

(Short week due to the holidays.)

[Rosie_0801]

What a wonderful woman you are!!

 

 

:bigear: (listening for more and carefully saving the thread)

Rosie

[ElizabethB]

What a wonderful woman you are!!

 

:blush: Thanks!

 

My kids still think so, too!! 5 and 8 are great ages. They are old enough to get their own snacks, and they think parents are the greatest people ever.

[ElizabethB]

Another short week due to the holidays.

 

D1. At et it ot ut; ac ec ic oc uc

 

D2. Ak ek ik ok uk, an en in on un, ap, ep ip op, up. He got confused about on and no, so after ap ep ip op up, I wrote out na ne ni no nu ny above an en in on un, sounded them both out, and then went back and forth between on and no, explaining the difference between the two.

 

D3. Took a break and played 2 phonics games on the ABC pocket phonics app, he played 2 games of 10 CVC words.

 

D4. La le li lo Lu ly, bla ble bli blo blu Bly. Unlike some boys, he had no trouble with these blends, so we also did fla, fle, fli, flo, flu, fly. (They are getting into our reading of the Landmark book about the Wright brothers, so he was excited to be able to read and write the word fly.)

 

( I am still writing them in all uppercase for him, I do all uppercase in K.)

[Slojo's Homeschool]

Thank you for posting this. I have been intrigued by the Syllabary approach, but really couldn't wrap my head around how to really implement it in a day to day format.

 

Thanks for this!

[ElizabethB]

Thank you for posting this. I have been intrigued by the Syllabary approach' date=' but really couldn't wrap my head around how to really implement it in a day to day format.

 

Thanks for this![/quote']

 

You're welcome!!

[KDBask]

Elizabeth,

 

I just found your website yesterday and am planning to start my youngest two with your lessons on Monday...and I have tons of questions!

 

Is Websters something that would follow the lessons that are in your signature?

 

I thought that one a thread I read that someone was doing some workbook pages from your site as well. But I didn't see anything. Am I looking in the right place?

 

And if I changed the topic of this thread too much I am sorry!

 

~Denise

[Guest]

.

Edited May 2, 2016 by Guest

[ElizabethB]

Elizabeth,

 

I just found your website yesterday and am planning to start my youngest two with your lessons on Monday...and I have tons of questions!

 

Is Websters something that would follow the lessons that are in your signature?

 

I thought that one a thread I read that someone was doing some workbook pages from your site as well. But I didn't see anything. Am I looking in the right place?

 

And if I changed the topic of this thread too much I am sorry!

 

~Denise

 

Yes, the Webster can follow my lessons, in fact, it makes it much easier to do because you have been walked through the syllables already!

 

However, the lessons are designed for at least a 2nd grade student, so it may be a lot for a younger student to work through. They were designed for remedial older students. Several 1st grade students have successfully worked through them with pauses, though.

 

Hey Denise :). My apologies for jumping in here and I know that Elizabeth will come back to answer your questions, I just wanted to also suggest getting in touch with Don Potter. My friend will be using Webster's speller and combining it with Frank Rogers TATRAS program (also highly recommended by Don Potter) so she got in touch with Mr. Potter and he was very helpful, answering all her questions, and very friendly. Just thought I would let you know of another person you can go to for advise :). His e-mail address can be found in his website.

 

http://www.donpotter.net/ed.htm

 

Yes, Don is very helpful and he and his website are great resources!

[sarahv]

So are you just "allowing" CVC words because it is in game format, or do you have a plan behind learning the CVC. I've really tried to limit any exposure to sight words here, but they are fairly pervasive in alot of early readers, even so-called phonics readers.

 

You are the leading reading expert in my opinion. So I very much value your opinion!! I've looked at so so so many programs, and I just keep coming back to Webster's. I like it best. Can we have a little peak into the long range K goals for your kiddo? (i.e. What will he be reading by Christmas? - tentatively of course! - Will you be using primers or early phonics readers? etc. Is it ok to ask you these nosy questions??) I've got a K little boy this year, too, and a budding 1st grader, so I'm all ears.:bigear::bigear:

[ElizabethB]

 

I thought that one a thread I read that someone was doing some workbook pages from your site as well. But I didn't see anything. Am I looking in the right place?

 

~Denise

 

I missed that part, I was posting quickly before we went to church.

 

I have some syllable division exercises that are worksheet like linked at the end of my how to tutor page:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/howtotutor.html

 

So are you just "allowing" CVC words because it is in game format, or do you have a plan behind learning the CVC. I've really tried to limit any exposure to sight words here, but they are fairly pervasive in alot of early readers, even so-called phonics readers.

 

You are the leading reading expert in my opinion. So I very much value your opinion!! I've looked at so so so many programs, and I just keep coming back to Webster's. I like it best. Can we have a little peak into the long range K goals for your kiddo? (i.e. What will he be reading by Christmas? - tentatively of course! - Will you be using primers or early phonics readers? etc. Is it ok to ask you these nosy questions??) I've got a K little boy this year, too, and a budding 1st grader, so I'm all ears.:bigear::bigear:

 

Thanks for the kind words!

 

My son can decode any CVC word right now, although he is slow and needs more practice with them. I prefer to do the syllabary first, but did let him play a game to throw in a bit of fun. I will also later have him play my concentration game for fun and to make sure he can decode nonsense words.

 

I'd love to have him reading anything by the end of the year, but I don't think we'll get there. Like many boys, it is taking him a lot of repetition to really get things. (My daughter needed little phonics repetition but needs more math help and repetition!)

 

I'm not normally a fan of even phonics readers, but we do have some Nora Gaydos books around, I did let my daughter do a few of them once she was decoding CVC words pretty well. I tried one out and remembered again why I don't like them!! (He started guessing from the pictures and guessing random words and phrases that might complete a sentence.)

 

By Christmas, we'll still be working our way through the Speller, wherever we get to. I will keep working on syllables and words and keep chugging along! Where I would like to be and where we will get are two different things... (His math is the opposite, I'd actually like him to slow down a bit!! But, we'll do MEP things and fun math play and branch off, I'm not sure he's really ready for Singapore 1A but he's almost done with Singapore K.)

[ElizabethB]

Week 4:

 

D1. CLA, CLE, CLI, CLO, CLU, CLY; PLA, PLE, PLI, PLO, PLU, PLY; VA, VE, VI, VO, VU, VY

 

D2. BRA, BRE, BRI, BRO, BRU, BRY; CRA, CRE, CRI, CRO, CRU, CRY; AT, ET, IT, OT, UT

 

D3. PRA, PRE, PRI, PRO, PRU, PRY; GRA, GRE, GRI, GRO, GRU, GRY; AN, EN, IN, ON, UN

 

D4. CHA, CHE, CHI, CHO, CHU, CHY; DRA, DRE, DRI, DRO, DRU, DRY; AP, EP, IP, OP, UP

[ElizabethB]

Week 5:

 

D1. DRA DRE DRI DRO DRU DRY; FRA FRE FRI FRO FRU FRY; GLA GLE GLI GLO GLU GLY

 

D2. SLA SLE SLI SLO SLU SLY; SPA SPE SPI SPO SPU SPY; SHA SHE SHI SHO SHU SHY

 

D3. DA DE DI DO DU DY; AD ED ID OD UD.

 

He was supposed to spell 2 CVC words...I give hints, drawing out the sounds of each letter, as needed. He kept asking for more and spelled about 20, he's starting to get it!! (BUG, RUG, BAT, PIG, MOM, DAD, etc.)

 

D4. CA CE CI CO CU CY

 

This is a tough one, CA CO and CU say KAY, KO, CUE; CE, CI, and CY all say SEE, SIGH, SIGH. I start out with S's and K's above the appropriate C's on the white board and then erase them after we go through it several times. I also teach that "C says S before e, i, and y." We spent about 10 minutes going over this one slowly one at a time, then repeating the whole thing several times.

[tangomoon]

I noticed that some of the sets listed in the earlier Webster's lessons haven't been listed yet (ka, ke; ga, ge, etc.).

 

Is there a specific reasoning for covering those later, or did I just miss seeing where you've gone over them?

 

I'm very intrigued by the concept of teaching syllables first like this with my K'er.

 

Just one other question, and it may be that I just haven't reached it yet. How is the y sound in words like baby or silly handled?

 

Thanks so much for all that you're posting!

[grace'smom]

So for the ch and the sh syllables: should we explain anything further than "when you see a c and h together like ch it says (make ch sound here)."

 

This seems like a silly question but Webster's is actually working for us so I want to make sure to do it right.

[ElizabethB]

I noticed that some of the sets listed in the earlier Webster's lessons haven't been listed yet (ka, ke; ga, ge, etc.).

 

Is there a specific reasoning for covering those later, or did I just miss seeing where you've gone over them?

 

I'm very intrigued by the concept of teaching syllables first like this with my K'er.

 

Just one other question, and it may be that I just haven't reached it yet. How is the y sound in words like baby or silly handled?

 

Thanks so much for all that you're posting!

 

I am waiting on the g syllables, I will explain how they are like the c syllables and add them in this week. I taught K, but forgot to add it in, I write out what we did at the end of the week.

 

The sound of Y is long E in unaccented ending syllables, that is taught once you get to 2+ syllable words. It will have its I sound in accented syllables like deny or objectify.

 

So for the ch and the sh syllables: should we explain anything further than "when you see a c and h together like ch it says (make ch sound here)."

 

This seems like a silly question but Webster's is actually working for us so I want to make sure to do it right.

 

I'm glad it's still working!! :001_smile:

 

For my son, I underlined the 2 letters and told him they work together to make the ch sound. Yesterday, we did sh and I showed him the difference between she and he since he talked about that. (We were working on pronouns in CC on Monday, so he did a little pronoun chant!!) Some of my remedial students need to see the two letters circled to get it, and may need to see them circled for months. Also, I contrasted ch with sh, they are similar sounds, so you want to make sure they understand the difference.

[tangomoon]

Thanks Elizabeth, that makes sense.

 

We've been doing the standard phonics approach with CVC patterns, but using syllables just made SO much sense when I was reading over your website. What a wonderful resource!

 

So today we began with ba-be-bi-bo-bu-by. :)

[ElizabethB]

So today we began with ba-be-bi-bo-bu-by. :)

 

Exciting!

 

It is really powerful once they start to read the 2+ syllable words, today my son read hu-man, he wanted to try one! He's not really ready for that yet, but with help he figured it out.

[grace'smom]

Thanks Elizabeth!

[Terabith]

I have a question. I started my five year old off with short vowel words and really emphasized "say the sounds to read the word." She's pretty competent, although she has no frustration tolerance and it's a battle for each word. However, I've been trying to move towards the syllables. She has no problem with the first round, however, what she is tending to do is say, "M" pause "ay"..."may." IE she is not saying the syllables as a whole; she is saying each sound as she was taught. Is this something I should try to change? And if so, how?

[ElizabethB]

I have a question. I started my five year old off with short vowel words and really emphasized "say the sounds to read the word." She's pretty competent, although she has no frustration tolerance and it's a battle for each word. However, I've been trying to move towards the syllables. She has no problem with the first round, however, what she is tending to do is say, "M" pause "ay"..."may." IE she is not saying the syllables as a whole; she is saying each sound as she was taught. Is this something I should try to change? And if so, how?

 

No, that is great. It is part of the learning process to sound them out before reading them. It may take months until she can read them without sounding them out first. My son is starting to get there at the end of each week, but will sound the syllables out again at the beginning of the week.

 

You definitely want her sounding them out, not memorizing as wholes. While sight syllables are better than sight words, I am not a fan of sight anything.

[Terabith]

Okay, so it's okay to go onto bra/ bre/ etc (3 sound syllables) even if she is sounding out two sound syllables? Quite frankly, she sounds out more sophesticated words (shout, or truck or other multi sound word) with no more or less difficulty than "ma/ me/ mi."

[grace'smom]

Okay, so it's okay to go onto bra/ bre/ etc (3 sound syllables) even if she is sounding out two sound syllables? Quite frankly, she sounds out more sophisticated words (shout, or truck or other multi sound word) with no more or less difficulty than "ma/ me/ mi."

 

:lurk5:

[ElizabethB]

Okay, so it's okay to go onto bra/ bre/ etc (3 sound syllables) even if she is sounding out two sound syllables? Quite frankly, she sounds out more sophesticated words (shout, or truck or other multi sound word) with no more or less difficulty than "ma/ me/ mi."

 

Yes, I would move on. You will be doing a few syllables a day even when you get to later words. You can also skip any monosyllable words that she has already done and just move to the 2+ syllable words once you complete the syllabary, that is what I do with my students who already know some phonics, I just make sure they can read and spell a few words of each type (CVC, CVCE, CCVC, etc.)

[i.love.lucy]

Thank you for posting this. I have been intrigued by the Syllabary approach' date=' but really couldn't wrap my head around how to really implement it in a day to day format.[/quote']

:iagree:I've bookmarked and downloaded a bunch of stuff but haven't really had enough time to make a lesson plan out of it, so this thread is PERFECT.

 

Off to subscribe now!!

[ElizabethB]

Week 6:

 

D1. CA CE CI CO CU CY (This is hard, it takes a lot of repetition. I am still writing K and S hints above the letters at first and then erasing them.)

 

D2. CA CE CI CO CU CY; GA GE GI GO GU GY; g works the same as c, soft before e, i, and y. It is easiest to teach from the white board in two rows so the syllables line up. I put G's above the G in GA, GO, and GU and J's above the G's in GE, GI, and GY and then erase them after sounding them out and reading them across a few times.

 

D3. CA CE CI CO CU CY; GA GE GI GO GU GY; erase G row, add SCA SCE SCI SCO SCU SCY, writing K's above SCA, SCO, and SCU and S's above SCE, SCI, and SCY. (Show or have them figure out which ones have the same sound: CE, SCE; CI, CY, SCI, SCY) You can also contrast these with KA KE KI KO KU KY and SA SE SI SO SU SY if your student is not too worn out, my son was done, we will do that another day.

 

D4. Played CVC games to take break from the tough syllables this week. I let him play on Starfall, the Learn to Read section, the games with an, en, and ig. He had so much fun he also did ot and ug and a few silent e and ee words. (I like all these games except the Sight Words game. I don't use the books or It's Fun to Read or I'm Reading sections until they can read fairly well.)

Edited October 2, 2010 by ElizabethB

[sarahv]

Just checking in to let you know that we had a fabulous week with Webster's. My six year old is on lesson 9 in the syllabary already, he just took off this week. I saved Don Potter's "Webster's Wall Charts" to my computer, then emailed them to my Kindle and he was so excited to be able to read on my Kindle himself that he just ran like the wind with the syllabary. He wants to read all the time now, because he can read on my Kindle. (Great move on my part.) My five year old has conquered open and closed syllables and knows the c and g open syllables now quite well. They are both spelling the syllables confidently.

 

I am ecstatic.

 

Thank you Elizabeth and Don!!

[i.love.lucy]

I think we're going to get started ourselves. We've been working on letter sounds but he has it down and he's getting bored with the "letter of the day" drudgery. He asked when we'd work on actual reading. So I am going to print out Elizabeth's steps, and it sounds like Don's wall charts would be good too. I don't have a kindle but doing it on a white board would be great fun for my little guy, he loves that thing. Will keep you posted!:D

[ElizabethB]

Just checking in to let you know that we had a fabulous week with Webster's. My six year old is on lesson 9 in the syllabary already, he just took off this week. I saved Don Potter's "Webster's Wall Charts" to my computer, then emailed them to my Kindle and he was so excited to be able to read on my Kindle himself that he just ran like the wind with the syllabary. He wants to read all the time now, because he can read on my Kindle. (Great move on my part.) My five year old has conquered open and closed syllables and knows the c and g open syllables now quite well. They are both spelling the syllables confidently.

 

I am ecstatic.

 

Thank you Elizabeth and Don!!

 

You're welcome! I passed along your thanks to Don along with a link to this thread, he was excited to see so many people trying out Webster!!

 

I think we're going to get started ourselves. We've been working on letter sounds but he has it down and he's getting bored with the "letter of the day" drudgery. He asked when we'd work on actual reading. So I am going to print out Elizabeth's steps, and it sounds like Don's wall charts would be good too. I don't have a kindle but doing it on a white board would be great fun for my little guy, he loves that thing. Will keep you posted!:D

 

My kids love the white boards, too. Actually, my students all love them...even the 5th and 6th graders get a kick out of using them. I haven't had students older than that since I've started using white boards.

[ElizabethB]

Week 7:

 

D1. QUA QUE QUI QUO; AD ED ID OD UD; SPA SPE SPI SPO SPU SPY; CA CE CI CO CU CY

 

D2. CA CE CI CO CU CY; STA STE STI STO STU STY; THA THE THI THO THU THY

 

D3. TRA TRE TRI TRO TRU TRY; CA CE CI CO CU CY; GA GE GI GO GU GY

 

D4. CA CE CI CO CU CY; SCA SCE SCI SCO SCU SCY; GA GE GI GO GU GY

 

Week 8:

 

D1. SPLA SPLE SPLI SPLO SPLU SPLY; SPRA SPRE SPRI SPRO SPRU SPRY; STRA STRE STRI STRO STRU STRY

 

D2. CA CE CI CO CU CY; GA GE GI GO GU GY

 

D3. CA CE CI CO CU CY; GA GE GI GO GU GY; SWA SWE SWI SWO SWU SWY

 

D4. CVC game of spelling 20 words on the iPhone app "Pocket Phonics."

[tangomoon]

Thanks again for posting these! We're working our way through them, and I'm finding that *I* am noticing how the syllables work well for spelling. :)

[grace'smom]

Does anyone know why words like mind, find and bold, hold have a long vowel sound even though there are letters after them? I got stuck on how to explain that to Grace. I looked all through the directions in the front of the speller but nothing seemed to address that...

 

Thanks!

Hailey

[ElizabethB]

Does anyone know why words like mind' date=' find and bold, hold have a long vowel sound even though there are letters after them? I got stuck on how to explain that to Grace. I looked all through the directions in the front of the speller but nothing seemed to address that...

 

Thanks!

Hailey[/quote']

 

From my sight word page:

 

These words used to be spelled with an e at the end. The e was lost, but their long vowel sound remains. This is especially common in words with i or o before 2 consonants:

kind, find; old, cold, hold; both

 

Ye olde...

[i.love.lucy]

Having some trouble. Like from Day 1. BO comes out buh instead of boe. He can't seem to get himself to say the long vowel sound. Is this because he's not being taught both vowel sounds up to this point? Am I confusing him by introducing it now, or should I let Webster wait until we have more mastery of the vowel sounds? We're using SSRW and I hate to abandon it altogether, I thought I could do them at the same time. Could this also be a maturity thing? He's only 6 (barely) and just now in K.

[grace'smom]

Having some trouble. Like from Day 1. BO comes out buh instead of boe. He can't seem to get himself to say the long vowel sound. Is this because he's not being taught both vowel sounds up to this point? Am I confusing him by introducing it now, or should I let Webster wait until we have more mastery of the vowel sounds? We're using SSRW and I hate to abandon it altogether, I thought I could do them at the same time. Could this also be a maturity thing? He's only 6 (barely) and just now in K.

 

 

I don't have an answer for you, but I just wanted to say that I feel your pain. The Webster's Speller program has really shown me each individual sound my child is unable to make in her mouth, LOL. I had to look up a language chart online to make sure she doesn't need speech therapy. According to the charts there's no need to worry yet, but I'll be paying particular attention to see when she's able to pick them up...

[ElizabethB]

Having some trouble. Like from Day 1. BO comes out buh instead of boe. He can't seem to get himself to say the long vowel sound. Is this because he's not being taught both vowel sounds up to this point? Am I confusing him by introducing it now, or should I let Webster wait until we have more mastery of the vowel sounds? We're using SSRW and I hate to abandon it altogether, I thought I could do them at the same time. Could this also be a maturity thing? He's only 6 (barely) and just now in K.

 

Actually, the longer you wait, the harder it is to make the switch, generally. It took my daughter a while and there are plenty of threads about people having a hard time doing long vowels after working on short vowels for so long. They are the same sound as the letter name, that reminder seems to help. Just keep reminding and modeling the sounds.

 

My son is progressing more slowly overall with phonics than my daughter did, but he has figured out the short/long vowel difference much easier than my daughter, I think teaching both sounds early is helpful.

[grace'smom]

From my sight word page:

 

 

 

Ye olde...

 

Oh my goodness! I had never opened that page on your website because I assumed it was about why we don't want to use sight words (which I already agree on that point). What a wealth of information! Thank you so much! I am printing it out to study it- I think it might take some time to absorb it all.

[ElizabethB]

Oh my goodness! I had never opened that page on your website because I assumed it was about why we don't want to use sight words (which I already agree on that point). What a wealth of information! Thank you so much! I am printing it out to study it- I think it might take some time to absorb it all.

 

You are welcome!

 

I do have a lot of info there, it took my 16 years of teaching and researching to learn all that stuff. I am learning even more as I learn Latin, it gives a lot of insight into the Latin based words in English.

 

I have some good info hidden on my dyslexia page that can benefit regular children as well as the info hidden on my sight word page. I have been recovering from our move this summer and the hard drive crash, but my next project that I can hopefully start soon is to clean up my website and add a site map and maybe some little decision charts about what things to do and pages to read based on how your child is doing. I also want to add some testimonials from Moms and some of my adult students.

[ElizabethB]

Week 9:

 

He is having trouble remembering the short vowel sounds quickly, so:

 

D1. Flashcard practice with A, E, I, O, U, he is told these are all their short vowel sounds. I teach them, then he tries them, we went through them several times out of order, then worked on the 3 he needed more practice with.

 

D2. AB EB IB OB UB; Started Table II. of the 1824 Speller. BAG BIG BOG BUG DEN CAP BIT DOT

 

D3. DIG, DIG, FIG, DEN, HEN, MEN, BUG, DUG, HUG (The 3 vowels he has the hardest time remembering.)

 

D4. AT ET IT OT UT; BIG PIG (Then, he got a break to draw a pig on the white board. It was a better pig than I could draw!) BIG RED DOG, BED BUG (Inspired by the morbidly fascinating bed bug thread.)

[momofabcd]

Elizabeth,

I've been teaching my dd to read with both PP and Abeka's Handbook for reading (she loves that book, that's why I use it). We got to the long vowel section in Handbook for Reading and are two pages away from the long vowel section in PP. I review both the short and long vowel sound with her daily. When we are reading from PP, she seems to do very well with her short vowel sounds, and can read cvc, cvcc, ng, nk, two syllable words ending in y quite fluently. I'm excited at her progress there. However, when we read out of Handbook for Reading, she confuses the words and uses short vowel sounds with silent e endings and long vowel sounds with the cvc words that she can read quite well in PP. I should say that she only does this when there is a mixture of short and long vowel words. I hope I'm making sense. I continually remind her and show her that the cvc words always have the short vowel sound, and that the silent e is special in that it causes the vowel to say its name. As we are about to head into the long vowel section with PP, do you have any suggestions on what I can do to help her with this confusion? I am tempted by Webster's, but I don't want to completely confuse her at this point, because PP teaches differently than the syllabary. I do wonder if this confusion wouldn't be an issue if I had used the syllabary from the beginning. I wish there was a "true" Webster's Speller laid out like Abeka's Handbook or PP.

Edited October 30, 2010 by momofabcd

[ElizabethB]

Elizabeth,

I've been teaching my dd to read with both PP and Abeka's Handbook for reading (she loves that book, that's why I use it). We got to the long vowel section in Handbook for Reading and are two pages away from the long vowel section in PP. I review both the short and long vowel sound with her daily. When we are reading from PP, she seems to do very well with her short vowel sounds, and can read cvc, cvcc, ng, nk, two syllable words ending in y quite fluently. I'm excited at her progress there. However, when we read out of Handbook for Reading, she confuses the words and uses short vowel sounds with silent e endings and long vowel sounds with the cvc words that she can read quite well in PP. I should say that she only does this when there is a mixture of short and long vowel words. I hope I'm making sense. I continually remind her and show her that the cvc words always have the short vowel sound, and that the silent e is special in that it causes the vowel to say its name. As we are about to head into the long vowel section with PP, do you have any suggestions on what I can do to help her with this confusion? I am tempted by Webster's, but I don't want to completely confuse her at this point, because PP teaches differently than the syllabary. I do wonder if this confusion wouldn't be an issue if I had used the syllabary from the beginning. I wish there was a "true" Webster's Speller laid out like Abeka's Handbook or PP.

 

Many people have that problem! After camping out with short vowels for so long, it is tough to make the switch. Webster's Speller should avoid it by teaching both sounds early. But, since you already have that problem, here is a good thread with tons of short/long vowel hints:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73087&highlight=hop+hope+long+vowel

 

There might be a bit of confusion at first after learning with PP, but it should clear up quickly if you decide to switch. I would wait until the short/long vowel confusion goes away, though! One confusion at a time is plenty.

[ElizabethB]

Week 10:

 

D1. A, E, I, O, U. Just worked on short vowels, changing the order around and having him spell and read them.

 

D2. AB, EB, IB, OB, UB; BA, BE, BI, BO, BU, BY; he read VAN, HOP and SIT and spelled BED, MAP, SAD, MOP, and PIN.

 

D3. spelled AM, MA; OP, PO; IN, NI; ET, TE; UM, MU. He also spelled PIT, HOT, CAP, HUG, PUG, LID, MAD, and GET.

 

D4. spelled AK, KA; EK, KE, IK, KI, KY, OK, KO, UK, KU. Read CUP, MAN, FIG, HEN, POP. Spelled FED, LAD.

 

Week 11:

 

D1. A, E, I, O, U. More short vowel review. Read AT, IN, UP, OFF, ON. Spelled AP, EP, IP, OP, UP.

 

D2. A, E, I, O, U. Spelled AM, MA; EM, ME; IM, MI, MY; OM, MO; UM, MU. Spelled NUT, LAP, TEN, DIG, SIP, MOP, FUN, FUNNY (at his request, feeding him the info that it had 2 n's and the e sound at the end was spelled y.)

 

D3. A, E, I, O, U. Read PAN, DID, TOP, RED, HUT. Spelled JOB, LID, MOP, BEN.

 

D4. A, E, I, O, U. Spelled BAT, DUG, LET, MOP, TIN, ADMIT, BEGIN, and HUMAN.

 

He is still having a bit of trouble with remembering short vowels at times, especially E and A, but he successfully spelled several 2 syllable words with few hints. (Hints being drawing out the sounds of letters while saying the word. I say the whole word, then each syllable at a time, then draw out sounds when necessary.)

[ReidFamily]

Is it worth completely dropping Phonics Pathways (which has been going well for us) and switching to this program?

 

We are about to take a break for the Holidays. Should I resume with this method instead?

 

We are just finishing up the short vowel cvc words. We've also been reading from the McGuffy Primer and she has done 10 lessons in the McGuffy. Would it be best to finish up Phonics Pathways and then take this approach or stop Phonics Pathways right away?

Edited November 10, 2010 by ReidFamily

[eloquacious]

Elizabeth,

 

I am planning to begin teaching my son to read using the Ordinary Parent's Guide and supplementing with various other sources (HOP, BOB books, etc.) ... and then later on, during 1st or 2nd grade when we do spelling, going back and "re-teaching" phonics using the syllable method, essentially to teach spelling and re-inforce phonics. Does that make any sense, or should I just stick to one method and then rehash that later?

 

JoAnne

[ElizabethB]

Is it worth completely dropping Phonics Pathways (which has been going well for us) and switching to this program?

 

We are about to take a break for the Holidays. Should I resume with this method instead?

 

We are just finishing up the short vowel cvc words. We've also been reading from the McGuffy Primer and she has done 10 lessons in the McGuffy. Would it be best to finish up Phonics Pathways and then take this approach or stop Phonics Pathways right away?

 

Personally, I think Webster is the best way for a beginning student to learn, and I would make the switch, it's so powerful by the end when they are reading 2+ syllable words. I do like PP, though, and used it before I found Webster's Speller. Either program will produce a strong reader--you just end up at the 4th grade level with PP and at the 12th grade level with Webster! (Of course, there are more spelling rules with PP, but I find them more useful for a child who is a bit older, rules seem more helpful for older children than young children.)

 

Elizabeth,

 

I am planning to begin teaching my son to read using the Ordinary Parent's Guide and supplementing with various other sources (HOP, BOB books, etc.) ... and then later on, during 1st or 2nd grade when we do spelling, going back and "re-teaching" phonics using the syllable method, essentially to teach spelling and re-inforce phonics. Does that make any sense, or should I just stick to one method and then rehash that later?

 

JoAnne

 

That makes sense! I use Webster's Speller this way with my older remedial students. But, I also incorporate spelling rules with my older students, and there are not that many in the speller. There are some good lists here and I also have some on my how to tutor page. (All but the suffix rules. I haven't written them out yet, they are in my phonics lesson 22.)

Edited November 17, 2010 by ElizabethB

[ReidFamily]

Personally, I think Webster is the best way for a beginning student to learn, and I would make the switch, it's so powerful by the end when they are reading 2+ syllable words. I do like PP, though, and used it before I found Webster's Speller. Either program will produce a strong reader--you just end up at the 4th grade level with PP and at the 12th grade level with Webster! (Of course, there are more spelling rules with PP, but I find them more useful for a child who is a bit older, rules seem more helpful for older children than young children.)

 

 

Thank you. I think we are going to switch over after our Christmas break. She is doing well but she still struggles to sound out words and I think Websters is a much better way to go in that regard. She keeps trying to make sight words out of things and guess based on context. If I remind her to slow down and read what's actually there then she'll read the words just fine. But with larger words she gets very intimidated. I am excited to get working on Websters.

[momofabcd]

Many people have that problem! After camping out with short vowels for so long, it is tough to make the switch. Webster's Speller should avoid it by teaching both sounds early. But, since you already have that problem, here is a good thread with tons of short/long vowel hints:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73087&highlight=hop+hope+long+vowel

 

There might be a bit of confusion at first after learning with PP, but it should clear up quickly if you decide to switch. I would wait until the short/long vowel confusion goes away, though! One confusion at a time is plenty.

 

Oops! I forgot I posted here. Thank you for your response. I think I've figured out that our issue is that I didn't originally teach dd the names of the letters, so she sometimes still thinks O is named its short sound as well as I. We've continued to review vowels and I've seen improvement in this area. I think I'm going to start teaching dd the syllabary, though.