Specifically teaching phonics--necessary?

[Kiara.I]

Having just read a few threads on phonics, and remedial reading classes....

I'm now having a crisis of curriculum.  Do I need to be specifically teaching phonics?

 

My two olders both started reading at around 5, before starting kindergarten.  I had done some Progressive Phonics with them, but eventually stopped as they started reading all the black text as well as "their" text, and besides they were too busy reading books to bother doing reading instruction.  But I see all these posts about the importance of phonics rules, and how critical they are for instruction, and I wonder if they need to be taught it specifically, or whether at this point it will suffice to correct it as it comes up when reading out loud.

I was an early reader too, and in a second language immersion program, so I don't know phonics rules as such either--but I have a very good working understanding of how words sound in English, and rarely get tripped up on pronunciation.

 

So what do you think: specific phonics instruction for children already reading fluently?  (And if so, what, since they don't need to "learn to read"?)  Or not, and just correct small errors as they come up?

[SilverMoon]

I let a rules based spelling book take over the phonics instruction at that stage. Rod and Staff's Spelling by Sound and Structure is my favorite.

[Ellie]

Having just read a few threads on phonics, and remedial reading classes....

I'm now having a crisis of curriculum.  Do I need to be specifically teaching phonics?

 

My two olders both started reading at around 5, before starting kindergarten.  I had done some Progressive Phonics with them, but eventually stopped as they started reading all the black text as well as "their" text, and besides they were too busy reading books to bother doing reading instruction.  But I see all these posts about the importance of phonics rules, and how critical they are for instruction, and I wonder if they need to be taught it specifically, or whether at this point it will suffice to correct it as it comes up when reading out loud.

I was an early reader too, and in a second language immersion program, so I don't know phonics rules as such either--but I have a very good working understanding of how words sound in English, and rarely get tripped up on pronunciation.

 

So what do you think: specific phonics instruction for children already reading fluently?  (And if so, what, since they don't need to "learn to read"?)  Or not, and just correct small errors as they come up?

 

Phonics "rules" (because phonics isn't all about "rules") morph into spelling rules. If your dc are reading fluently, then no, of course they don't need more phonics instruction. They *might* need spelling, though.

 

Usually the discussion about the necessity of phonics instruction deals with children who are not yet reading, and the importance of phonics rather than sight-reading.

[boscopup]

Some kids need explicit phonics teaching, and some kids don't. I have one that needed it for spelling, one that needed it for reading and spelling, and one that seems to have intuited phonics and really doesn't need a phonics program (though I will use R&S Spelling with him).

 

So my answer is... It depends on the kid. :)

[Rod Everson]

There are very few phonics "rules" that work anywhere near 100% of the time unless you're really talking about patterns, such as ack, eck, ax, ex, atch, etch, adge, edge, wor, war, etc. Kids really don't need to be able to express a "rule" in those cases such as, for example: "When the letters a, e, i, o, or u, are followed by "ck" they represent the short sound." All they really need to do is learn that ack is always pronounced the same wherever they see it. Ditto for the other patterns.

 

Most of the phonics elements themselves can be taught incidentally to a child who's easily learning to read. If they try the /ee/ sound for the digraph "ea" in "break" it's helpful to tell them that it's /ee/ in a lot of words, but in some it's the /ae/ sound. Knowing that, they'll easily read "break" and will be prepared to read "great" and "steak" when they run into them.

 

The first time they run into the digraph "oy" it's helpful to tell them that /oy/ is a sound and it's spelled "oy" in some words and "oi" in others. They'll probably figure it out fairly quickly even if you don't tell them, but if they're struggling with it, why not clear it up for them?

 

What I'd be most alert for in the case of good readers are two things: Guessing at longer words, and trying unrealistic options. If they're guessing whenever they run into an unfamiliar long word, I'd spend some time getting them to figure out the phonics of the word. And if they're trying unrealistic sounds for a letter or digraph, then maybe some more organized phonics instruction is called for.

 

That's my two cents worth anyway....

[PeterPan]

That's when you transition to copywork and spelling.

[FloridaLisa]

I let a rules based spelling book take over the phonics instruction at that stage. Rod and Staff's Spelling by Sound and Structure is my favorite.

 

I agree with a phonics based spelling program. 

 

Also consider doing something like the Explode the Code books which tackle both phonics and spelling. 

 

Are they reading aloud to you? If so, then you'll know if there are still phonics rules that they need to know. Otherwise, they've decoded well and are on their way! Good job!

 

Lisa

[maize]

Some kids need explicit phonics teaching, and some kids don't. I have one that needed it for spelling, one that needed it for reading and spelling, and one that seems to have intuited phonics and really doesn't need a phonics program (though I will use R&S Spelling with him).

 

So my answer is... It depends on the kid. :)

This x1000

 

Totally depends on the kid; if your child is reading fluently, they don't need more phonics.

 

If they pick up spelling organically (some kids do) they don't need explicit instruction in spelling rules.

 

Focus your attention on areas where they do need help, not where they don't.