How far did you go in phonics?

[Calizzy]

We are using AAR level 2, we love the AAR program and it has worked very well for us. I know, I know, that most educators say keep up the formal phonics instruction, but realistically, how long did you keep doing formal phonics as part of your day? At what point do you just rely on reading?

[maize]

I stop phonics when the kids are reading fluently.

[MerryAtHope]

We are using AAR level 2, we love the AAR program and it has worked very well for us. I know, I know, that most educators say keep up the formal phonics instruction, but realistically, how long did you keep doing formal phonics as part of your day? At what point do you just rely on reading?

 

If you have a student who is reading fluently and seems to catch on to reading naturally, you could just use All About Spelling. It will fill in any phonics gaps as it teaches spelling rules and other strategies. If instead you have a student who needs or prefers to be shown how to read things along the way--I wouldn't "fix" what's not broken :-).

[Ellie]

When the dc can read anything they want, we're finished with phonics. :-)

[AimeeM]

When a child is reading fluently, we stop reading program specific programs.

You can just move into a phonics based spelling program, and that will easily fill in any gaps.

[Coco_Clark]

Yep, I stuck with phonics for reading until he was comfortably reading, then we switched to phonics for spelling. Someday, if the day ever comes ;), he will be comfortably spelling and I'll drop all phonics and just keep up a list of trouble words/rules.

[Squawky Acres]

I kept up with phonics until we finished OPGTR.  I felt like we should finish the book; but by the time we got to the last third of the book, my children were rolling their eyes, sighing, and saying they already knew how to read all of this.  I told them to read it anyway -- just to be sure.  In their independent reading, they had managed to pick up the rest of the phonics rules, but once in a while they would miss something.  I'm glad we finished the book, just for my peace of mind.  

[Tanikit]

We are still covering some phonics for spelling which is not the same as phonics for reading (decoding vs encoding). My DD7 is reading fluently. Last year before she was 7 I ran her through some pages of multisyllable words to make sure she knew how to read these and also about where certain syllables were emphasized - she was fine with this and now her only reading instruction is to read the Bible aloud daily where I can help with pronunciation of the names. I have found beyond this that reading books - especially the classics helps with pronunciation where phonics cannot.

[ALB]

With my first kid, we went all the way through OPGTR even thought she could read fluently.  With my second, we stopped much earlier because phonics lessons were like torture to him and he was reading well.  I point out phonics rules whenever he gets stuck, and he covers some phonics with Spelling Workout.  Sometimes we do a little from Explode the Code, but I don't make it a daily thing.

Besides reading themselves, I think reading aloud to kids also helps. They eventually follow along with you and learn to pronounce difficult words that way.