PeanutMom Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 My four year old has been reading for a few years now. He loves the Frog and Toad stories, and can easily read above that level. We're going to start "school" next year when he's five. My question is should we start a reading curriculum with him, like 100 Easy Lessons? I'm not sure how or if we should try to teach him reading and phonics since he already reads so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Celebrate the fact that you don't have to teach reading and phonics! :) No need for a program to teach what has already been learned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) I don't see the point in teaching something the student can already do. Read books. Have fun. ETA: Make sure he can sound out unfamiliar words and does not just recognize a few sight words. Edited March 27, 2017 by regentrude 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 I'd teach spelling rather than reading. Then in a year or two if you think he could use a bit more input sounding out longer words, you could use REWARDS Intermediate (my son loved it). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Both of mine read early by themselves so I didn't use any reading curriculum. Older boy is a natural speller but younger boy is not so we use "Uncovering the Logic of English: A Common-Sense Approach to Reading, Spelling, and Literacy" for spelling instead of for reading as it suits the way he learns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porridge Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 We skipped most reading instruction for my early reader. I would teach her phonograms on the fly as they come up in the context of literature. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmarm Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) Yours is not a question of teaching teaching to a reader. It's growing reading in a young reader. The path forward is probably the exact same as it would be for a slightly older child who was reading. Instead of doing a basic phonics program, you can look online and find lists of multisyllable words and have him practice sounding out and reading longer words for a few minutes each day. That'll reveal to you if he needs phonics work, and build up his phonics/decoding on a level more appropriate to where he is at. IF you want to buy something, there is a book by Don Potter called Wise Owl Poly Syllables. For my son who is reading very well, I just keep him in a sea of print. We read to him daily, we buddy read very regularly, we have him read (almost) every day from books that are comfortably with in his ability-range. We are trying to broaden his vocabulary over the next couple of years and really trying not to burden him with busy work for the sake of busy work. We go to the library a lot and keep a constant stream of books for our little guy coming through the house. I have him read about 100-200 books at each grade level, before I begin to pull books at the next level up for his independent reading. But I also invite him to read what he wants as much as possible. Many times he chooses to read "baby" books, other times he reads from beginning reader picture books in his spare time and just for fun and thats okay too, Edited March 27, 2017 by mathmarm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutMom Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 Thank you for the responses. We've never done any instruction with him; he just started reading on his own. So, he doesn't know how to sound out words. So far when he came to a word he didn't know (very few), we just told him what it was. That's why I'm asking about reading/phonics programs. I honestly wouldn't know where to start. If I ask him what sound a letter makes, he looks at me like I'm crazy and tells me I already know. I will start asking him to try sounding out more complex words and see where that takes us. We read to him everyday. He reads to us and to himself. He never gets tired of reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Thank you for the responses. We've never done any instruction with him; he just started reading on his own. So, he doesn't know how to sound out words. So far when he came to a word he didn't know (very few), we just told him what it was. That's why I'm asking about reading/phonics programs. I honestly wouldn't know where to start. If I ask him what sound a letter makes, he looks at me like I'm crazy and tells me I already know. I will start asking him to try sounding out more complex words and see where that takes us. We read to him everyday. He reads to us and to himself. He never gets tired of reading. Phonics-based spelling like All About Spelling or How To Teach Spelling might be a good fit. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReadingMama1214 Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Thank you for the responses. We've never done any instruction with him; he just started reading on his own. So, he doesn't know how to sound out words. So far when he came to a word he didn't know (very few), we just told him what it was. That's why I'm asking about reading/phonics programs. I honestly wouldn't know where to start. If I ask him what sound a letter makes, he looks at me like I'm crazy and tells me I already know. I will start asking him to try sounding out more complex words and see where that takes us. We read to him everyday. He reads to us and to himself. He never gets tired of reading. I would teach a phonics based spelling program. That way he'll get the phonics rules but in a way that might interest him. We're using Don Potters Wise Owl Pollysyllables book in order to work through longer words with my daughter. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 Get him a dictionary with large print,and point out the section on pronunciation. He can handle that part of learning. Also a thesaurus. Discuss literary elements and word root origins as interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted March 27, 2017 Share Posted March 27, 2017 What I would do is when he asks you to supply an unfamiliar word, tell the word and break it down by phonetic elements. Over time he will pick up phonics that way. I also used to point out spelling patterns observed in our environment when my kids were 2-4. For example, the time we were in Panera and words like chili, cheese, chips, chicken, etc. were on the various signs, that was where my young reader learned "ch." She probably already knew some words with "ch" in them, but now she could tackle the others. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 You could work through this quickly and cover upper level spelling and phonics in a few hours. http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/WellTaughtPhonicsStudent.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah0000 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I used what ElizabethB linked and let him play spelling and phonics games on the computer and tablet like Starfall, Teach Your Monster to Read, and Hairy Phonics. At five years he's reading higher level books without issue and is spelling above grade level when he writes. I plan to do a spelling dictation program next year for K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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