I'm sure Elizabeth will pop on here, but the phonicspage has some excellent resources for teaching the well taught phonics student. I think it goes to a 12th grade level. http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/WellTaughtPhonicsStudent.html

We're about 100 lessons into OPGTR and so far it's working really well. I will say that we do adapt it. It's very rarely a sit down with the book lesson. Unless it's something Dd knows already. Usually I had in our own games, fun phonics readers, and do it on a lap sized whiteboard. It's been working for us. But I don't think I'd ever do it without supplementing games and other readers. Honestly we did AAR Pre and Dd went through it so quickly. We can't afford to spend 100+ on a program every 6 months. $20 on one book has worked really well for us so far.

We use Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading. It is a pretty black and white program. Just the book. But we add in games I find on Pinterest or All About Learning Press Website. So we play lots of games, but they're not part of our program. There are occasional games in lessons (I spy, word building, finding objects, etc). I found it cheaper to do OPG and add in my own games than invest in a games heavy program

Dd was asking me for some science iPad apps. We have Leo's Pad which is a stem app in some ways. Any other suggestions? She is turning 5 soon, has some basic reading skills, and is in love with science. She especially loves volcanoes and the human body. Thanks!

We also have the duck duck moose reading game. And they're math games. I was thrilled when they all became free!

We also have the duck duck moose reading game. And they're math games. I was thrilled when they all became free!

It hasn't been glitchy at all for us. They recently updated it and it has all of the levels as the computer version.

My 4.5yo and 2.5yo love Teach Your Monster To Read. The iPad app is $5 and definitely worth it. It is free on the computer. It goes from the very beginning (letter sounds) and up to more complex digraphs and words. It is British so there is an accent, but my kids seem to still understand it and learn with it. We also love Reading Raven vol. 1 & 2. Volume 1 is more a beginner level. It goes through reading and writing.

I am sorry if I made it seem that Phonics was the best program for all students. I definitely do not think that! I was just commenting in relation to the article I posted. I do know that phonics doesn't work for all students and that there may be students who do need a whole-language approach. I've known students personally who struggled greatly to learn phonetically and then benefited from a more sight-word heavy approach. What I was trying to get across was that I think it should be reversed. I do think phonics should be the starting point and then other methods explored if it is not working. Now maybe some start with other methods because of known issues that might inhibit learning by phonics. But overall I feel that schools have it backwards. They teach whole-language and word guessing and remediate with phonics. I think students would benefit from it being the other way around. I don't think we should ever seek to apply all methods to all students. It won't work and will just result in frustration and upset. I think parents do know their children best and should advocate for them.

This is why I am thankful that DD started to read before school. She goes to public preschool for 3 hours a day and according to her teacher about half of her class (of 6) is starting to read. I don't know what they do for reading in class. I have seen them write labels for items in the class, but don't know if it extends beyond that. We did AAR Pre with DD starting at 3 and then switched to OPG when she started sounding out short words. We've taken it slowly, but I feel she will be a confident reader by K in 2017. My DS is different, but a quick learner. We shall see how he does. I plan to send them to a classical school until we can homeschool. Fortunately this school is dedicated to phonics and uses RIGGS to teach reading/writing/spelling. So even if they repeat stuff, I feel like it will only help them improve. I have gotten Why Johnny Can't Read from the library before but didn't get to finish it. It is good! I should get it out again when I have more time to read it.

I agree. And the schools around us are serving students who are facing generational poverty and education deficits. Many of our schools have a 90%+ Free and reduced lunch population. I think this study is spot on. Our schools do seem to have a lot of kids being tutored. Entire programs dedicated to providing math and literacy tutoring. But they aren't always effective.

I absolutely agree about continuing to read to kids. I plan to do this until they leave my House. I agree with most of her suggestions regarding reading and kids. Parents should be involved in nightly reading homework and make sure it happens. I have no idea how I learned to read. I started preschool reading and don't remember learning. I think it was a combination between my mom semi-teaching me and intuiting it on my own. However, I do think phonics is the better approach in the long run. I think it teaches a better reading process than guessing and picture clues. I know that whole language has been effective for many people. I just wonder if reading would improve with a more phonics heavy approach. Other places such as England rely more heavily on phonics. And this may be area dependent. Where I live, recent tests show a dismal picture. The "good" schools have 40% of their kids not reading on grade level in 3rd grade. That is detrimental. Then they remediate with phonics

It honestly baffles me that they call it reading when it is merely guessing. And I feel like it sets kids up for a struggle later on when they face more complex words. We plan to utilize a local classical school for K and possibly 1 before we bring our kids home. The only way that I would send my kids to public school that utilizes this method is if they were reading on a solid 2nd grade level...

I know it's the philosophy of most public schools. What drives me INSANE is that these same schools use AlphaPhonics to remediate reading students. Why remediate with effective phonics? Why not just start with them? It's illogical.

A friend who is a teacher posted this and it highlights one of the main reasons we do classical education. Teaching kids to rely on picture and context clues to guess words they don't know and other "skills". While I agree that parents should practice reading daily with their new readers, I disagree with the approach. When I was talking about teaching Dd to read with a friend who has a masters degree as a reading specialist was shocked that I thought I could teach her to read with a phonics based approach. She told me that I needed to teach Dd to look at pictures, context, and so on for tricky words. Now, I didn't follow their advice and stuck with phonics but what really gets me is that our local schools use phonics to remediate struggling readers 😒 http://www.cultofpedagogy.com/reading-homework-tips-for-parents/

what about Leaving the paper for him to copy? My daughter loves doing copywork and seeing the letters helps her write them. We then use HWOT kinder book to go over formation if needed.

Yes DDS are too mild for a referral as well. He will suggest people we can seek out and pay out of pocket. Fortunately DDs have been capable of being managed in home. I haven't degree in counseling and have worked closely with kids with SPD and autism. I can't really see Dd needing accommodations. She's extremely compliment and would probably just entertain herself in class. I did laugh to my DH when we went to a school meeting. There was one mom who I could tell had a special snowflake. She kept muttering to her friend and then asked "what can you tell me about accommodations for students who are gifted such as my daughter?" The principals response "has she been tested and evaluated?" Mom "well no..." Yup.

We're in Denver and while I'm not crazy impressed with our public schools (they're hit or miss depending on location) we have tons of great charters and magnet schools. My friends think we are insane for planning to send her to a school 20 minutes away, but oh well. Oddly enough whenever I bring up DDs sensitivities to her pedi he goes "oh she's just like my daughter and she is much better now at 9!" Seems like a common age to kind of improve at. Fortunately DDs temper tantrums aren't violent. More of out of control upset and screaming. She'll flail, but not bang into Anything. They're just hard to watch. You can tell she's overwhelmed and upset. Thankfully we are out of that stage right now. It does go in cycles so we shall see how long this calm period lasts!

One of the main reasons I would even consider testing is due to the 2e issues. Dd is somewhat anxious, but it isn't as severe as you've described. She's been a little focused on hand washing due to germs and similar things, but not to a point where it's inhibiting her daily functioning. I think testing helps us better understand these 2e issues and how to handle them. We did almost pursue testing when Dd was having extreme tantrums on a near daily basis. But they seem to have improved drastically lately. I do think a lot of schools miss the ball on these issues. What excites me about this school we want to pursue is that their inclusion model for special Ed and GT students has been nationally recognized and copied. Now I haven't seen it up close yet, but if what I read is true they seem to handle all students incredibly well.

Our advanced Kinder is a magnet program that they have to test into and score 90%+ on a skills based assessment. It's not a gifted test, but essentially tests how well the child knows kinder material. You apply to take the test in October and then are given a testing date in November. From what I've read on the website, it is a 2 hour test that is done in small groups and at centers. So the students go together to different centers that test various K skills for 2 hours. I'll have to see what testing the district does. They do test for 2e and the school especially notes their desire to help these students. They do only give higher level material to students. However, each class has 2 teachers regardless of class ability. I feel this would help. They also in-depth offer music and art programs which excited us. Dd may become homeschooled, but it won't be until 1st due to my graduate schooling.

My daughter is 4.5. Not sure about gifted, but she's bright and loves to learn. Here's what we do: Reading- Ordinary Parents Guide to Teachinf Reading. We are about half way through and plan to finish it this year if Dd continues to do well. Math: lots of games. We bought c-rods, geoboards, base ten blocks, pattern blocks, counting bears, and a few others. I plan to go through education unboxed.com with her and add in some workbooks since she enjoys them Science: interest based. Right now it's volcanoes and germs. So we do experiments with these, read books about them, and watch documentaries and shows about them. I also signed up for mystery science.com We do handwriting and have used HWOT and some iPad apps. Dd loves to write and does a lot of copywork or dictation. Pinterest is your best friend. There are so many fun activities for fine motor skills and such.

Thanks! That is just what I need. The pieces are the same so we opted for the regular when it was an Amazon deal.

This is kind of how I'm feeling. The school we want doesn't offer pull-out classes, just extra services. I talked to them more today and have decided to wait and see. The district won't test her until she's enrolled in K since she won't technically be in the district until then. The school isn't in our district and our district doesn't test until the student is entering 1st. We wouldn't pursue a gifted magnet program (what our districts offer). They tend to be segregated and homogenous. I'd rather not have that. We may have testing done next year depending how Dd does. She tends to be sensory sensitive and is extremely prone to sensory meltdowns before a cognitive leap. For example, we went through 3 months of sensory meltdowns before they suddenly stopped. simultaneously, her reading fluency also drastically improved. Her teacher also noticed that. So I might pursue testing to make sure she has services needed during those seasons of sensory overload.

My husband got our almost 5yo a snap circuit set. He opted for the regular version vs junior one based on reviews. Does anyone know where I can find simple circuit ideas? The ones in be book are a bit too complex for my daughter to manage. Looking for a simple way to explain circuits and how to build simple sets.

She is definitely a perfectionist. Especially with writing and drawing. She expects those to look perfect. I often have to remind her that it's okay to make mistakes and that's how we learn and that she's only 4.5! Especially with drawing. She has some of the gifted characteristics that you'd see on a list, but I feel that it's not uncommon for most kids to have a few of those characteristics.