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Reading/Phonics curriculum for 6yo?


Sue G in PA
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He is a bit "behind" and so just really beginning to get sounds, blends, sounding out CVC words, etc. What should I use? He'll be doing MFW K w/ his little sister but I want him to have his own thing to do, too. I have Ordinary Parents Guide (I think, unless I sold it :)), some easy reader books leftover from K12 Phonics, AAS Level 1. Any opinions on Phonics Pathways? Any others?

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I liked using the I See Sam readers along with Headsprout. My youngest has dyseidetic dyslexia. The I See Sam readers were the first books she could actually read because they are decodable. Headsprout has a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it to see if it will help your ds. My dd's reading speed more than doubled by the time she got to the end of the guarantee period, so I knew it was worth doing for her.

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I really love Abeka phonics, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. I think it is a very through phonics program and kids walk away with a great understanding of phonetic sounds and how words are put together.

 

That being said, however, I think you already have some great materials at home. OPGTR is a very good book and if you add in your readers, I think you will have a great phonics program. If you wanted to add in some worksheets for practice, Explode the Code or Modern Curriculum Press books would be my first two choices.

 

Good luck :)

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I used OPG along with easy readers and many, many read alouds for my son. I really believe that not all children are ready to read at age 5. My daughter seemed to just start reading on her own at age 5. My son needed rules, practice, and confidence. He wasn't really ready until age 8, when everything suddenly clicked and he took off with reading skills. He memorized rules and over practiced with easy readers until he was very confident. He particularly enjoyed Dick and Jane.

At age 11, he reads extremely well and I have no worries.

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Do you plan on using MFW 1 next year with both dc?

 

My dd, who will be 6 this fall, will be doing MFW K with her younger brother. I had originally bought K and 1, but after looking at K, I thought it would be great for my dd as well as my son. I am going to do MFW 1, Phonics ONLY, with my dd along with MFW K (skipping the k phonics). MFW has a lot of copy work that is integrated into the Bible portion of 1. Instead of doing the copy work for 1, I am having my dd use the "word to remember" from K, for her copy work. This way when we do MFW 1 next year, the copy work and Bible will go together. Next year I will do MFW 1 with both dc and hopefully my dd will be done with phonics and will begin AAS.

 

MFW 1 only expects your dc to be able to read cvc word. It sounds like your dc would be at the perfect level to start MFW 1 phonics.

 

And

 

If you did this plan, you would already have your curriculum for the next year.:D

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Here's a link to Tanglewood's Really Reading program. It's free to print and most of the recommended readers are easy to find at the library or used even if they're OOP. I've been doing this with dd this summer and we've both enjoyed it. We started this when dd was starting long vowels in LLATL Blue and was already confident with blends, but you could start earlier and go slower.

 

http://tanglewoodeducation.com/ReallyReading2.pdf

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Hi Sue!

 

I used PP with my dd--hahaha--that sounds kinda funny!

But, if you already have OPGtR, I'd use that.

 

I supplemented with Bob books and the Primary Phonics books. I also used some Montessori object boxes--just gathered them off of a woman on ebay who put them together. I also wrote a few fun stories for dd to read--I formatted them very simply, and she drew the illustrations (they were about 3x4in in size and bound with staples). We played the Montessori command game, too--All the extra stuff was just to provide fun practice.

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I just got the OPGTR through interlibrary loan and am leaning toward using some of the suggestions and the method in there along with PP. I only have the OPGTR for a month so I know I won't finish it in time, but I have PP on the shelf; I just was kind of clueless as to how to implement it really well. I have a really good idea of how to implement the PP sequence now and I have a feeling that the OPGTR method combined with the PP book sequence will work well :) However, I think the OPGTR would have worked fine on it's own, it's just that I have to return it in a month so I can't use it long-term.

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I like to use a multipronged approach to teaching reading, so I have several "reading" periods with my 5.5 year old, and I did when I was teaching as a reading specialist.

 

Our first time is "sound time." We use the Spalding phonograms and review them as flash cards. Then I select five to ten each day and I dictate them and have the child write them.

 

Next time is decoding time. There are several good ways you can teach this. I got this idea from Elizabeth, and it is a great one! You can use Websters or McGuffy speller and do it on the white board for about ten minutes a day. This is SOOOO great for decoding words with more than one syllable.

 

However, until the child is pretty good at decoding one syllable words, I would use ABeCeDarian. http://www.abcdrp.com This is a really wonderful program. I can't say enough good things about it.

 

All About Spelling is also a good program that can be used either for spelling and also teaches reading. I don't like it as a primary reading because it goes too slowly, but it's a phenomenal program for spelling and really teaching phonics well.

 

Once the child is pretty good at decoding one syllable words, I like to have "connected text time." Books like the I See Sam books are particularly good for struggling readers to read aloud, but if the child doesn't have problems, any easy readers work well.

 

Independent work time (workbook like Explode the Code, McRuffy, Plaid Phonics, CLE) is valuable practice. You can also use some Montessori reading activities for independent work time.

 

I think many children benefit from a "computer reading time," using programs like Reading Eggs, Study Dog, or Headsprout.

 

Once a child can decode fairly well, I like to add in fluency time, where we do repeated rereadings to build fluency and speed. But I don't do this until the child is decoding somewhat easily.

 

And of course, children should be listening to lots of books read aloud. And spending some time looking at books of their choosing.

 

The last reading activity that I think should be done daily is phonemic awareness drills. These are done orally and practice segmenting/ blending/ initial sounds, etc.

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Next time is decoding time. There are several good ways you can teach this. I got this idea from Elizabeth, and it is a great one! You can use Websters or McGuffy speller and do it on the white board for about ten minutes a day. This is SOOOO great for decoding words with more than one syllable.

 

 

What is Elizabeth's idea?

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How does your child learn? It really makes a difference! My dd was much more comfortable with spelling than reading. So we started spelling using All About Spelling. We had previously used Montessori Read and Write, which also teaches to break apart words orally into their separate sounds and then to build words. One day reading clicked for her and her reading took off. I also have used and like OPGTR. I would use this with a child who was more comfortable starting off with reading and I might try it again now that dd is reading. We also enjoy Happy Phonics as a fun supplement.

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Webster's Speller!

 

The syllables are very powerful. Spend a lit of time on the syllables at first, and then the multiple-syllable words will come much easier. Learning to spell (encode) at the same time they are learning to sound out words to read (decode) really helps the info stick in the brain.

 

It is free, and with a young student it is best to write it out on a white board, so no printing costs either if you don't want to, although I find it easier to work from a paper copy.

 

With my older remedial students, we read directly from a printed copy of the Speller.

 

Even after the syllables ate well learned, you should review a few syllables daily, sounding out and spelling a few each day.

Edited by ElizabethB
Tiny keyboard on phone
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I HIGHLY recommend Headsprout !! We used K12 K and though it was very good my daughter was extremely slow with her reading wanting to sound out every single word all of the time.

I decided to give Headsprout a try and its worth every penny and then some.

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Lots of ideas. Thanks everyone. I like McRuffy but not the cost. I'd like to do this on the cheap. So, I might try OPG again even though he hated it last year. MFW K has phonics but he is beyond the letter sounds already and I want him to have his "own" phonics to do so he doesn't feel in competition w/ lil sis. I like free so I will check out the online stuff.

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Lots of ideas. Thanks everyone. I like McRuffy but not the cost. I'd like to do this on the cheap. So, I might try OPG again even though he hated it last year. MFW K has phonics but he is beyond the letter sounds already and I want him to have his "own" phonics to do so he doesn't feel in competition w/ lil sis. I like free so I will check out the online stuff.
Make the OPG games and use the Lauri letters for the OPG words, just like MFW K but with blends and phonograms. :)
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Lots of ideas. Thanks everyone. I like McRuffy but not the cost. I'd like to do this on the cheap. So, I might try OPG again even though he hated it last year. MFW K has phonics but he is beyond the letter sounds already and I want him to have his "own" phonics to do so he doesn't feel in competition w/ lil sis. I like free so I will check out the online stuff.

 

When we did OPGTR we did a few things to make it more fun. As I'm sure others have already mentioned, we wrote the words/sentences on a white board or magnadoodle instead of reading it out of the book. Looking at the book was very intimidating for my dd. She also built many of the words using a movable alphabet. I also wrote the words on notecards and we played games with them.

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