Should we take a break from OPGTR?

[Guest]

My dd just turned six June 25. We are on lesson 70 in OPGTR and lately it has been a real struggle for her. She does fine reading the words and remembering what sounds they make. But when it comes to the sentences she still has to sound out every single word...and she starts getting frustrated after about the second sentence. My ds(8) is speeding through OPGTR (he didn't have any phonics instruction was he in in ps for Kindergarten). I am thinking since she is struggling so much maybe we should just take a break from OPGTR and just read bob books and other readers to build up fluency.

 

Do you have any advice?

 

Thanks!

[mom2boys030507]

When my son was learning to read we used HOP. But there did come a point where he was getting frustrated even though he was reading. It was like he just needed to work on what he knew and not add anything new. (Think we were through book 2 of 5 at this point) So I asked him how many books he thought he could read? His answer was 100. So we created a 100 chart and he got a sticker for every book he read. I got out all of the HOP books and BOB books that he had already read. He zipped through most of them then started slowing down. He thought it was cool to see how many books he really could read on his own. This was enough of a break, review, and encouragement to him. He then really took off with his reading.

 

So my vote would be to take a break and just review the books she has already read.

[kmacnchs]

My dd just turned six June 25. We are on lesson 70 in OPGTR and lately it has been a real struggle for her. She does fine reading the words and remembering what sounds they make. But when it comes to the sentences she still has to sound out every single word...and she starts getting frustrated after about the second sentence. My ds(8) is speeding through OPGTR (he didn't have any phonics instruction was he in in ps for Kindergarten). I am thinking since she is struggling so much maybe we should just take a break from OPGTR and just read bob books and other readers to build up fluency.

 

Do you have any advice?

 

Thanks!

 

Same thing happened w/dd1 around lesson 100...I took the stories from the lessons she didn't know backwards and forwards and made them into books (like bob books) with illustrations and all and we practiced reading them (one easy, one hard) everyday until I felt she was getting the concepts down pretty well. We also started reading "real" books together (she reads a page, I read a page). After about a month (?), we went back to OPG and she has been doing great ever since and now (lesson 136) she is reading fluently :) Taking a break (as long as you don't stop learning) is never a bad thing in my mind...not even taking a break, just more practice before moving on :D

[Diana B]

My ds is at the same point! I think we're at lesson 75 or so. He finds reading the sentences boring and hard. He has to sound everything out even though in any other book he doesn't.

 

We've been taking a break in general (life!) and I can see how well he's reading even w/o the lessons. I really like your idea, mom2boys, of having him read 100 books. My ds throws a fit anytime *I* ask him to read, but then he'll surprise me by reading something else on his own.

 

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for other ideas. But I think taking a break is a good idea, Summer. You don't want to crush her love of reading just because you are trying to get through the book. And fluency is just as important as knowing the rules!

[Satori]

I was about to post the same question! Except we are only lesson 55, just starting the digraphs. DD is 4.75, and learns and remembers all the new sounds very quickly, but has to sound everything out first. I have never required her to read any books like the BOB books, as she was just saying the words by looking at the pictures, and they were so simple. Now I'm wondering if we should've read some of the easy book stuff... Maybe flashcards of words she knows... ?

 

But now, we're definitely going to stop, take a break, do some ETC workbooks, read some interesting easy books, play some phonics games, and work more on fluency.

[squirtymomma]

Take a break from progressing in OPGTR, but don't stop practicing somehow.

 

I've found it also helps to go back through previous lessons and review what you've learned there (if that's not discouraging for your child). Also, are you doing 2 review and 1 new? That makes a ton of difference for us. Some days we only review, if that's all we get through before attention span wanes. I'll skim through past lessons and pick a word or two from each "category" for her to read. I think spelling words from the lessons (on a magnet board) also helps reinforce reading. We generally don't have the attention span to do reading and spelling in one day. So, we'll read the lesson one day, then spell words from it (and previous lessons) the next day. In general, I find that if I get in a hurry to progress, she becomes discouraged, and I get frustrated. Taking just a little at a time, pausing for review, and being consistent has proven to be the most fruitful approach.

 

Reading the Bob books she's already read before also helps build fluency and confidence.

[imhim]

A few months back as we were finishing up K, my (then 5, now 6 as of June 29) started to act that way with the Abeka first grade phonics program I was using! She would hide under the table as soon as she would see me take the Abeka stuff out :-) all my pleading and disciplining were no good, so I quit. She is reading very well, I would say 3-rd grade. All we did the whole summer was to read books (aloud, readers - and I can read or step into reading). If there is too much on a page, she reads one, I read the next, and so on. Or I am one character, she is the other.

 

Now in first grade I started PP - she could be to the last part of it, but I decided to teach her spelling so we go slowly and do the dictation and all. And she still reads to me most days.

 

Maybe you need to take a break from your book and try another, just to give her a sense that you do listen to her, you understand it is boring and all that, so here is this bran new thing we will do.

[Wildwood]

My dd (5.5) is in the same boat. I have decided to stop OPG for the time being and I am just having her read what she is comfortably capable of. That means that we are simply reading all of the "level one" super basic books such as Nora Gaydos, Bob Books and SL K readers.

It got to the point where anytime she was asked about how she liked school, she would say, "I like it except I don't like reading." Or as the other poster mentioned, my dd would hide as well when it was phonics/reading time.

I just feel like this much resistance is a red flag that we need to cool it for a bit so she can gain some confidence and basic fluency through reading simple stories. Its hard because I know she is capable but she just is not quite ready yet, and well, thats okay. My main objective is to cultivate a love of learning and reading and I know that I will have to achieve that in baby steps.

[Earth Angel_79]

Very interesting to so many other parents experiencing this. My ds is 5.5 and has started reading his first BOB books just after he turned 4. He never liked the Nora Gaylord books, but I got HOP K-1st grade set on clearance last spring and he flew through the K set in less than 2 months. The 1st grader set has been more challenging and he's just not as interested in it. I thought maybe it was the story content. We've taken a break from all daily mandatory reading, writing, math for about 2 months. I've been wading through curriculum and he's just enjoying summer. I generally try to get him to read words or whole sentences from books we read at bedtime that I know he can handle. Occassionally I break out that last HOP book we were on, but he still doesn't seem like he's that into it.

I just recently bought a used Alphabet Island Phonics program to use with both of my boys. I thought the personification of the letters might be fun for the younger to help him remember them and thought it might just help to have something else available to mix it up again for ds1. I'm still not sure about it, as I just think it might be overkill for so many phonics resources in one house (I really desire simplicity). But my ultimate goal is enjoying reading (they love to be read to, of course) so I guess any means to that end is good. I'm even considering just letting them do the online programs (time4learning, starfall, clicknread) if it would encourage them. I really hate the idea of "plugging" them in to learn, but they seem to pick up stuff very easily and readily from shows like WordWorld and They Might Be Giants' "Here Come the ABC's" (this latter one is a hoot for any parents who might remember this group).

Another set I'm looking at for gaining fluency is the CLP Nature Readers, but I can't find a sample for the K version. Can anyone give an example of something it might compare to? Would it be more along the lines of Frog and Toad proficiency? We haven't encountered long vowels in HOP yet (although I think it is just a couple of lessons away).

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

[Guest]

Thanks everyone. It is great to know some of you are in a similar situation. I think I am going to print out some free Progessive Phonics books and go through them with my dd. I will also have her read lots of books. We are just going to take things easy for a while and focus on reviewing what she has previously learned. She has just started ETC 3 and is doing very well...so we will continue with it.

[Ottakee]

I sent you an email with more information but check out http://www.3rsplus.com for the I See Sam books. GREAT early readers which will help build fluency. They go well with other programs but can stand on their own.

[Guest]

I sent you an email with more information but check out www.3rsplus.com for the I See Sam books. GREAT early readers which will help build fluency. They go well with other programs but can stand on their own.

 

Thanks Ottakee,

 

I will check them out!

[meldamo]

It is really nice to see others in the same boat!! My daughter will soon be 6, and we've made it to lesson 60. She, too, understands it all and remembers all the rules. She, too, gets bogged down during the sentences by having to sound out most of the words. She doesn't have a problem sounding them out (unless the lesson takes too long), but it can be a fairly long, boring process.

 

Maybe we will cut back to one lesson each week or so and do things she will enjoy more on the other days. Hmm...

[pageta]

I got really burned out on listening to my son struggle through all the sentences they have for each lesson. So now we split up the reading. He reads one sentence, I read one sentence. It goes much faster, and I don't mind it so much. We are getting close to lesson 100. We follow it with a BOB book, which he really likes.