Pathway readers and sight reading problems

[...................]

My dd was moving along swimmingly in the CLP readers and workbook and picked up Days Go By and started reading it. She loves it!!! She even reads it for fun. 4 days go by (ha ha no pun Intended) and I had Been just telling her the new words as she came across them. Pathway are very very sight reading oriented.

 

Anyway 4 days go by and we go back to the CLP reader, and now instead of sounding out new words, she guesses! Which is completely unecessaary as these are phonetically controlled. So I reminded her to sound out new words and she whined so ugly she almost earned an appointment with the paddle.

 

So basically if I keep letting her read Pathway Readers it ruins my phonetic approach to reading.

 

However- she loves the stories and would really move ahead fast if I let her co ntinue.

 

What would you do?

[Ellie]

Are you doing any actual phonics instruction, or just having her read?

[...................]

Yes we use Adventures in Phonics - the Tm, workbook, flashcards, and CLP readers.

[lisabees]

:lurk5: Dd loves these too. I've been wondering the same thing!

[ElizabethB]

I recommend waiting until a student has learned everything they need to know to sound out any word before reading a sight word book like that.

 

However, if you must read them, teach the sight words phonetically first, here's how:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

 

Also, nonsense words are helpful for stopping guessing, and/or a few days of having them sound out every sound before being able to say a word "/k/ /o/ /t/ cot, /m/ /E/ /t/ meet, etc. My game makes both regular and nonsense words:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html

[Melenie]

I am finding a similar problem.

 

We had the first book on our bookshelf and DD picked it up a couple of weeks ago and was so excited that she could read it. We are now on the second book and she just loves them. I do find however, when there are new words she no longer attempts to sound them out, but guesses or says she does not know. She loves these books so much that I don't want to stop her from reading them.

 

We also do OPGTR and when we do the phonics lesson she knows to sound the word out. So I guess my approach for now is that as long as we are doing phonics training along side the PW readers she can read them.

Edited November 24, 2009 by Melenie

[ElizabethB]

I do find however, when there are new words she no longer attempts to sound them out, but guesses or says she does not know. She loves these books so much that I don't want to stop her from reading them.

 

 

Please make your next 2 or 3 phonics lessons teaching the sight words phonetically, then. Guessing habits can cause a lot of problems in the long run, I've remediated a lot of children who had problems, it takes a lot longer to remediate than to teach things well the first time.

 

I'm not sure exactly how much sight word type of teaching and guessing practice is harmful, and it probably also varies depend on the child, but it shouldn't take that long to teach the 215 of the 220 Dolch words that can be taught phonetically, here's how:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html

[...................]

I'm going to put further sight words on hold for now and ditch the Pathway Reader, and I really like your nonsense word game!! Both of my kids will benefit from it greatly!

 

 

Thanks. :)

[...................]

The pathway reading program is heavily sight word oriented, and the children are expected to memorize words, not sound them out, in order to read. Additionally the readers are not phonetically controlled, and have a HUGE amount of repetition, so that the child is memorizing.

 

But no fear. Everyone loves pathway readers. I've just learned that one should avoid them until most of the phenomes have been mastered, and reading is well under way with a habit if sounding out, rather than memorizing or guessing.

 

My dd is bright but I did the exact same thing with my ds and paid for it later. It's better to stick as long as possible with phonetically controlled readers.

[chiguirre]

Just an FYI. Pathway readers have a list in the back of the book that lists new words by page. There are usually not more than a few per story and, depending on how far you are with phonics, a lot of them aren't really sight words. You could introduce the words on a white board first and practice sounding them out together.

 

OTOH, the repetition in Pathway makes them especially easy to read even though they look like chapter books. A kid could easily fall into the trap of only wanting to read those books because they are much easier than levelled readers from the library or even the last set of Bob books.

[jeri]

I mean, I read all the time and I just *know* the word, I don't sound it out! I do agree that when a child gets to a new word, they need to sound it out. But in the meantime, they have to see "dog" and "girl" enough to know what they say so they can keep reading the story!

 

Jeri

[Homeschooling6]

My dc have always tried to sound out the words. Hasn't hindered my dc but every child is so different.

 

Blessings,

[Ellie]

I'm not familiar with what "phonetically controlled" readers are, I guess :001_huh:. I've never heard of the term. I don't remember the Pathway Readers being a reading program with instructions to memorize words. I've only seen and used the books themselves which simply have stories in them. Anyway, best of luck. Sounds like you have a plan that works well for you.

The readers have sweet stories in them. If you're just using the readers and not the workbooks, then it's not all that big a deal whether they are sight-reading oriented or not; they are still vocabulary-controlled basal readers, as are ABeka's or BJUP or even Bob books.

 

It's more clear that sight reading is involved if you also use the accompanying workbooks. The TM directions are that you have the dc do the activities which teach the new words first, then read the selection, then there are more activities in the workbook dealing with comprehension. The new words are not necessarily taught phonetically.

[MeAndTheBoys]

I had similar experiences when I used the Pathway reader with my older son a couple of years ago, so we dropped it.

 

My K-er is doing Christian Light Reading (Learning to Read) for his main program, but I found he needed more reading practice and I picked up the Pathways again--and the trick is to do the accompanying workbook. It is very cheap--less than $3, I think--and it has a section in the back called "learning through sounds", which is the phonics portion of Pathway.

 

We usually do 3 lessons in his CLE program per week and two stories with the accompanying workbook in Pathway per week; we'll work through the summer if we need to in order to finish before next fall.

 

It is working wonderfully--it gives him time to digest the heavy phonics in CLE, and he loves reading the Pathway stories. I thought adding a workbook would just add torture, but he loves it and wants to do the story and workbook every day---

 

My older is now doing the Pathway workbooks too. They cover a LOT, and the boys both love the stories that go with it-- I have bought CLE Grade 3 for my older son to use next year; I mentioned that the other day and he was SO SAD that he wouldn't do Pathway Grade 3. I went ahead and ordered it from Rainbow Resources the other day--it isn't as complete of a reading program as I would like, but if he WANTS to do it alongside CLE, more power to him--it is good.

 

Betsy

 

My dd was moving along swimmingly in the CLP readers and workbook and picked up Days Go By and started reading it. She loves it!!! She even reads it for fun. 4 days go by (ha ha no pun Intended) and I had Been just telling her the new words as she came across them. Pathway are very very sight reading oriented.

 

Anyway 4 days go by and we go back to the CLP reader, and now instead of sounding out new words, she guesses! Which is completely unecessaary as these are phonetically controlled. So I reminded her to sound out new words and she whined so ugly she almost earned an appointment with the paddle.

 

So basically if I keep letting her read Pathway Readers it ruins my phonetic approach to reading.

 

However- she loves the stories and would really move ahead fast if I let her co ntinue.

 

What would you do?

[...................]

That's a nice suggestion. My dd will be done her phonics book early, so I could get the Pathway workbook for her.

 

Maybe I'm confused but I thought Pathway used a LOT of sight reading in their workbooks? I guess I was wrong, as you have it in hand and say it's phonics based. Cool.

 

Dd loves these books, she really took acturn for the worse in her love if reading when I told her we had to stick with the CLP readers. :(. This workbook would be a good idea.

[MeAndTheBoys]

That's a nice suggestion. My dd will be done her phonics book early, so I could get the Pathway workbook for her.

 

Maybe I'm confused but I thought Pathway used a LOT of sight reading in their workbooks? I guess I was wrong, as you have it in hand and say it's phonics based. Cool.

 

Dd loves these books, she really took acturn for the worse in her love if reading when I told her we had to stick with the CLP readers. :(. This workbook would be a good idea.

 

Well, it definitely has more sight words than many programs, but it does teach phonics. I wouldn't use it as a primary reading program if I was concerned about too many sight words (and I don't use it primarily--CLE is my main program) but it is a good supplement or good for a break.

 

Betsy

[Melenie]

Well, it definitely has more sight words than many programs, but it does teach phonics. I wouldn't use it as a primary reading program if I was concerned about too many sight words (and I don't use it primarily--CLE is my main program) but it is a good supplement or good for a break.

 

Betsy

 

I agree it does have many more sight words than other phonics programs that I have come across. We did the first 2 or 3 workbooks some time ago and although one book did teach sounds another spent lots of time on sight words.