Dolche Words? Pencil Grip?

[Impish]

I'm working with Tazzie on his reading skills. He's a hard kid, in that he'll show us that he *can* read now and then, but not on command, if that makes sense.

 

I have a work book for him that's become an epic fail. He does it happily, and then rushes off for his reward (playing Wii). Yes, I realize I screwed up in giving him a reward for his completion of the work book pages.

 

I've been using phonics, and I'm honestly not sure the best way to use Dolche. I picked them up on a whim from my homeschooling store, they were 1.50, laminated words that another mom had made.

 

Should I keep using phonics with the Dolche, or work on memorization?

 

I'm a bit bewildered to be honest. And frightened. Diva was in school and when we pulled her, she was already reading, writing, doing math, so Tazzie and Princess are totally based on my ability to teach them. I'm scared of screwing them up.

 

The other issue is his pencil grip. He wraps all his fingers around the pencil. Its not quite a 'cave man' grip, in that he has his thumb and forefinger in the right position, but his other fingers are right behind the forefinger, if that makes any sense.

 

Any help would be appreciated!

Edited February 19, 2010 by Impish

[Oak Knoll Mom]

I use Dolche words that my new reader can decode. He must be able to decode a word before it goes into our flashcard rotation. I spend three minutes going through the words every reading lesson. It really does help build fluency!

[Dmmetler]

There are a ton of activities for Dolch words online if you google "sight word activities" or dolch word activities. Here's a site with some booklets and activities that help reinforce/teach the Dolch words.

 

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/printable_booklets.html

 

There's a lot of sight word games and activities here, too

 

http://www.fcrr.org/Curriculum/studentCenterActivities.shtm

[Impish]

Thanks for the links! :001_smile:

[Ellie]

He's just little. It's too early to panic. :-)

 

For the vast majority of dc, there's no reason whatsoever to teach memorizing words by sight. Remember that those words came from the public school system, the one which failed millions of children from the 50s on with its sight-reading "methods." A good phonics method will take care of those words, licketysplit.

 

And I'd work on that pencil grip. Gently model and correct and reshape. Holding his pencil that way will cause his hand and arm to tire when he writes, and he will have much more difficulty properly forming his letters.

[Impish]

Thanks, Ellie. I keep correcting his grip, but he does get frustrated and says, "I can't do anything right!" when I do. I'm gentle about it, I don't get angry or anything, its simply, "Honey, remember to hold your pencil like this, it will make things easier for you."

 

*sigh*

[Aurelia]

Try giving him really short pencils, pieces of chalk or crayon rocks, something that is so short he can't put the rest of his fingers on the rest of the writing utensil until it becomes a habit, before giving him longer writing tools. That should correct the grip problem, without your having to remind him how to hold his pencil.

[mmpmelmack]

My son has a hard time with pencil grip as well, for now we are just holding his hands in the right position. He would like to write more independently, so I just ordered some pencil grips for him from amazon, I think they will help him to get his fingers in the right places. as for reading, slow and steady. My DD is also very stubborn about her letter sounds, I *know* she can do them, she *knows* she can do them. we dont fight about it, but we still do 15 minutes of phonics work a day, and she knows that I will not go on untill she shows me she can say her ltter sounds with out a lot of ummmm....i think...what letter is that?....ummmm.

 

we would seem to be at a standstill, but I know that if I keep showing her that it is important, and that I will keep working on it everyday, that she will eventually want to move on to actually sounding out words. I know too that as DS keeps reading more and more books, that she will want to do just becasue he is.

 

gentle regular lessons, this is important, and we will do it everyday at the level you show me you can, and we will move on when you show me you can. thats my motto anyway.

 

 

and yes rewards are not a good idea....can you put the wii away for awhile?

[FO4UR]

:iagree:with Ellie - he's too young to panic!:grouphug:

 

Keep with the phonics. You can use the Dolche words...just start with the words that you can easily teach phonetically. You can merge handwriting/phonics lessons into one on the chalkboard...learn to write letters and review their sounds....as you learn more letters, make words.

 

My .02 regarding the bad grip: do ALL of his handwriting practice with 1" nubs of chalk and/or crayon for a long while. The small size will force his fingers into a tripod grasp. I would teach all the letters on a chalkboard this way before requiring him to write on paper...take your time (he is only 5yo). Then, when he's ready for pencil/paper work revisit the idea of proper grip on the pencil.

 

I made fixing a bad grip play by giving dd the impression that she is the mommy of those naughty little fingers...she catches herself letting that middle finger ride on top and I hear her "You are NOT the boss! Naughty Finger! You go right here!!!":lol: It works with her b/c she likes playing the part of the Mommy (and hates being corrected by me LOL)! Stetro grips work well for her too.

[elise1mds]

Yup, I took the Dolch words phonetically, too. Sure it meant that I used them 'out of order,' but it also meant that if DS hadn't memorized the word, he could decode it using the rules I was teaching. I'm doing the same thing with DD now but also adding in Bob Books.

 

Boys have a harder time with pencil grips than girls in general, so I wouldn't worry about that one. You can always break out the Play-Doh and work on those muscles and come back to it later! :)

[ElizabethB]

I've remediated a lot of children who learned the Dolch words as wholes.

 

You can use them, but it's best to teach them phonetically, it's much more painful to remediate than to do it right the first time, it's so much harder to undo guessing habits than to spend a bit more time up front learning the phonics.

 

Here's how to teach all but 5 of the Dolch words phonetically:

 

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

 

My game is also fun practice, a nice easy way to get the repetition needed to teach in without driving everyone crazy:

 

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