What did you use to teach your child to read?

[Closeacademy]

I used Spell to Write and Read phonograms.

 

#1--went through the lists at the rate of 5 words a week in K

in 1st I dropped it and encouraged her to read on her own

in 2nd I created pictures, key word sentences and found Aesop's fables to go with each phonogram. Each sound had it's own key word. She was reading very quickly after that.

 

#1--in 1st I used the pictures I had made but slowed down the sequence to one phonogram a week which was tied to a picture, key word(s), a fairy tale and physical movements

 

in 2nd we are using the key word sentences, Aesop's Fables, pictures and movements, I also dictated words to her sound by sound for her to write. She is starting to read now.

 

I went through a lot of phonics programs before I found SWR when my oldest was 1/2 way through K. I tried 100EL, Sonlight K LA, Phonics Pathways, sight reading activities, Hooked on Phonics, etc.

 

What worked for us with reading:

just focused on the phonograms

I made them visual

I made them physical

I linked them to story (Fairy Tales then Aesop's Fables)

I slowed them down so we could really learn them

I gave my child time to be ready to read

dictating words sound by sound

writing out words and marking phonograms and sounds when they have trouble with them

 

Hope this helps. :001_smile:

[tonersl]

Phonics Pathways :thumbup:

Love this!

Shannon in NC

[LizzyBee]

I don't use anything until they can blend cvc words. Do you really need a book to teach someone how to blend sounds? And isn't blending a developmental skill.. they "get it" on their own time frame? I'm certainly not an expert. Anyway, that's what I do.

 

Some kids have to be explicitly taught how to blend.

[anotherblessingus]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions!! Wow. I will look at some of these books. He loves for me to read books to him and also loves Starfall. I'm sure we can make some progress this year. Thank you ladies who reminded me to be patient and make learning fun.

[5knights3maidens]

Ds used Adventures in Phonics by Christian Liberty Press and some of their starter books like Meeting New Friends, etc.

 

My Dd also used Adventures in Phonics with the same starter book and is now reading the McGuffey Eclectic Readers.

[hmdavis02]

I used "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" with all 3, and then moved into A Beka Phonics program. I didn't do phonics with my son at first, but he struggled in spelling until I did in 2nd grade; then it 'clicked.' I did phonics right after the 100 lessons bookd with both girls, and it worked very well!

[cathmom]

Saxon Phonics! I love it! I have used it to teach 3 dc to read now, one who has severe dyslexia. Oh, and it taught me phonics too, because I never understood it before I used this!

[Create Your Ritual]

Years back when I was on the "public school" program, when the kids were about 4 they had an interest in learning how to read. My thought was, "hey, what a great idea, that way when they go into kindergarten already reading they will feel like 'I got this' and not be nervous with the whole new experience." So, I headed to Costco one day and found Hooked On Phonics Learn to Read program that had 5 levels. Every night for about 15 minutes before bed and normal bedtime reading I would work with each of them (they are two years apart, so they each got their turns at the age of 4). Honestly, by the time they were 5 they both were reading fluently, with only 15 minutes a day of instruction. I thought that program was outstanding. My dd was reading chapter books during her kindergarten year, and my son ended his by getting to the same point. Unfortunately for my kids though, the school didn't embrace the fact that I had taught them to read so they were sat in a corner while the other kids learned, instead of given some sort of differentiated instruction to keep growing at their level. Thus, one of the reasons we are now homeschooling. That being said, I did love that program, used it well with them both and will use it again with my 2 year old when the time comes.

[ElizabethB]

Some kids have to be explicitly taught how to blend.

 

:iagree:

 

And some take a lot more repetition than others.

 

There are some good tips for blending in Burnz' pronouncing primer:

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=K7o9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Burnz+primer&hl=en&ei=6o4iTOT1K4eFnQfkssgm&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Also, Blend Phonics has good blending instructions, it is linked from Don Potter's website. Word Mastery, also free from Don's page, starts with the easiest sounds to blend.

 

Here is a post that explains why blending is difficult and the easiest sounds to begin blending with:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1599868&postcount=8

[duckymama]

We started with the Leap Frog: Letter Factory DVD. We then started Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading. It has been very easy to just jump into the lessons where we need to. My first new all of the letter sounds when we started, but the second needed to work on that some more. The lessons are quick and easy and pain free for me to teach. They are both great readers now. We plan to use this with all of our kiddos.

[tarana]

We used the Leap Frog DVDs everyday at dinner time. We used the Easy readers from the library.

 

But the best was RAZ kids (http://www.raz-kids.com/). They had fun because they could record their own readings & could use the audio whenever they encountered a difficult word.

[Guest CarolineUK]

Two of my boys have been very slow readers - dh, although very intelligent, is severely dyslexic and didn't learn to read until he was 9. I have used Jolly Phonics, Oxford Reading Tree and ENORMOUS amounts of patience! I do two sessions of 20 minutes reading with DS5 (6 in August) every day, and some phonics writing practice most days, and it is very painful. I have been advised that maybe he just isn't 'ready' to learn to read, but would feel very uneasy just leaving it till later. Dh's view is that for him the only solution for learning to read was lots and lots of practice, and so the earlier we start the better.

[iquilt]

Ordinary Parent's Guide for scripted, daily lessons along with easy readers as suggested in the WTM.

[Mommee & Baba]

We tried The Reading Lesson and my kids didn't get moving on this one much at all. I think only because I purchased the ebook that was black and white and it was boring to them. The stories had no real plot as well so that wasn't fun.

 

We currently use Hooked on Phonics and I'm sold for life with this program. My 7yr old wasn't even able to read her BASIC preschool sight words at the beginning of last year! She's now reading at her grade level (2nd grade)!! And it's because of the approach of HoP, the reward system, the bright colorful stories and the beginner books!! They are perfect size for little hands! Also I loved the DVD system and how it wasn't always mom teaching and talking. My kids eventually named the gal that speaks! LOL!!

 

However now that my 5yr old is beginning her reading this coming year I started her BoB books and she's reading COMPLETELY different than my 7yr old. She doesn't sound out and blend the words together like my 7yr old. However I think that HoP is what taught her that..and after time she grasped it. I didn't do BoB books with my 7yr old as I didn't own them but now that I have them I want to bring them into our education schedule as soon as a child shows interest. Now my 5yr old can read those books without going through the process that my 7yr old had to go through with HoP just to read her first set of HoP books. I think the BoB books are a great tool to help get them started in finding the love and interest of reading!

 

I will def. be using BoB Books and HoP program with my toddler son when he's ready to learn to read!! :D

 

I did gather The Reading Lesson up and was tempted to toss it out but I think with my experience now and seeing the big learning differences I'm going to shelf that just in case!

 

Teaching writing and reading to me as a mom were the biggest challenges. NOT for my kids because they were behind or didn't get it...but because they are so IMPORTANT and I feared I wouldn't be able to do it when they were "suppose" to know it. Here we are now writing and reading and we all survived it! :p

 

Sorry about the babble and ramble. Just speaking from one homeschool mom's heart to another!

[Chocolate Lover]

I used Phonics Pathways and its' successor Pyramid, all of the BOB Books, and all of the Explode the Code books starting with Get Ready for the Code through Beyond the Code. DS reads fast and well, and has won two local spelling bees! When we were in Phonics Pathways and Pyramid I would hold a piece of white paper under the line he was to read. This helped him focus on the one line of type instead of being distracted by all the print on the page.

HTH

[happyhappyjoyjoy]

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

 

I second this choice

[mama2cntrykids]

Both my boy's learned to read using My Father's World 1st grade. By learning to read, I mean beyond CVC words. My younger ds had a few rough patches that we slowed down for and played reading games, but now in almost 2nd grade, he's reading really well. I look forward to using it in 2-3 yrs with my littlest one.

[Stacey in NY]

I used Phonics Pathways with both my ds and it worked very well for both. It took longer with my oldest since he didn't even know letter sounds when we started, but it was almost review with the 2nd. I got lucky he pretty much taught himself to read.

[cottagechick]

Teach a Child to Read using Children's Books.

 

Excellent for my whole-to-parts learner. All my other kids used a combo of stuff. Abeka, Bob Books, Leap Frog videos, Phonics Pathways, The Reading Lesson.....

[helena]

We used Montessori materials. My mom has a school, so we borrowed her extra stuff. I also learned this way, so it was wonderful to have those experience again with my kids. A lot of the materials can be made at home, and I believe there are some great blogs and books on the subject.

 

Both of my daughters were all about Dick and Jane books. I collect vintage school books and readers, so their first books were oldies. Those books have a different sensibility to them. They just clicked with my girls.