Question about the shoulds & should nots of Phonics

[scrapbookbuzz]

Here is the question: what is the point of continuing Phonics instruction after a child knows how to read well?

 

The impetus to the question is this: my son, who is now 6.5, began to read chapter books (eg, Magic Treehouse) right before he was six years old. I taught him to read using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. He now reads The Boxcar Children books and Egermeier's Bible Storybook on his own without any trouble. He reads fluently and totally comprehends what he's reading. If he doesn't know what a word means, he will ask you right then. If he's reading aloud and messes up a word, he'll catch the mistake in about two seconds and correct himself.

 

Does he reallyneed more phonics instruction?

 

I'm just trying to decide on the appropriate level of Grammar/English to do with him.

 

Thanks for any insight you can give me!

[silliness7]

In that case, I would use a spelling program that has a strong phonics base. We use Rod & Staff and it is very thorough.

[scrapbookbuzz]

I guess I forgot to mention spelling. My son is already VERY strong in spelling. Most words he can spell without having ever seen them first. He doesn't really need spelling practice!

[scrapbookbuzz]

Anyone else have any ideas?

[Ellie]

Not IMHO.

 

WHen he's 7, you could do 2nd grade-level work with him as far as grammar and writing, if you want to. I would wait until then because of his physical maturity, even though he could actually do the reading involved.

[ElizabethB]

I would do something that covers syllables.

 

Megawords or a bit from Webster's Speller.

 

Also, my syllable division exercises linked at the end of my how to tutor page: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/howtotutor.html

 

My daughter and my students who I get early enough to not have major guessing issues can easily progress to reading passages at the 12th grade level. They can sound out difficult 4 and 5 syllable words correctly after working through Webster, usually getting a correct pronunciation even for a word they have not seen. The arrangement by schwa/accent pattern is really helpful for gaining an understanding of how English works.

 

(And, the children of formerly homeless moms also did well even if I got them later--evidently there are some advantages to missing a lot of school if you miss out on sight words!)

[Homemama2]

I would do something that covers syllables.

 

 

 

:iagree:I've heard alot of hs friends talk about the "4th grade slump" where their children who were great readers in the early grades (and therefore they didn't continue any phonics etc with the kids) suddenly had difficulty sounding out the more difficult words. I'm not the one to ask on what should be done to prevent this since my kids aren't there yet...but I think one of the problems was once they got to big four or five syllable words, they didn't know where to divide it into syllables to sound it out.

[angela in ohio]

Can he easily decode many previously unseen 3-5 syllable words? That is my test.

 

I have known so many families with early readers who quit phonics and did encounter the "slump" when they started trying to read books with longer words. It ended up hurting them when they wanted to read classics or textbooks, and they soon learned to dread either of those. It is sad to see a "super reader" start to slip and struggle, and even if mom does remedial work, it still had its effect.

[scrapbookbuzz]

And this is why I asked! Thank you SO much for all the input. I hadn't 'looked' far enough ahead, or even known to do so, to understand where the "not continuing phonics" would affect him. I will definitely work on the syllables. Thanks again!

[boscopup]

Can he easily decode many previously unseen 3-5 syllable words? That is my test.

 

I have known so many families with early readers who quit phonics and did encounter the "slump" when they started trying to read books with longer words. It ended up hurting them when they wanted to read classics or textbooks, and they soon learned to dread either of those. It is sad to see a "super reader" start to slip and struggle, and even if mom does remedial work, it still had its effect.

 

:iagree:My son is at a similar level (reading the same books recently), and he's hitting those 4th grade level books where you HAVE to sound out some words. He's in the process of learning phonics still (through our spelling program, which I've already seen progress in this area), so he was starting to get that 4th grade slump. Now that he's getting the phonics instruction, he's starting to get through the slump. He's reading Charlotte's Web right now, and sometimes needs help with a word and sometimes is able to sound it out himself. He reads mostly by sight reading, though his spelling is NOT natural like your son's, though I think he will be an excellent speller once he knows the phonics.

 

If your son passes the multisyllable word test, I'd probably just go with a dictation-based spelling program at the appropriate age (I think most say 3rd grade?), like Spelling Wisdom, Simply Spelling, and some others. They use studied dictation to hit on the most commonly used words. I don't think you need to keep going with phonics if he already knows the phonics and applies them for both reading and spelling.