cseitter Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 My DS is sounding out letters perfectly and he sits with books all the time doing one letter at a time. I know it might be a while before the blending kicks in but what can I do to help him along? he is 4.5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 Honestly? Time. It seems like blending comes when it comes for most kids and he just might not be quite ready yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerMom Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 (edited) Check out 100EZ lessons. It teaches blending from the very beginning (eg, never teaches m-a-t, rather with mmmmmaaaaat, so the kid only has to speed it up to get the word). It's very scripted, so easy to do. Nothing fancy, but effective. The basic idea is to keep making the letter sound (for those you can) until you are ready to make the next sound you read. For "quick sounds" that can't be held (/t/, /p/, /k/, etc) you have to learn to look at the next sound before making the first. So to say pan I would think about making the "a" sound when I put my lips in position to start the /p/. so /pa/ is really saying /a/ with your mouth starting in the /p/ position. It doesn't sound like puh-a. And the way you move your mouth thru the /p/ in "pan" is different than in "pot" -- in pan you continue to stretch your lips, in pot you continue to purse them. Look in a mirror and you'll see the difference. Or say "can" and "coat" and pay attention to your starting mouth position. ("can" you hold your mouth wider anticipating the /a/ in coat your lips are halfway to an /o/ before you start the /k/.) Nothing intuitive about that, so we have to teach it. Just stuff I'm more aware of the 2nd time around teaching reading, and I'm more impressed with how 10EZL handles it. I'm sure there are other good programs, though. Edited March 9, 2011 by ChandlerMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionfamily1999 Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I like the way Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading does it. It starts out with sustaining the sound so ds moved into blending quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I agree with "time". When my son was at that point, he actually resisted any reading instruction I tried to give him. Finally I just stopped trying to teach him. I still had him playing starfall.com, which he loved though. Within 2-3 months, he suddenly started reading... His first book was grade level 1.4 according to Scholastic Book Wizard. Up until that point, he'd been able to chunk a word into it's individual sounds for a good year at least. He just couldn't figure out that c-a-t was "cat". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I discovered the hard way that for a child to learn to blend it is a maturity issue. When they are ready, they will just start blending and off you go on the learning to read train! :D My dd could say all of the letter sounds together that another PP mentioned: mmmmmmaaaaaatttttt, but when it came to that step of saying it quickly and getting the word "mat" out of that combo she COULD NOT do it. We set reading aside for 6 months, came back to it (I also started with her when she was still 4), and suddenly she could do it. So my answer is time...keep reinforcing those phonograms until the blending comes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted March 9, 2011 Share Posted March 9, 2011 I discovered the hard way that for a child to learn to blend it is a maturity issue. When they are ready, they will just start blending and off you go on the learning to read train! :D My dd could say all of the letter sounds together that another PP mentioned: mmmmmmaaaaaatttttt, but when it came to that step of saying it quickly and getting the word "mat" out of that combo she COULD NOT do it. We set reading aside for 6 months, came back to it (I also started with her when she was still 4), and suddenly she could do it. So my answer is time...keep reinforcing those phonograms until the blending comes. :iagree: Dd has known the letter sounds for nearly a year, and she is now suddenly "getting" blending. It's fun to see. I also like 100 EZ Lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Time, for sure. Check back in every 3-6 months. Memorizing phonograms and being able to blend are DEFINITELY two different skills. We are doing AAR (as soon as it arrives) with DD#2 (almost 5) to help establish a good foundation in pre-reading skills in the meantime. She knows most of the basic sounds, can sound out short words, but then blurts out a totally non-related word at the end! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joyfulhomeschooler Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Time is a big thing, but also the OPG helped my oldest the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) I would try starting with the syllables of Webster's Speller, it's much easier to blend two letters together than the commonly taught CVC words. I also would start with the easiest letters to blend. The easiest letters to blend are m, n, l, and r, and long vowels are easier to blend than short vowels. They also have the advantage of being both the name and sound of the letter. In the syllabary (the start of 2 letter syllables for Webster's Speller), the syllables ending in a vowel are pronounced long, so ma and ba are pronounced long as in ma-ker and ba-ker. So, here are the easiest syllables to begin with to teach blending: 1. ma me mi mo mu my; na ne ni no nu ny; la le li lo lu ly; ra re ri ro ru ry (remember, the a in a syllable is long as in ma-ker, na-ture, la-kers, ra-di-ant) then short vowels 2. am em im om um; an en in on un It takes a lot of practice for some children before they get the blending. Also, when you are blending, you the sounds you make do not exactly equal the sounds in the words. It is impossible to make a b without a bit of an uh sound. You can say less of an uh sound at the end, but you cannot make a pure b sound in isolation that matches the sound of b in a word. M, n, l, and r (l and r before the vowels, after the vowels they alter the sound of the vowel) match a lot better, that's why they're easiest to learn to blend with. A good book that shows blending well is Burnz' Step by Step Primer, free from Don Potter. (P. 11 is the first page showing a "picture" of blending.) Don's copy of Blend Phonics also has good instructions for teaching blending: http://www.donpotter.net/pdf_files/reading_made_easy_with_blen.pdf Both my children could spell before they could blend. I worked on spelling while waiting for the blending to come along. (Posted the same thing as on this blending thread.) Edited March 24, 2011 by ElizabethB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Another vote for time. Take a break. Engage in other things and leave the reading alone. I did this for my first son. We took a month off and when we started up again, the "click" just happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepymommy Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I agree with time, but also think that continuing to work on it is important. For ds6 Dancing Bears Fast Track and Reading Pathways worked the best. He knew all his letter sounds since 19 months and all the digraphs and such by 4yrs but has only gotten the hang of blending since he turned 6yrs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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