phonics help....stuck in a rut.

[mrseshaw]

Hi All,

 

We are stuck in a phonics rut. DS flew through the short vowels, blending them w/consonants and easily reads 3-4 letter words if they contain the short vowel. He's also mastered the consonant digraph endings.

 

And then we got stuck in a rut :l .....

 

We introduced the long vowel sounds and he just doesn't get it. I'm afraid to say that he is just simply memorizing these new long vowel containing words and truly does not understand the concept.

 

What to do??? I've been working on this for 3 weeks now, and I think it's time to seek some advice.

 

As per curriculum, we used Abeka (I hate it, and only continue to use it b/c it was so darn expensive). And supplement with Phonics Pathways (love!).

 

Can anyone recommend a good phonics book that would help he and I?

 

Thank you in advance :)

[kristinannie]

I am mostly teaching the long vowel sounds using a whiteboard with tiles. We are learning these now. It is very hard for a child to learn these new sounds of the letters when you have been drilling the short vowel sounds into him for awhile. I will write a word like cap with the tiles (or have DS5 do it) and then I will add a silent e and he will say cape. This has helped him visually. It is still hard for him sometimes to sound out the word because he is used to sounding it out left to right and you don't see the silent e until the end. We have also done ai and ay words this way. I do see that he is memorizing some of these words, but I don't think that is necessarily bad as long as you also give phonics instruction. MCP Plaid Phonics A has some really good worksheets on long vowels. We are using those as well. Once our kids get the long and short vowels down, reading is going to be so much easier. I feel like this is the last huge hump to get over!!!

[mrseshaw]

kristinannie thanks a million.

 

Letter tiles !!!! There is hope :)

I'm certain DS will love letter tiles.

[go_go_gadget]

We also found the letter manipulatives helpful, and my daughter loved being "in charge" of the silent e and making the other vowels say their names.

[craftyerin]

if your signature is right, and he's only 3, that could be the reason. You may have hit a wall because he's not developmentally ready for more complicated reading.

[FairProspects]

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but this is mostly developmental. Ds 1 was stuck on CVC words for about a year. Especially with the age of your ds, this is most likely one of those wait for more brain maturity things. If it makes you feel any better, my ds 2 who is nearly 2 years older than yours still can't blend CVC words. It just takes time and all kids develop at different rates. :)

 

ETA: Noticing your ds is in OT & PT, have you had his vision checked? My ds who needed OT also needed vision therapy and could not progress in reading until his eyes worked together better. He now reads above grade level, but still struggles with his eyes if something is too busy, or he is too tired.

Edited September 15, 2011 by FairProspects

[boscopup]

Some of it may just be developmental, assuming the age in your sig is correct. I don't think I'd fret over a 3 year old stalling at reading.

 

That said, I really like Webster's Speller. The syllabary teaches both long and short vowel sounds at one time. We haven't gotten into silent 'e' yet (we don't practice very often, so aren't moving very quickly), but he clearly understands open and closed syllables, and I think because he regularly sees vowels having different sounds in different context, the silent 'e' will be a breeze when we get there.

 

But really, it's only been 3 weeks with a 3 year old? Put it away for a bit, let him absorb what he's learned, keep reading reading reading to him, then pull it back out. Sometimes taking a few weeks off can give them that cognitive leap they need. If he wants to practice phonics during that time, just practice the stuff he knows already, giving him confidence and fluency. When he's ready, the silent 'e' will come. :)

[meggie]

My son started reading at 3. And when new words/concepts were introduced, sometimes he just couldn't get it. I would take a break for a week or so and give his brain a rest. It was bizarre. We would take a break and come back and he read them all perfectly the first time.

[Tigger]

We did a lot on the white board and I think that helped. I had DS do the writing, which he loves on the board with lots of different color markers. (On paper is a different story)

 

For example I'd have him write out (we do AAS for spelling so he knows how to spell) PIN, CAP, PAR, etc. Once he'd write them, I'd then have him read them. Next I'd say "if you add an E to the end, now what word do you have?" and ask him to add the E and say the new word. So, PIN is PINE, etc.

 

We also did some cards that I made, where I changed the color of the E so that he'd see it as he was sounding out words and wouldn't' automatically go with a short vowel. Then I made the same cards, now with the E the same color, he did them too. Last I mixed in short vowel words and had him do those in the mix.

 

Once he was getting the hang of the difference, we moved onto some readers as we then moved to the AI, AY, EI, EE, OA, OE etc. We did the same for those as he was working on reading with the long A sounds, then progressed to readers with the AI, AY, etc.

 

I also use worksheets to supplement from Plaid Phonics and we do Horizons Phonics as our main phonics program.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Tigger

[mrseshaw]

I agree with the 3 of you above regarding the developmental readiness issue. This is what DH and I talked about at lunch today. I think DS is not ready for the concept of a "rule." DH on the other hand thinks he totally gets it....men :tongue_smilie:

 

We're not those 'pushy parents' type, but DS is quite eager to learn...which is why I rode the wave when he was interested in letter sounds and reading.

[mrseshaw]

Probably not what you wanted to hear, but this is mostly developmental. Ds 1 was stuck on CVC words for about a year. Especially with the age of your ds, this is most likely one of those wait for more brain maturity things. If it makes you feel any better, my ds 2 who is nearly 2 years older than yours still can't blend CVC words. It just takes time and all kids develop at different rates. :)

 

ETA: Noticing your ds is in OT & PT, have you had his vision checked? My ds who needed OT also needed vision therapy and could not progress in reading until his eyes worked together better. He now reads above grade level, but still struggles with his eyes if something is too busy, or he is too tired.

 

Funny you ask about the vision thing. DS is monocular, he only has 1 eye. Little guy lost it to retinoblastoma. He's doing really well and is done with treatment. As far as we know, he sees very well with his remaining eye. He does have dry eye from radiation treatment.

[bluechicken]

Wow, awesome work for a 3 year old. I would say to give it some time, just as the others have said. :)

[ElizabethB]

Time, big uppercase letters on a white board, and start with words that are also syllables, they are simpler.

 

"hi, go, no, so, be, me." You could also try the I See Sam books or Webster's Speller, here is how I used it with my son in K, the syllables are easier for a young child to start with, and adding in spelling helps cement the concepts. (You can use magnetic uppercase letters or letter tiles for a child not yet writing well.)

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208407