Can an argument be made to skip "reading" instruction?

[SKL]

My dd5, like many of yours, is an early reader. I'd place her around the 3rd-4th grade level, all things considered. It would be higher if some of the vocabulary were not over her head.

 

She's been progressing pretty fast in reading over the past year, without formal instruction (I just read with her most days). She's very motivated to read, and she reads a broad variety of books at a broad range of levels. I don't see her as needing to be "taught" reading. Granted, she occasionally guesses wrong at a phonics rule, but the vast majority of the time, she gets it right despite never being taught. She just naturally puts 2 and 2 together, so to speak.

 

Most of the time when I see folks here talking about reading, I see some reference to a phonics program or BOB books or whatever. Do any of you just skip all of that and let the child fly? If so, has it been a good decision in hindsight?

[quark]

Our reading instruction was basically:

1. reading aloud every day from the time he was born - not from readers like BOB but from living books, fairy tales, children's encyclopedias etc

2. singing the alphabet song as a lullaby since time he was born

3. playing with a whole language computer flashcard game my husband made

4. playing word games since he started identifying words as a baby (I don't know if I should call that reading)

 

He did not need a formal program. I was surprised to find out that we're the minority in using whole language reading but it's worked fine for us.

 

Many people insist that their early readers taught themselves to read. I don't believe this is what my son did because although we did not give formal reading lessons, he has lived in a vocabulary-enriched, highly verbal environment since day one, an environment his parents created, somewhat deliberately and somewhat unknowingly.

[kwg]

I think so. My early reader took off! One regret for me- I assumed since he was a great reader he would be a great speller. Not so much.:glare: Should have made sure to drill that more but we are working on it so hopefully no long lasting damage done:lol:

[frugalmama]

We are doing reading, but really it's more to work on pronunciation as DD pronounces everything according to phonics rules.

[Runningmom80]

I've chosen not to do formal reading, I just pick out books for him to read, or we read together. we will start grammar next year, and just keep reading what we feel like.

 

As far as the teaching themselves to read discussion, I usually describe it that way, but the truth is that someone had to tell him what the letters were, and someone had to tell him what words were, so in that sense, yes I taught him, but it wasn't a deliberate thing, and he figured out a lot in his own, like the sounds the letters make. But, he didn't live in a vacuum with zero parental involvement. I think when I say "he taught himself," I mean that he was self motivated to learn to read, and figured out most of it on his own.

[Riverland]

All my kids were early, proficient, and advanced readers. They read many hours a day on their own. The oldest two were in public school gifted for elementary. They did not do reading instruction because the kids did not need it. Before homeschooling, my youngest was in public school regular and I hated the reading instruction because it turned an enjoyable activity into a chore.

[SKL]

I agree that "taught self to read" is somewhat confusing. My dd was taught a sound for each letter as a tot, like most kids. When she was 3 and younger, we used to talk about the structure of some words we saw along our travels. She had a good memory for words so as I read to her, I'd point out words she knew for her to read. One day she realized she could read some books without much help. From then on, we've taken turns reading, and that's been our "reading program."

 

When I said "the vast majority of the time, she gets [phonics] right despite never being taught," I didn't mean she's never been taught anything. I meant that, for example, she figured out what "ight" and "ar" say without anyone having told her. I feel she has figured / is figuring out phonics. (She is also a fairly good speller without having been "taught" spelling.)

 

I do believe there are kids who teach themselves to read (from the start), but they are few and far between. My kid is not one of those.

[SKL]

As I recall, I was also an early reader but did not like reading class in school. I found the reading comprehension stuff at the same time too loosey-goosey and too arbitrary. It would say "what do you think about ___," but if I wrote what I really thought, I'd often get it wrong. Maybe I was too young for the material or something. However, this didn't stop me from enjoying reading at home. (Those were the days when kids were expected to pursue their own interests at home, not do hours of homework . . . .)

[Mommy_of_4]

DS is 4 and on about a 3rd grade reading level. I don't do anything phonics wise with him but a plaid phonics workbook to solidify a little more phonics. Honestly though, he would do fine without it but he loves workbooks. We do daily read alouds for about 10 minutes to work on fluency and so I can see if he has any trouble with pronunciation.

[roanna]

My son is very much like yours. He was my first so I didn't know what I was supposed to do so we just kept reading together. For about 2 weeks he was stumbling on the silent E and I thought oh no I have to get a program, but one day he just knew it. Then he taught himself "tch" etc, it's just intuitive to some kids. There is no way I Would subject him to a reading/phonics program. He's doing quite well on his own.

 

I do use the scholastic book wizard to find more good books at his level of reading to keep things interesting for him since he really knows how to find books in the library on the " level 2" reading shelves.

 

I forgot to add that my son really excelled when our library did a 20 books in 20 days program over the summer so I thought that would help again and they provided me with the sheets and stickers and upon completion they will let him choose from the book prize shelf to get a free book! Our library is great.

Edited February 18, 2012 by roanna

[Dana]

I read to my son from a very early age. We never did any phonics work. When we started homeschooling in 1st grade, he couldn't read independently. When I tried to get him to sound out words, he actively refused. He'd been at a kindergarten that used some whole language and he'd make wild guesses at what a word was.

 

:banghead: We had some issues.

 

Just before age 6, he really got into Calvin and Hobbes and when I wouldn't read to him on occasion, that got him motivated enough that he went from not reading to reading well in just a couple of weeks. I say he was self-taught because he sure fought me on any teaching I tried to do!

In 2nd grade he read Lord of the Rings on his own.

 

We had issues with pronunciation and lots with spelling. We used Spelling Workout for 1st and 2nd grades and nothing was being retained.

 

In 2nd grade we switched to All About Spelling which includes phonics. We moved slowly through the levels (still using it) but I started to see improvement in pronunciation and in recent months his spelling has improved by leaps and bounds.

 

I'd say I let him fly in terms of reading and that was the correct decision.

I wish I had found All About Spelling earlier. That really filled in phonics gaps and has been great. I continue to read aloud to him (both with a school book he follows along with and with a family read-aloud in the evenings). I think having him read aloud is also good. I can catch any errors he's making with reading, but we can still have fun with the story.

[boscopup]

I've never used a reading program with DS1. He didn't need it. He was reading at a mid-2nd grade level when he entered K, and at a 4th grade level when he entered 1st. I did need to do phonics via spelling, and that got him over the "4th grade slump". Now his reading ability is way up there. Anything he can't read yet wouldn't be age appropriate reading anyway. ;) I now give him "literature", but I've never done a "reading program" with him (except for a short stint trying CLE Reading 100, which I decided was busy work and had too much schwa nonsense, so I ditched it and just got good books).

 

I'm using a phonics program with DS2 because he didn't "teach himself to read" like DS1 did. DS1 never even did the Bob book stage. His first book, the day blending finally clicked, was grade level 1.5. He read 30 pages of a 60 page Dr. Seuss book. I made him stop because I thought he'd get worn out with it being his first book and all. :lol:

 

DS3 is doing Reading Eggs, and he's actually picking it up, which I didn't expect (he's 2.5). I'm sure he would have taught himself to read by age 4, easily. We only do Reading Eggs because we got it free and it's fun for him. He asks for it everyday. If he decides to stop asking, we'll stop using it, and I'll wait until 5 to do anything if it's necessary, but again, I doubt it would be. He has phonemic awareness and is able to pick out a word like "cat" if you just sound it out. DS1 couldn't do that at this age (and he did have letter sounds by this time). DS3 is like a little sponge with two big brothers to learn from!

[stripe]

You might want to take a look at Thogmartin's Teach a Child To Read with Children's Books. Combining Story Reading, Phonics, and Writing To Promote Reading Success. You can download it entirely, free from ERIC.

 

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED437625

[Runningmom80]

I should add we also do AAS, which I feel at least gets the phonics in.

[thegirlwhopaintedtrees]

I agree that "taught self to read" is somewhat confusing. My dd was taught a sound for each letter as a tot, like most kids. When she was 3 and younger, we used to talk about the structure of some words we saw along our travels. She had a good memory for words so as I read to her, I'd point out words she knew for her to read. One day she realized she could read some books without much help. From then on, we've taken turns reading, and that's been our "reading program."

 

When I said "the vast majority of the time, she gets [phonics] right despite never being taught," I didn't mean she's never been taught anything. I meant that, for example, she figured out what "ight" and "ar" say without anyone having told her. I feel she has figured / is figuring out phonics. (She is also a fairly good speller without having been "taught" spelling.)

 

 

 

This sounds a lot like my DD4. She's reading 3rd and 4th grade books and the only reading instruction I've done is as I read to her, pointing out maybe that, "look, this is the word "light". See the letters they used to show the "ite" sound?" Then she would retain that and be able to read it herself later. She's figured out some sounds by herself intuitively as well. We've never had to use a program. I choose Sonlight readers at her level (about 3rd and 4th) and we read through those, more so I can have a baseline for where she's at and can help her with reading strategies if she needs (like breaking long words into syllables - she has no patience for that and invents her own words at times.)

 

Julie

[jennynd]

DS is self taught. I am a full time working Mom and DS was in daycare since he was 3 months old. I had never taught him alphabet and did not know he knows alphabet let along the sound until one day he shout out a word from the book he never seen. And that was couple months before he turn 2..

He more or less from there just read his book and picking up phonic there. When he was K, the school did teach it, but at that time he already way pass learnng phonic. So I will agree it u have a kid naturally picking up phonic. I will not have reading lesson to teach read. However, comprehension is another story. I do start working with the boy on comprehension since the gap just too huge.

For DD, she didn't pick up reading like DS. I do have to teach the girl to read

Edited February 19, 2012 by jennynd

[Tracy]

Yeah, we spent about a 2 months with that sort of stuff right about when dd turned 4yo. Then I gave up teaching her, because she was learning faster than I could teach. However, when she was 5yo, we started phonics instruction via spelling, because I saw that she was struggling to sound out new words. Even though those new words were several years beyond her age level, I felt that I needed to go back and give her the tools to deal with the more complex words.

[Donna]

My dd was an early reader and read fluently the day I found out she could read...she just opened a book and read to me fluently like an adult with no mispronunciations. I never needed to do phonics or reading instruction with her at all.

 

I did use Spelling Power from 5-8yo because the word lists were arranged according to phonics rules...she is a natural speller as well so this year I stopped being anal and quit the spelling instruction as well. We read together daily and she reads on her own. Our "reading" program consists of discussing the books we read.

[Rivka]

I think intuitive readers can run into trouble when they start hitting words they have only ever read, and not heard pronounced. We never got past the basics of phonics instruction before my daughter's reading took off. But now she's reading (silently) at a sixth grade level, or so, there are some things that come out pretty funny when she tries to talk to me about them.

 

We're doing a very phonics-oriented spelling program to try to fill in those pronunciation gaps. I know it was always embarrassing for me, as a self-taught omnivorous reader, to mispronounce a word I had only ever seen and have people laugh at me.

[nova147]

I think intuitive readers can run into trouble when they start hitting words they have only ever read, and not heard pronounced. We never got past the basics of phonics instruction before my daughter's reading took off. But now she's reading (silently) at a sixth grade level, or so, there are some things that come out pretty funny when she tries to talk to me about them.

 

We're doing a very phonics-oriented spelling program to try to fill in those pronunciation gaps. I know it was always embarrassing for me, as a self-taught omnivorous reader, to mispronounce a word I had only ever seen and have people laugh at me.

 

THIS!!! :D My 7 year old is self taught, and while we use AAS to teach/reinforce phonics rules, he still makes funny mistakes. Today it was "critical" which came out "sr itisal". He knows when c says s, but doesn't always apply it when reading.

 

We have not done a reading program, but he reads aloud to his sisters, which allows me to catch pronunciation problems. I am considering a reading comprehension program for the fall, because I think he weak there.

[Beth in SW WA]

Dd8 taught herself to read at 3 but we still did SWR intensely until recently. Can't remember who encouraged me years ago NOT to forego phonics/spelling with an early reader. Either way, glad I did.

 

Dd reads anything she can get her hands on but still gets thrown for a loop on some new words.

[Laura Corin]

Once the boys were reading fluently I stopped teaching reading. I'd have them read aloud to me a bit, but mostly they just read. It's worked well.

 

We used to do some spelling lists (pulled off the internet) but mostly just for fun - they are natural spellers who absorb spelling from their reading.

 

Laura

[Grover]

I had this debate with myself this year. DS is a very proficient reader and has had no real instruction (like others, he was surrounded by meaningful print from birth). In the end I decided to go with AAS because it covers off a lot of those phonics skills he might need pointed out and the rest of our reading comes from our other subject areas - we take turns reading LoF aloud to each other, and share the reading of our science, history and other texts. I can see from that where / if he's lacking in any area and address it then. The geography text we're using at the moment is very "reading comprehension"-y so I feel like we're covering it all in there.

[3Blessings]

I think I've told this story before, but I remember when we were driving down the road and ds (3 at the time) said, "Mom, I know how to spell tire . . . t-y-r-e." I knew that he had to be sounding things out because who spells it like that in the U.S. (we lived there at that time)?

 

I was confounded and I didn't know what to do. Luckily, my good friend stepped in and said, "Continue to teach phonics. It will help later."

 

It has helped. He is a fantastic speller and decoder. He almost never runs into a word that he can't say correctly.

 

I would continue on with phonics, but maybe lightly. Try some of the things that have been mentioned here. If it seems like a waste of time, drop it!

[Amie]

Worked for my husband--he was never "taught". He read well before he began public school and they were teaching a lot of sight-word reading there anyway. Then he missed much of that when they skipped him up a grade. As an adult he is a fast reader and has a love for books.

 

My oldest began sounding out words before he was three. I had read so much about the importance of pure phonics that I quickly ordered a copy of OPGTR just as a guide for me to know what he should know and in what order. I used it casually with him, but honestly I only "followed" up with it. Meaning-- he was always ahead of me...when we would pick lessons back up after taking a break he already knew most/everything, as if someone had been teaching him while I was on break (he would often start reading the lesson to me--the instructor's part). I used OPGTR (condensed) to follow him as sort of a review to make sure we didn't miss anything. It was mostly practice for him. It helped him some, but I honestly wonder if he would be in the same place now even if we hadn't used it. Still, it was for my peace of mind (glad I had it on hand as a reference if nothing else). Lessons here were pretty fast and painless, so not a big deal. And I feel much more confident now as I prepare to teach my younger one.

I think phonics instruction may be more useful for us as we cover spelling...we'll see...he isn't writing much yet, so I am not totally sure yet how his spelling will be at higher levels...

Edited February 19, 2012 by Amie

[Tanikit]

I have done some phonics with my DD (4.5 years) simply because she had been sight reading but had started trying to sound out new words herself and was not sure how to do the long vowels. I used OPGTTR to give myself an idea of what they needed to know and we worked on about 4 words per day from their lists (I never used the book as suggested) while still continuing to read anything and every now and then I would point out the new phonics rules in words she got stuck on. I got almost to the end of long vowels in OPGTTR and found she was starting to ask me about the rules further on in the book so I just taught her them when we came to a word she was interested in and she remembered the rule and seems to be applying it to new words, so I am not sure whether we will keep going with OPGTTR or not.

[LMD]

My DD also took off with reading quite quickly with little instruction - we did do basic phonics together but she quite intuitively understood and was able to progress very fast.

 

I don't hold her back in reading at all, the opposite actually - I like to challenge her.

 

However, our LA programs still incorporate some of the more advanced phonics and I can see that it is helping her, especially with spelling. So I don't hold back, but I do solidify in as painless a way as possible (5 mins a day)!

[LezliU]

My DS learned to read at 3, and now he's 6 and able to read pretty much anything you put in front of him. Like some pp have said, we are doing All About Spelling, just to fill in any phonics gaps and make sure he's a good speller, even though he's a very good natural speller. It's easy to zoom through parts he already knows.

 

We live in Colorado, and the law requires us to test every other year beginning at 3rd grade. I do want to practice comprehension "quizzes" every now and then so that he won't see one of those for the first time when he takes the big test :) I think his comprehension is fine, but I do think that's one thing we need to practice some.

[Coffeetime]

My dd5, like many of yours, is an early reader. I'd place her around the 3rd-4th grade level, all things considered. It would be higher if some of the vocabulary were not over her head.

 

She's been progressing pretty fast in reading over the past year, without formal instruction (I just read with her most days). She's very motivated to read, and she reads a broad variety of books at a broad range of levels. I don't see her as needing to be "taught" reading. Granted, she occasionally guesses wrong at a phonics rule, but the vast majority of the time, she gets it right despite never being taught. She just naturally puts 2 and 2 together, so to speak.

 

Most of the time when I see folks here talking about reading, I see some reference to a phonics program or BOB books or whatever. Do any of you just skip all of that and let the child fly? If so, has it been a good decision in hindsight?

 

Absolutely.

I skipped formal reading programs with my DD because she was just way too advanced and her reading level was too high (she self-taught at age 4.) Like others, I opted for a strong, phonetic spelling program to "fill in the gaps". :)

[Mommy22alyns]

Both of my girls were early, self-taught readers. Sure, they watched LeapFrog videos, played around with HOP games and Starfall, and went through BOB books, but I never put them through a concentrated, formal reading program. They just flew. And they're not hitting any walls either.

[LucyStoner]

I think that most of the mispronunciations from silent reading can be solved/avoided by daily reading aloud. Read to them. Have them read to you. You can combine spelling and word rules with handwriting practice in the early grades if they are already reading.

 

My son learned to read very early and is a natural speller so we did not choose to do any reading instruction beyond just lots of reading aloud.

[Annie Laurie]

I just came across this as I was searching for info on the All About Reading program. (Which I now think is too complicated for us.)

 

All of my kids learned to read mostly by themselves. I taught them sounds informally while playing with foam letters in the tub and that sort of thing, but have never used a formal reading program with any. I tried bits and pieces of some when they were already reading, because I was worried about them never having gone through a phonics program, and worried about that dreaded "wall" they would supposedly hit later.

 

But trying to force them through phonics was kind of torturous. No one has any issues now, at 11, 9, and 7. Though my 7 year old needs spelling help, he can read anything but struggles with spelling so I do need to go through AAS with him I think.

 

All of this rambling to say that I'm considering what to do with the baby early. Yes, he is only 15 months so it's a little crazy that I'm considering this now, but if I want to introduce phonics before he starts reading, I better start at 2 or 3. All of my kids were reading by 3 or 4. It would just be informal though, while playing.

 

I have considered using OPGTR for just 5 min a day or so when he turns 3. I just want to feel like I have it covered this time, and don't want to spend so much time on phonics based spelling programs later, out of worry. But this thread made me feel a little better about how we've done things. I think with the baby, I'll keep it very games based and follow his lead.