Language Arts for next year

[RachelFlores]

My dd who is 6 struggles with reading. It does not come easy to her, but she works at it and is improving, slowly. She can read Bob books and starfall books independently. We read Dr. Seuss books and more advanced first readers together, but I have to segment big words for her and often have to remind her of reading rules or make her go back and re-read things that she only looked at the first few letters of and then guessed. While she CAN pass all the simple first grade reading assessments that I have found to show her online, it isn't fluent or easy for her yet. Does that mean she needs more first grade level practice or she should move to a second grade level reading curriculum next year?

 

I guess the true question is; is it better for language arts to be easy and fairly independent or difficult, but doable with heavy parent involvment?

[2_girls_mommy]

I can't wait to hear replies. I have a 2nd grader like yours. For us, we did go ahead and move into 2nd grade materials after she had finished the 1st (though we were still finishing up her first grade materials at the beginning of what would have been her 2nd grade year because I moved slowly through them in 1st. For that matter she won't finish her 2nd grade phonics this year either. We will just pick it up when we start 3rd right where she is.) I just have to sit and work with her, reminding her of rules as well. I will say she improves. She is at a much better place in spelling, reading, and such than she was last year. But it is still not fluent by any means.

[RachelFlores]

Anyone have any opinions about which is better?

[edeemarie]

I would suggest moving ahead slowly with the reading. Heart of Dakota has a great selection of books that get a little bit more challenging with each book but not enough to overwhelm. You don't need to buy a teacher's manual, just look on their website and follow the books in the order they are listed (we skipped the Beginner's Bible and went straight to Owl at Home- it was much easier for my kids to read shorter books than stay in a book for weeks and some of the Biblical names were too much to sound out). Also, I know everyone keeps talking about AAS, but my dd6 really took off in her reading when we started the program because the phonics rules really apply to reading too.

[threeofakind]

Okay- the first part is just some ideas to apply and further down my thoughts on your final question- hope it makes sense!!:)

 

Snce I don't have a lot of experience with different reading programs (home school ones that is :001_smile:) I am just going to tell you what I do with my daughter (1st grade) - maybe you do some but hopefully something might help here and perhaps you can transfer/ adjust to what you are already using:

 

Each step I derive words from her reading that day:

1. Phonemic awareness activity: I pull about 6-8 words from her reading and either segment or blend them orally only at this step- i.e., cat- I say /c//a//t/ and she says 'cat', or vice versa. You can also look up other PA activities online. And they don't have to relate to the story, I just like to.:)

 

2. Review or introduce the phonograms she will be using that day and some for good review. On flashcards or a white board- we go through and she says the sound they make.

 

3.Then again I choose words she will be reading today to blend and the main phonogram- like short a- let's say as an example. She will blend about 6-8 on the white board for me- I only write one letter at a time (*this could help in preventing her from guessing after looking at the first letters*)- so first 'c', she says the sound, then 'a', she says the sound, then she blends 'ca' together, then 't' and blends them altogether and then she says the word again.

 

4. She reads her story out loud to me. If she misses or struggles with a word I cover up the letters and do something similar to the previous step- I uncover one letter at at time as she sounds it out.

 

5. I have her write words from her story- a few short a words again since that is our focus and some other ones- like about 6, and she sounds them out as she writes (technique I got from AAS).

 

*I feel getting her mind ready with oral activities and blending words on a white board helps prep her for her reading that day and review the sounds she will come across, and I feel it makes her reading go smoother.*

 

The next day she will read the story in her head, or out loud before moving onto a new story, that way she gets fluency practice- and I try to get her to read the story 3-4 times throughout the week depending on how it goes.

 

*I tend to think the program should not be so difficult as to discourage a child to read but rather a program that a child can be successful in- as in a little challenging but not too easy. Depending on who you ask- most text should be about 94% decodable for a child (some say anywhere from 90-97%). At this age I do think it needs to be a fair amount of parental guidance as she is learning. Fluency also takes time- my son (now 9) struggles reading orally but of course is quicker in his head so it does take time for them to build their confidence and lots of practice!:001_smile: So maybe she could re-read some stories over summer to build her confidence and fluency before moving onto more difficult reading levels. *

 

I hope something I said helps!! I'm sure with time she will get there! Good luck!:001_smile:

[FairProspects]

What are you using for spelling? Are you using something where she segments? I would (and do) take a multiple strategies approach with this.

 

For my ds, we work through segmenting, labeling syllables, and phonics in AAS every day. Then we do "echo reading" aloud for half an hour a day for fluency. I would keep her reading at an instructional level (with you) for a set amount of time each day, and let her read easier books (Bob Books or Starfall) during her free reading time. I would also supplement with lots of audiobooks so she is hearing language even though she is not yet reading it. I probably would not move on to 2nd grade level books, unless they are at an instructional level (not too frustrating, not needing help with more than 4 in 10 words). Otherwise, I would look for more books at a 1st grade level at the library and work from there.

[SnMomof7]

I guess my big question is if she's still getting phonics instruction? It sounds like she needs some more to help her tackle the more advanced phonograms. I agree with others that you could start up AAS for phonics reinforcement and reading support, but don't give her readers she can't tackle on her own yet.

[swiegers]

It does get better, I know. My dd is the same. We've moved ahead with the Gr 2 work and I help her with the words she struggles with. I also encourage her to read books at a level where it is easy for her, to build confidence, and I want her to like reading. She is a lot more eager to read these days, even the books that are a bit harder for her.

 

We also use the Hooked on Phonics Master Reader program. That is helping a lot. And I've bought a book of poems that we read together. They're fairly easy to read and we read the same poem every day until she can read it fluently, with appropriate feeling and expression, stopping at the right places, etc.

[Ellie]

Spalding, or one of its spin-offs (SWR, Phonics Road). All of them will address your dd's reading issues.

[ALB]

I'm not sure I'm understanding your question perfectly, so forgive me if I'm off base :001_smile:!

The way we do language arts is not correlated to grade level, but just to ability. We use The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and once they are fairly competent readers, add in spelling (Spelling Workout) and grammar (First Language Lessons). Every kid is SO different when it comes to how quickly they can read and write well, and I think using grade level materials does not always meet their needs where they are at. By "grade level", I'm picturing a phonics program that has different components for K, 1st, 2nd, etc., rather than progressing through the skills at the rate of the child. What are you using for language arts currently?

[Tanikit]

I would probably move on provided the reading she is doing with you ispend about 95% decodable - if she is making more than 5 errors per 100 words then rather go back a level. However at the same time as instructing her this way I would try to get her to read easier readers independently - and here you can get her to reread them a few times so that she increases fluency. Fluency training is done on material that is easier than her instructional level - it makes no sense to do fluency training without also increasing her reading level with more challenging material at the same time. She should have very easy reading, intermediate pleasurable reading and then instructional level material (which would be the grade 2 work for your child).

 

Language arts is not just reading and phonics however so you need to also decide what you will do about grammar and spelling - spelling usually lags behind reading phonics and also behind handwriting. Grammar can be taught once the child is reading easy sentences even if there is no handwriting involved.

 

If there is a book you are reading to your daughter that has high interest for her I would probably also get her to read some of this no matter whether it is too difficult or not as interest sometimes pulls them along far faster than any good programme and they are more likely to struggle with harder words when the interest is high and learn a lot.