maizeydaizey Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I have read many threads on here about reading programs. And, it makes me wonder if everyone uses a program? We never used a program to teach reading to DD -- we just read a ton together, talked about rules as they came up and practiced. It just came naturally to her. She started reading at four and her skill has just improved from there. She is in first grade and we do use Horizon's books called 'Reading & Phonics' but it's not a learn to read program rather a rules on phonics for spelling and writing. Was just curious... maybe I handled this all wrong :) I have her little brother coming up behind and wonder if I'll do something different with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 My daughter started reading early readers at 3 years of age mostly by sight reading I believe though she had tried to sound out the word "opposites" from the cover of one of her books when she was 2 years old. By 3.5 I knew she would need some help to move to other books and I do believe in phonics so I started OPGTR but did not use it as scripted. A year and a half later she is now reading very well though requests most reading to be shared reading (I read some and she reads some - usually a paragraph each) Children can learn to read in many different ways and many do very well despite how we teach them. There was an article somewhere that said 50% of children will learn to read no matter what method you use, 25% need sequential phonics and I forget what they said about the other 25%. I guess you will have to play it by ear with your son though I do suspect that most boys do better with a structured phonics approach (no statistics, but it was Johnny and not Janet who supposedly couldn't read back when only sight words were being taught) If your daughter is doing great you didn't handle it wrong for her - you did very well and so did she, but you may still need a different approach with your next child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 You're obviously not doing it wrong if it worked for you. Some kids seem to intuit reading, while other kids need explicit instruction. I've got a couple of kids who picked up reading pretty much on their own, and a couple of others who really needed more instruction. As long as it gets them reading, writing and spelling, it's all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy Jo Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 My 2nd grader is like that. We did letter sounds, he listened in to his brother's lessons, and read together - not even 'intentionally', just the reading in life, and he took off. I'm doing SWR for the same reason, to go over phonics and work on spelling / writing. My 4th grader is towards the other end of the spectrum. It sounds like what you've done is great! Whether or not it will work on her brother, who knows? That's the frustrating beauty of kids.... I don't know how my Ker will do, even though he can blend, so I'm hoping he leans towards the natural side of things. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 My older DS taught himself to read, and I don't plan on doing any programs with my twins, unless they need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Queen Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I have read many threads on here about reading programs. And, it makes me wonder if everyone uses a program? I don't! We never used a program to teach reading to DD -- we just read a ton together, talked about rules as they came up and practiced. The McGuffey's Primer is great for doing that with. That is what I use. I like the first grade Pathway Readers because I get a lot of words for my money and they are hard to memorize, unlike picture books which rhyme or have a couple sentences on the page. My children "read" those without looking at the words.:D She is in first grade and we do use Horizon's books called 'Reading & Phonics' but it's not a learn to read program rather a rules on phonics for spelling and writing. We use The Writing Road to Reading (tweaked and on-and-off) for spelling by phonics. We didn't start it until my oldest was reading fluently. Was just curious... maybe I handled this all wrong :) I have her little brother coming up behind and wonder if I'll do something different with him. I'm on child #3 without a learn-how-to-read program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I never implemented a full-on curriculum to teach the girls to read. We read to them from birth. I let them watch all the Leap Frog videos. I let them play around with HOP (readers and CD-ROM games). I led them through the first couple of BOB books. Then they just took off and were reading everything in the house. So I was kind of lazy with reading instruction. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 A lot of children will just figure out about 90% of what they need to know by themselves. It's your choice whether you want to spend a lot of time and money attending to filling in the last 10%. Also, it pays to think about teaching a child a system of reading/spelling instruction, so they can teach other people less gifted than themselves. It is not wrong to skip reading and spelling instruction with a child who is reading and spelling at grade level, or above. I taught myself and did pretty well, but never learned that last 10% and am enjoying filling in the missing pieces, and also learning how to be a better tutor and teacher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGirl Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I did not use a program with either my oldest or my middle DD (she is 4 and began reading a few months ago). We read a phonics-based easy reader every day (we have a selection) and as new things come up, I just explain them. I really considered using a program with her, but she's doing great on her own, so I'll probably just leave well enough alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atara Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Children can learn to read in many different ways and many do very well despite how we teach them. If your daughter is doing great you didn't handle it wrong for her - you did very well and so did she, but you may still need a different approach with your next child. :iagree: I will add that your daughter could have done well not in spite of, but because you were mindful of her process and intuitively found ways to meet her with what she needed. I am confident you will do the same with your son.:001_smile: BRAVO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I didn't use a program with dd7. Like yours, she was reading well by age 4. But now that I have SWR, I wish I had had known about it sooner. While dd still reads well above grade level, she has a lot of difficulty sounding out new words. But she only needs to see it a couple of times for her to remember it. She is clearly memorizing those words and not sounding them out, and I want her to be able to read new words. We are at the end of our second year, and it has been really good for her. But old habits die hard, and we will continue to work on this for a while. My ds4 has an even greater propensity for sight reading, and I am so thankful I can start SWR with him from the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I didn't use a program, though I did read extensively about how to teach reading. I taught a dyslexic child and a gifted reader this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I have 4 kiddos. Two probably would have figured it out without a program. The other two - no way! I think it just depends on the kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssavings Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Yes and no. DD5 started reading well before we used a program, but we're still going through a program with her now. I want her to have an understanding of the rules. We've yet to hit any words she doesn't know (we're going through Phonics Pathways and she's doing ETC when she wants to), but learning the rules can only help later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Queen Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 While dd still reads well above grade level, she has a lot of difficulty sounding out new words. My son had trouble too. He would guess based on the context and the first couple letters of the word. Showing him how to read big word in lists in The McGuffey Speller worked for him. It worked really quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 yes, I did use a reading program for my children. My older son did learn how to read by 4 years old on his own, but I feel that teaching my child phonics help a lot with spelling. My children won the spelling bee when they were little without a spelling curriculum because I taught them phonics. For example, my younger son was taught that the "tion" makes the "shun" sound. So, at the spelling bee, when he was in first grade, he got the word "mentioned." He heard the word he sounded it out and figured the "men" in "mentioned." Then he remembered the sound "shun" is "tion." So, he breezed through the word and spelled it correctly. I like the idea of teaching phonics to help with spelling because what you hear is not always how it is spelled. So, I would teach phonics because I think it is the best way of teaching a child how to spell. It is better than spelling rules. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 We just used Click N Kid Phonics, which is just a web site with 100 phonics lessons, and books, Starfall, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maizeydaizey Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Thank You very much for all of your feedback & comments! Much appreciated!!! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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