Teaching a child to read with SWR, PR, Happy Phonics or PALs?

[jlstrick]

Hi!

 

I have a 4.5 year old girl that can spell and read simple 3 letters words. She knows the main sound of all the letters. I want to give her a solid foundation with spelling and reading but I didn't learn phonics at all. I kind of hit a walll and don't know where to go next. I have read alot of information on this board about PR, SWR, Happy Phonics and PALs.

 

I like phonics road, but I want some games and was thinking of getting the SWR Fun phonogram packet with phonics road? I know if I do PR, then I should do it really slowy. I think Happy Phonics and PALs also teachs phonograms in a fun way so maybe I should do those first and when she is older do Phonics Road. But I like having an end in mind (big picture of where I am going)---so that is why I thought just starting with Phonics Road and include games with the phonograms.

 

I also wanted to slowly introduce cursive because she enjoys writting and drawing, so I am also interested in SWR but it looks really intense. I also have a 3 year old girl and a 4 month baby--so I don't have tons of extra time. So many wonderful choices!

 

I know I need to introduce all the letters sounds, phonograms next year in fun way for 4.5 and 3 year old. I like the guidance with PR but want to ideas to make it fun and (maybe) slowly include cursive. I also read the post about using Touchphonics with younger children. So maybe that is an idea.

 

Does anyone have any advice or suggestion? If you have any experience with the above problem--I would love to hear. I know I will probably just need to try some thing out and change if it doesn't work. What would be your suggestion for me to try first?? thanks soo much! My brain is about to explode learning about phonics!

[edeemarie]

I have to run to the store quick and will write more later- we are using PAL reading with ds3 and loving it! We have a lot of fun with it and I think it is wonderful for kids that are younger. Let me know if you have any specific questions :)

[swainsonshawk]

Happy Phonics, while fun, is not very organized. I love the games, though. I tend to use them to support any phonics program we are going through. We've used: Phonics Pathways and First Reader, Explode the code and a few others. This time we're trying McRuffy K Reading because I need something in a box due to my time constraints. I've really never found something I like for reading, nor have I ever taught a 4.5 year old to read, so no help there.

[jlstrick]

Erin and Beth, thanks so much for your help!

 

 

Erin, I like the fun ways PAL introduces the phonograms, but I was wondering about the sight words. They say they teach the phonics behind the sight word so they understand it. But I just wonder about the child learning to read by memorizing the whole word and not really getting the phonics. Are the games are geared more toward knowing the phonograms and not just the whole word?? Could you take out the sight words in the program and it still work OK? I am not against sight words, just want the child to really know the phonics behind it. Maybe the games are both sight words and phonograms.

 

 

I like how PALs includes using AAS. It also reinforces the phonograms and spelling rules. But its really slow and doesn't cover all the phonograms until you finish a couple of levels of AAS. Which maybe that is fine. I am thinking that kids that learn by sight words and phonics, really need something like AAS to help them learn the rest of the phonograms and spelling rules. I just wondering while they are young and can memorize easily--just teach them then. But I am soo a newbie at this! I know people have different ideas on how to teaching reading and AAS is alot easier to implement--very open and go teaching. I like how PALs offeres a great return policy. If you don't like it, you can return it at any time.

 

Beth, thanks for your input on Happy Phonics games to supplement for any phonics. I will look more into that as well.

 

 

So many wonderful choices!

 

 

Erin and Beth, THANK YOU SOO MUCH! :)

[jlstrick]

Sorry Becky, I just realized that your name isn't Beth! :)

[edeemarie]

Now that I have a few more minutes hopefully I can answer some of your questions about PAL. With my ds3 I am only using PAL reading. He doesn't have the muscle coordination yet to begin writing letters and I don't want to give him too much too fast, because he loves doing his "school work" now and I don't want to change that! I am using PAL writing for the older 2.

 

As far as the sight words, that concerned me at first too. But PAL uses common sight words to teach phonograms. For example, "green" is one of the first words introduced. The kids learn that "ee" says 'e' as they sound out the word "green". So they are not completely sight words in the fact that they don't just say "this is the word 'green'". The kids learn to underline the "helpers", otherwise known as phonograms, in each word. In the word "sheep" the underline the "sh" since together they make a sound, and they underline the "ee" since they work together to say "e". I hope that makes sense! There are readers that are introduced in later lessons (we have not reached those yet) and they are made from the "sight words" the kids already know so they can become confident in reading. There is also a list of early reader books suggested in the appendix. Through PAL they are learning most of the phonograms. In fact, I believe they cover most of the phonograms that All About Spelling covers in the first 3 levels at least. Many of the phonograms are used in the Phonetic Farm sticker book. This is really a fun and easy way for them to remember the phonograms. Like you, I didn't really have phonogram instructions when I was growing up so I am learning them right along with the kids!

 

The games are a combination of learning phonograms and remembering the "sight words". There are games to distinguish vowel sounds, beginning and ending sounds in words, compound words, contractions, homophones, etc. There are 35 games total! They don't do all of them every day, but I will say that the first month is pretty teacher intensive (but really, aren't all reading programs?). Once you get the hang of it the program runs like clockwork and is very open-and-go. I did assemble all the games before we started and that has saved me a lot of time. Right now we do either 2 or 3 lessons a week- we alternate days with math lessons. We are only on lesson 16 and my ds is pretty confidently sounding out words! I am amazed and he never complains about doing PAL. In fact, we usually get it out because he begs to do the games! It has really become a fun bonding time for us too, when he and I are together without the other children- and he loves it!

 

If your dd is comfortable writing letters, then you could certainly go ahead and start PAL writing. The letter stories are so cute, and even though ds3 doesn't write the letters, he knows their stories! They don't start AAS until part 2, but if you think your dd is ready for spelling, you could certainly start her. There are not specific lesson plans for AAS in PAL, they just state "continue with All About Spelling". Both of my older kids were beyond AAS 1 when they started PAL and it was not a problem at all! We just continued on through the levels!

 

So basically, if you have the time and the money, I would highly recommend PAL. Like you said, their money back guarantee can't be beat so you really have nothing to lose! Hope that answered your questions! Let me know if you have any more!

[jlstrick]

Thanks so much Erin! That was very helpful for me!

[Dinsfamily]

I've used SWR from the beginning with my dc and it hasn't been too intense even with littles running around (see siggy for ages :D). SWR is designed to be flexible so it is great for starting with young dc. I start working on learning the phonograms with preschoolers; SWR has a section on beginning with little ones. We focus our writing efforts on gross motor skills at first and fine motor skills using a salt box.

 

Once they turn 5, we start cursive in earnest (though you could definitely start earlier if your dd is ready), the reference pages, and spelling lists. I start slow with K'ers only doing 10 words a week. Most of the enrichments we do involve activity since my boys tend toward the wiggly side. The phonogram fun packet is one of my favorites. My boys love the games and my preschoolers pick up the phonograms and even some of the rules in no time.

 

I hope that helps. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have about it.

[Tracy]

I am doing SWR with my 4yo now. (I also have a 7yo.) At 4yo, it is not intense at all. Ds4 already knows the single-letter phonograms, and we are working on the multi-letter phonograms. We are working on cursive writing with sandpaper letters and salt box. I think by fall, he will be ready to do some spelling words on the whiteboard. At that age, you only do 1-2 per day, and you don't ever do spelling tests until they are 5-6yo. We are still at least a year away from paper-and-pencil SWR work.

 

If you decide to go with SWR, I highly recommend getting Britta McColl's DVD, You Can Do It. It has lots of clips of her working with her preschool age children in a very fun and age-appropriate way. She also has a great article on her blog about SWR and Preschoolers that I have found very helpful.

[jlstrick]

Taira and Tracy,

thank you soo very much for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it. Your reply was very helpful to me!

 

I am little bit nervous about the learning curve with SWR. I am glad that DVD is helpful in getting someone started. I heard about a SWR yahoo group that you could also learn from.

 

Can you use the games from the "phonogram fun packet" with any phonics program? They say that online but I didn't know if would be strange to do if it was designed for SWR.

 

I saw that there 2 SWR readers & New England Primer for beginning reading. Is that what you used once they mastered alot of their phonograms? Or was their other books you used?

 

What other language arts programs did you add later once they started reading? SWR is just spelling through H.S. and beginning grammar right? I am NOT a language arts person. I need alot of help & structure.

 

It looks like SWR has more preschool games/activities compared to Phonics Road. I guess because Phonics Road is designed for older students. But I don't know much about the first weeks of Phonics Road or if it has games. I have seen Tina's blog and letter of the week program that she uses for preparing her kids for Phonics Road. I am thinking if I go with Phonics Road, I would need to come up with how to "stretch" the first couple of weeks of Phonics Road with phonics games/activities for K.

 

 

I like Phonics Road because its a comprehensive L. A program that gently guides you on the Spaulding method. But PAL (with AAS) and SWR are very interesting as well.

 

 

 

So many wonderful choices. :) I am so thankful for the support on this forum! Its been soo helpful to me!

 

Julie

[Tracy]

I am little bit nervous about the learning curve with SWR. I am glad that DVD is helpful in getting someone started. I heard about a SWR yahoo group that you could also learn from.

 

SWR Yahoo Group You don't have to be using SWR to join. It would probably be helpful to just lurk if you are seriously considering SWR.

 

 

Can you use the games from the "phonogram fun packet" with any phonics program? They say that online but I didn't know if would be strange to do if it was designed for SWR.

 

I am not familiar with fun packet.

 

I saw that there 2 SWR readers & New England Primer for beginning reading. Is that what you used once they mastered alot of their phonograms? Or was their other books you used?

 

I did not use these at all with my oldest. We started when she was 5yo, and she had already been reading for a long time, so I felt that she was beyond it. SWR recommends using readers with emerging readers only after getting to List I, which is the end of Kindergarten if you follow the standard schedule. (But that standard schedule is very flexible.)

 

What other language arts programs did you add later once they started reading? SWR is just spelling through H.S. and beginning grammar right? I am NOT a language arts person. I need alot of help & structure.

 

Other than SWR, we use WWE. IMO, at this age, that is all they need. There is enough grammar in both of those that I don't even feel like we need FLL or other grammar program. We are starting Latin next year, and the program we are using (Latina Christiana) is meant to be used in place of a grammar program. So I feel that we are fine with grammar at this stage.

 

The most important reason that I use SWR over programs like PR and AAS is the flexibility. I have a child that is not average. She excels in some areas and struggles in other areas. SWR allows me to teach to her individual strengths and weaknesses. The more laid out a curriculum is, the harder it is to have that flexibility. Consequently, I am willing to go with programs that have a learning curve so that I can take advantage of the flexibility. And I would rather deal with that learning curve when they are young as opposed to when they are older and have more academics to deal with.

 

I recently wrote a blog post about our 2 years with SWR if you want to have a peek at it.

[FO4UR]

I started with SWR when my oldest was 5yo, and found Happy Phonics later.

 

 

I vote for starting with Happy Phonics. (The games are better than the Phonogram Fun package that comes with SWR. imho) Your 4.5yo and 3yo will be able to play those together very soon. (...anytime you can combine, do...) The children learn the phonograms *while* playing Happy Phonics, but they need to know the phonograms pretty well *before* playing the SWR games. That made a huge difference in how well my dc enjoyed the games. Happy Phonics is the clear winner.

 

SWR or PR or another program will be easier to jump into after your dc have had some fun and relaxed exposure to the phonograms (via Happy Phonics). Also, many kids will take off reading with just that exposure, especially if you use Happy Phonics to its fullest. It's really a simple program. While it isn't as in depth as SWR/PR, it is absolutely *perfect* for the 3-6yo age range.

 

 

SWR is pretty complex for a little one. It's something I would (at this point, having HSed for 4 years) maybe use tweaked for a younger sibling of an older child for the sake of mom's sanity...but not for the oldest at the age of 4/5/6.

[Dinsfamily]

I am little bit nervous about the learning curve with SWR. I am glad that DVD is helpful in getting someone started. I heard about a SWR yahoo group that you could also learn from.

 

Besides what Tracy said, Wanda also put out this video recently which is very good. I just bought it and it would have been nice starting out.

 

Can you use the games from the "phonogram fun packet" with any phonics program? They say that online but I didn't know if would be strange to do if it was designed for SWR.

 

You can use them with any Spalding type program. I'm not sure beyond that because they are designed to reinforce the phonograms and spelling rules.

 

 

I saw that there 2 SWR readers & New England Primer for beginning reading. Is that what you used once they mastered alot of their phonograms? Or was their other books you used?

 

SWR has you start them on real books when they reach List I. Ds8's first book was Green Eggs and Ham. Ds6 was already reading Flat Stanley at that point. I do own the NE Primer and think it is a nice book, but my dc haven't read much of it. I have used it and one of her other readers for a boy I was tutoring. He wasn't doing the full SWR program. His mother just wanted me to work with him on fluency (he is a ps student) and those were good readers for him. They are not necessary for the program.

 

 

What other language arts programs did you add later once they started reading? SWR is just spelling through H.S. and beginning grammar right? I am NOT a language arts person. I need alot of help & structure.

 

I am the same way. I am not confident enough to teach LA without a lot of help. For readers, I use SL's reader packages. We use SL so that's a no-brainier for us, but the 2-4/5 packages are really well done. I added FLL and WWE in 1st grade for the reasons you state above. I love the script and they take very little time. I think they compliment SWR well; in fact, I combine my enrichments often with WWE and FLL. Now that I'm starting my 4th year of teaching LA, I am confident enough to use SWR solo for the younger years (K-2), but will still use FLL and WWE because I like them so much and already own them. I am also starting MCT vocab this year with my 3rd grader. You really don't need vocab with SWR, but I think ds8 and I will like it a lot and it will reinforce the affix work done in SWR.

 

My love of supplementing is one reason I couldn't use PR. I can completely see how it would appeal to someone who wants an AIO, though. Like Tracy, my dc don't work well with that kind of program. I have early and voracious readers coupled with average fine motor skills and a reluctance to write. It seems like #3 will be the opposite of his two older brothers as he loves to write :001_huh:. Flexibility is key for me ATM.

 

I vote for starting with Happy Phonics. (The games are better than the Phonogram Fun package that comes with SWR. imho) Your 4.5yo and 3yo will be able to play those together very soon. (...anytime you can combine, do...) The children learn the phonograms *while* playing Happy Phonics, but they need to know the phonograms pretty well *before* playing the SWR games. That made a huge difference in how well my dc enjoyed the games. Happy Phonics is the clear winner.

 

The bolded has not been my experience with the games. We use the phonogram games to learn the phonograms (and the spelling rules). Each child can have their own pile of phonograms they are working with so it makes it easy to use with different levels at the same time. My dc would only have the phonograms that they had mastered or are learning in their pile. Right now, my two oldest have to use the pile with all of the phonograms and rules in it, but my 3.5yo only has the first 26 phonograms in his.

Edited June 20, 2012 by Dinsfamily
Adding link

[Mystie]

I'm not a games or "fun" mom, so I can't help on that end. We just did phonics for 5-10 minutes 3-5 times a week and so far that's worked. :) I plan on starting my #3 in January when she's 5, though I incorporate letter sounds into our alphabet book reading now.

 

I just yesterday posted a review of the phonics program I use (and that my mom used for 6 kids): [TATRAS](http://www.simplyconvivial.com/2012/homeschool-review-tatras-phonics-program). It's a similar approach as SWR, but simpler and without learning as many spelling rules -- more phonics and less spelling and writing. It comes with a DVD to show you how to use it, but it's just a booklet in a 1/2in binder. Very plain and simple, straight-forward and effective. :)

 

You might consider looking into a book or two for yourself if you are unfamiliar with phonics. I think it'd help tremendously in teaching, regardless of which approach you end up using. If you know what's behind it all, you can work with a program and ad-lib or adapt if needed without "ruining" a system. :) I'd recommend Uncovering the Logic of English. It's a slim little book, easy to understand, and shows English is not random and senseless. :)

[FO4UR]

 

 

 

The bolded has not been my experience with the games. We use the phonogram games to learn the phonograms (and the spelling rules). Each child can have their own pile of phonograms they are working with so it makes it easy to use with different levels at the same time. My dc would only have the phonograms that they had mastered or are learning in their pile. Right now, my two oldest have to use the pile with all of the phonograms and rules in it, but my 3.5yo only has the first 26 phonograms in his.

 

 

 

The difference is that with the Happy Phonics games you will focus on one phonogram or one sound at a time. A game for teaching /oi/ and /oy/, for example. The child only needs to focus on those 2 phonograms for the game, and the child gets practice sounding out words with /oi/ and /oy/ as they play the game. A few rounds of that game and /oi/-/oy/ are completely stuck in between the ears. I found that narrowed focus and application in real words essential.

 

 

I have a child who memorized the phonograms well, but needed a lot of help applying those phonograms in words...and repeated application before it became automatic. He could whoop tail at the SWR games, but they didn't help him read one.tiny.bit.

[Dinsfamily]

The difference is that with the Happy Phonics games you will focus on one phonogram or one sound at a time. A game for teaching /oi/ and /oy/, for example. The child only needs to focus on those 2 phonograms for the game, and the child gets practice sounding out words with /oi/ and /oy/ as they play the game. A few rounds of that game and /oi/-/oy/ are completely stuck in between the ears. I found that narrowed focus and application in real words essential.

 

 

I have a child who memorized the phonograms well, but needed a lot of help applying those phonograms in words...and repeated application before it became automatic. He could whoop tail at the SWR games, but they didn't help him read one.tiny.bit.

 

I see what you mean. I didn't expect reading skills from the games. For my child who learned to read with SWR (ds8), the learning to read portion was in the spelling lists. The dictation taught him how the words were constructed with the phonograms and then he wrote and read his words everyday. By the time we got to List I, he was able to finish SL Readers 1 (we skipped the I Can Read series) and then blazed through SL Readers 2 in a couple of months.

 

Ds6 was beyond reading instruction by the time we started SWR, but I'll be getting to teach another ds by the same method in about a year and a half.

[FO4UR]

I see what you mean. I didn't expect reading skills from the games. For my child who learned to read with SWR (ds8), the learning to read portion was in the spelling lists. The dictation taught him how the words were constructed with the phonograms and then he wrote and read his words everyday. By the time we got to List I, he was able to finish SL Readers 1 (we skipped the I Can Read series) and then blazed through SL Readers 2 in a couple of months.

 

Ds6 was beyond reading instruction by the time we started SWR, but I'll be getting to teach another ds by the same method in about a year and a half.

 

 

My oldest spelled (well!) through sections A-I multiple (!!!) times and was still not reading a bit. We use the phonograms/rules as we use other spelling programs, but he just needed something different for learning to read.

 

I think the dictation process itself is difficult for many young children. It's more of a logic-stage skill rather than a grammar-stage skill. imho Many kids do great with it, and I'm still a fan of Spalding (and spin-offs), but for littles I'd not recommend it.

 

 

Recipe for Reading and Word Mastery are worth looking into. Both would lend themselves well to starting young and moving on into SWR later.

[jlstrick]

Tracy, Paula, Taira, and Mystie,

thanks so much for all your help. I really appreicate you taking the time to reply! Its given me alot to think about.

 

I will look into TATRAS, Recipe for Reading, and Word Mastery. I know alittle bit about TATRA but not much about the others.

 

THANK YOU!

[mcmama]

Doing PR really slowly worked well for my 7-y/o with special needs. The phonics instruction is really simple and straightforward. I watch the DVD with my son instead of watching it alone and then teaching him myself. it's just simpler.