Teaching a "memorized" to read

[a27mom]

(ETA: That is supposed to say "memorizer" - stupid auto correct)

 

Hi I am new here. I hope it is ok to ask this question here. I think it fits this board best.

 

My 4 (almost 5) y/o is good at memorizing. She has memorized many of her books and then sits and "reads" them. We are starting k and working on reading as she knows all the letters and sounds etc... I am having a hard time teaching her to sound out words because once she sees a word (in isolation) a few times she knows it. She gets frustrated when I try to make her sound it out because if I just tell her what it is, it is easier to just remember it. Although I suspect she is gifted, I am HG and dh is at least bright and gifted in math, she is not teaching herself to read or anything, just memorizing books by ear, and words in phonics lessons.

 

Any suggestions?

 

I suppose I should probably just be patient and it will come.

Edited August 6, 2012 by a27mom

[Tanikit]

My DD(4) has also taught herself a large amount of words by sight - and initially it did start with some book memorization - I would also purposely point to words I knew she had memorised and she would "read" them (she was about 2 years old at the time) She still mostly sight reads though is capable of sounding out words. If she reads a word incorrectly I cover up the entire word and uncover it slowly to force her to sound it out. When reading by herself if she reads a word incorrectly she will usually know and go back and sound it out by herself even though her instinct is to sight read most things.

 

If you want to check her reading then get her new books that she cannot possibly have memorised and let her read them to you before you read them to her - don't expect her to sound out words unless she sticks on them else you will just frustrate her. If she gets stuck or reads a word incorrectly then show her how to sound it out. That way phonics is not frustrating but meaningful and helpful.

[dbmamaz]

My son (who was a late talker) was a later reader. he mostly memorized - more commonly called 'whole word' readers. He knows the phonics rules (maybe not much at that age), but sounding out is challenging for him. He is getting better at reading and is close to grade level, and i will work more with him this year - because when he doesnt recognize a word, instead of sounding it out, he guesses and i need to break him of that habit. for me, for this kid, who is easily frustrated and does not handle discipline well, it made more sense to encourage him to read first, and work on the details later.

[Tracy]

I would greatly recommend a spelling first/sight last method. That means that you give the student a word, have them break it apart into its component phonograms and write them down. This way, you force them to pay more attention to the parts and the sounds they make. Spalding and SWR are the ones that I am most familiar with.

 

I had already started SWR with my older dc when ds4 started to purposely try to memorize words in order to read. He already knew many phonograms very well, but he was not applying that knowledge, and was developing a bad habit of guessing. We immediately started writing phonograms and words in his saltbox on a regular basis. He was too young for formal lessons, so I just did what little I could a few times per week. After a few months, I noticed him starting to try to sound words out. I have come to believe that this is a wonderful approach for a child that is a natural memorizer.

[Dinsfamily]

I would greatly recommend a spelling first/sight last method. That means that you give the student a word, have them break it apart into its component phonograms and write them down. This way, you force them to pay more attention to the parts and the sounds they make. Spalding and SWR are the ones that I am most familiar with.

 

I had already started SWR with my older dc when ds4 started to purposely try to memorize words in order to read. He already knew many phonograms very well, but he was not applying that knowledge, and was developing a bad habit of guessing. We immediately started writing phonograms and words in his saltbox on a regular basis. He was too young for formal lessons, so I just did what little I could a few times per week. After a few months, I noticed him starting to try to sound words out. I have come to believe that this is a wonderful approach for a child that is a natural memorizer.

 

:iagree: This is worked well for my elephantish ds6. He started reading fluently before 3, but SWR ensured he had the phonics down and wasn't just memorizing words. He started sitting in on phonogram drills and the saltbox at 3.5 and he automatically applied it to his reading. I didn't start the formal program until he was 5 and starting K.

[Love_to_Read]

All About Spelling

[a27mom]

Thank you. I checked out those programs online. They look like they may be helpful. I am going to check our used curriculum store tomorrow.

 

She does know most of the phonograms. She just would rather guess, and I don't want her to get that habit. She frequently asks how to spell things, so I think she may really enjoy learning that way. :001_smile:

[blondeviolin]

You might also hop over to thephonicspage.org and use Elizabeth B's nonsense word concentration game. That forces them to use the phonics they've learned.

[Barbara H]

Just one thought... My "memorizing" reader was actually figured out phonics on his own in the process. It didn't look like that to me because he wasn't sounding stuff out which is what I expected phonics to look like. Long term he ended up an extremely strong reader with no problems with spelling. I offer that perspective just to say I'd try to approach the way she's learning with a really open mind and try not to make too many decisions based on a fear of future problems.

 

One thing we found helpful was some very light work on word families. A simple exercise that he liked was making a book. Each page he drew a house that had a label - am, at, all and so forth. Then I'd give him words. If they were part of the family he wrote them inside the house. If they were not he wrote them outside of the house. That seemed to be a way to increase his attention a bit to patterns and that's all the phonics we did.

[boscopup]

Use nonsense words to practice phonics. She won't know the words, because they aren't real words. ;)

 

My oldest taught himself to read. He took off pretty suddenly at 4.5 and kept going, BUT... he did get hung up a bit on the 4th grade level words because of his weak phonics knowledge. We did AAS levels 1-3, and by level 2, he was getting past that 4th grade level of reading and then quickly zoomed on. He can now read basically anything.

 

My other kids are learning phonic first. DS2 may be dyslexic, so that's holding him back a bit (and we're getting his eyes checked this week). We use Dancing Bears, but will also add in WRTR as our "handwriting", which will incorporate spelling/reading. Kill 3 birds with one stone. :D My youngest is blending, but it will be a while before he sits down and reads. I think he would have been a lot like DS1, but he's getting phonics first.

 

Oh, and DS1 started out memorizing books, and that's how I started to read too. DS1 is an excellent reader, and he's quite fast too (though I am not a fast reader - he reads much faster than me!).

[Maus]

While phonics are best for most kids, there are some kids who do fine without it.

 

I was also a "memorizer" and learned to read without phonics. My mother read to me, a lot. She says that while I didn't learn to read until I started Kindergarten, that once I did start Kindergarten, I picked it up almost instantly, even though my school taught no phonics. She said it was like I was just waiting for permission to be a reader.

 

I actually remember the moment when I realized I could read. I had memorized my favorite book, "Hands, Hands, Fingers, Thumb," but I couldn't remember whether it was "Hi, Jake! Hi, Jack!" or "Hi, Jack! Hi, Jake!", so I looked in the book and READ IT! :hurray:

 

My son is that kind of a reader, too. We started phonics and reading instruction only after I realized he had taught himself to read quite a bit already, by remembering that "FOOD" and "DRUG" on the front of the grocery store meant "food" and "drug" and other things like that. I had a hard time getting him to "sound out" the words in the phonics readers, too, but finally figured we were at least learning the rules and reinforcing them so that he could recognize other words that followed the pattern. It seems to have worked. He's now a rising 4th grader, reading on at least an 8th grade level. He checks out adult level books about trains, and while he'll occasionally asks me what a word means, he pronounces it correctly when he asks. (He doesn't often ask. He knows way more about trains than I do. But he'll ask something like, "Mommy, what does 'perpetually' mean?" When I tell him, he'll say, "Oh, that's about what I thought it must mean." )

Edited August 7, 2012 by Maus
Forgot to get to the point of my story

[Donna]

Just one thought... My "memorizing" reader was actually figured out phonics on his own in the process. It didn't look like that to me because he wasn't sounding stuff out which is what I expected phonics to look like. Long term he ended up an extremely strong reader with no problems with spelling. I offer that perspective just to say I'd try to approach the way she's learning with a really open mind and try not to make too many decisions based on a fear of future problems.

 

One thing we found helpful was some very light work on word families. A simple exercise that he liked was making a book. Each page he drew a house that had a label - am, at, all and so forth. Then I'd give him words. If they were part of the family he wrote them inside the house. If they were not he wrote them outside of the house. That seemed to be a way to increase his attention a bit to patterns and that's all the phonics we did.

 

This is my experience with my youngest. She must have been figuring out phonics on her own while memorizing because when she did pick up a book and read it...something she'd never seen before, she read it fluently without sounding out the new words. She has also always been a very strong speller.

 

I used Spelling Power with her when she turned 5 because the words were arranged by spelling rules and I wanted to make sure she had no gaps. She had already been reading for awhile prior to that and I hadn't seen any problems even with the most difficult new words. She breezed through the levels of Spelling Power in a few years.

[a27mom]

Thank you so much for all your help! Turns out she loves sounding out words in order to write them. Of course she wants to use her own words. (Currently making her birthday list :laugh: ). So we are working on phonics in a strange order. But she actually knows many of the rules already.

 

I couldn't find the spelling programs at our used curriculum store, so I am just going to keep going with encoding, and continue to try decoding, since she is still only 4. In a month or so I will decide if I want to invest in SWR or AAS, or if we can go back on with OPGTR since I already have that.

[mathwonk]

harder, longer words, might encourage her to sound out. sounds like maybe there isn't much challenge for her yet in the reading.

 

if she's only 4 and starting to read i wouldn't worry.

[kb44]

All great advice and sounds like you are moving foward in the phonics department. I don't think it is a big deal that she doesn't sound out, for now, and with her interest in learning, I'm sure she will be doing it in no time! Like you are doing, making words with letter cards or different types of writing media should get her on the right track! I second All About Spelling for teaching the phonics rules, if you need a simple program for guidance!

[tarahillmom]

My advise is with a self-taught reader and two who learned through phonics. My self-taught non-phonics kid is a far better speller and reader than the two who have gone through phonics. He is in the last section of Spelling Power at 11 and had perfect scores on his Explore at age 10 in English and Reading. English is a strange tough language to read. If your child isn't struggling and as time goes on is a strong speller, why fix what isn't broken. I wouldn't waste my money on buying a lot of different curricula if she isn't having an issue. I would waste my money on lots of fun things for her to read.:001_smile:

 

I say this because looking back I tried to do phonics with him and so did his kindergarten and 1st grade teachers. He could do the phonics, but was so annoyed with us trying to change his system for learning language. Is phonics great? yes. Are all of those spelling programs great? yes. But each child is unique, and if you have a gifted child, what works for the majority may not work for you. Use your gut and have fun with it.

[Donna]

I say this because looking back I tried to do phonics with him and so did his kindergarten and 1st grade teachers. He could do the phonics, but was so annoyed with us trying to change his system for learning language. Is phonics great? yes. Are all of those spelling programs great? yes. But each child is unique, and if you have a gifted child, what works for the majority may not work for you. Use your gut and have fun with it.

 

I still remember feeling this way in school. I read before going into K. I wasn't taught but memorized and learned on my own as well. I still remember how much I despised Phonics lessons in school. All those little pictures where I had to write the first or last sound...ugh! How BORING and dull!!! I thought it was torture. I loved everything else about school but phonics at that age...well, except those easy readers the teachers wanted me to read (Sally, Dick, and Jane...bleh...couldn't they do something with more than 4 letters in it?) but they quickly realized I needed more difficult material and gave it to me.

[SKL]

My 5yo daughter is a memorizer who seemed to figure out phonics on her own. I have had to tell her stuff like the "soft/hard c/g" rules (which I'd mention briefly during her oral reading), but 99.99% of the time phonics does not slow her down, because the context usually supplies the answer faster than phonics would. In the past week, the only words I have had to correct due to mis-decoding were "busier" and "created." (She probably would have gotten them the second time if she weren't in a hurry to get to the end.) Needless to say, I don't lose sleep over phonics (for this kid, anyway).

[jillian]

my dd figured out how to read on her own, memorized/taught herself phonics through play. I made up a chart of the phonics rules so she can look at it if she needs help or when we practice together she can take a look and remember but I just help her whenever she needs it.