Phonics for my ds?

[TXMomof4]

Ds is #4 in this family. I have taught 3 other children to read successfully - with very different learning styles and timelines. Ds taught himself to read before I even thought of starting phonics. He was reading very well last year - this year he can honestly read just about anything I put in front of him. I thought I'd just continue OPGTR to get the phonics rules - he hates, hates, hates it. He can read it all the way to the end well - it's like he intuitively knows how words sound. The girls got to that point, but it wasn't until 3rd grade.

 

I've spent the last few months haphazardly making him do phonics worksheets just so he'll practice handwriting more than anything. He works hard at math, loves history (w/ his sister), handwriting is so-so. I have him read aloud to me for about 30 min a day. He does FLL - doesn't love it or hate it - it's just required.

 

I'm not sure what I"m asking. I feel like I should be moving him on up, but to what? His comprehension hasn't kept up with his reading ability. He can read his sister's Harry Potter, but has a hard time following the story if he's reading alone. Little House books are " too easy" and he thinks they're boring. I just don't know what to do with him right now. School takes him right at an hour, which I would have said was appropriate for the girls - an hour of solid academics in first grade. It just seems like he needs more and I'm not sure where to add it, whatever it is. Or just let him be - he plays hard all the time he's not doing school. Legos, made up games with his sisters, playing outside, making up worlds in the woods behind out house - he's not just a screen junkie (although he loves his Wii).

Someone give me direction. Dh just says he's doing fine, leave him alone. I want to keep him challenged and engaged and to find learning exciting without burning him out.

[wearejenandkev]

I would check out Saxon Phonics 1 (or maybe 2, if he is reading that well.) We switched away from OPGR because my son hated it. He loves Saxon Phonics because he has learned how to code words. It is still just phonics, but he has to put it into practice and break down the words into syllables, decide whether the vowel will be long or short, find all of the digraphs, dipthongs, etc. It is hyper-phonics! ;) Honestly, it has made so much of a difference. Also, there are fun card games that go along with it. I make my fifth grader sit in on parts of the Phonics lessons as well. Even though he reads very well, he has never learned to code. He told me the other day that it is helping him as well!

 

Just a thought!

 

Jennifer

[ElizabethB]

I would build up his vocabulary with the 1879 McGuffey readers and the 1908 Webster's Speller, alternating between the two. You can just do 5 to 10 minutes a day and that will add a lot.