mystika1 Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Hi, My youngest just turned 5 in September and I purchased AAR level 1 to use with her. I am having trouble getting her to put the sounds together to say the words. For example: The word map...she can put her finger under each letter and say the sounds of mmmmm then "a" then "p" but can't put it together. I show her by sounding it out slowly and then saying the word but two minutes later she is looking at me like a deer in headlights. Should I just wait? I have not been able to go beyond lesson 1 because every time I try to have her blend the sounds she just can't do it. I am afraid that she will just learn the words by sight if I continue with the word cards. She LOVES worksheets. She goes through tons of printables a day. Reading is not as easy. I have a 2008 version of Sonlight LA K that I could try but I am a bit afraid to try it because of the negative reviews. I also have OPGTTR on the shelf here. I just don't know what to do. Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 She isn't blending yet. Model it for her and play oral blending games. Blending is developmental and usually starts between the ages of 4 and 6, so it's perfectly normal that she's not there yet. Just practice the oral blending, and once she gets that, try again with the words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOver Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 I start with kids after they learn the letter names by sounding out words slowly, then faster and faster until they get it. As in, " Can you go get me your c........u........p?" No response, " Can you go get me your c...u...p? until they get it. I might even end up saying the word, but they did hear me sound out each letter blending them together faster and faster. We would do this with many things, until they would get a word when I really stretched it out. Sometimes it is a long process, blending is hard on kids. Mine have got it from age 4 at the youngest to age 7 for the oldest. Each is individual. Just keep trying, keep it fun and short. No frustration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Can she blend two letter words? If so, you might try using a speller, following ElizabethB's lessons, slowly. I'm using them verrrryyy slowly with my 5yo. Slowly as in we're up to day 5 after nearly three months, lol. Mine wouldn't put up with it if it was all we did, but we work on an I See Sam reader as they are more incremental than most early readers, then do the phonics drill. It's slow progress, but it is definitely progress. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 She isn't blending yet. Model it for her and play oral blending games. Blending is developmental and usually starts between the ages of 4 and 6, so it's perfectly normal that she's not there yet. Just practice the oral blending, and once she gets that, try again with the words. :iagree: Sounds like she's just not there yet, I would put AAR aside and just work with the tiles on blending letter sounds together, once she starts getting that, then continue on with the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Can she identify final sounds in words? If you say "cat," can she tell you that it ends in /t/ and sad ends in /d/? If she can't identify final sounds, she is not ready to blend. It is a lack of phonemic awareness and spending time with rhyming poems and playing word games will get you better results than working on blending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peregrine Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 I found the blending games and exercises in 100EL to be really helpful. It's the best part of the book in my opinion! See if your library has it and use the ones you think will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 It took my DD 6 months to figure out blending :glare: Over that time period I would just bring out the reading lessons every now and then to test if she was ready. Once she figured it out it didn't take long to learn to read. She is now 6 and reading at a 2nd grade level - so don't worry to much - your DD will not be behind just because it takes her a while to understand blending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Did you happen to use the checklist first to see if she is ready to start AAR 1? You might find that helpful, and if she's not ready yet, you can either work on the skills she needs informally, or consider Pre-reading instead. Here's a link. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mystika1 Posted November 14, 2012 Author Share Posted November 14, 2012 Thank you all for the replies. I will put AAR Level 1 away for now and just play some games. I may get the pre level 1 because she just loves workbooks. She has shown most of the reading readiness signs but I don't want to push her. You guys are great! Thanks, Penny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 Thank you all for the replies. I will put AAR Level 1 away for now and just play some games. I may get the pre level 1 because she just loves workbooks. She has shown most of the reading readiness signs but I don't want to push her. You guys are great! Thanks, Penny If she loves worksheets and crafts then I'd say Pre-1 would be an awesome fit for her. Many of the pages in the beginning are to go over letter sounds and then they get to make a craft page with that letter. The directions have you using glitter, string, pattern paper etc. Some great hands on fun there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esse Quam Videri Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 After reading this thread I am more confused about our own reading schedule. Is it wrong to continue teaching reading while a child is still learning blending? Is it wrong for her to learn those words as sight words instead of sounding them out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 After reading this thread I am more confused about our own reading schedule. Is it wrong to continue teaching reading while a child is still learning blending? Is it wrong for her to learn those words as sight words instead of sounding them out? I think it's ok to keep going as long as your child is understanding what is supposed to happen and can do some of the blending. The OP mentioned her dd looked like a deer in headlights so to me that would suggest she really isn't absorbing the lesson. Some kids are ok to keep moving because they may not blend perfectly but they understand the blending and slowly but surely get better at it. My 7 year old is using AAR 1 (were on lesson 22) because his blending was slow, so we kind of parked for a while on some Pre-1 lessons we had done in the past. He still sounds out most words but can then blend them together. The problem with too many sight words without teaching and mastering blending is that some kids will then just start guessing at every word instead of using their phonics skills to work through it to sound it out. My dd was like this and we're really working on correcting this now. Sure eventually we all read by sight because we've seen the words so many times we don't have to sound them out, but I think teaching to many words as sight words in the beginning can really hinder them when they get to bigger more complicated words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 I wouldn't be comfortable with a child learning too many words by sight. Words like "the" and "a" and "you" or "my" and so on. Yes, I have my beginner readers just learn them. A few at a time. Learn them by writing them. My Kinder can blend, but I notice he makes the first sound and then starts searching his memory for the word. So "Hat" he'll say the h sound and then start guessing, "him, hug," and I always gently stop him and make him say the sound of each letter. Even writing each letter in a different color. I firmly believe that they need to learn to do that early, or they could be lost when encountering bigger words with multiple syllables. They need to have a solid strategy for breaking them down and reading them. My older ds, who is a great reader, sometimes tries the lazy game by mumbling out something when encountering a bigger word, and I stop him and have him sound it out too. There are too many words in the world to memorize by sight. A child needs a reliable strategy. For the OP, I also feel that if a child writes as they read, it solidifies learning. I work on handwriting before reading. Other than oral games, I don't really expect them to begin reading unless they can also write "hat." I also don't point at words in a book for reading in the beginning. So I use OPGTR, that means I write out all of those lessons as he watches and he sounds out each word. I also give those simple phonetically controlled sentences as copywork. I also like ETC code for the same reason. It has a child writing along with reading. And then slowly I start to introduce beginning readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Texican Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I think at that level we had just started hooked on phonics and we did a lesson using a word family. It came with a deck of alphabet cards. I set it up ahead of time so I had the right cards in my hand. I put down AT and said sound it out. (sound it out say it process). Then I handed a c card and said "put the /k/ here (in front of the at). "Good, you spelled 'cat' c-at." Now hand me the /k/ and take \huh\ and put it here (in front of the at). "Good. You spelled 'hat'. Sound it out- huh, at." Give me the huh and take the fuh. Put it in front of tye at. Good. You spelled fat. fat, rat, mat, sat, cat, hat Then some other time we read those books with one sentence on every page. Cat sat on a mat. and when i say we read I mean I said sound it out, c-a-t, good cat, s-a-t, say it with me, s-a-t, good, sat, cat, sat, on, what letter is this? good, A, sound out this last word, m-a-t. It was hard work. It wasn't that bad. At least we worked out how to work on something hard togeather and things we've tackled since then have been easier because we ironed out how to work through it. I'm right there with the walking Iris I started the writing lessons and kept them up with the reading lessons. So he started the kumon trace the abc's workbook the same time he started the sound it out lessons. He moved on to reading, he moved on to copying sentences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Like others have said, if she knows all her letters then you can just practice blending by saying things orally - you do not need the words around at all. Blend for her in daily life as much as possible - you also do not only have to blend simple cvc words then - all you are doing is practicing hearing the sounds and blending them together - so if its raining just say: Look, here comes the r-ai-n (rain). The c-a-t (cat) wants to come in the d-oor. Start with nouns of any sort (preferably so that you are saying only 2-3 sounds regardless whether they are long or short vowels or even r-controlled ones - she's not seeing it written so it doesn't matter) and just keep blending for her. Eventually (and it can take months) your child should start giving you the word when you give her the letters and then she can slowly start reading letters and blending them herself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srs Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Good advice here. My dd took about 6 months to blend. The breakthough was word families and rhyming: she figured out "at" plus initial consonant for sat, hat, mat, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I'll second the vote for Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. My youngest started that book at 3.5 years old and learned to blend. She was reading chapter books before she started kindergarten. 100EZ is great for teaching blending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 The Leapfrog Talking Word Factory video is also great for blending. I'm not usually an advocate for technology solutions to learning, but this video teaches blending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Kiddos Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 You also said she likes workbooks. We have been using Christian Liberty Press "Adventures in Phonics" Book A and I have been really suprised how well he is learning. I purchased the book for him because his aunts and uncles are homeshooling and he wanted to be able to "do school" too. I am just using the workbook without the teacher's manual. We play games too and use this book for ideas: http://www.amazon.co...nemic awareness Anyway, I definately want to add a disclaimer that this is my first time teaching reading so I am not an expert! My son is doing really well. He is blending now and reading CVC words. Also, I started all this because my son was begging for me to teach him to read. My mother in law uses SWR (Spell to Write and Read) and so I have that. But, it just seemed to frustrate my son with the fact that he could not write everything yet. Anyway, my plan is to finish up with the CLP Adventure's in Phonics and then do SWR for the more intensive phonics and the spelling. However, I found this from one of their websites and found it to be really helpful as the little games are so fun: http://www.morningstarlearning.com/SWR_and_Preschoolers.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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