Help me figure out phonics!

[Seeking Squirrels]

DD turned 5 in June.  We've been using Hooked on Phonics. Not because I like it all that much, but because it was our head-butt subject and DD needed the DVD to instruct her when she was first starting to blend (or it was just a bad curr. choice, we used 100EZ first.) She's working on level 2 of the 1st grade set right now. We don't do it very consistently. A while back she decided she was okay with me doing phonics with her because the DVD was just too repititious and slow moving for her. So now we just pull out the book. But the thing is, it feels like a waste of time and like it's really holding her back. When we open up to the first page of a new lesson, I don't need to teach her the sound or read her the words. She reads it all to me the first try. But she's not reading fluently. So she needs something. But I really don't think this is it. I think she could be much farther ahead if we were using something else or if I could teach it to her in a way that doesn't use a workbook. She's like me, she's a completionist. She won't let us skip lessons if she knows they're there. But she's bored with it because it's slow, so she never wants to do it. So we're moving along even slower because we just don't do it often.

 

I was never taught phonics; I taught myself to read from being read to. So I don't really know a lot about phonics or how to just teach her on my own. I know there would be gaps. I've considered just having her read to me and when she gets stuck, teach her the rule she needs. But I'm not certain I would always know. English has so many exceptions I fear teaching her any of the rules wrong. I've always been such a natural reader that I've never given much thought to phonics or spelling.

 

So........ what should we do? Is there a perfect curriculum out there for our situation? And just FTR, she is the one pushing to learn how to read. I know she's fine where she is at for her age and that it would be okay to take it slow. She really wants to be able to read well on her own and she wants it yesterday lol

[go_go_gadget]

I've only used the spelling portion of AAS, but I believe their reading series is aligned to the spelling, in which case I think it might be easy enough to select only the books at her level. With something like OPGTR, you'd have lessons to condense or skip, but if she wouldn't go for that, being able to start ''in the middle'' without her realizing might work. If you're strong on phonics yourself, you could use phonics readers and do the direct instruction unscripted.

[Tanikit]

I would teach her using the words where she gets stuck - firstly I would get OPGTR and read it myself so that you know what the phonics rules are - it really is not that difficult - after all you can read the word yourself so you can easily segment it yourself too based on how you pronounce it - its just good to have a book to show her more examples of that rule. If she gets stuck on a phonogram that makes multiple sounds you may need to teach it as a separate lesson the next day but that is also easy to look up (eg through, tough, thorough, cough etc) and then teach.

 

At this level it actually does not matter if there are gaps (I know people will disagree with me) - all you need to do is make sure that she is reading aloud to you daily so that you will pick up these gaps and can immediately correct it and give her a lesson - don't use the book for the lesson, just write out the parts you want to teach on a separate piece of paper - that way she never sees the book and never knows if you skipped a lesson.

[Seeking Squirrels]

I would teach her using the words where she gets stuck - firstly I would get OPGTR and read it myself so that you know what the phonics rules are - it really is not that difficult - after all you can read the word yourself so you can easily segment it yourself too based on how you pronounce it - its just good to have a book to show her more examples of that rule. If she gets stuck on a phonogram that makes multiple sounds you may need to teach it as a separate lesson the next day but that is also easy to look up (eg through, tough, thorough, cough etc) and then teach.

 

At this level it actually does not matter if there are gaps (I know people will disagree with me) - all you need to do is make sure that she is reading aloud to you daily so that you will pick up these gaps and can immediately correct it and give her a lesson - don't use the book for the lesson, just write out the parts you want to teach on a separate piece of paper - that way she never sees the book and never knows if you skipped a lesson.

Thank you for these ideas. That sounds like it would work for us. I don't think she'd mind if I'm skipping around a book if I just tell her that's how it's used. It's when it's a workbook that she is filling out that she wants every page done. She doesn't pay too much attention to my teacher guides or where my flags are in those. I've been thinking of getting this book I just didn't know if it would be a good fit. It sounds like it will be so I'll check it out. Thank you!

[HeartatHome]

I think OPGTR is good in your situation. It goes to 4th grade level so as the pp mentioned you can start in the middle. Very scripted so will guide you through.

[mohop]

My DD has been learning to read just from doing the first couple of of Explode the Code Workbooks and practicing with Bob Books and other early readers, and, more recently, just picking up books and trying to read them. I do want to be more systematized to make sure there aren't any gaps, so I am going to go through the Blend Phonics sequence, which you can find online. In particular, I think just going through the Lessons and Story Book, found here, will suit our needs fine, as my DD can whiz through what she already knows and I will know where she needs some more attention.

[homeschoolkitty]

SWR is pretty fast.

[boscopup]

You could see if your library has Writing Road to Reading (Spalding) and learn it yourself that way. Sometimes, we just have to do teacher training. I also needed to learn explicit phonics in order to teach it. I naturally read phonetically and think about the phonics, but didn't have the formal phonograms learned and such, and I didn't know any of the rules (like English words not ending in i, j, u, or v - I had no idea!). Learning from something like WRTR was helpful to me, so that when we come to a new word in our reading, I can explain the phonics involved or mention a handy rule to help us out.

[Walking-Iris]

I agree with pp that OPGTR will help you. And maybe Explode the Code. Also I agree with Boscopup that WRTR would be a good idea. I'm *trying* to implement it into my 1st graders day this year. It's definitely a book you have to read and digest. I'm a bit frustrated I can't just jump into it, but I'm taking it slow while he continues OPGTR and ETC. Adding some simple spelling to help with reading may be the way to go. 

 

WRTR or AAS would get you there. 

[JustEm]

If it is just a fluency thing then I would just suggest having her read aloud to you everyday and read to her a lot.  She'll learn from hearing you read how sentences flow and will pick that up in her reading.  For fluency, you want to do a bit below her level so she can read the words easily but at a faster pace.

 

Right now with my almost 5 year old I'm using Sonlight's first grade reading schedule, along with Phonic Pathways(he can read all the word once I tell him the sound or rule once.)  We're not very far into the readingschedule but he's already becoming more fluent.

[Um_2_4]

I used HOP with my older 2 and may use it again for the younger 2. I did not use the dvds, just read along with them. I would switch to ETC, look at the table of contents and see where she could start. If she needs to skip around, could you remove the needed pages from the book and put into a binder? Then you could only do the sections as needed.