If you had a struggling reader....what helped? ...ETA...Question #2

[Pen]

No, he blends just fine.  (AAR actually has great blending instructions imho.)  When I say he doesn't recognize chunks in words, I am more talking about word families or specific phonetic patterns in words.  For example, it wouldn't occur to him that cat rhymes with sat just by looking at the words despite LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of work in that direction. (Trust me---we have done word family work.  He will get it for the lesson, but never applies it to reading books.)  He doesn't just see the -at and know that sat, cat, fat, rat, mat all have that sound at the end.   Each and every time it is ccccccccaaaaaaatttttttt then mmmmmmmaaaaatttttt.  He sounds them out one at a time.  Same thing for would, could, should.  Same thing with here and there.  Or day and say.  Its like the part of his brain that sees these letter groupings within a word is not working the same way mine or my daughters does. 

 

 

I think what you wrote about working on "fun" reading is important so that he can enjoy it.

 

I also think, though, that if a child* [see ETA below] is not yet fluent and automatic at CVC words, practice is needed on readers that cover just that with a very few sight words not in that pattern, without having other patterns like could, would,  or day, say ... or even worse, here and there which look similar but sound different, to cause confusion.

 

We used HighNoon because it allowed plenty of practice  (Sound Out Chapter books etc.) to achieve fluency and automaticity with readers that did not seem babyish.  We started from the very beginning and did not go on to CVCe fluency and automaticity till CVC was truly mastered. Etc.   Each step got mastery/fluency/automaticity before going on to a next step. 

 

Word families had been used by a brick and mortar school my son went to, and did not work for my son... much as you say, did not transfer from a lesson to reading.

 

[ETA: not any child, but a child who is struggling with reading and may have a reading issues such as dyslexia.  I realize that some children may well be able to start reading with things like Green Eggs and Ham, which have here, there,   would, could etc. patterns.  

 

But for a child with a reading difficulty to have extremely controlled reading levels that progress with little steps can make a huge difference.  For my ds it made all the difference between not reading and becoming a good reader.]