Alpha Phonics for almost 6 year old

[elizahelen]

Hi, lurker here for 2 years.

 

I'd like feedback on teaching my almost 6 year old with Alphaphonics. We have been doing phonics off and on for the last year.

 

1. What is the pacing of the program? We are on lesson 14, started 2nd week of September.

2. How do I teach my child the writing component of Alphaphonics?

Subquestions:

Is this key to the program working? Can I do air writing ala Charlotte Mason? 

 

 

Now, for my experience of what is happening:

 

My daughter, 6, can blend, especially when the word is out of context of the primer. For instance, playing a game really clicks for her.  We are drilling them in various way. She has a massive vocabulary. She enjoys stories. She loves to write. She writes for fun. She has excellent hand manipulation.

 

The worrisome aspects: . She is intellectually capable but is running away from the fact that she is ignorant and has to "learn" rules instead of absorb by osmosis. She has trouble remembering the letter name that goes with the letter sound when I ask her to spell a word out loud. She has trouble with about 10-12 sounds (both lower and upper). I like doing games, but I am having trouble fitting in the rest of our curriculum I have planned when I do lots of games. Also, I don't know that I am teaching "Alpha phonics" if I am playing games everyday, KWIM?

She sometimes forgets left to right reading. She tries to interpret words as sight words aka memorizing the appearance. She mirror writes all-the-way (like perfect writing in a mirror).

 

 

reading is easy. Reading is easy! Reading is easy?

 

 

 

 

 

[LindaOz]

Hi, lurker here for 2 years.

 

I'd like feedback on teaching my almost 6 year old with Alphaphonics. We have been doing phonics off and on for the last year.

 

1. What is the pacing of the program? We are on lesson 14, started 2nd week of September.

2. How do I teach my child the writing component of Alphaphonics?

Subquestions:

Is this key to the program working? Can I do air writing ala Charlotte Mason? 

 

 

Now, for my experience of what is happening:

 

My daughter, 6, can blend, especially when the word is out of context of the primer. For instance, playing a game really clicks for her.  We are drilling them in various way. She has a massive vocabulary. She enjoys stories. She loves to write. She writes for fun. She has excellent hand manipulation.

 

The worrisome aspects: . She is intellectually capable but is running away from the fact that she is ignorant and has to "learn" rules instead of absorb by osmosis. She has trouble remembering the letter name that goes with the letter sound when I ask her to spell a word out loud. She has trouble with about 10-12 sounds (both lower and upper). I like doing games, but I am having trouble fitting in the rest of our curriculum I have planned when I do lots of games. Also, I don't know that I am teaching "Alpha phonics" if I am playing games everyday, KWIM?

She sometimes forgets left to right reading. She tries to interpret words as sight words aka memorizing the appearance. She mirror writes all-the-way (like perfect writing in a mirror).

 

 

reading is easy. Reading is easy! Reading is easy?

 

Well....I'll see if I can help a little bit.

 

Firstly, I'm not sure what you mean by the 'writing component' but I suspect there is more to the program than what I have - I only have the reading primer- which is what I am currently using with my 5yo.  I do not think that any writing program is essential to making a reading program work.  And I think think that you can definitely use air writing, or any other writing method you want, along with teaching reading with Alphaphonics.  I have used Alphaphonics for reading and writing with a number of my children and have used the sentences as dictation and the words for spelling at various times.  You could use the sentences for copywork, or play around with the sentences by chopping out a word and putting in a different word that makes sense.  I used to have one of my dd's write 'surprise sentences'. I would choose some word/words from a lesson and she would write a sentence using those words.

 

Secondly, I don't think there is a set pacing for the program as each child will be different.  With my dd5, we keep repeating a lesson until she has mastered it.  We usually have 2 or 3 lessons 'on the go' at a time, but we don't move on from the earliest of those current lessons until it is mastered.  I find this to work well because she is confident with what has been covered when moving into the new lesson.

 

My dd memorizes sight words very well, too, and tends to want to read that way which is why I'm working on Alphaphonics with her.  Her ability to blend sounds is now developing and improving.  Her knowledge of single sounds was solid before starting though, and I would suggest that you back up a little and make sure that your dd knows all her sounds very well before continuing.  The kids can get away with not knowing all sounds when they are just memorizing what a word looks like, but not when learning to read phonetically. FWIW, I'm not against sight words, but I think that sight words AND phonics work great side by side.

 

By all means, play a ton of games - the games you play won't be taking the place of curriculum; they will BE the curriculum.  Ultimately, you aren't teaching a curriculum, you are teaching your child. If games work for you and her, then go for it. Those games will be your new curriculum. :)

 

Also, I wouldn't worry about the mirror writing - it usually sorts itself out.  One of my older dd's wrote in perfect mirror image for quite awhile when she was young but she eventually just stopped and turned out to be an excellent writer.  Give it time :)

 

Anyway, I hope that helps a little.  Please let me know if anything is unclear.

[Ellie]

 

The worrisome aspects: . She is intellectually capable but is running away from the fact that she is ignorant and has to "learn" rules instead of absorb by osmosis. She has trouble remembering the letter name that goes with the letter sound when I ask her to spell a word out loud. She has trouble with about 10-12 sounds (both lower and upper). I like doing games, but I am having trouble fitting in the rest of our curriculum I have planned when I do lots of games. Also, I don't know that I am teaching "Alpha phonics" if I am playing games everyday, KWIM?

 

She sometimes forgets left to right reading. She tries to interpret words as sight words aka memorizing the appearance. She mirror writes all-the-way (like perfect writing in a mirror).

 

Honestly, what you're describing sounds to me like a little person who isn't yet 6. That she is "intellectually capable" does not mean that she should not be having any difficulties learning to read, especially not since you have started working with her before she is 6. Most children have to learn the rules instead of absorbing them by osmosis. I would not ask a child not yet 6 to spell a word (besides the fact that phonics and spelling are two different things). 

[elizahelen]

LindaOz- Thank you for sharing what your daughters' lessons look like. I will definitely add more variety and wait until mastery before moving on. I'll add back the games and stop pushing (as much .....  :blush5: )

 

Ellie- Thank you for your reply. A couple of clarifications on my end: we have been doing the alphabet and practicing phonics for a year on and off. Spelling wise, I ask her to spell a word that we covered in her lessons, like "fan" "dab" or "sam" as she has powerful oral skills. She can differentiate the sounds (good) but actually can't remember the "name" of the letter quite often. 

 

 

If anyone else chimes in, I would appreciate hearing feedback and your experience as well.  :hurray:

 

 

[bethben]

Separate reading from writing and spelling.  My goal when I used Alpha Phonics was to get my kids reading only (I used it with 3 kids).  Writing was separate.  They learned how to write without knowing what they were reading, but it all came together eventually.  Also, I never attempted spelling with them until they were at a 2nd grade reading level.  That way, they had a visual memory of a lot of words and knew how to form letters well before they started spelling.  At that point, they were able to proceed fairly quickly.

[Kiara.I]

She can differentiate the sounds (good) but actually can't remember the "name" of the letter quite often. 

 

Knowing the name of the letter isn't particularly necessary at this point.  It's not related to either being able to read or being able to spell.  It's a separate skill.