4 yo Having Trouble with Sounding Out

[Fourmother]

I been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with my 4 year old daughter and we've hit a snag. She knows the sounds of the letters covered so far, but she is unable to sound out the words without pausing between each sound. Instead of mmmmaaad, she says mm... aa...d. She can't "say it slow" until she hears me do it first. She just repeats what I say without understand how to do it. I wasn't concerned about this at lesson 10 or 15, but at lesson 25 I was surprised that this wasn't beginning to click for her yet. We've gone well beyond the point where the book assumes the pupil is able to do this. (Or at least try on her own.)

 

I put 100 Lessons aside and decided to try again from the beginning in a few months. Lately we've been playing with letter magnets and tracing letters on her slate board, but she misses the book and frequently asks to do "our reading lessons." I used 100 Lessons with great success with my older children when they were 4, and we've never had this problem. Is there way to help her master the skill of sounding out? (No flames about early reading please. This is something that is important to my family.)

[Philothea]

When I began with 100EL, I would repeat each lesson for about a week. I felt that my son (age 4) just needed more practice, then after every 15 lessons we would go back and review very quickly. I also use the Bob Books after each lesson for "fun reading" to help build confidence. I don't think it is necessarily bad to sound out each letter as long as they are able to put them all together and read the word. I think the fluidity comes with time, especially with young readers.

[AudreyTN]

I didn't use 100 EZ lessons with my dd, but she did exactly the same thing. I put phonics away for a week or so and we just read, read, read. Then one day she just started doing it.

[AngelaC]

I tried to use EZ with one of my children and they never got it . . . so I used something else. Then I never seemed to go back to EZ (I don't recall why). Anyway, perhaps another program may help this child click it all together?

 

It sounds like your daughter has it figured out, but just doesn't have it mastered yet. I mean, she knows that the sounds are supposed to "go" together, right? One day it will all snap into place and the lightbulb will turn on:)

[Sandy in NC]

My first son read when he was 3 1/2, second son didn't read until he was almost 5, then came my daughter. She didn't begin reading until she was 7 1/2 almost 8. I was really worried about her. I thought she might have some reading problems, and just about the time I had decided to get her tested she began reading fluently. Now that she is 9 she reads as well and maybe a little bit better than the boys did at her age.

 

My theory is that there is a reading light bulb that goes on when reading fluency begins. The timing that the light bulb goes on is different for each child. I can tell right now that my 6 year old daughter is on the verge of the light bulb switching on.

 

This is the strategy that I used with my girls. We start out with 100 Easy Lessons. When this gets too difficult we switch over to Phonics Pathways. I do Spelling Workout and Basic Phonics Skills to reinforce the phonics skills that they are learning while doing Phonics Pathways. The combination of the three seems to help. Basic Phonics Skills is a workbook put out by Evan-Moor Publishers. It has some coloring pages, cut and paste exercises, etc. I begin spelling in Kindergarten whether the child is reading or not. I walk them through a lot of the beginning lessons painstakingly, but soon enough they begin to catch on. I think the process of learning to spell helps reinforce the phonics.

 

I think the key is patience and practice.

 

I hope this helps.

[Aletheia Academy]

from "d-a-d" to "dad". Just keep plugging away. My ds is probably just a tad ahead of where your 4yo is. Be patient; keep modeling; and read- as the others have suggested. Not only does reading aloud help, but try some beginning readers and have your dc sound out some short vowel words- maybe one per page.

 

It'll just happen one day, like magic.:p

[TengoFive]

We played the "Say it Fast" game all the time until it clicked. We especially liked doing it in the car. So, I'd start out with compound words, like motorcycle, sunshine, baseball and get them doing those well (about 5 words) then I'd do 2 syllable words like soccer, daddy, etc, once again until they got the hang of it. Then we'd do 2 sound words like me, am, and off, and then finish the game with 3 sound words like sat, mat, fat, etc.

I took it from the book, but we used it as a fun way to pass the time. Then in our lessons I would just remind them to "say it fast."

[Narrow Gate Academy]

We use Phonics Pathways instead of 100EZ. Why not take the letter magnets and just combine two letters at a time? Take an s and combine it with each of the vowels (sa, se, si ,so, su) as an intermediate step to blending 3 letter words. If she's wanting to start the reading lessons again, I would just back up in the book and review slowly while you're doing the blending practice.

 

HTH

[WTMindy]

My kids were both early readers also, and it just takes time to make that leap. We just did tons of practice with 3 letter words on a magna-doodle. Over and over, helping her blend the sounds. Start with the first 2. Mmmm---aaa--dd. Put the first together MMaaa--dd. She will get it, just keep having fun with it. Play a game where she gets a token if she blends 2 letters. Keep it light and fun.

[SandraDumas]

Take a white board or large piece of paper and draw a curvy slide (as in a playground.) put the beginning sound at the top and slide into the vowel at the bottom. Then put those two at the top and slide into the ending consonant sound.

[Fourmother]

These are some terrific ideas. Thanks, everyone!

[kalanamak]

at what would "click" and when. Kiddo would look blank and struggle and then POOF, he'd jump forward in his abilities. At four, personally, I would not worry about a plateau in reading. At that age kiddo really liked Mig the Pig and Pat the Cat....that series. Also, the Kumon book on short rhymes, but I used plastic letters as handwriting was frustrating for him. (And that made a Maoian Great Leap Forward, without the blood, when he was five). HTH

[Laura Corin]

I would play some sound games without looking at text. Play with words out loud, trying to work out what sounds there are in c-a-t, etc. But I agree with others - this seems to suddenly click, so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Laura

[CalicoKat]

a tip from OPTGR is to cover all but the first letter of a word. Have them sound that out and then uncover the rest of the word.

 

MAN

M - an (covered with your finger tip)

mmmm - an

 

 

CAN

C- an (covered with your finger tip)

KKKKK - an

 

 

Another tip was to have her do a continuous sound for each letter and not to stop until the end of the word. mmmmmaaaaaannnnnn.

 

My dd is still using these hints and some words she's committed to memory.

 

You'r dd's reading fluency will come. She's pretty young yet. 4? One day it will all click and she'll take off.

 

We've had success with OPTGR. I'm not sure how it compares with 100EZ lessons. We do supplement with the Bob books and ETC.

[8filltheheart]

Reading is a brain maturity issue. Recognizing sounds is recall and does not require the same brain development as actually putting sounds together and reading. Doing absolutely nothing and trying again when she is older will probably land you in the exact same spot at the same time as if you keep trying to teach her to blend. She might sight read younger (again, because it is a visual recall vs sounding out).....but I wouldn't recommend that approach either.

 

A better way to educate younger children is with sequencing games and patterns. Math and reading are both actually sequencing based. These visual games strengthen both skills in older children.

[Alice]

I did a similar thing to the previous poster who suggested a slide shape and following the letters with a curve. But with my son I drew curvy roads and let him use a car to go down the road... blending the letters as he went.

 

It worked well, although the car got a little distracting. :) But it was a fun game.

[Josie]

Sounds like she is doing fine to me. She is four. Just read to her and keep practicing. She will get it. Don't worry. :o)