And another question: phonics

[angelmama1209]

My 6yo reads with no previous instruction. She can read most of what I put in front of her (age appropriate of course), but she stumbles through phonics. I feel like it's important so she can decode harder words later on and to help with spelling, but she literally sounds out every single word in phonics, including cvc words. We are using phonics pathways. Is this normal? Or is there a better phonics curriculum we could use?

[HomeAgain]

It's normal until the brain starts connecting the sounds more automatically.  So yes, it's fine.  We used to do a lot of play like in Gawain's Word, using magnetic or tactile letters on a tray (we used 100 EZ Lessons, so I drew an arrow on the tray to put the letters on).

 

[Tanaqui]

Sounds normal to me! The more practice she gets in, the better she'll be.

[angelmama1209]

So it's normal for her to read whatever she wants with no trouble, but stumble through phonics? Maybe I wasn't clear? I know sounding each letter out is normal for learning, but she's already reading.

[blondeviolin]

I'd voice that it sounds strange. My fluent children wouldn't need to sound out cvc words.  My current 6yo doesn't sound out words until they become polysyllabic, and at that they'd have to be more than two syllables. He taught himself to read so I have run him through ETC. It would have taken me completely aback if he had needed to sound out 3-letter words in that program.

[reign]

So she can read the book Frog & Toad, but when doing Phonics Pathways she struggles to read the word f-r-o-g and sounds it out oddly? Is that what is going on? 

[Tanaqui]

My guess is that when she's reading a book, she's either got that book memorized OR she has the word shaped memorized and a good understanding of context clues. So of course she rattles it off perfectly. Now she's learning how to sound things out. She's carefully shutting down her memorization of the word shapes in order to sound out properly. This is normal, and really, it's better. (Some kids in her situation are just resistant to learning phonics altogether because their method seems faster and better to them.)

It's like this. When children first start using verbs, they often conjugate their irregular verbs perfectly. They say "I went" and "I ran" just like adults, because they've memorized. Then, when they're a little older, they learn the rule and they misapply it. They say "I goed" and "I runned". To adults this looks like a step back, but it's a step forward - maybe your child did this as well? Eventually they figure it out and start speaking the way everybody else does.

Or, something you probably have not encountered with this child, sometimes you have a kid who can play piano very well by ear, but when they learn to sight-read music they make lots of errors, even in songs they can play perfectly already. Because they turned off the part of them that listens to music in order to focus on reading it! Eventually they become good enough at reading music that they can do both things at once.

I can come up with more analogies if I try. The point is, this sounds like absolutely nothing to worry about. Just be happy she is cooperating with her phonics learning and making progress!

[Ellie]

Phonics Pathways is a good method. I'd continue that with her. I'm guessing she has a good visual memory and just recognizes words without actually knowing the phonics involved. At some point she'll run out of visual memory, and she'll need the phonics.

[angelmama1209]

10 hours ago, reign said:

So she can read the book Frog & Toad, but when doing Phonics Pathways she struggles to read the word f-r-o-g and sounds it out oddly? Is that what is going on? 

yes

[angelmama1209]

10 hours ago, Tanaqui said:

My guess is that when she's reading a book, she's either got that book memorized OR she has the word shaped memorized and a good understanding of context clues. So of course she rattles it off perfectly. Now she's learning how to sound things out. She's carefully shutting down her memorization of the word shapes in order to sound out properly. This is normal, and really, it's better. (Some kids in her situation are just resistant to learning phonics altogether because their method seems faster and better to them.)

It's like this. When children first start using verbs, they often conjugate their irregular verbs perfectly. They say "I went" and "I ran" just like adults, because they've memorized. Then, when they're a little older, they learn the rule and they misapply it. They say "I goed" and "I runned". To adults this looks like a step back, but it's a step forward - maybe your child did this as well? Eventually they figure it out and start speaking the way everybody else does.

Or, something you probably have not encountered with this child, sometimes you have a kid who can play piano very well by ear, but when they learn to sight-read music they make lots of errors, even in songs they can play perfectly already. Because they turned off the part of them that listens to music in order to focus on reading it! Eventually they become good enough at reading music that they can do both things at once.

I can come up with more analogies if I try. The point is, this sounds like absolutely nothing to worry about. Just be happy she is cooperating with her phonics learning and making progress!

that makes sense

[angelmama1209]

9 hours ago, Ellie said:

Phonics Pathways is a good method. I'd continue that with her. I'm guessing she has a good visual memory and just recognizes words without actually knowing the phonics involved. At some point she'll run out of visual memory, and she'll need the phonics.

thanks

[Baile]

After she sounds out each letter (f - r - o - g), can she put the sounds together to say "frog"? If she can, it sounds perfectly normal and like she's well on her way in reading!

If not, I still wouldn't worry at her age, but would work on some blending activities - "After I say the sounds, you say them together!" Begin with compound words "cup - cake", then syllables "mo - ther", then individual sounds, working up from "a - t" to words with 5-6 sounds.

[angelmama1209]

1 hour ago, Baile said:

After she sounds out each letter (f - r - o - g), can she put the sounds together to say "frog"? If she can, it sounds perfectly normal and like she's well on her way in reading!

If not, I still wouldn't worry at her age, but would work on some blending activities - "After I say the sounds, you say them together!" Begin with compound words "cup - cake", then syllables "mo - ther", then individual sounds, working up from "a - t" to words with 5-6 sounds.

Yes, she can. She is already reading, but stumbles through phonics. I just found it odd.