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Phonics help


Janeway
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I have OPGTR. BUT, my son really wants to sit down and for me to present him with worksheets, like his older siblings have, and teach him like they are. He colors the pages. I have spare workbooks left over from through the years. I am wondering if I should continue to try to use OPGTR or if I should let it go and just use the workbooks? I will run out of workbooks soon though so I would need to buy more. Also, currently, he is coloring on (and doing) ETC and HWOT workbooks. I could either buy more of those, next levels up, or I could buy something like TGTB kindergarten, or something else.

Edited by Janeway
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40 minutes ago, Ellie said:

Also, although workbooks may have their place, that he wants to do them is not the best reason for doing them. There are way more interesting and educational ways of doing things than filling out workbook pages.

There is just a random assortment that has been collected through the years like School Zone and..just, little workbooks from through the years, nothing cohesive. But when he comes to the table, he says he wants his homework too and I pull from one of the workbooks and he scribbles all over it and then shows me. On the ones with pictures, he keeps writing the letter each one starts with, regardless of instructions. 

edited to add: he is 4 yrs old. I am focusing on teaching him handwriting. I remember what you said specifically about the two going hand in hand. He can read any CVC word, sound out, knows the sounds of each letter and then smooshes them together, but his handwriting struggles. Since he is only four, I am not worried about his phonics, just his handwriting.

Edited by Janeway
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I understand your dilemma. I had a workbook lover too. She asked for more workbooks for her 6th birthday. And yes, I indulged her and she did get some workbooks for her birthday among other things lol.

When she was between the ages of 3 and 5, I let her do workbooks and worksheets to her heart's delight. She pulled out her "school" to do with the other kids but that didn't change how I taught her except when I had the choice to get her a workbook, I got her one. Or printed her worksheets off the internet. She was also my lapbook lover so you might see if your son likes making lapbooks or interactive notebooks. I didn't turn everything into a workbook for her though. We still did hands on lessons and other styles of learning. But I see nothing wrong with letting a workbook lover do what they love.

Doing workbooks doesn't have to be mindless drivel. It can be a springboard to more interactive learning or a great way to review skills and keep them fresh. As long as you aren't expecting the workbook to do the teaching for you, they can be a wonderful tool even if all they are doing is helping your 4yo feel included.

We tried TGTB kindergarten for a while. I'm not sure I would call it a workbook per se... yes it is in the form of a workbook, but it is more than a workbook. If you think of School Zone and ETC as workbooks, TGTB is a little different. You aren't just filling in blanks and coloring pictures and matching things like you do in regular workbooks. A lot of the pages require little to no writing at all from the student. It's more like an interactive lesson plan where all the activities are there in the workbook and most writing that the child does is done in there too but it's not really what I would call a regular workbook. My current first grader hated the word ladders even though I tweaked the activity when one of the sight words on the ladder for the day was phonetic and had him sound it out. I think it was an every other day activity. If you are not a fan of sight words, you are either going to have to tweak or skip it if you want to do TGTB.

Edited by sweet2ndchance
fixing mistake for clarity
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