~Jenn~ Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 Hello everyone, I have to admit that phonics is an area where I haven't been..umm..how shall I put this..consistent with. When ds was younger and began to show an interest in reading we started out with an older, handed down version of HOP. We'd barely made it through basic consonant sounds when he discovered The Magic Treehouse series, decided he wasn't going to wait around for phonics instruction to catch up and took off in reading on his own. I figured he was either a strong whole word reader or had some how intuited the rules of phonics on his own but either way he was reading fluently, comprehending well and was voracious in his appetite for books. Despite my lack of involvement in the whole process I patted myself on the back for a job well done, figured "What's the point with phonics now?" and slacked off on phonics in lieu of just letting him read what he wanted.:tongue_smilie: Fast forward a couple of years and I'm starting to have some second thoughts. Ds still loves to read and still has a voracious appetite for books. I can't however get the nagging voice out of the back of my head that is saying "..but what about phonics?..". I think for the most part he knows all the phonemes. He's currently reading through the Narnia series and has little to no trouble sounding out larger words that he comes across. If I show him just the sounds he can easily tell me their sounds..he just isn't exactly clear on the rule for why "y" makes the long e sound at the end of one word and the long "i" at another. I've been trying to put together our curriculum for next year and keep going back and forth as to whether I should take a step back and do some phonics review. Will I be doing him a disservice by not giving him formal and complete phonics instruction despite him already reading well? Are there any other benefits to phonics instruction aside from just learning to read (spelling, understanding of our language, etc...). I'd love to hear other's thoughts and opinions on this. Thanks in advance!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Jenn~ Posted March 30, 2009 Author Share Posted March 30, 2009 ..bump for the day crowd:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 He's 6, right? If he's reading well at 6, I wouldn't give phonics another thought. He'll get all the rules he needs when he does spelling and grammar later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 He's 6, right? If he's reading well at 6, I wouldn't give phonics another thought. He'll get all the rules he needs when he does spelling and grammar later on. :iagree: Make sure you use a good spelling program (maybe one with the rules in it) you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted March 30, 2009 Share Posted March 30, 2009 If my child had done that and was able to sound out words, then i would forget phonics. My son learned (in ps) to read by sight words and now he is almost 10 and doesn't sound out words. He tries, but often can't do it. THIS has prompted me to start phonics with him. It may be "easy" for him, but I feel like he needs it. P.S. I have a degree in English and I really couldn't have told you, before I started homeschooling, what a lot of the rules for spelling were. It came naturally to me and I never questioned it. If it comes naturally to him, he really may not NEED to know "why." ?? It just "clicked" for me and I have always been a good speller and reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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