Phonics woes. :( I would cry if I thought it might help....

[Tree House Academy]

I really hesitated to post this because I know that opinions are varied in this area and what works for one doesn't always work for another.

 

A little background. My son is 5.6 years old and reading at about an end of 1st grade or so level (maybe start of 2nd, I haven't tested in awhile). Anyway, we were doing phonics with ETC and LLATL Blue and it was working well...but going really slowly. Both ETC and LLATL take a couple of years for phonics instruction. My son was getting bored with the slow pace and really wanted a bit more. So...I started looking into something that would get us through phonics a bit quicker.

 

We plan to continue ETC (because I Love ETC and so does he). Even if he learns the phonics and is reading wonderfully, I think ETC is useful and helpful and I even have my older son doing the last 3 books to help with his spelling and decoding.

 

The problem is finding what will replace LLATL Blue. I had first planned to go on with red, but it just wasn't happening. I just.don't.like.it. No matter how hard I try!

 

So, I have settled on CLE for the Language Arts portion and I really am liking CLE LA 1. It starts simple enough and I skipped ahead to the 9th lesson and we are reviewing a bet before we start into it on his level.

 

To go with that, I chose CLE's Learn to Read program and started at Light Unit 106 (which is still one below where I probably could have started).

 

Today, we tried it all together and school took 2 hours and 45 minutes of sit down time with a 5.6 year old. Sorry, but that is just NOT going to work for us. Obviously!

 

The biggest issues is that ds doesn't want to stop reading the LLATL Blue readers because he is filling the little sticker chart. He could care less about what he is or is not learning, of course. I have thought of doing JUST the readers, but then LLATL does something fun that I want to do with him (like reading Blueberries for Sal this week). So...my issues is that I am throwing too much at him. He did LLATL Blue (parts of it), CLE's LTR, CLE LA 1 lesson 9, ETC online, and Come Read with Me today (we are finishing this program and just trying to get it DONE this week...so it will not be part of the schedule).

 

So really, I have no idea why I am posting. Once again, I am confounded on English. I always try to do too much. :blink:

 

What I want is a good and faster than ETC Phonics program. I guess what I need is something that goes well with ETC, but faster.

 

:bigear:

[Staci in MO]

For my dc, we worked through ETC, and then read books that were at their current reading level. I have the old Sonlight "I Can Read It" books (I assume their still around), so we work through those at first, then graduate to Frog and Toad, Henry and Mudge, Little Bear, etc.

 

If I were you, I would just do the readers that you have, especially if that's what he wants to do.

[ElizabethB]

Don Potter has a unit progress chart you could put stickers on for Blend Phonics. While Blend Phonics isn't complete, it teaches most of what you need to know and is quick, and has a great chart for stickers, and is free!

 

The phonics it teaches, it teaches well and quickly.

 

http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/blend_phonics.html

[1GirlTwinBoys]

I thought with CLE, you only use LTR or the LA. I didn't think they were meant to use together. :confused: I thought after the LTR was completed then they moved on to the LA portion.

[Amy in KS]

Too much! My question is, why do you want to do phonics with three different programs? Choose one and stick to it!

 

I love CLE, but am familiar with ETC. Another program by the same company (as ETC) is Primary Phonics (it has readers).

 

Another thought. Your child is frustrated by the slow pace. Here's the thing--I feel sometimes workbook reading programs can hinder learning to read!!! At certain points I feel it is enough for a child to advance orally reading a leveled reader (which slowly builds in difficulty--i.e. pathway readers, etc). I would have him/her read each story two days in a row to build reading fluency and oral presentation skills (which is just as important or more important than continued phonics skills after the initial phonics are taught). It also builds reading confidence. I would not hesitate to put aside the phonics, spelling, or everything else to allow my child to develop reading fluency.

 

That is, in fact, what I did with my daughter and she was able to progress from pre-k level to 4th grade reading level with very good frequency in six months. Now I can easily review phonics with her and she does great with reading (and reads plenty on her own as well).

[Tree House Academy]

Too much! My question is, why do you want to do phonics with three different programs? Choose one and stick to it!

 

LOL. I have honestly NO IDEA why. :001_huh: Good point!

 

I thought with CLE, you only use LTR or the LA. I didn't think they were meant to use together. :confused: I thought after the LTR was completed then they moved on to the LA portion.

 

Their schedule in the TG says you are supposed to start LTR first (at LU 101), then when you get to LU 106, you start in with LA 101 at the same time. Of course, the schedule also breaks it up over an entire day from 9am to 3pm. That is SO not how we homeschool!

[Aurelia]

We used ABeCeDarian and it moved much faster than ETC. Ariel and I hated the slow pace of ETC, plus it had too much writing, but ABCD has worked wonderfully. Depending on his reading level, he might be able to do B2, which is the 2nd grade level. B1 covers mid-first through 2nd grade reading. Level B is designed to take 24 weeks if you do one lesson a day, 5 days a week. You can slow it down and work on certain lessons longer, if necessary.

[rafiki]

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[LinRTX]

I did three phonics programs with my youngest also, so I know something about wanting to do it all!

 

My suggestion:

 

Pick one as your main program and do it at a regular rate, such as 3-4 days a week. The other day or two use the second and third program.

 

If you go through the summer (which I recommend at this age) they should both all get done fairly quickly. Don't try to line up what they are teaching. Teach the new when it come up and use the other program for review.

 

I hope this makes sense.

 

Linda