WHOLE LANGUAGE!!! And you call yourself a HOMESCHOOLER!?!?! LOL!!! When I was in the classroom, I took a two-week workshop on whole language, and it revolutionized my teaching. The kids loved it, I loved it, it was SO much more consistent with my "philosophy of education". Oh, and the kids were learning, too, lol! But generally it's a banned term in homeschool arenas (much like the word SOCIALIZATION, lol!) , mostly because homeschoolers have so many misconceptions as to what it is.
I Love explode the codes for reinforcing phonics. I used Sing Spell years ago. I prefer a "word family" approach rather than changing the vowel like sing spell uses in their ferris wheel, Their K program was good. Phonics Pathways looks interesting and also 100 easy lessons. Cathy Duffy's recommendations are helpful.
Seriously??? I learned about it from homeschool curriculum companies so it's a shock to hear it is a "banned term".
WOW! When I first started hs'ing, I went to a conference and got talking to the Total Language Plus people. They were telling me about their program (though my kid was only 6 and too young for it at the time). I also didn't know that Whole Language was on the "banned" list, so I commented that their program sounded a lot like Whole Language. And the vendor says, "Well, yes, but we don't like saying so, because hs'ers are against whole language." Homeschoolers generally have the misguided belief that whole language doesn't include phonics, and they often confuse it with "Whole Word". I've told people over and over again that Charlotte Mason is 90% whole language.
I agree! I've heard it talked about quite a bit online and people always seem to equate whole language with sight words. It doesn't emphasize phonics, but does include phonics. I've gone the middle road. Whole language has been the best vehicle for my children to attain fluent reading, but we do follow up with phonics and I use a phonics-based spelling program.
Any good reading program will include some phonics. They're absolutely necessary. Only exception might be a program called Edmark, but that specifically targets special needs children and is only used ( or SHOULD only be used!) when necessary. But at the same time, any good reading program must also include elements of contextual clues, syntax, etc. to convey the meaning. Whole Language also believes in using REAL BOOKS, rather than reading text books. LLATL is VERY whole-language! For me when I was in the classroom, I was able to drop the basal readers and use library books instead. So often, "reading" is something done in "reading class", and they have to "learn how to do it". With whole language, we were able to get beyond that. When the class would go to the library, I could tell them, "Oh, look! Here's a book by Arnold Lobel! Remember, he's the one that wrote the 'Frog and Toad' book we've been working on in reading class! Maybe you'd like this book of his, too!" The kids learned that they actually COULD read the books in the library!
The little girl I'm tutoring right now is making terrific progress with Progressive Phonics (thank you, Meghan!). Other than that, I'm using a lot of library books and sidewalk chalk and flashcard games. And - since I haven't seen it mentioned here yet - my student is also enjoying a downloadable computer game called "Read, Write and Type". Her mum recently thanked me for recommending it. The game reinforces phonics by having the child learn to type at the same time as she's learning her letters. Every time she hits a key, she hears the sound the letter makes. It also teaches blending, as she learns to type faster. It's not a whole "learn to read" program, but it's great for reinforcing phonics lessons in a fun way. It's particularly useful if you have a child who's learned to "hate" reading.
reading I like the natural learning approach. The Bob books were great. Sonlight has a great list of readers.
You are very welcome! They have been a life saver for us, as well, so glad I could share that with you Do you have a website for Read, Write, and type? My dd already knows letter sounds and blending, but more reinforcement (in a fun way) is always great.
Flashcards can be fun - it's all in how you use them. For instance, I wrote each letter of my student's name on cards, and then challenged her to try to make as many words as she could out of the letters of her name. Another fun game is writing some words containing the new sounds on cards - two of each word - then turning them all face down and playing with them like a matching game. This is also a good way to mix up "all caps" and "all lowercase".
My dd isn't in love with flashcards, but she really likes them. She loves to count how many words she has left to do LOL! I actually think they are a very useful tool for us because my dd can easily see progress by how quickly the stack shrinks. Of course, and again, my dd is phobic about sentences, especially in REAL books, and doesn't see individual words as nearly as scary, so that plays into it, as well.
