Hi, I need some ideas. We have been doing Abeka phonics with my dd who is six. She is desperate to learn to read, but it's just NOT making sense to her, and she's becoming very discouraged. Any ideas? I'm probably going to get a different curriculum to try, and I'm not sure what else out there is good... thanks!
Yep, in fact, I've used it a bit with all my kiddos. She knows all her letter sounds, but when it comes to 1)putting them together and 2) the concept that certain letters can say different things at different times, she's getting confused... It's so hard because she wants to read SO VERY bad, but she walks away feeling like she's stupid...:cry:
I have tried all kinds of things with my 5 yo and nothing was clicking. We just started Reading Made Easy and today he read his first 8 words in lesson 9!!! We love it. He told his dad at lunch today that it is soooooo fun.
What I did was make little trains with the letters and told my girls that each part of the train is like words when we put them to gether they make a word... it worked for them. Hang in there... It can take them awhile for it to click!
How about the Leapfrog movies? I think if it weren't for the Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory, my dd would not be sounding out words already. She watched those movies countless times. Then we got the first two sets of Bob books and started working with those. At first it was quite frustrating, cause by the time she made all 3 letter sounds she would forget what the first one was, and then end up saying a completely different word. But it just took a lot of patience, and then she just "got" it. Now she is doing quite well. We've also started Book 1 from Explode the Code.
I don't have any curriculum ideas, but I would definitely let her know that she will get it and reassure her that she is doing well at what she knows now. It doesn't sound like you are pushing her, and that is VERY good. A lot of kids just aren't ready when the world seems to think they should be. My son went to private and public school until 7th. In the beginning of 1st he still wasn't quite ready. He could sound out words, but it was slow and almost painful. Then sometime during that year, it just started clicking and he did fine. It might be reassuring to you (and her) to know that many people did not learn how to read until much later, but when they did they did fine.
Thanks ladies! She knows she will eventually get it, but I think she sees her brother, whose 8, and it frustrates her. By the time he was her age, he was reading Call of the Wild and Hardy Boys. She wants to read all the things he does because she sees how much fun he has...We will get there, hopefully soon
I would (respectfully) suggest you review but don't give up on your program yet. Sometimes it's a maturity thing and their little brains just need more time. I don't know anything about Abeka. I am using Rudolph Flesch's phonics program with dd, and used Blend Phonics for ds to remediate. Both are on the Don Potter website, I think, if you are interested in something free Blend phonics actually helped both of my children to put sounds together better (and kept ds interested enough to pay attention to word endings!). Basically, you just put up one letter at a time and have the child blend it: c ca cat There are sentences to go with each section as well.
We really enjoyed Click N Kids Phonics. It was great for my boys, and since it's on the computer to them it was all a fun game.
My 6 year old boys have learned loads from Christian Light Language Arts, which teaches phonics exceptionally well (inho) as well as punctuation, grammar, handwriting, and spelling. Their reading skills have improved drastically since we started with CLE and they will point out things while reading now like consonant/vowel digraphs, diphthongs, and consonant blends, etc.
I suggest starting up with the CLE Learning to Read program. About the fifth unit in, then you start up the LA program (ten units). When the Learning to Read is done (ten units), then you're ready to take up the first reader (five units). The Learning to Read starts with letter sounds, but uses a few sight words that start with the same sound you're learning. For example, for the sound of d, the sight word is do; then s with the sight word some; then m with the sight word many; then f with the sight word for. Then short a with the sight word as, and off we go blending with da, ma, sa, fa, af, and ad, am, as, sad, dad, Sam, mad, dam. Then the "do we hear it at the beginning or the ending of the word?" and the word the. These are right out of the first unit -- can you tell I'm doing this with my first-grader dgs right now? There's see it, hear it, say it, write it, ear training, eye training, hand training, decoding (reading) and encoding (spelling). I really like this program, and I'm SO grateful that I'm getting to do it with my dgs!
Two of my kids used www.headsprout.com and did wonderfully. I agree the other posted who mentioned maturity. That's true. Right now my 7 year old is doing McRuffy Phonics and we like it because it includes grammar and spelling along with phonics. It's challenging but if I see she's not getting it, then we just slow down and I review the lesson over and over until she gets it. For example, she is having an awful time with o_e/oa words. The book would be having her move on too quickly, so I've been reviewing the lesson every day this week, as well as have her do the www.starfall.com lesson that pertains to it, and I've printed a few worksheets about it. This morning she says she's ready to go, saying she finally knows it and is excited to get to the lesson. So just don't move on to the next lesson so quickly. Its ok to review a few days til its solid.
My daughter was able to read individual words, but she couldn't read a sentence. Then one day it just clicked with her and now she is reading very well. We started out with Explore the Code and then Explode the Code, she is now in book 3. She also does ClickNKids and we use CLE 1 for LA. It seemed like she would never "get it", but she did. I'd give her a little more time.
My youngest son was given a Dick and Jane book by my mother when he was about four. He LOVED that book! I know that it was sight reading and not phonics, but he gained confidence in reading/remembering the stories, and approached his phonics with a better attitude. We also used the Hooked on Phonics reader boxes with him (we rented them from the library). All three of my kids have used different programs to learn to read, and all three read well- I agree it is a maturity/readiness thing. MT3
You might also look at Progressive Phonics it's also free. I'm going to start working on it with my ds6.
Explode The Code (we LOVE it!) My son also uses Starfall often and reads the leveled readers, like Bob books or the little box that Sonlight offers with their curriculum. But Explode the Code, he's on book 1 right now and I love the ease it has and the review. He sounds out everything, he practices reading the cereal box, street signs, you name it! Book 1 is fairly simple, and he grasps it very quickly and the book slowly builds! We also have book 1.5, 2 & 2.5 I bought the "half" books because I was able to look through books 1 & 2 and thought it would be most beneficial to have all of them for our kindergarten level.
Progressive phonics......hmmm.....never saw this before. Looks interesting. anyone else have any experience with progressive phonics? I am checking this program out. We tried Reading Eggs and Click n Kids and I wasn't happy with either. Truth be told.....I am growing weary of phonics programs that are so gamey and cartoonish. Explode the Code is great!
I think you have been given lots of great advice already and I agree with Meghan about phonemic awareness activities. There are several PA activities to do but 2 that are specific and key to reading success include phonemic blending and phonemic segmentation. These are done orally only though- once in print that is phonics. I do these with my daughter before she reads and is great to do on a daily basis- should take only a few minutes too! Blending- I say what word is this- /t//o//p/ and she says top Segmenting- Break apart/ or take apart the word dog and she says /d//o//g/ Do these maybe with words she will read or specific sounds she is having issues with and it should help. Alot of kids go through bumps and get stuck for awhile and them one day it clicks for them- yay! I'm sure it will happen for her too, and keep doing what you're doing!
I used "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" for both my children and loved it. Now, having said that...what I love about it is that "get it" thing you are talking about; blending the sounds. I do not give it high value as the best phonics or grammar program! But I definitely love how it makes that beginning reading "click"...after that "light bulb" clicks on, I would transition over to a longer term program. (I'm a fan of CLE, too)
