Saxon Publishers
Saxon has three options to teach phonics to young children and struggling/older students. I will detail the three separately since they are uniquely designed for different purposes.
1. Saxon Phonics and Spelling: http://saxonpublishers.hmhco.com/en/saxonphonics.htm
a. Complete phonics program graded for each grade kindergarten through third grade
b. Concepts are introduced incrementally
c. Easy to use lesson scripts
d. Has remediation strategies and activities emphasized throughout
e. Contains little readers that go with each lesson (no need to purchase separate readers); this would also save you from trying to figure out which reader out of your collection is appropriate for your child following each lesson
f. Includes a good blend of high frequency words and phonemic awareness
g. Good for spelling instruction too; strong foundation for spelling later too
h. Daily practice and review
i. Downfalls:
(1) Pricey for remediation—might be more “stuff” than a summer remediation really needs
(2) Contains handwriting practice within it, which many might consider a benefit, but my struggling readers were not ready to do a lot of writing too, so I would consider that a downside or just omit that portion
(3) Created for the classroom (like Saxon Math); thus, it has “more” than a tutor might need; contains some busy work because of this
(4) Looks overwhelming when you open the package AND you have to assemble all of those great little readers I just described above!
(5) Since it is a “graded” program, you will likely not get what you need in a remediation situation; you will either get all of the first grade skills (if you purchase grade one) or all of the second grade skills (if you purchase grade two), etc.
2. Phonics Intervention: http://saxonpublishers.hmhco.com/en/phonicsintervention.htm
a. Created specifically for remediation, targeting fourth grade and up, though a second or third grader would also benefit from it
b. Clear, well-paced lessons at more of a tutorial speed than a regular classroom speed
c. No training needed; just open and begin
d. Skills are introduced and repeated as needed
e. Comes with colorful, controlled-vocabulary reading material, so you do not need to purchase readers
f. Not too childish for older students
g. Downfalls: I’ve never used or seen this program first hand, but I have heard a lot of good about it. The downside I would think could be that it is not a Christian publisher, so the readers will likely be secular. However, I think the benefits (tutoring approach, easy to use, reading material provided, intensive phonics, etc.) would outweigh that for a short tutoring situation
3. Bold Intervention: http://saxonpublishers.hmhco.com/en/boldintervention.htm
a. Saxon says this program is THE program to put your older struggling students on the path to progress
b. Systematic, explicit phonics programs—a real plus for an older child’s remediation program as many times older children’s (and adults’) programs have a tendency to forget the phonics in favor of memorization techniques)
c. Definitely made for older kids—magazine style books, older topics in the reading materials, not childish looking, etc.
d. Claims to get results in just one semester—so seems very tutor-friendly, not focusing on superfluous skills but just getting down to the bare bones of making a reader our of a non reader
e. Easy to teach
f. “Readers” are magazine style with full color graphics and a variety of types of materials—if you have an older child who need phonics remediation, this would be a real plus because it would not have the student reading “Mat sat” at age eleven or twelve, which can be demoralizing
g. Downsides: Again, I have not seen this program, but it is rare to find a strong phonetically based program for older students—with high interest/low readability materials such as those contained within this. Again, the content is secular, and I imagine that all of the reading material would not be up to my liking, but the topics (extreme sports, wild animals, legends, etc.) are extremely interesting to older kids
In a nutshell, I wouldn’t hesitate to use one of the last two programs listed here for remediation (or the Saxon Phonics and Spelling for my first or second grader as a homeschooler). I would probably go with the Intervention for struggling second through fourth graders and Bold Intervention for fifth graders and up who are still word calling at a primary level.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
day 166: summertime—beginning reading help—PHONICS TUTOR--phonics programs to use with struggling young readers—part iii of iv
Phonics Tutor
a. Two options:
(1) Phonics Tutor; good for all ages; lots of practice: http://www.timberdoodle.com/Phonics_Tutor_CD_Rom_Windows_with_Teacher_s_Manual_p/042-145.htm
(2) Frequent Words Program by Phonics Tutor; especially good remediation for older students since it moves quickly: http://www.timberdoodle.com/Frequent_Words_with_Teacher_s_Manual_p/042-367.htm
b. No-nonsense program that works with all learning styles; has auditory, kinesthetic (students types in letters on the keyboard), and visual exercises
c. Is a cd-rom for the computer; appeals to struggling children because it isn’t “another phonics book”
d. No bells or whistles—as Timberdoodle says, “no dancing bears”—but a solid program with sequential learning, based on true phonetic components
e. May move at own pace or follow easy to understand lessons
f. Can literally load it on the computer and begin—the least teacher preparation I have ever seen in any curriculum
g. Multiple students may use it at the same time (i.e. multiple log ins allowed)
h. Non-consumable, so may be resold
i. Excellent spelling foundation; may also be used for spelling after reading instruction is completed
j. Does have child “spell” words he is learning, but only once words are mastered at the reading level
k. Timberdoodle describes this program: “With no dancing bears or racing bunnies, PhonicsTutor seems uniquely designed to meet the needs of the reluctant or non-reading older child. PhonicsTutor is a step-by-step computerized teaching tool with 128 lessons and seven activities within each lesson to instruct and reinforce the main topic. All 3,500 words are presented orally along with associated spelling rules. Phonetic analysis, reading, word spelling and diction activities make PhonicsTutor appealing to all learning modalities. No other program we examined has matched PhonicsTutor for thoroughness and ease of use. It is a perfect format for the older non-reader or special need child.”
l. Concerning Frequent Words (listed above with link), Timberdoodle says: “A young child who is already reading but needs additional phonics work may find Frequent Words, (see software), more appropriate.”
m. TRY BEFORE YOU BUY! Timberdoodle (at the link above) has “try before you buy” portions of this program available at their site; you can try it out with your child to see if it is what you are looking for
n. When Ray and I dream of how we want our ministry to grow and reach people, we have a crazy, unrealistic dream of being able to give this program to families with dyslexic students to give them the gift of reading—that’s how much I love this program.
o. Downfalls:
(1) Will want to purchase readers to practice sounds; however, this phonics program has more “built in” reading of words and sentences within it than most programs I have seen
(2) Students must type all of the letters/families in the blanks. Some might see this as a downfall; I think it is a blessing as many children who struggle with writing also struggle with the “penning” process of writing
(3) Must have computer to use it; there is a workbook available, but I didn’t find it that helpful compared to the cd’s, which are loaded with exercises
a. Two options:
(1) Phonics Tutor; good for all ages; lots of practice: http://www.timberdoodle.com/Phonics_Tutor_CD_Rom_Windows_with_Teacher_s_Manual_p/042-145.htm
(2) Frequent Words Program by Phonics Tutor; especially good remediation for older students since it moves quickly: http://www.timberdoodle.com/Frequent_Words_with_Teacher_s_Manual_p/042-367.htm
b. No-nonsense program that works with all learning styles; has auditory, kinesthetic (students types in letters on the keyboard), and visual exercises
c. Is a cd-rom for the computer; appeals to struggling children because it isn’t “another phonics book”
d. No bells or whistles—as Timberdoodle says, “no dancing bears”—but a solid program with sequential learning, based on true phonetic components
e. May move at own pace or follow easy to understand lessons
f. Can literally load it on the computer and begin—the least teacher preparation I have ever seen in any curriculum
g. Multiple students may use it at the same time (i.e. multiple log ins allowed)
h. Non-consumable, so may be resold
i. Excellent spelling foundation; may also be used for spelling after reading instruction is completed
j. Does have child “spell” words he is learning, but only once words are mastered at the reading level
k. Timberdoodle describes this program: “With no dancing bears or racing bunnies, PhonicsTutor seems uniquely designed to meet the needs of the reluctant or non-reading older child. PhonicsTutor is a step-by-step computerized teaching tool with 128 lessons and seven activities within each lesson to instruct and reinforce the main topic. All 3,500 words are presented orally along with associated spelling rules. Phonetic analysis, reading, word spelling and diction activities make PhonicsTutor appealing to all learning modalities. No other program we examined has matched PhonicsTutor for thoroughness and ease of use. It is a perfect format for the older non-reader or special need child.”
l. Concerning Frequent Words (listed above with link), Timberdoodle says: “A young child who is already reading but needs additional phonics work may find Frequent Words, (see software), more appropriate.”
m. TRY BEFORE YOU BUY! Timberdoodle (at the link above) has “try before you buy” portions of this program available at their site; you can try it out with your child to see if it is what you are looking for
n. When Ray and I dream of how we want our ministry to grow and reach people, we have a crazy, unrealistic dream of being able to give this program to families with dyslexic students to give them the gift of reading—that’s how much I love this program.
o. Downfalls:
(1) Will want to purchase readers to practice sounds; however, this phonics program has more “built in” reading of words and sentences within it than most programs I have seen
(2) Students must type all of the letters/families in the blanks. Some might see this as a downfall; I think it is a blessing as many children who struggle with writing also struggle with the “penning” process of writing
(3) Must have computer to use it; there is a workbook available, but I didn’t find it that helpful compared to the cd’s, which are loaded with exercises
day 165: summertime—beginning reading help—PLAY ‘N TALK--phonics programs to use with struggling young readers—part ii of iv
Over the next couple of days, I will detail my favorite three phonics programs—one that is out of print, but available used; one that uses computer cd-roms and works well for dyslexics and older students as well (and has no teacher work/prep AT ALL); and one that is more laborious but contains a reader for each sound and is more kid-friendly. Each of them uses a strong word family approach with sight words included as appropriate.
Play ‘n Talk
a. Two routes to go:
(1) digitized (parts of it): http://www.play-n-talk.com/index.htm
(2) Used: will probably have to put a “wanted” out up on a used site to find one
b. Created by a true visionary who loved to help children and families; a very godly woman; many, many years ago (thirty to forty years ago); not necessarily “religious” in content though
c. Contains cd’s with accompanying books
d. Contains other practice tools, including “Slide and Sound,” an exceptional yet simple little cardstock kit in which students practice word families with various beginning sounds
e. Contains daily lesson plans that tell you exactly what to do (which cd to listen to, which book to use, which practice tools to use, etc.)
f. Fairly easy to use: without creating “extra” tools it suggests like “egg carton wells to place word cards into,” you could literally sit down and go (not all of the practice suggestions are necessary; I often forfeited the homemade ones (not wanting to add to my work load) and used real reading more
g. You do not need to know anything about teaching or have experience in teaching a child to read—it is truly all laid out as it was created for parents to use with their children, not for a school
h. One of the most comprehensive phonics programs available—does not end after a child is reading two syllable words—goes into compounds, prefixes, suffixes, and much more
i. Outstanding foundation for learning to spell later
j. Downfalls:
(1) It is only available used (except for digital portions online), so might be hard to find
(2) It does not contain readers—follow me the next few days as I describe readers for different levels; you will want to add readers to P’nT
(3) It is old fashioned looking and sounding (not “Amish old fashioned” but think early cartoons/cartoon drawings and music old fashioned—I didn’t mind this, but some might)
(4) Was not sold in pieces, so it was expensive to purchase the entire program—and if you only needed or wanted part of it, you could not get it that way; will likely only be sold as the entire set, even if you do not want all of the extras
(5) Parts are available digitized—but it looked confusing to me, and I understand the program!
Play ‘n Talk
a. Two routes to go:
(1) digitized (parts of it): http://www.play-n-talk.com/index.htm
(2) Used: will probably have to put a “wanted” out up on a used site to find one
b. Created by a true visionary who loved to help children and families; a very godly woman; many, many years ago (thirty to forty years ago); not necessarily “religious” in content though
c. Contains cd’s with accompanying books
d. Contains other practice tools, including “Slide and Sound,” an exceptional yet simple little cardstock kit in which students practice word families with various beginning sounds
e. Contains daily lesson plans that tell you exactly what to do (which cd to listen to, which book to use, which practice tools to use, etc.)
f. Fairly easy to use: without creating “extra” tools it suggests like “egg carton wells to place word cards into,” you could literally sit down and go (not all of the practice suggestions are necessary; I often forfeited the homemade ones (not wanting to add to my work load) and used real reading more
g. You do not need to know anything about teaching or have experience in teaching a child to read—it is truly all laid out as it was created for parents to use with their children, not for a school
h. One of the most comprehensive phonics programs available—does not end after a child is reading two syllable words—goes into compounds, prefixes, suffixes, and much more
i. Outstanding foundation for learning to spell later
j. Downfalls:
(1) It is only available used (except for digital portions online), so might be hard to find
(2) It does not contain readers—follow me the next few days as I describe readers for different levels; you will want to add readers to P’nT
(3) It is old fashioned looking and sounding (not “Amish old fashioned” but think early cartoons/cartoon drawings and music old fashioned—I didn’t mind this, but some might)
(4) Was not sold in pieces, so it was expensive to purchase the entire program—and if you only needed or wanted part of it, you could not get it that way; will likely only be sold as the entire set, even if you do not want all of the extras
(5) Parts are available digitized—but it looked confusing to me, and I understand the program!
day 164: summertime—beginning reading help—phonics programs to use with struggling young readers—part i of iv
I have already described the difference between the ladder letter approach (ba says bah, be says behhh, neither of which is really true) and word families in phonics instruction. I recommend that you use a word family phonics approach, hopefully one that throws in sight words as it goes and as your child broadens his word calling list. (As opposed to something that uses sight words only, like a “teach your baby to read” program.) Again, sight words have their place, but let’s give our kids all the tools we possibly can in their learning.
When I taught our first six children to read (and many others through my private tutoring practice), I used what was described in the early years of homeschooling as “the Cadillac of reading programs.” The program was called “Play ‘n Talk.” Eventually, many reviewers and reading specialists heralded it as superior to the popular, “Sing, Spell, Read, and Write” because PnT used a strong word family approach, though it for sure did not have all of the bells and whistles of “Sing, Spell, Read, and Write.”
“Play n Talk” is no longer available. The visionary who wrote it is gone, and, unfortunately, it is out of print. (And it would require some revising to sell it today since it was fairly old fashioned in appearance, text, pictures, etc.) PnT had records(!), then cassettes, then cd’s, containing the word families, with coordinating books for the student to read and hear the sounds. It had many practice items with it, including one of the best phonics practices I have ever seen, the popular “slide and sound,” a cardstock system in which the word families were on the right and the beginning sounds were on the left, and the student practiced reading all of the words in each family with the various beginning sounds. (PnT is still available used in many places.)
For my seventh (and last) child, who had fairly strong dyslexic tendencies (though not to the extent of our second child), I used a program that was developed using the Orton-Gilliam method of instruction, a method that was designed specifically for people with dyslexia. While it used that method of instruction, it is appropriate for all learners—and has a remarkable track record. It is called Phonics Tutor, and I will give more details and links about it in tomorrow’s post.
I have had friends who have had great results with a program called Saxon Reading, from the creators of Saxon Math. This program comes with readers for each sound, which is amazing. (See details tomorrow.) Likewise, I have had friends who have remediated their older struggling readers with Saxon Intervention, a remedial phonics program that moves more quickly and is not so “young” looking and childish in its readers, etc.
“Play n Talk,” “Phonics Tutor,” and “Saxon Phonics and Spelling” are all expensive programs. However, I am under the belief that when it comes to teaching children, you get what you pay for. And learning to read well is a spot where I would truly invest whatever finances were necessary within my resources.
Can you teach your child to read, or finish teaching your child to read, this summer without an expensive program? Definitely. I know dozens of students who have learned to read with an inexpensive book called “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons,” despite its unorthodox methods. These students moved seamlessly from that program into a word family spelling program and had great success in school. I know of others who were taught to read by Mom with only a list of phonics sounds and suggestions in a reading handbook—and stacks of readers from the library each week.
If your child is ready to learn to read, you work with him everyday, he is immersed in a reading environment, etc., you will likely help your child greatly this summer, regardless of whether you purchase an elaborate or expensive program. However, if my child were going into second, third, or fourth grade in a school in the fall and still couldn’t read what the school expects him to read, I would spend the money and the time needed to help him catch up to his peers.
Join us tomorrow as I begin reviewing the programs mentioned here in more detail and give links and comparisons.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
day 163: summertime—beginning reading help—tutoring your child yourself without a program part ii of ii
Tips for tutoring your child yourself without a program…continued from yesterday:
4. Work every week day (and sometimes even weekends)—or even twice a day, if possible. Work in short snatches of ten to fifteen minutes. Work on reviewing previous day’s sounds, reading yesterday’s “reader,” learning a new sound, then reading something containing today’s sounds. Short snatches. No bells and whistles—just keep plugging away on learning sounds, learning words, and reading, reading, reading.**
5. Use sight words as needed—but do not make sight words out of words that have phonetic components. I had one entire graduate class that did nothing but teach us that phonics is unnecessary and even harmful. The professor gathered literally dozens of articles about the breakdown of phonics, how there are too many exceptions in phonics for it to be useful, etc., into one huge “book” that was our textbook. He advocated a sight word approach to teaching a child to read—like treating each word as a sight word and giving children word lists of twenty unrelated (phonetically-speaking) words is superior to some exceptions! Are there exceptions to phonics rules? You bet! But there are also exceptions to grammar rules (galore), but we do not skip grammar because of it. (“There are so many exceptions to verb conjugations that we are just going to hope for the best when our kids write”—and not teach them the conjugations that are similar, consistent, and alike? We wouldn’t consider that.) Thus, my take on sight words is that if a word has a phonetic component to it, teach that component whenever possible. For example, the word “you” is a common sight word—and rightly so. However, we would be amiss if we didn’t at least point out to our student that he knows what “y” usually says at the beginning of a word, like in “yes,” “yak,” and “yellow.” And that “you” is at least consistent with the consonant “y” sound in its beginning sound. It is unfair to our kids to not give them every tool we can think of to unlock learning for them.
6. Use readers liberally. Teaching reading without readers is like teaching a child to play the piano with theory worksheets and musical note flash cards only. A pianist must play a piano in order to learn to play piano—and a reader must read “books” in order to learn to read. I will delve into readers tomorrow.
**Read, read, read: Be sure you do not practice skills but not apply them to reading! Phonics is for reading; grammar is for writing and speaking. Learning skills without applying them often feels useless to students (and rightly so).
Happy reading lessons from Ray and Donna Reish at Positive Parenting 3*6*5!
4. Work every week day (and sometimes even weekends)—or even twice a day, if possible. Work in short snatches of ten to fifteen minutes. Work on reviewing previous day’s sounds, reading yesterday’s “reader,” learning a new sound, then reading something containing today’s sounds. Short snatches. No bells and whistles—just keep plugging away on learning sounds, learning words, and reading, reading, reading.**
5. Use sight words as needed—but do not make sight words out of words that have phonetic components. I had one entire graduate class that did nothing but teach us that phonics is unnecessary and even harmful. The professor gathered literally dozens of articles about the breakdown of phonics, how there are too many exceptions in phonics for it to be useful, etc., into one huge “book” that was our textbook. He advocated a sight word approach to teaching a child to read—like treating each word as a sight word and giving children word lists of twenty unrelated (phonetically-speaking) words is superior to some exceptions! Are there exceptions to phonics rules? You bet! But there are also exceptions to grammar rules (galore), but we do not skip grammar because of it. (“There are so many exceptions to verb conjugations that we are just going to hope for the best when our kids write”—and not teach them the conjugations that are similar, consistent, and alike? We wouldn’t consider that.) Thus, my take on sight words is that if a word has a phonetic component to it, teach that component whenever possible. For example, the word “you” is a common sight word—and rightly so. However, we would be amiss if we didn’t at least point out to our student that he knows what “y” usually says at the beginning of a word, like in “yes,” “yak,” and “yellow.” And that “you” is at least consistent with the consonant “y” sound in its beginning sound. It is unfair to our kids to not give them every tool we can think of to unlock learning for them.
6. Use readers liberally. Teaching reading without readers is like teaching a child to play the piano with theory worksheets and musical note flash cards only. A pianist must play a piano in order to learn to play piano—and a reader must read “books” in order to learn to read. I will delve into readers tomorrow.
**Read, read, read: Be sure you do not practice skills but not apply them to reading! Phonics is for reading; grammar is for writing and speaking. Learning skills without applying them often feels useless to students (and rightly so).
Happy reading lessons from Ray and Donna Reish at Positive Parenting 3*6*5!
day 162: summertime—beginning reading help—tutoring your child yourself without a program part i of ii
If you decide not to hire a tutor or tutoring service, but to help your child yourself without a specific phonics program, you will likely have a lot of success! (Parents make awesome teachers! )
I have taught dozens of people, from ages five to sixty-five, how to read through the years, and I just feel compelled to share some tips (why do I always have this compulsion??? LOL!):
1. Do not be tempted to get caught up in questioning your child about everything he reads to you in an effort to “build comprehension” at this stage. As I said before, during the early reading years, comprehension is built much better through “listening comprehension.”* That is, through listening to you read aloud, listening to audio materials, discussion, etc. Again, at this stage, focus on helping your child learn to sound out or recognize words in anything you place before him (starting with picture books and then moving on).
2. See where you need to start and go from there. Yes, you might want to review what he learned and remembers from school this year, but remember that time is of essence here. Thus, see what he already knows well and branch out. If, for example, you see that he knows all of his short vowel and long vowel sounds, but gets stuck on digraphs (ow, oy, etc), review the sounds he knows quickly, provide lots of readers with those sounds, and move into the sounds that he does not know.
3. Understand that the hardest part of learning to decode for a child is often “blending” or “chunking” the sounds together. This is one benchmark of readiness that we teach parents in our homeschooling workshops to watch for—and where reading often breaks down for younger kids who have not reached reading readiness. A little one may learn that when he sees the “at” combination, he should say it “at.” However, when he tries to put the consonant before the “at,” he gets stuck and cannot blend it all together. I always knew that when my kids could recognize the families but not put them together with the beginning consonants, consonant blends, etc. on a consistent basis, they probably need a little more readiness time before we dig into learning to read.
*Listening comprehension tip: If you are truly concerned about comprehension in your struggling word-caller, you should know a little tip about listening comprehension. Listening comprehension level is the level at which a child can comprehend what he hears. Obviously, there are many factors involved in listening comprehension level—such as learning styles, presentation of information, interest level, etc. (but that is the case with reading comprehension, too). However, generally speaking, your child’s reading comprehension level (if he were able to sound out words easily) would be similar to his listening comprehension level at that time. I always tell parents that if they get their child up to “word calling level,” he will be able to comprehend that level easily, provided he can comprehend at that level when listening. Again, we focus on building listening comprehension extensively while a child is learning to read—and let the child labor hard learning to decode.
…continued tomorrow…
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
day 161: summertime—beginning reading help—hiring a tutor, part ii of ii
Notes From Yesterday’s “Hiring a Tutor” post:
*Private tutor: If you are in the market for a good tutor, consider a homeschooling mother who has well-educated teens and tweens (who have never gone to school). These moms often make the very best private tutors. Why? Because they have been doing that very job of “private tutor” for ten years or more. They have likely had different types of learners. They have had to trouble shoot for a variety of problems. They have had to find things that work, knowing that next year a struggling learner would be back in their classroom again (not move on to the next teacher)!
**Being sure the tutor uses a good phonics program: I am going to talk in detail about phonics programs for those parents who want to help their students learn to read (or finish learning to read) this summer in a day or two. However, for your purposes here, if you are hiring a tutor to help your child learn to read, you will want to be sure that the tutor uses a phonics-based, word-family approach to decoding. This means the following:
a. The tutor does not use a sight word approach (trying to help your child memorize long lists of unrelated words, like a “teach your baby to read” program does). Any good reading teacher will include sight words as part of the instruction, but a good reading program is phonics based, relying on sight words only when a word does not have any or has very few phonetic elements (the word “you,” for example).
b. The tutor does not use a ladder letter approach. Think “Little House on the Prairie” or “Waltons” here. It looked sweet in that one room schoolhouse to see kids all lined up chanting, “baaah, beh, bihh, bohh, buhhh, etc.; however, ba does not say bahhh…it says bay; be does not say behhh, it says bee (be); etc. That approach often works for initial reading instruction, but has to be abandoned for spelling a year or two later—and a new approach has to be learned. Start your reader out with an approach that uses word families (“at”—he can read “bat,” “cat,” “fat,” “hat,” “mat,” “pat,” “sat,” “rat,” and much more immediately)—and will carry over to learning to spell. Again, I will make recommendations in upcoming days.
***Other reading skills while learning to read? Fill in the blank exercises and answering questions following a passage of material will not teach your child to decode words. In our home, in the first couple of years of school, we focus on the hard work of learning to sound out words and reading everything placed before our children. Comprehension is taught via discussion, reading aloud, audio materials, and more. Early readers do not have much to comprehend. Word calling (decoding) and comprehending material are two different skills. At first, reading comprehension is not the most important thing. Learning to read is. (And yes, I know, if a person does not comprehend, it doesn’t matter what he can sound out. And yes, that is true. However, there is a skill order here. Comprehension can be worked on in other avenues while the child focuses on word calling until he is fluent.)
****Readers—if you are going to be helping your child with beginning reading or hiring a tutor this summer, please stay with us! I want to explain in detail about readers for this age child—and readers can truly make a huge difference in your child’s reading development.
Thanks for joining us…I won’t leave you hanging here…more help to come. Thanks! PP 365.
*Private tutor: If you are in the market for a good tutor, consider a homeschooling mother who has well-educated teens and tweens (who have never gone to school). These moms often make the very best private tutors. Why? Because they have been doing that very job of “private tutor” for ten years or more. They have likely had different types of learners. They have had to trouble shoot for a variety of problems. They have had to find things that work, knowing that next year a struggling learner would be back in their classroom again (not move on to the next teacher)!
**Being sure the tutor uses a good phonics program: I am going to talk in detail about phonics programs for those parents who want to help their students learn to read (or finish learning to read) this summer in a day or two. However, for your purposes here, if you are hiring a tutor to help your child learn to read, you will want to be sure that the tutor uses a phonics-based, word-family approach to decoding. This means the following:
a. The tutor does not use a sight word approach (trying to help your child memorize long lists of unrelated words, like a “teach your baby to read” program does). Any good reading teacher will include sight words as part of the instruction, but a good reading program is phonics based, relying on sight words only when a word does not have any or has very few phonetic elements (the word “you,” for example).
b. The tutor does not use a ladder letter approach. Think “Little House on the Prairie” or “Waltons” here. It looked sweet in that one room schoolhouse to see kids all lined up chanting, “baaah, beh, bihh, bohh, buhhh, etc.; however, ba does not say bahhh…it says bay; be does not say behhh, it says bee (be); etc. That approach often works for initial reading instruction, but has to be abandoned for spelling a year or two later—and a new approach has to be learned. Start your reader out with an approach that uses word families (“at”—he can read “bat,” “cat,” “fat,” “hat,” “mat,” “pat,” “sat,” “rat,” and much more immediately)—and will carry over to learning to spell. Again, I will make recommendations in upcoming days.
***Other reading skills while learning to read? Fill in the blank exercises and answering questions following a passage of material will not teach your child to decode words. In our home, in the first couple of years of school, we focus on the hard work of learning to sound out words and reading everything placed before our children. Comprehension is taught via discussion, reading aloud, audio materials, and more. Early readers do not have much to comprehend. Word calling (decoding) and comprehending material are two different skills. At first, reading comprehension is not the most important thing. Learning to read is. (And yes, I know, if a person does not comprehend, it doesn’t matter what he can sound out. And yes, that is true. However, there is a skill order here. Comprehension can be worked on in other avenues while the child focuses on word calling until he is fluent.)
****Readers—if you are going to be helping your child with beginning reading or hiring a tutor this summer, please stay with us! I want to explain in detail about readers for this age child—and readers can truly make a huge difference in your child’s reading development.
Thanks for joining us…I won’t leave you hanging here…more help to come. Thanks! PP 365.
day 160: summertime—beginning reading help—hiring a tutor, part i of ii
If you have a little one who is going into second or third grade and is expected to know how to read picture books, but cannot, you will want to help him this summer. (See yesterday’s post.)
There are a few options that you have to help your little one achieve reading fluency and be closer to his peers in his early reading skills when he goes back to school this fall:
1. Tutor or tutoring service
2. Working with him at home without a program
3. Working with him at home with a program
Today’s blog will focus on the first one—hiring a tutor or taking him to a tutoring service.
Take him to a tutoring service or hire a tutor
There are plenty of fine private tutors* out there. (I used to be one of them!) And many tutoring services available, of which some are probably very good as well. However, there are a few problems with only hiring tutoring for your child:
1. The tutor or tutoring service may or may not focus on what your child truly needs: to be brought up to speed in reading. A tutoring service, especially, often sees it as their job to bring a student up in all areas of school, according to their standards. If I had a child going into second grade at school who could not decode (sound out) words well enough to pick up a picture book at the library and read it (assuming that is the school’s expectation), I would not concern myself with reading “comprehension” (much more on that in a few days), social studies, science, etc. If you go the hiring a tutor route, explain to that person that you want him or her to work with your child on learning to decode and recognize words. (Be sure he or she uses a word family phonics program**.) And read. Not fill in the blanks, answer questions***, or play concentration or hang man. You want that person to help your child learn to sound out words so that he can pick up a library book and read at the level his peers will be reading at in the fall. Leave all the frills and thrills for another time.
2. Once or twice a week tutoring will not teach your child to read anymore than going to a piano lesson once a week (without practice and oversight) will teach your child to play the piano. You will want to get readers**** and read everyday with your child. You will want to practice the sounds and words that the tutor is reviewing with your child every day (maybe even twice a day) at home. You will want your child to be immersed in a reading environment. (Stay with me—creating a reading environment is coming up in a few days!)
* ** *** **** Notes from today’s post will be given tomorrow…I am afraid I am putting too much info in each post….don’t want to overwhelm young parents, especially.
day 159: summertime--helping struggling early readers overview part ii of ii
I am going to spend today defining three terms that I introduced yesterday since these terms will be used throughout this series on helping your struggling early readers.
*Reading Fluency—
1. For our purposes here, “reading fluency” is defined as the ability to pick up and read whatever the child should be reading according to his grade in school, as it relates to word-calling (sounding out/decoding) words.
2. Thus, if the school wants the new second graders in the fall to be able to pick up non-phonetically controlled**/non-vocabulary controlled*** picture books and read them without mis-reading more than a few words, “reading fluency” for that child would be the ability to do that. (To begin using our language arts programs, we recommend that a child have reached “reading fluency” in that he be able to read picture books without help. That is another way of looking at reading fluency.)
**Phonetically-Controlled Picture Books—
1. Phonetically-controlled picture books are those that are filled with a set group of words based on certain phonetic components, such as mostly short a words or only long vowel words—such as the case with many readers (more on readers in the next few days).
2. Phonetically-controlled picture books are excellent first readers since new readers should read from actual books every day.
3. When I describe non-phonetically controlled picture books, I am describing library books or other children’s books whose contents are not dictated by certain phonics sounds. The infamous “Bob Books” are extremely phonetically-controlled; Curious George is not. In the beginning, a child needs “Bob Books” type of books to practice his new sounds.
***Vocabulary-Controlled Picture Books-
1. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are those that are filled with a set group of words only.
2. An example of a vocabulary-controlled picture book is one that has a short list of words that are contained in that book—and that book does not contain other words.
3. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are excellent second readers (after ones that contain only phonetically-controlled words; after a child has a larger reading vocabulary than just short and long vowel one syllable words, for instance) as they help the student branch out in his reading, but still only expect him to be able to read a small number of words.
4. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are those that have a word list on the back—and only contain those twenty words or so.
5. Again, Curious George is generally not vocabulary-controlled; these vocabulary-controlled books are often found in “early readers” sections of library, along with the phonetically-controlled ones.
*Reading Fluency—
1. For our purposes here, “reading fluency” is defined as the ability to pick up and read whatever the child should be reading according to his grade in school, as it relates to word-calling (sounding out/decoding) words.
2. Thus, if the school wants the new second graders in the fall to be able to pick up non-phonetically controlled**/non-vocabulary controlled*** picture books and read them without mis-reading more than a few words, “reading fluency” for that child would be the ability to do that. (To begin using our language arts programs, we recommend that a child have reached “reading fluency” in that he be able to read picture books without help. That is another way of looking at reading fluency.)
**Phonetically-Controlled Picture Books—
1. Phonetically-controlled picture books are those that are filled with a set group of words based on certain phonetic components, such as mostly short a words or only long vowel words—such as the case with many readers (more on readers in the next few days).
2. Phonetically-controlled picture books are excellent first readers since new readers should read from actual books every day.
3. When I describe non-phonetically controlled picture books, I am describing library books or other children’s books whose contents are not dictated by certain phonics sounds. The infamous “Bob Books” are extremely phonetically-controlled; Curious George is not. In the beginning, a child needs “Bob Books” type of books to practice his new sounds.
***Vocabulary-Controlled Picture Books-
1. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are those that are filled with a set group of words only.
2. An example of a vocabulary-controlled picture book is one that has a short list of words that are contained in that book—and that book does not contain other words.
3. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are excellent second readers (after ones that contain only phonetically-controlled words; after a child has a larger reading vocabulary than just short and long vowel one syllable words, for instance) as they help the student branch out in his reading, but still only expect him to be able to read a small number of words.
4. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are those that have a word list on the back—and only contain those twenty words or so.
5. Again, Curious George is generally not vocabulary-controlled; these vocabulary-controlled books are often found in “early readers” sections of library, along with the phonetically-controlled ones.
day 159: summertime--helping struggling early readers overview part ii of ii
I am going to spend today defining three terms that I introduced yesterday since these terms will be used throughout this series on helping your struggling early readers.
*Reading Fluency—
1. For our purposes here, “reading fluency” is defined as the ability to pick up and read whatever the child should be reading according to his grade in school, as it relates to word-calling (sounding out/decoding) words.
2. Thus, if the school wants the new second graders in the fall to be able to pick up non-phonetically controlled**/non-vocabulary controlled*** picture books and read them without mis-reading more than a few words, “reading fluency” for that child would be the ability to do that. (To begin using our language arts programs, we recommend that a child have reached “reading fluency” in that he be able to read picture books without help. That is another way of looking at reading fluency.)
**Phonetically-Controlled Picture Books—
1. Phonetically-controlled picture books are those that are filled with a set group of words based on certain phonetic components, such as mostly short a words or only long vowel words—such as the case with many readers (more on readers in the next few days).
2. Phonetically-controlled picture books are excellent first readers since new readers should read from actual books every day.
3. When I describe non-phonetically controlled picture books, I am describing library books or other children’s books whose contents are not dictated by certain phonics sounds. The infamous “Bob Books” are extremely phonetically-controlled; Curious George is not. In the beginning, a child needs “Bob Books” type of books to practice his new sounds.
***Vocabulary-Controlled Picture Books-
1. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are those that are filled with a set group of words only.
2. An example of a vocabulary-controlled picture book is one that has a short list of words that are contained in that book—and that book does not contain other words.
3. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are excellent second readers (after ones that contain only phonetically-controlled words; after a child has a larger reading vocabulary than just short and long vowel one syllable words, for instance) as they help the student branch out in his reading, but still only expect him to be able to read a small number of words.
4. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are those that have a word list on the back—and only contain those twenty words or so.
5. Again, Curious George is generally not vocabulary-controlled; these vocabulary-controlled books are often found in “early readers” sections of library, along with the phonetically-controlled ones.
*Reading Fluency—
1. For our purposes here, “reading fluency” is defined as the ability to pick up and read whatever the child should be reading according to his grade in school, as it relates to word-calling (sounding out/decoding) words.
2. Thus, if the school wants the new second graders in the fall to be able to pick up non-phonetically controlled**/non-vocabulary controlled*** picture books and read them without mis-reading more than a few words, “reading fluency” for that child would be the ability to do that. (To begin using our language arts programs, we recommend that a child have reached “reading fluency” in that he be able to read picture books without help. That is another way of looking at reading fluency.)
**Phonetically-Controlled Picture Books—
1. Phonetically-controlled picture books are those that are filled with a set group of words based on certain phonetic components, such as mostly short a words or only long vowel words—such as the case with many readers (more on readers in the next few days).
2. Phonetically-controlled picture books are excellent first readers since new readers should read from actual books every day.
3. When I describe non-phonetically controlled picture books, I am describing library books or other children’s books whose contents are not dictated by certain phonics sounds. The infamous “Bob Books” are extremely phonetically-controlled; Curious George is not. In the beginning, a child needs “Bob Books” type of books to practice his new sounds.
***Vocabulary-Controlled Picture Books-
1. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are those that are filled with a set group of words only.
2. An example of a vocabulary-controlled picture book is one that has a short list of words that are contained in that book—and that book does not contain other words.
3. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are excellent second readers (after ones that contain only phonetically-controlled words; after a child has a larger reading vocabulary than just short and long vowel one syllable words, for instance) as they help the student branch out in his reading, but still only expect him to be able to read a small number of words.
4. Vocabulary-controlled picture books are those that have a word list on the back—and only contain those twenty words or so.
5. Again, Curious George is generally not vocabulary-controlled; these vocabulary-controlled books are often found in “early readers” sections of library, along with the phonetically-controlled ones.
day 158: summertime—helping struggling early readers overview part i of ii
I want to start my “summer instruction” with one of the most important aspects of helping your children academically in the summer: reading.
I have two vastly different approaches to beginning reading instruction for this blog’s purposes. (Beginning reading being defined as learning to sound out (or decode) words put before your child, mostly in context (in a book).)
The two approaches include the following:
1. If you do not homeschool, this first one applies to you. If your child is in first, second, or third grade (or beyond?) and is supposed to have reached “reading fluency” by the school’s standards and his/her peer’s levels and you plan to keep that child in that grade with that expectancy, I recommend that you run, not walk, someplace to get help for your child. I will elaborate on this tomorrow.
2. If you do homeschool, and your little one at age six, seven, or eight has not reached reading fluency, do not push it. One of the beauties of homeschooling is the prerogative to wait until a child is ready to learn a certain thing before he has to learn it. If your child has not achieved reading readiness (i.e. the readiness to learn how to blend letters together to decode (sound out) word), just wait for readiness to happen. Our son who tested out of his entire college degree, except for two courses for which there were no exams, did not learn to read until he was eight. Our daughter, who just graduated with two degrees magna cum laude and achieved a perfect verbal ACT score two times, did not learn to read until she was nine years old. Readiness to learn to read has nothing to do with intelligence. Our children will love learning and enjoy school much more if we wait for reading readiness before we insist that they learn to read.
Learning to read is the foundation of all school. Many, many students have been unable to learn to read at the time that it was designated that they should learn—and suffered from it throughout their entire lives. A vicious cycle often begins with these kids—they are not ready when their grade level indicates that they should be ready, then they fall behind. The class continues on with the next skill set while this little guy (oftentimes) continues to be lost. Then when he truly is ready to learn to decode, the class is learning how to write and spell—and this student thinks he is stupid and unable to learn (when in reality he could be very, very smart). If your child goes to school and is behind in learning to read, you will want to be diligent this summer to try to catch him up. Positive Parenting 3*6*5 wants to help you do that.
Note: If you are in a school system in which reading readiness is considered and someone works one on one with students to bring them to reading fluency as late as second and third grade, you are very blessed and will want to partner with your school in helping your child learn the foundational skill of decoding words.
Tomorrow, I will define the terms listed in this post further—“reading fluency,” “phonetically-controlled readers,” and “vocabulary-controlled readers." I will use these terms throughout this series, so I will spend a little time on each one. Stay with me--I love to help parents help their children! smile..
I have two vastly different approaches to beginning reading instruction for this blog’s purposes. (Beginning reading being defined as learning to sound out (or decode) words put before your child, mostly in context (in a book).)
The two approaches include the following:
1. If you do not homeschool, this first one applies to you. If your child is in first, second, or third grade (or beyond?) and is supposed to have reached “reading fluency” by the school’s standards and his/her peer’s levels and you plan to keep that child in that grade with that expectancy, I recommend that you run, not walk, someplace to get help for your child. I will elaborate on this tomorrow.
2. If you do homeschool, and your little one at age six, seven, or eight has not reached reading fluency, do not push it. One of the beauties of homeschooling is the prerogative to wait until a child is ready to learn a certain thing before he has to learn it. If your child has not achieved reading readiness (i.e. the readiness to learn how to blend letters together to decode (sound out) word), just wait for readiness to happen. Our son who tested out of his entire college degree, except for two courses for which there were no exams, did not learn to read until he was eight. Our daughter, who just graduated with two degrees magna cum laude and achieved a perfect verbal ACT score two times, did not learn to read until she was nine years old. Readiness to learn to read has nothing to do with intelligence. Our children will love learning and enjoy school much more if we wait for reading readiness before we insist that they learn to read.
Learning to read is the foundation of all school. Many, many students have been unable to learn to read at the time that it was designated that they should learn—and suffered from it throughout their entire lives. A vicious cycle often begins with these kids—they are not ready when their grade level indicates that they should be ready, then they fall behind. The class continues on with the next skill set while this little guy (oftentimes) continues to be lost. Then when he truly is ready to learn to decode, the class is learning how to write and spell—and this student thinks he is stupid and unable to learn (when in reality he could be very, very smart). If your child goes to school and is behind in learning to read, you will want to be diligent this summer to try to catch him up. Positive Parenting 3*6*5 wants to help you do that.
Note: If you are in a school system in which reading readiness is considered and someone works one on one with students to bring them to reading fluency as late as second and third grade, you are very blessed and will want to partner with your school in helping your child learn the foundational skill of decoding words.
Tomorrow, I will define the terms listed in this post further—“reading fluency,” “phonetically-controlled readers,” and “vocabulary-controlled readers." I will use these terms throughout this series, so I will spend a little time on each one. Stay with me--I love to help parents help their children! smile..
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