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JennGM
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 2:02pm | IP Logged
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My son, almost 8, is an excellent reader, both out loud and silently. His comprehension level is very high, he has a wonderful ability to read aloud.
But we skipped phonics. I always thought I would need that reinforced and taught. We haven't done reading as a subject, he's never used readers except for enjoyment. We did some of Sound Beginnings, but trailed off when he just bolted in his reading.
His pronunciation and application of phonics is very good. His only problems it when they are exceptions, like PlymOWTh Rock instead of PlymUHth Rock.
Should I go back and reinforce the phonics rules? Should incorporate more formal reading classes this year? I was thinking of just going through the basic phonics rules with Sound Beginnings just to make a better foundation.
I know it's a needless worry, but this time of year is my worst. I'm getting a late start, having a hard time getting organized, feeling overwehlemed and really beat myself up for all my failures. Homeschool Guilt.
This is an area where I think he has gone leaps and bounds. There's always that BUT...
Thanks for any help.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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ShannonJ
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 2:15pm | IP Logged
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Honestly, we don't do anything formal for phonics pronunciation after the initial learning to read phase. Once they take off it becomes second nature to correct themselves!
I will sometimes have my 8yo read aloud to me or to the littles. I only attack pronunciation then, and only if she doesn't figure it out on her own. I have found it just amazing the amount of higher-level words that they use just by listening to us. A gentle correction at a mispronounced word one or two times is typically all it takes. They can hear any inconsistencies in their reading from what they are used to hearing from you and thus correct themselves naturally.
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Grace&Chaos
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 2:25pm | IP Logged
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Jenn, I feel the exact same way about my soon to be 8 dd. If you read my post you'll see that I just decided to work on as needed basis. This is why I know we need to have daily she reads to me sessions. This is such an auditory thing. This is the only way I'll pick up on something she is missing and then work on it from there. I look forward to the advice you receive from more experienced moms. 
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CrunchyMom
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I really like Explode the Code. My boys enjoy working through it independently. We aren't as far along as you would need to start, so I can't speak for those levels, but it does seem to be providing a very solid foundation in phonics with little effort on my part.
It isn't expensive, and it wouldn't be a huge deal if you bought it and found he didn't need it. But, you might find that he *likes* doing it to learn the "rules" and something he could do independently without a lot of effort or scheduling.
I'm not sure *I* ever learned all the phonics rules or that I suffer for it, but my oldest needed it in the beginning and relies heavily on sounding bigger words out, though, his reading has taken off SO FAST just this month, I'm having to rethink and readjust a lot of my plans for this year!
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JennGM
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 2:54pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for all the reassurance. I also find his spelling is fine, applying phonics to his spelling. It is amazing to see how much reading does teach the child, without it ever being overt or formal.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 3:12pm | IP Logged
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I address these little gaps as they come up during dictation lessons. It's a relaxed way for me to work on these little gaps and exceptions, and I can do so just a little at a time. It also helps that they come up within the context of a sentence from a piece of literature that the child is studying - this makes it applicable rather than a separate lesson that stands outside of something the child is studying/reading. In other words, I DON'T take on phonics as a separate subject that I add to the lesson plans, it happens naturally within our short dictation lessons.
I also like addressing them during dictation lessons because I DO have the child read aloud to me their selection, and during a dictation lesson, I DO stop and correct a child's pronunciation, making note WHAT they mispronounce to consider targeting a problem area.
I use The ABC's and All Their Tricks as a complete reference for this. I like that it's alphabetized so I can just go straight to the blend and read over it very quickly. I mention any pertinent information to them which explains why a word may be an exception (and they love hearing about the Greek and Roman roots of a word...and how that often affects the many exceptions....like knowing that the sh is an English consonant blend, but the Romans didn't have that sound, but they did have the ci, ssi and ti in their Latin words, many of which form the root words that we're familiar with in English....like nation, mission.) It's interesting....but only in tiny little bites, which is why I think it works so well for us within the context of a dictation lesson --> we're only focusing on one word because it is a challenge to pronounce or to spell.
Both of my readers are like your son - they're good readers, but I can ALWAYS catch the little gaps (which almost always involve the exceptions) when I have them read aloud their dictation selection.
I don't know if this makes sense - the way that I've explained how we address these exceptions, Jenn. Let me know if not and I can give you a specific example....like from my son's dictation lesson yesterday and the word STUMBLE. For some reason, the LE suffix always troubles him, so we targeted it!
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JennGM
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 3:18pm | IP Logged
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I was just about to say "I thought dictation didn't  happen until 10, but I see your son IS 10.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Betsy
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 3:30pm | IP Logged
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Jenn,
I would consider yourself very luck and just wait for dictation. 
With one of my dc I have been using this Spelling Workbook. I love this method and I have been very pleased with this spelling book. It's not a "spelling book" with lists of words, but rather systematically goes through some of the crazy suffix and prefix stuff with the english language. We have a lot of gaps in our understanding, so this is really helping!
I have used all of the other books to teach my dc to read and I can't say enough about how much I like this program!
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 3:35pm | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| I was just about to say "I thought dictation didn't happen until 10, but I see your son IS 10. |
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Yes, he's 10. And we started dictations last year when he was 9 yo and in 5th grade. I don't do too much to address these phonics exceptions UNTIL we begin dictations. At that point, I'm pretty content to correct mis-pronunciations in a casual way, much as Jenny does as part of having the student read aloud.
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Jen Mackintosh
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SuzanneG
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If it was me....and it WAS/IS...  I don't go back. For me, there are only so many hours in the day and I don't think it's a top priority. There are just SO MANY OTHER THINGS to DO!
I focus on being thankful that they are great readers and that they enjoy their books and wait a couple years to delve into dictation when they're in 4th/5th grade. Focus on that READING & NARRATION is more key to me than silly spelling rules.
Once they are in that beginning Dication-age, then I'd focus on it. And do not push that dictation-age! Also key.
There are a couple KEYS to doing it this way.....
:: Variety of books and subjects
:: Challenging reading material
:: Short readings, able to be well-narrated
:: Consistent readings, consistent narrations
:: Consistent copywork
If I WASN'T giving them challenging reading material, or narrating on a regular basis, maybe I WOULD feel like I would need to reinforce with phonics. But, doing it "this way"....I try to have faith in the process....but I need to be "faithful" with other things (above bullet points). This is just my comfort level.
And, just because a child isn't "doing the above"...doesn't mean that you should "do phonics"....if my children aren't at the above-mentioned-"level", then I focus on getting them there, rather than on the phonics. Does that make sense? I want my time spent on the above AT THIS POINT. Once they are older and have been reading great things, doing copywork and narrating, THEN, I feel like my time will be WELL SPENT on those short-focused DICTATION lessons, where lots of progress will be made in a FRACTION of the time, than if I were to do it now.
But, that's my comfort-level. It's always a game of "How should we spend our time?" isn't it?
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SuzanneG
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And, I SO LOVE THIS BOOK!!!@#$%^&%$#@#$%^&^%$#$^&* We are at the beginning stages of Dictation, but my girls love this book! It's just REALLY FUN, as well as being a GREAT reference book. I learn a TON from it!
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Suzanne in ID
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JennGM
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| Posted: Sept 14 2011 at 6:38pm | IP Logged
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Well, thank you. I'll just not worry!
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Phonics Foundation
