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Claire F
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| Posted: Feb 27 2012 at 11:05pm | IP Logged
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As I'm watching my 7-year-old move toward becoming an independent reader, and working informally with my 4-year-old, who is quickly picking it up... and continuing to do research and reading on homeschooling, curricula, etc., I keep thinking - do you really need to use a formal reading program?
We taught my older son to read mostly at home (even though he went to public school kindy last year) - reading aloud to him, and working with him on letter sounds, then reading things like Bob Books. He did get more reading instruction at school last year, but he was already well on his way by then (and he was bored with the reading at school).
My four year old is picking up reading mostly on his own. He decided a while back that he wanted to read Bob Books too, and he already knew the letter sounds, so we showed him how to sound out a word. He's picked it up pretty quickly since then, and we sit and read books aloud and he reads to me when he wants to.
If this is how I teach my kids to read, am I going to miss something? I'm not formally teaching them "phonics rules" - we're just talking about sounds as we come across them. I think there's a bit of that my older son is missing, since he hasn't learned phonics in a systematic way, but he picks up how to pronounce things as we read anyway. For example, he doesn't always 'get' when to use a long or short vowel, so he can't apply that concept to new words. But I just correct him as we read along and he usually remembers after seeing it a few times.
I keep running across all these reading programs, and as I read their descriptions I wonder if I'm missing something. Or if they are simply available for those who want a more step-by-step, structured approach to reading, but there's nothing wrong with just reading a lot to teach reading.
I read a lot of things that speak to parents who are "intimidated to teach reading," but I don't feel that way at all. For us, it has been a very natural process that seems to more or less take care of itself as we go.
Just curious to get other thoughts and opinions. I'm still learning a lot as I go and I admit to suffering from occassional bouts of homeschooler "am-I-doing-enough-and-am-I-missing-something-itis." 
Thank you!
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Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Feb 28 2012 at 12:19am | IP Logged
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No, you do not have to use a reading program AT ALL! What you are doing seems to be working well, and I would just stick with it. 
This is how my two oldest girls learned to read. My third had a bit more structure. My current 5.5 yo is learning very casually as well, just like the first two.
I don't think learning all those phonics rules at a young age is necessary unless they aren't "getting it" (reading) and the rules really seem to help them. They will get enough phonics later in a "spelling program" if that's the way you decide to go, or in basic COPYWORK or DICTATION.
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Erin
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| Posted: Feb 28 2012 at 12:24am | IP Logged
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No, I never have and have successfully taught 5 children to read and no.s 6 & 7 will soon be launched too. I teach dc their phonetic sounds, then we move onto simple books. Different books have worked for different dc.
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Feb 28 2012 at 12:55am | IP Logged
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It depends on the child.. if it's working, don't mess with it.
I've had 4 different expereniences..
1) child can't learn with phonics and I ended up teaching sight reading
2) a couple of children needed the "program" (I used Explode the Code)
3) one child was in speech therapy which ended up essentially teaching phonics but we didn't need to use it at home
4) all of a sudden one day this child was reading and I can't recall doing much of any type of teaching
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Feb 29 2012 at 10:35pm | IP Logged
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I'm in agreement. It's not absolutely necessary - it sounds like you're teaching what would be in a reading program, just naturally. That's the best way to learn most of the time - in very practical situations :)
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kristacecilia
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| Posted: March 01 2012 at 11:43am | IP Logged
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In agreement. You don't need a program. I actually LIKE a program and use the Little Angel Readers program, but only insomuch as it aids and blesses our time together, not stresses us out or makes learning a drag for the kid. We're working through it with my second son even though he has been a fluent reader for years already, because I think he needs more practice reading aloud and understanding how to pronounce things and general phonics rules.
So in short, no. But if YOU think YOUR KID needs it, then sure why not?
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kristinannie
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| Posted: March 01 2012 at 1:26pm | IP Logged
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I just posted a similar post recently. I am in a similar place as you are. My son just "gets" reading. I have had a lot of luck with the Struggling Reader games. Kids need to be able to read CVC words before they start this, but they are fun games that teach phonics rules. My son has really been able to apply what he learned through the games when we read actual books. It is not really in depth covering every.single.phonics rule though so I have been feeling guilty about that. I briefly used AAS, but it was just too much for DS5. It drove him crazy. We do use the ETC books as review, but not very often because he generally doesn't like them.
You might like the way that Kolbe uses the Catholic National Reader. The teacher's guide explains phonics rules as they come up in the readings. My son does much better reading actual books to learn to read instead of workbooks or spelling programs.
I am also trusting that spelling will cover this at a later date if there are any phonics rules that he missed that are causing him trouble.
All of that said, I don't think you need a formal reading program. You know how to read so you can teach it.  I think that a lot of us (myself included) panic when teaching reading. Yet I don't panic teaching math, science, history, etc. As long as it is working for your children, then I say go for it. If you realize later that there is a problem because you didn't use a phonics program (such as terrible spelling or inability to read longer, more difficult words), then you can always remediate then! In the meantime, trust yourself. You really are your child's best teacher. BTW, anyone who homeschools using CM methods gets used to taking leaps of faith, but they seem to be so worth it!
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Mrs. B
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| Posted: March 07 2012 at 9:25am | IP Logged
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This is very interesting. I have tought two of my children to read so far. I use 100 Easy Lessons as a sort of guide and supplement with easy, fun books like Bob Books and Little Saints readers. This works but now as we approach our spelling it has become very obvious that I need to start teaching spelling rules and phonograms because neither of the kids are intuitive spellers. My oldest also has dyslexia and this makes spelling difficult.
I looked at the struggling reader program because the idea of testing to see where they are having problems is very interesting, but the price is beyond us. Does anyone know if there is a similar test that is less expensive or free?
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Claire F
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| Posted: March 08 2012 at 10:28pm | IP Logged
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That makes a lot of sense, to use one if I feel one of my kids needs it, but not if they don't. My boys both seem to be progressing in reading just fine without anything formal, but who knows what new challenges my DD will bring!
Kristinannie - so true about the leaps of faith!
And you know, I certainly didn't learn all the phonics rules and I've always been a great reader. I don't think they taught phonics when I was little - or at least, I don't remember that specifically. But I was an early-ish reader, so I didn't really learn reading in school anyway.
Thanks everyone!
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Claire
Mom to DS 12/04, DS 5/07, DD 8/09
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loveandlaughter
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| Posted: March 26 2012 at 9:06am | IP Logged
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Just my thoughts.....
I was homeschooled along with my six siblings and were all basically given a bunch of books, a letters chart and we pretty much taught ourselves to read. My mom was a firm believer that it was a skill that would just come naturally--like using a fork, crawling, etc... : )
PROS: all of us a very fast readers, still read voraciously, love to learn, have won multiple essay prizes, etc....
CONS: non of us know much about formal phonics and grammar (like the actual words for things--diphthong, etc.), the ages we learned to read were wildly different (3 yo to 8 yo), some of our spelling is "original", and most of us struggle with comprehension to a point (because of the fast reading).
With my kindergarten age child I am using Teach Your Child to Read and I have mixed feelings about it. It feels so "ruled" but I think it is working ok.
Excited to hear about more ideas!
Just my thoughst.....
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Do you have to use a "reading program"
