Tips for Choosing a Phonics Program for the Home

If you want to pursue a phonics approach to reading for your child below is a list of tips to consider when choosing a program to use with your little one in the home and some programs to avoid.

• A well planned phonics program does not rely on the parent to be the teacher, but rather the guide.
• The program you select should have your child reading words within days of beginning the program for the purpose of motivation.
• When a new sound in introduced it is first done with a picture. This makes it simple for the child to recall the sound that they are learning, since the picture helps them to identify it immediately.  In other words, phonemic awareness is taught. (e.g.  The first sound in "car" is /c/)
• The program is interesting to your child, rewarding and meaningful.
• Consider if your child will learn better using a phonics approach or if a whole language approach is more appropriate.
• Watch your child carefully for frustration or uncharacteristic behavior during instruction.  It might mean you need to send the program back.
• Look for a program that mixes things up and incorporates different learning materials in order to keep things interesting for your child.
• Flashcards should not be the center of a program, they aren't fun.  Flash cards should only be used to assess what a student knows, not for learning.
• Look for a program that combines a beginning consonant vowel approach with a word family approach.  They don't have to be one or the other

• 1. Beginning Consonant/Vowel Approach

  With this method, children are taught to blend consonants with the vowel following it. They practice saying all the short vowels sounds with one consonant at a time. For example, ba- be- bi- bo- bu-. After that is mastered, they add consonants at the end of the consonant/vowel blends. Other combination are added toward the latter part of the curriculum, such as double vowels and r-controlled vowels.
  

  2. Word Family Approach

  Children are taught ending sounds, and words are presented and grouped accordingly. For example, the children will learn the sound of -ad and then they will practice several -ad words such as bad, dad, pad, and sad.

• Looking for a great program...here's one I love.  Starfall is one of the best programs any parent can use from home today.

More Meaningful Re-readings

Having spent the better part of the past two weeks partially on bedrest, partially at the hospital's labor & delivery wing, and partially succumbing (quite cheerfully) to endless nursing sessions, my Bea and I have spent waaaaay too much time with the same dozen or so of her choicest books. In absolute desperation, I developed a few new strategies for myself -- and hopefully for all those mothers who wonder if they can endure even one more reading of Corduroy. The strategy I wanted to mention today is that of deepening, and it is best suited for children 2-4 years old, give or take a bit.

Think of re-reading as a "deepening" activity -- a time to take comprehension to a new level. Most importantly, re-reading really needn't be an actual verbatim, rote repetition of those same old words. Give yourself permission to make it more of a time for summaries and conversation instead. (There is definite power in re-reading, don't get me wrong. But there are countless concepts we can introduce if we choose!)


With Older Kids:

• Talk about the emotions characters feel, the setting, the relationship between characters, cause/effect, problem/resolution, order of events, and even traits the characters possess.
  
• Have older kids pick out or find a familiar letter ("Your name starts with A. Can you find an A on this page?")
• On each verbatim re-reading, choose a single sound from a single letter (i.e. just the hard "k" sound from the letter c) to introduce. Whenever you come across that letter at the beginning of a word, take a moment to emphasize the sound, point to the letter, and name the letter. Don't take more than a moment each time, or the child will lose interest. The idea here is repeated teaching of a basic principal rather than deep comprehension of an analytical idea.
  
• Intersperse actually reading various pages with asking the child for a summary on other pages. ("What's happening on this page?")
  
• Ask the child what is going to happen next before turning the page.
  

With Younger Kids:

• Don't be afraid to use a brief summary to help them think through the plot in another way. It works well for older kids, as modeling this strategy is very fitting and preparatory for the school days ahead when teachers will be asking them to complete the summary independently. But it also works well for younger kids, as they can grasp the plot a little better hearing it in a simpler, more casual format.
  
• I like to focus on details in the illustrations -- things that can enhance and reinforce previously introduced concepts. Start a conversation about shapes, colors, setting, or familiar objects. Try including a good dose of "Oh, look at that! What animal is it? What does it say?" or "See that? It's called a tricycle. Cousin Anna loves her tricycle.")
• If you're trying to read a longer book, try staring in the middle for a change. Often, children's attention wanes throughout the story and it may be that they are often missing things this far into the text, or you're not getting that far into the book, period. If nothing else, it may save your sanity.
  
• When reading rhythmic books like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom or And Here's To You! (two of my favorites) have your child chime in when you're to the part that is continually repeated.

If you've got any other ideas to share, I'd really love to hear them!