Mom4Him,
As I read through the responses you've received in this thread, I wanted to pop-in and share a few things I've discovered on my journey through the past 25 years of teaching reading. I happened to spend a good chunk of my 11 years in the public school classroom in third and fourth grade, so the age of your daughter is near and dear to my heart. After coming home to teach my own four boys how to read, I got an even more personal view of the reading process! So, through the years it has been interesting to refine and rethink what I believe about teaching reading.
I'll share my own thoughts below, in the hopes that it will take some of the pressure off of you to do everything "just right."
First of all, different kiddos respond differently to the same reading program.
While this is obvious when teaching a large group of kiddos in the classroom, it is less obvious at home! So, I'll just start by saying that we can't expect the same results from a reading program with every child. This is because not all kiddos learn to read in the same way or at the same age. So, we can know going into a program that each of our kiddos will respond a bit differently to it - thus varying the stage of reading that they exit the program in having.
Next, it's interesting to note that not all kiddos need the same amount of "phonics" instruction in order to become fluent readers. Some seem to need more than others. Yet, at some point, learning phonics rules seems to reach its needed level for reading purposes and then switches over to learning phonics rules for the purpose of spelling correctly. At that juncture, to me, continuing on with tedious phonics rules that have many exceptions, begins to become less purposeful - making it a good time to exit phonics instruction.
Another thing to keep in mind is that all kiddos need some sight word recognition, so they will not purely read phonetically. Knowing a solid bank of sight words is an important part of reading, as often words cannot just be "sounded out." So, reading by sight words part of the time is not a bad thing, it is actually an essential part of reading. However, if a child is reading only by sight words (and by memorizing new words in this same manner, but cannot decode), then we have a problem! Likewise, if a child tries to use phonics rules to decode every word he/she reads, the process of reading also breaks down as not all words can be decoded!
It is also important to note that since kiddos will often exit any reading program at differing levels, there will be differing amounts of follow-up needed in order to truly get them reading fluently.
So, when a child does not exit a phonics program as a fluent reader, does this mean that he/she is unable to decode words phonetically or hasn't had enough phonics? Often this is not the case. More typically, it just means a child needs practice in gaining fluency with readers that are less controlled in their vocabulary. Even easy-looking books, with a less controlled vocabulary, can be difficult for kiddos at first simply because they have been used to reading stories with a very controlled bank of words. Returning to easier books as your child exits his/her phonics program is actually a good idea for a child who is constantly groping for words as he/she exits the phonics program. Building fluency takes daily reading practice, plenty of cheerleading, sitting by the child and helping (and helping and helping), and guiding them by prompting with the many ways that you can figure out a word you don't know as you're reading.
So, what should you do when your child comes to a word he/she doesn't know? The suggestions given in the Appendix of the Drawn into the Heart of Reading Teacher's Guide is a great place to begin for this! It includes things like making sure a child begins the unknown word using the correct sound (with the correct starting letter), chunking a larger word into parts, looking for the small word inside the big word (saying the prefix, then the root word, then the suffixes -uncovering the word with your finger as they read bit by bit), using the context of the story to make a better guess at what the word might be, sounding it out, and sometimes even giving the child the word if they are stumbling over it mightily. Running your finger under the words as the child progresses is a good help too.
So, how do you know if your child needs another pass at the "rules" with perhaps another round of a phonics program? In my opinion, time will tell. If you give your child 3-5 months of
regular reading practice
daily with easier books, and help from you as a refresher as to what the various sounds are as he/she reads, and you aren't noticing ANY improvement... then you may need to consider giving another round of phonics instruction. Sometimes, the child just wasn't paying much attention during the first round of phonics, or maybe they had fluid in their ears and couldn't really hear the first round of phonics (like my own fourth little guy), or maybe they do have some learning issues that are interfering in their ability to internalize the needed phonics, or maybe it is an eye issue where they need glasses, or perhaps they have a tracking issue. But before we jump to all of these conclusions soon after finishing phonics, we need to take a deep breath and give the child time to gain confidence and fluency for awhile first.
Typically, one third of my third grade class in the public school each year was reading chapter books, one third was just beginning to emerge as readers, and one third was still in desperate need of phonics instruction. The school I taught at was very affluent, and yet this was a regular pattern even though all of these students had come up through second grade with the same phonics program! Two-thirds of the kiddos did just fine coming out of the same program, where one third needed some extra help on varying levels. When you look at this pattern from my classroom, it seems to play out similarly in the home situation. I share this so you will see that even professional, career teachers come up with results similar to those in the home setting when you look at a typical classroom of children. Not all kiddos exit the phonics program reading fluently. I think this is the case with your daughter. I would say that she is still emerging as a reader, which can take several years to occur. Often just sitting by a child like this as he/she reads and using some of the varying strategies for reading from the back of the Drawn into the Heart of Reading guide will help!
Give her the run-off paper from the back of DITHR of strategies to refer to of what to do when she comes to a word she doesn't know. Have her read with it beside her, and choose a strategy to use when she comes to a word she doesn't know. This will show her there are more strategies for this than sounding the word out.
We did this in my classroom with our emerging readers, and it worked well!
In closing, I will share that quiet time available to devote to steady phonics instruction also makes a difference in a child's success with reading. When we had more students in the classroom, this definitely affected our ability as teachers to help kiddos who were struggling readers. This is a reality that we have to acknowledge in both a classroom setting and a home setting. So, diligence in setting aside daily quiet time for phonics instruction with a child makes a big difference. The same is true for daily reading practice to build fluency. Once a child becomes a fluent reader, then the need for daily time spent in reading instruction lessens, but until a child hits the stage, consistency is needed.
At our house right now, my husband often reads with our youngest son before bed. This one on one quiet time has made a huge difference in our emerging reader. We still work on his regular emerging reader schedule during the course of the school day, but this extra dose of reading is motivating to our son and has helped him show good gains in fluency.
Another thing to remember is that when kiddos begin to read chapter books (and the pictures go away) and the text becomes longer on each page, reading fluency can actually decrease for a time as the child becomes overwhelmed with the change in how the books look (even if they do know how to decode the words). There is an adjustment that comes in thinking and concentration required to read books like this! So, many kiddos at the third and fourth grade level go through a period where they are daunted by the sheer number of words on the page. This doesn't necessarily mean they need another pass at phonics. It just means that they need the readings broken up into small chunks and need plenty of help and encouragement as they transition to more words on the page.
This is likely where your daughter is as far as reading goes. While some kiddos sail through this stage quickly, others can take a couple of years in this transition stage. It also is a stage where mispronunciation is not uncommon. This is because so many of the words are new (and long) and even the best decoders can really stumble. So, grace is needed for mispronunciations of longer words. It is also alright for kiddos to read silently, even if they aren't getting everything right! Ask yourself how many words you may actually be mispronouncing in your head as your read silently? Even as adults, we often wouldn't be able to correctly pronounce every word if asked to read aloud from a book that we consider to be difficult!
So, in looking back over all of the things that affect a child's readiness and ability to read, we can see that the actual phonics program (while important) is just one piece of the overall puzzle. I believe that Mary Pride once said that the best phonics program is the second one that you use! I had to smile when I read that because it is often true that for kiddos who cannot read well upon exiting a first phonics program, the second program (no matter what it is) seems to be the one that works. Why is this true? Is it because the program is so much better, or is it actually because the child has learned quite a bit more than we thought from the first pass through phonics and is now more able to take in and apply a second round of phonics. Or, is it because the child is just older and more mature? Or, is it because the child is finally at the stage where he/she is interested in reading? It is most likely all of the above.
So, does this mean you should rush out and buy a second phonics program? Generally not if your child is just exiting the first program.
So for those of our board readers who are in that boat, give your child a bit of time first to see what gains can be made simply with steady reading practice of easier books to build confidence and fluency. Give your child a chance to try and apply what you've been teaching him/her first. You may save yourself years of unneeded phonics instruction. If you don't see gains by the 4-5 month mark, then re-evaluate.
From what you've shared in your posts, Mom4Him, I think that your daughter has been making gains. I just think that she is still building fluency which does take time. I also think that looking at Phonics Pathways is a good idea. Perhaps just some refreshing with some of the more common rules (along with the tracking exercises in the book) would be helpful this summer (along with steady short reading sessions from real books, leaning toward those on the easier end of the spectrum). Additionally, I would also be sure at this point that you are keeping up on eye exams and hearing tests at this stage to rule out any concerns there. But, I wouldn't be quick to rule out The Reading Lesson for your other kiddos. It is just likely that your kiddos will have varying levels of success as you exit the program.
These are just some thoughts to ponder as you journey along! Phonics is such a personal journey with so many different ways to approach it. I just share this in hopes that you will see that the phonics journey often looks different for different kiddos, so don't be surprised with the varying routes taken by different families in search of a similar end!
Blessings,
Carrie
Reading Horizons has a good online program that you can look into. We did TRL with our three middle boys, and noticed this year that the 3rd grader has some struggles as well. We're doing AAR/AAS, and I'm pretty convinced that TRL just wasn't enough instruction for him (or any non-natural reader.) Even my more natural reader can't really sound out words, and I think its because TRL just didn't give them that skill at all. Looking back, its just a weak program in that regard. I really used to love it, and my natural reader does very well, but many kids will need more than that.
