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so this was our first week and year of home school! a little back round. ds 3 little hands to heaven, ds6(almost 7) lhfhg, ds8 blhfhg and bigger. so my problem is with ds6, he did Abeka phonics in k(privite school) does very well still with phonics(still doing abeka) when its time to do his emerging readers it is a big struggle! he gets very frustrated and doesn't want to try to sound anything out. i thought about switching to a reader that was a little easier just to get him going. its just our first week and i know there is an ajustment time. i'm afraid if i keep on pushing him he is not going to want to read at all. i'm not sure if all the words on the page are overwhelming for him. he spelled all of his spelling words correct this week and like i said does not struggle with phonics at all. any advice would be great!

Perhaps he just isn't quite ready yet? At what point in his phonics program is he? Has he read all of the Abeka early readers that go with the phonics? The emerging readers are for a child that has pretty much finished his phonics lessons and is ready to read things that aren't strictly phonics controlled. Maybe he just needs a bit more time with his phonics lessons and reading the controlled readers before moving onto the emerging readers. I did a lot of the beginning readers (Abeka, Bob books, I Can Read Beginning and Level 1) before tackling the emerging readers. So perhaps just a bit more time and more time with the phonics is all he needs before moving on. Another thought is which Bible are you using? I know one of them is a bit easier than the other. If you are using the more difficult one perhaps you could try the easier one. One other thought is using a substantial bookmark or a piece of paper so that he is only able to see one line of text at a time. I had to do that with my ds to help him focus on just one line and then use my or his finger to help him look at just one word at a time. Seeing all the words on the page was too overwhelming to him. I found with him too, it was better not to have illustrations that he could see while he was reading. If a book had illustrations, I needed to give him time to look at them ahead of time and then cover them while reading so he wasn't distracted by them. Hopefully something here might help.

I am not sure that I can be much help, but I am just wondering if perhaps the emergent readers are not interesting to him? What if you went to the library and let him pick out books (of course on his level and of your approval) on a subject that he is super interested in? Is there anything in particular that he likes a lot and wants to learn more about?

pjdobro

your right i think i'll reuse his readers from last year(i saved them all) and grab some easier stuff i don't think he's ready either. it's funny you say that about the pictures today he was looking at them instead of the words! and for his poetry i had to cover all the other sentences and just let him see the one he was on. so i guess i had my answer the whole time i just need reassurance. i feel if i'm going off carries suggested path then i am doing something wrong. but she does say that the books chosen are just that,suggestions. so thank you guys for replying so quickly! I guess i have newbee nerves!

Welcome to HOD and your first year of Homeschooling,

sally525 wrote: so my problem is with ds6, he did Abeka phonics in k(privite school) does very well still with phonics(still doing abeka) when its time to do his emerging readers it is a big struggle! any advice would be great!

I used ABeka 1st grade with my older ds, his k-year. He is and has been a advanced reader and was not ready for the ER till he was about 1/2 into ABeka 1st grade books. There are a lot of special sounds that are not covered in K-program. After we were about 1/2 way through the 1st grade book, he was ready and really enjoyed the ER books and was eager to read the extra ER books as well. He still loves to read!
My 2nd ds6 just finished ABeka-K last year in kindergarten and was not ready for the ER books right after either, because of the same situation. ABeka is a great help to learn the rules and special sounds, but is so intense. I made the switch to "TRL" that Carrie recommends and my ds loves it, so do I! We snuggle up on the couch and do a couple of pages a day. We started mid-way through the summer and we flew through the first couple of lessons. I still have the ABeka readers, so we use those for extra reading enjoyment. As soon as we complete TRL he will be more than ready to start ER.
Succes and HTH

i feel if i'm going off carries suggested path then i am doing something wrong. but she does say that the books chosen are just that,suggestions.

I don't think you would really be going off the path. The emerging readers are there for when your dc has finished or nearly finished phonics and is ready to move into them. Different phonics programs have children reaching that level at different times and some children aren't ready as quickly as others either. I think my dc were finishing LHFHG and just turning 7 when we started the emerging readers. It was still a bit of a stretch for my ds at first but the emerging readers really helped him progress along in his reading and comprehension. My dd, who had had the very same phonics instruction, zoomed through them and could have even started sooner. That just goes to show that every child is different and will reach that level at a different time. When your ds is ready, the emerging readers will be there waiting. I forgot to say before, welcome to HOD!

sally525,

The ladies are doing such a good job of answering your questions! I'll just pop-in to clarify that often kiddos don't begin the Emerging Reader's Set at the beginning of the year with Beyond. This is because kiddos "finish" phonics at such different times and ages. It is also the reason why we placed the Emerging Reader's Schedule in the Appendix of the guide, because in this way you can begin it at whatever time of year your child is ready for it without messing up your daily plans!

As far as Abeka phonics goes, the K and 1st grade years are both needed to complete all of the needed phonics instruction, so it is very possible that your little honey will not be ready for the Emerging Reader's Set until he/she has completed grade 1 phonics. This is no problem, because the Emerging Reader's Set is also scheduled in the Appendix of Bigger Hearts for you to begin whenever your child is ready. So be encouraged that your little honey is doing just fine! He/she just needs the rest of phonics first. Set aside your Emerging Reader books for later. We typically recommend doing phonics OR the Emerging Reader's Set, but usually not both at the same time.

Blessings,
Carrie