To finish phonics or not????

[jacynamommy]

We are using The Reading Lesson (which I LOVE by the way...have used with all 3 of my kiddos), and we are a little more than half-way through the book. My 6 year old has always been a naturally quick reader (picked up on it way faster than my first two). She loves to read and has started picking up books and just reading them. In fact, she went to the library last week with my mom and came home reading Level 1 books and even a Level 2 book all on her own. I'm not sure what to do...with my first 2, we finished The Reading Lesson and did not skip a single page. With this one, we've skipped some of the review stuff that is very redundant because she just doesn't need it and is bored with it. I don't know if I should just forget the rest of the phonics and let her start in Emerging Readers (am I just holding her back by making her finish?) or if I don't finish phonics will I be robbing her of making certain she knows every last "rule" or sound??? I would appreciate any advice, as I keep going back and forth in my head what to do. Thanks!

[holdinon]

Having skipped the last part of phonics (with another program) when my oldest took off, I highly recommend finishing it.
Now...what you may want to do, if you feel dd is can handle it, is start the emerging readers alongside The Reading Lesson. You certainly don't have to wait on reading books, but you can continue the phonics while moving on. So many of the words in early readers are vocabulary already known by dc so reading it comes easier. But when they get to higher level vocabulary, those early (good) readers sometimes have difficulty because they never finished the phonics rules...they just knew enough rules and vocab to read the lower level books. Does that make sense?

And....congrats to dd on such a milestone!

[my3sons]

Well, hooray that your little gal is taking off with her reading! I agree with holdinon though, it is always wise to finish a phonics program - at least one formal phonics program - completely. This is so much easier than going back and filling in any gaps later. You can certainly set the timer for 15-20 minutes, getting as far as you do each day even if it is quite a few pages, and just clip along with TRL to finish it. Then, you can start the ERS knowing you've got your bases covered. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[jacynamommy]

Thanks so much for the input and for confirming what I was leaning toward!

[TrueGRIT]

I agree with the other posters that your child needs to finish a phonics program . . .

Let me share what a friend & I do with our children who think they know all the phonics rules and just want to read books.
We have 3 days of phonics lessons a week - some straight from the book, some a review of recent words with a game or "teaching" a sibling.
Interspersed we have 3 days of allowing them to read from level 1 and easier level 2 books. (Reading is also done on Saturdays for about 10 min)

This allows them to complete their phonics lessons while getting to actually read stories. Best of all, it doesn't take up any extra of our time - reading sessions are
10-15 minutes total no matter what we do.

Just an idea for you.
No matter what, have fun!

[jacynamommy]

Mikki-
Great idea, thanks for the input!!!

[twoxcell]

I would start the ER's if she is ready and also continue with Phonics. That is what I do with my dc. They are usually ready for the ER's before we are done with phonics.