The Reading Lesson....

[LeAnna]

Okay, we are into our 3rd week of school, and neither one of my kids, 5 1/2 and 4 1/2, are getting the Reading lesson. They aren't understanding about blending the words together, and just when I think they are getting it, we go back and they dont seem to be remembering what they last learned. Help!! I am frustrated, because I dont' think I am teaching it right, or the curriculum isn't working.
Any helpful ideas?

Thanks,
LeAnna

[netpea]

Maybe put the reading lesson aside for a while. My kids enjoyed using the wooden blocks with the alphabet printed on them when learning to blend sounds. I would set up the word DAD for instance, then we changed it to BAD, MAD, etc...

[Allison TX]

Hi Leanna. We had a similar situation with my little girl last year. She was 4 1/2 and had known all the letters and sounds for some time, but couldn't blend. I put our phonics program away for a couple weeks and just let her play. Then we tried The Reading Lesson, (after finding HOD), and it clicked for her. She was just a few weeks shy of 5. I think the computer "game" part of The Reading Lesson really apealed to her. Anyway, all this to say, you might want to put away the phonics program for a couple weeks. In the meantime you could try the Leapfrog videos (my daughter loved these ). We also liked a book called Alphabet Art.
For some kids it just takes a little longer for the blending phase to click. I've always found that to be the hardest phase of teaching reading. Hope this helps!

Allison

[water2wine]

Are you using the cd with it? I have really found that it helps to cement the ideas. Sometimes with my just turned four year old I think she is not getting it but as soon as I plug her into that cd we are back on track. I highly recommended using both if you are not. Sometimes they do need a break though. It could happen with any phonics program. Sometimes just a little break and they are back on track. Hang in there, teaching reading can be tough at times no matter what you use.

[LeAnna]

Yes, we are using the cd rom with it. I don't know, I might try finding some more worksheets to go along with it, or some phonic games. Any ideas for good games?

LeAnna

[Mommamo]

We had that same problem with RME. I took a break. We played with the foam bath letters. That's a lot of fun. I'd have her fish for letters with a scoop or container of some sort and then we would make up words, some nonsense and some real. We would start with "mop" for example, and then it might change to "hop," "sop," "rop," etc. We spelled out family member names and generally had a lot of fun.

On our break we also played a lot of starfall. We went through most of the starfall "lessons". We're still working on finishing those. I think we have 2 left. But if you have the CD for The Reading Lesson I'd give that a go. I've never used it, but it might change things up enough for the girls.

But while we were on our "break," C had no idea that we were still working on reading. We were just playing and it was fun. We started back again with RME and it just wasn't working for us. So.... I switched to some stuff I had downloaded from a websites free preview day a while back and it's working for us now. We may go back to RME after a while just to make sure everything's been covered. Or, we might try The Reading Lesson for a change of pace. Or we might just stick with where we are. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you are exactly where we were a few weeks ago. C is 4.75 years old, and she went through exactly that, and now a few weeks this side of our break and she's able to read some of the very easy reader books. It's clicking with her now. And just to let you know-she's been reading CVC words for a while (like, since she turned 3) and was wanting to read.She just needed some time for her brain to process all the new things we'd been learning.

[water2wine]

A thought that comes to mind is possibly she is needing less visual learning and more written. I have one that does not learn well by visual means and written just drives it home for her. Have you considered supplementing it with a little explode the code. That might be a help. Sometimes though it is a timing issue. Sometimes just putting it a way for a little bit and letting some time passes really helps.

[Carrie]

You may also want to write the words on a markerboard one letter at a time, having your kiddos say the letter sound right after you write the letter. Then, you would write the next letter immediately while the previous sound is still "hanging in the air". This gives kiddos a feel for blending. Last, have your kiddos say the whole word, running their fingers under each letter as they say it. Then, allow them to erase it after they say it, and move onto the next word.

We did ten or so words each day from the words listed in the phonics program. It really helped my third son over the blending hump and helped him focus on how each letter sound blended into the following sound, without overwhelming him with the whole word at once. This was wise advice from my sister!

By the way, we did this for quite some time, before moving back to full-blown phonics progress. It was short and sweet and made him feel like he was a great reader!

Blessings,
Carrie