Phonics Frustration- switch programs or not?

[sharonb]

Edit to add update:
I've made a decision. We are going to use Phonics Pathways. Ds is doing very well with it, and we can keep the lessons short. He wants to do ETC too, so I just ordered him Book 2. I like this plan because we can adjust the pace without completely stalling (which is what we had to do with R&S because it moved along too quickly for him). Thanks for letting me work through this, and thanks for the advice!
For some background, my oldest two used Rod & Staff 1st grade Phonics, and though it was difficult and time-consuming at times, they learned so much from it. So, I started it with my third child when he was almost done with Kindergarten. He had already completed Explode the Code Book 1. He breezed through the first twenty-something lessons of R&S Phonics, which cover vowel-consonant-vowel words. It just so happens that his first day of 1st grade (Monday of this week) was when we got to the first lesson that covers long vowels. FAT becomes FATE with the silent e, etc. (This lesson only covered long A with a silent E.) I had expected him to do fine because he had picked up on the CVC words so easily several months ago. But he's having a lot of trouble with this. For some reason he's trying to use a short E sound instead of turning the A into a long A. I've had to stall with R&S Phonics because the very next lesson covers long E, and he'd also be expected to do a speed drill reading the long A words from the lesson before. We got out Phonics Pathways today, which covers consonant blends after the CVC words (it waits till later to start long vowels). I had him read a bit from that, and then I used letter tiles to work on the long A words again. He seemed like he was starting to get it, and then he'd totally forget how to sound out these words and get super frustrated again.

I'm really tempted to switch to a different phonics program for this child. My oldest picked up on phonics/reading very quickly, so she did fine with R&S. My second oldest struggled at first, and phonics was VERY time-consuming for him, but he didn't get frustrated like my current 1st grader is, so we stuck with it. He worked hard, and learned how to read. My current 1st grader seems to need something short and sweet, yet gets the job done. He would much rather be off drawing a picture than doing school work. He is 6 1/2 (will be 7 in December), so I REALLY want to get him reading fluently this year.

So, what should I do? I'm considering getting Explode the Code Book 2 for him since he did fine with Book 1. Or I could just stick with Phonics Pathways and do phonics orally. Or there's the programs that HOD recommends; are they different enough from PP to justify switching to one of them?

Advice please!

[netpea]

I don't have any advice for you I'm afraid. I've only used The Reading Lesson with both my older kids. It's short daily lessons were perfect. I plan on using it with my youngest when she is old enough. I'm sure you will hear more from someone knowledgeable about PP and the other ones you mentioned.

[sharonb]

Ok, I definitely need to do something with this child! Besides the phonics stuff, he's just so melancholy when it comes to school! Several times today I had to remind him that he needs to be listening too. A while ago we were doing the blubber activity (we used peanut butter instead of shortening so they could just lick their fingers off when they were done; we only did a finger instead of their whole hand though), and when it was time to read from the text, I had to stop to tell my 1st grader to pay attention. I don't know if I should have told him this, but I told him that I had his older siblings working at a lower level than they really should, just so they can do THIS program with HIM.

If you can't tell, I'm a little frustrated today.

[raceNzanesmom]

6.5 is still very young. I would make sure he knows your expectations then go gentle on him. Let him draw while you read, or build with Legos. You'd be amazed what they still pick up. And it really isn't the end of the world if they miss it. They have lots of time for learning. Careful with the tongue, life and death come from it. A hard lesson I'm learning.

Not sure I can help with phonics other than to say my ds wasn't ready to go past cvc words at 6.5. And I can't imagine only doing one lesson on a sound and being expected to move onto the next. We did switch programs simply because I stumbled upon something that teaches more the way he understands. However, whether we had switched or not, we still go over and over a sound until he has mastered it (or at least mostly mastered). That can take 3-5 days or more. I use lots of ways to teach the sound- reading the words, building the words with tiles, copying and sounding the words, etc. Not sure a workbook page. My ds needs hands on and visuals to make it concrete to his brain. We also do lots of review.

Praying you find an answer to help you both.

[Rhyah]

My daughter is 6.5 and we are currently working our way through PP. She very much likes the sight word method of learning to read, so phonics was a bit of a struggle in the beginning. After reading tons of reviews on different phonics programs, I went with PP because the reviews were great, the layout seemed like it would work for her, and it said you could do 10 minutes a day and be done. To us, that was just what we needed. In the beginning, when it came time to start blending she struggled a bit. We stayed on one page for two weeks until she got it. Now we are able to go at a quicker pace. If your son is struggling, I would say that you should just slow down. Do the same activities until he gets it. Once he does, you'll probably find that he moves along quickly. You sound a bit like me in that you want your child to get it and be a fluent reader by the end of this school year, but there's no rush. Once I stopped stressing about her getting it, I was able to slow down and then she 'got it.' I really see now how only 10 minutes does work if we let it and don't stress out.

I just recently got ETC to work on in conjunction with PP. She enjoys doing workbook type stuff and since PP doesn't offer anything like that, I thought it would be great reinforcement. Why not use both programs together, since you already know your son enjoys ETC. I'm really thinking she'll take off once I combine both programs together. It wouldn't hurt to try it for your son.

Rhyah

[choochooboysmom]

I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for both of my boys. We loved it!

[sharonb]

I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for both of my boys. We loved it!

I tried that one out with my oldest when she was 5 and I don't remember the specifics; I just know it wasn't a good fit for us.

[Carrie]

Sharon,

While you can easily use any phonics program desired with HOD, on the HOD Board we try to stick to discussing the phonics programs we carry and recommend. I'm glad you have a plan in place, and I hope it works for you! Since we don't schedule any of the products being discussed in this thread in our HOD guides, I'll close out the thread. If you have further questions or discussions about your chosen phonics choice, I'm sure those publishers have boards to discuss their product.

Blessings,
Carrie