For our fourth installment in the series on "What We Do" in our homeschool, today we are going to be discussing the language arts with a focus on phonics. I feel firmly that teaching my kids to read is the most important academic skill I can provide so this area is an important one. If you haven't seen our other post in the series or would like to catch up
My Approach to Learning to Read
I have always felt the weight of this subject more than any other during our homeschool years. Learning to read is literally to foundation to all other learning, but it is also the hardest part of homeschooling. Once they can read the world is open to them, and they have the ability to be lifelong learners. All forms of education have gaps, but by teaching a child to read, they can self-correct in any areas where they need more learning than initially provided. As a result of this subject being so very important, I have at times been too intense with teaching the children. That has thankfully changed over time.
With Britt, I spent too much time drilling and stressing over teaching him to read. Of course when I began with him I had no idea what dyslexia was let alone, that he was dyslexic. All I knew was that he wasn't picking it up or moving at the speed that our curriculum deemed appropriate. Since then I have learned that children learn to read at their own pace somewhere between 4 and 9 with 6-7 being the average age. Furthermore most students aren't fluid and proficient readers until the age of 12. Knowing that and slowing down and learning to move at their pace has enabled reading to go much smoother with our younger children.
One outlook on reading that has remained steady all these years is my commitment to phonics. When I was learning to read, the whole language method was in style. This approach to learning focuses on recognizing words as a whole, using pictures and context clues to figure out unknown words, and viewing language as a whole rather than dividing it up into its parts. While, I can appreciate integrated learning associated with viewing language as a whole, I think it is a poor way to learn to read. I didn't take a single phonics class until second grade and even then it was only part of our learning for one semester (which I scored poorly in). As a result, I frequently butcher words when reading aloud, because while I know the words' meaning I don't have a clue how to pronounce it. It also means that my spelling is to this day, atrocious. (And yes I just had to spell check that word.) I didn't want these two weaknesses in my children's reading and writing so I decided to teach them to read phonetically. Then, I could build from there.
While it takes longer to learn to read this way, it makes reading easier long term. This is because a student isn't memorizing the look of thousands of words like you would do with Chinese characters, but by memorizing the 44 sounds associated with the 26 letters they can puzzle out any word. By learning various phonics and spelling rules, they can also see various connections to meanings of words. For example, words that have "wr" in them come from Old English and mean to twist; therefore, "wrong" means to twist what is right, our "wrist" is part of our body that twists, to "write" is to twist a line to form letters, and "wring" is to twist an object. So learning phonics is a superb foundation to reading.
It turns out that this is also the best approach for dyslexic students. So when I discovered that my first two (and I suspect my second two children) were dyslexic I was already teaching reading in a way that worked best for them. All I needed to do then was slow down, exhibit greater patience, and be systematic. Dyslexic students struggle with word recognition, spelling, and decoding. These things mean a solid phonics background takes time, but it means that they don't have to immediately recognize every word, rather they have tools to help them spell and decode words following a predictable format as much as possible. Therefore, starting with phonics is my number one suggestion for teaching children to read.
What Curriculum Do We Then Use?
If you too have a dyslexic learner and are looking for ways to play catch up or are just starting out let me first recommend that you check out Homeschooling with Dyslexia. I've had the opportunity to hear Marianne several times at homeschool conventions, and her website has provided a host of encouragement and suggestions that have helped me to teach my own children to read. The methods, while superior to traditional methods for dyslexic students, are just as good for neurotypical students. I have often wondered, in fact, why schools don't change their curriculum so that all children can learn together, rather than only providing these types of resources after a student falls behind their peers. Therefore, the curriculums I'll discuss are a great option for any student.
When we first started out, what we used for phonics was "Sing, Spell, Read, Write" for teaching Britt and Ruth to read. This is great for dyslexic kids in that it checks all the major boxes. The first rule of thumb for dyslexic students is that you need to have a personalized plan, that is already a given when you are homeschooling. Secondly, it should be explicit, because dyslexic kids aren't going to notice or pick up on trends and patterns on their own. Each sound need to be clearly addressed. As a phonics based program, you get that with "Sing, Spell, Read, Write." Next, dyslexic learners benefit from learning that is reinforced with all learning styles: seeing, hearing, tactile, and kinesthetic. This is actually the reason that I got the program in the first place. I didn't know what kind of learning style my children had yet, and I wanted something that would work for all of them. My mother had trialled this curriculum in her classroom, and it had something for all types of learners. It even has games and puzzles that students can work on together. Finally, the curriculum should be systematic. It's important for dyslexic students in particular to be able to have a set routine for teaching each set of sounds in the same way, and giving them the same tools. Again "Sing, Spell, Read, Write" met the requirement. Additionally, it also incorporated language as a whole, giving them practice spelling and writing, which in my opinion, is the one great aspect of the Whole Language approach to teaching reading. The one drawback was that it moved too quickly for my students, not giving them enough practice with each set of sounds or at times a single sound before moving on. As a result, I use it even today with Katherine, but not as my primary curriculum.
We have also used All About Spelling to teach reading. There is also an All About Reading, but it was too expensive for us at the time, so we opted to work on reading by working on spelling. This is a great program that I'll discuss more when I discuss spelling in a later post, but I do want to share a few bonuses from teaching reading this way. As the kids got older, and still needed phonics practice, but had the gist of it down, we noticed that spelling was still a big struggle. All About Spelling groups words by spelling rules, such as the "find gold rule" which teaches that "i" and "o" are always long vowels when followed by "nd" or "ld." This helped our students learn to seek patterns, while still working on identifying the sounds that letters made and identifying letters by the sounds they heard.
However, of all the curriculum I've tried out (and we tried tons of books, methods, and games that just didn't work for dyslexic learners), my favorite resource for teaching phonics and learning to read has been Alpha-Phonics. A little book published before I was born, hidden among the other resources my mom passed down to me from her classroom teacher days, this book has been a solid phonics primer for my children. It is divided up into short simple lessons that can be repeated on a second or third day if needed. It groups words phonetically by following various phonics and spelling rules. It gives a list of words that follow each rule, and notes a rule breaker or two that follow the phonics but not the spelling, or the spelling but not the phonics. For practicing handwriting and spelling, the words can be copied by the student. It follows the same systematic pattern of discussing the new sound or rule (notes for teaching this for teachers are at the back for each and every lesson), and then the student practices reading each of the words. It is a simple book, printed in black and white with no pictures, so you know when your student reads a word they aren't guessing. I always would then ask them to use the word in a sentence aloud so I also was sure that they understood the meaning. It is such a great resource that I have used it until 5th grade with my students, going through the book each year, and I plan to incorporate it again next year for my high schoolers as we do an intensive spelling and grammar class.
Reinforcing Learning
One thing I've needed to do though using Alpha-Phonics is to reinforce learning in a fun way. Since one of our goals in homeschooling is to develop a love of learning and reading, I don't want reading lessons to only be dry and boring. Afterall, listening to them phonetically puzzle out a sentence is painful and takes forever when they are just starting out. So, I incorporate the learning games from "Sing, Spell, Read, Write" regularly and I will chalk out letters on the driveway and let my littles hop from letter to letter calling out their sounds, or even giving them a letter sound and having them find the right letter. But the best way to reinforce learning that I have found for beginning readers is a library card.
Each of our children upon beginning learning to read has been allowed to go into the library and request a library card of their very own. At this point, they have watched me reading and writing for years. They have mimicked writing on their own with scribbles and curly loops. They have had me reading to them for years, and in the case of the younger ones, they have listened to family read alouds in the car. Now, after all the weekly trips to the library, they are starting school and can have their very own card. While, I've been checking out books for them, most often with them picking all their books, there is something magical to them about having their own card and checking their own books out on their own card. Nothing has encouraged them to work at learning to read like it. And while I'll discuss the ways that we make reading a part of our daily homeschooling in next week's post, this practice of reading library books together, and letting them read the words that they have learned as we sit cuddled up together inspires them more than anything else.
Another trick we use is having them read words they know, or sound out words when we are out and about. Britt loved reading street signs while we were stopped at red lights. Rebecca and Ruth to this day like to play a game in the car where they see who can read business signs first as we drive down the road. Kate, while still mostly guessing at this stage in her reading, tries to figure out the phrases or captions under the main restaurant signs.
In Conclusion
Learning to read is a vital life skill in today's day and age, and what we do for phonics provides a solid foundation for reading. While the nuts and bolts of reading aren't always the most fun of lessons they do open up a world of possibilities for your students. For more on how we actually incorporate reading in our daily schooling, remember to check out next week's post in the series What We Do: Reading.
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