Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

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jnjlangston
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 11:07 pm

Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

Post by jnjlangston » Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:54 am

I am doing Little Hearts with my 5 year old for Kindergarten this year. Lately he has been very bossy and not wanting to do school. He loves everything in the curriculum except for phonics. We are using Reading Made Easy and are at lesson 47. He seems to be able to do it okay, sometimes with a little prompting with the sounds of the vowels. But he says he doesn't like phonics because it is boring. I feel like we are too far in the program and too financially invested in it to change phonics curriculum. Any thoughts or suggestions?

StephanieU
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Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 7:10 pm

Re: Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

Post by StephanieU » Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:11 pm

Mix it up with some Bob books or games. Five is young for formal education, especially if you follow Charlotte Mason's ideas. We often put our phonics curriculum on the shelf for a week or two and do something else.
Mom to
DD15 US1 (completed LHFHG-WH)
DS13 MtMM (completed LHFHG-Rev2Rev plus some of LHTH)
DD12 Rev2Rev (completed LHTH-RtR)
DS7 Beyond (completed LHTH-LHFHG)

MomtoJGJE
Posts: 1534
Joined: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:20 pm
Location: Gastonia, NC

Re: Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

Post by MomtoJGJE » Fri Dec 22, 2017 1:57 pm

I agree, especially if that's the only part he balks at. I'd put it away a couple of weeks and come back to it fresh after that.

jnjlangston
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 11:07 pm

Re: Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

Post by jnjlangston » Fri Dec 22, 2017 11:26 pm

Thank you! I appreciate your input! I guess I just have to let loose a little bit and not be so concerned about staying with the pace... I guess that is the nice thing about homeschooling. I'm still learning... :)

mrsrandolph
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Joined: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:21 pm
Location: Cartersville, GA

Re: Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

Post by mrsrandolph » Wed Dec 27, 2017 10:56 am

I am a certified reading specialist. YOUR CHILD IS YOUNG. I agree with Charlotte Mason's slower long term approach. Don't stress. Your child will read when ready.
Shannon Randolph LOVING HOD & Running 4 Guides & DITHOR
Mommy to 4 Precious Blessings
Cassie (15- World Geography),
Will (14- Rev2Rev,
Ellie (12- Res2Ref), and
Jack (10- CTC)

Carrie
Site Admin
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Re: Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

Post by Carrie » Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:28 pm

I just wanted to mention that Reading Made Easy is designed to be done 3 times weekly with review of word cards in between. So, if you happen to be doing it daily, downsizing to 3 times a week would be preferred. Also, you can easily divide one lesson into two sessions spreading it out even further. Often keeping it short and sweet goes a long way with a 5 year old! :D Think of doing it in very short sessions of 10 min. or less!

As phonics gets more challenging, it isn't uncommon for kiddos to balk! Slowing down, having days off, and spreading it out will help you keep slowly progressing forward without the battle!

Blessings,
Carrie

jnjlangston
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2015 11:07 pm

Re: Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

Post by jnjlangston » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:21 pm

Thanks Carrie! What I had been doing was the main lessons every other school day (2-3x a week) and then would do the review worksheets on the other days. I hadn't even begun using the flash cards because I didn't know how to incorporate them with everything else we were doing since we were also practicing writing the sentences. I think it was just too much. We took 3 weeks off for winter break and this week are reading some Bob Books and he loves them. Next week, I will probably be going back to Reading Made Easy but at a slower pace, perhaps not doing all the handwriting but adding in the flash cards for review. Thanks!

Carrie
Site Admin
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:39 pm

Re: Phonics concerns for 5 y.o.

Post by Carrie » Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:33 pm

Thanks so much for popping back to share! It sounds like you are doing a great job! :D If your son is loving the Bob books, I would just go on with those for awhile. Then, when you decide to pick Reading Made Easy back up, with the young age of your child in mind, I would set aside the handwriting pages of Reading Made Easy for now and just keep on plugging gently with the reading lessons (breaking a single lesson up over multiple days to keep the lessons really short for awhile. :D You can actually do the entire Reading Made Easy program without the handwriting pages (as they were added on later). :D

Blessings,
Carrie

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