Today we decided to get serious about providing our 1st grader some "real" phonics education, so we started looking around the internet.
My fiance' Shannon found this great website from sadlier-oxford.
It has some great activities to use to help teach reading in grades K-5.
I love Sadlier Oxford.
ReplyDeleteNot only is Vocabulary Workshop great, but apparently their math curriculum gives Saxon a run for its money. (I believe that's John Hoven's opinion - will look it up later.)
Hi I found your blog randomly using the next function.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help thinking when I saw you mention phonics ... do you really think they are the best way to teach reading? I remember having terrible trouble at school being told English was a phonetic language then being totally stumped by words like knee with the silent k. It was only when my Mum got me flashcards that my reading really improved ...
Thought I'd leave that with you...
Do drop by my blog if you like. It is very different from yours. But I'm just keeping an honest diary of my life. It's at gledwood2.blogspot.com
All the best now
Gledwood
Hi I found your blog randomly using the next function.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't help thinking when I saw you mention phonics ... do you really think they are the best way to teach reading? I remember having terrible trouble at school being told English was a phonetic language then being totally stumped by words like knee with the silent k. It was only when my Mum got me flashcards that my reading really improved ...
Thought I'd leave that with you...
Do drop by my blog if you like. It is very different from yours. But I'm just keeping an honest diary of my life. It's at gledwood2.blogspot.com
All the best now
Gledwood
Phonics doesn't mean that there is a one to one sound to letter correspondence. Just that there is a fairly predictable correspondence.
ReplyDeleteI am using "Explode the Code" with both my lang delayed son and my kindergartner. It has more practice per lesson than many I have seen. The books marked as 1/2 levels have more difficult vocabulary words.
We've been hammering phonics for a couple of years with our son (now in first grade). He's reading books that are nominally third-grade level, so I'm convinced that it's working.
ReplyDeleteThe current book is the Research Guide for one of the Magic Treehouse books, which is hard work at times, but he's figuring out words like cathedral, masterpiece, and journeyman. Since he's working out non-obvious words that are not first-grade sight words, I think my impression is reasonable.
We've been using "Explode the Code" for my first grader too, and I've noticed improvement--she is reading mid-2nd grade chapter books and we've found her up way past her bedtime reading.
ReplyDelete