tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post2788928715262242995..comments2024-03-25T02:43:49.115-05:00Comments on Karen Edmisten: On Learning to Read: Part IIKaren Edmisten http://www.blogger.com/profile/04446214835142625161noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-54888669596403779322009-01-20T20:13:00.000-06:002009-01-20T20:13:00.000-06:00Karen -Thanks so much for posting this! My 7 yo w...Karen -<BR/><BR/>Thanks so much for posting this! My 7 yo was a very eager reader and was reading by age 4. My 5 yo struggles with reading as she'd rather be outside helping dad with cattle chores! :) I can't wait to try the Phonograms with her. They look wonderful! I agree, anything to present it in a different light and make it FUN! This is my 2nd year of homeschooling. Please keep the hints and tips coming. As a "newbie" I sure appreciate them! <BR/><BR/>NatalieUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11475087202898002909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-52297220168367440132009-01-20T08:43:00.000-06:002009-01-20T08:43:00.000-06:00Ah, yes, the differences... I tried Phonics with m...Ah, yes, the differences... I tried Phonics with my son initially and it was a dismal flop (so much for my theory that that was THE way to learn to read). Nope, he took more of the Scout Finch approach and phonics came second, not first. Still and all he was reading well enough by 6 and a half to teach himself how to use an index with the Peterson Field Guide to Birds. However, he was a reader for information, to this day he has read very little unassigned fiction (other than Mangas which he loves and multiple readings of The Lord of the Rings).<BR/><BR/>My daughter on the other hand was the perfect phonetic learner. She was writing her alphabet by 3 and a half, clamored for workbooks at 4 and was reading chapter books by 5 and a half. The thing that was most difficult for her was sight words (like the) and she pronounced some words that broke the rules very oddly for years (draught sounded like ought not draft), but then I had similar problems and also learned phonetically in an era where everyone else was totally look-say dependent. She loves fiction of most types, but not the mystery stories that I have tended to devour.<BR/><BR/>What I learned as I worked with not just my kids, but other peoples kids as well, is that reading will come eventually if the kids have been given a love of books, it may come by different routes (one kid never really took to it until he needed it to read computer manuals and Tom Clancy novels), it may come gradually, or it may seem to happen overnight (the kid who went directly from being a non-reader to reading The Lord of the Rings). You'll never be able to predict what a kid will fall in love with or how reading will capture them. My son-in-law, now a voracious reader was not a reader at all when he was in school. He fell in love with it reading Greek plays and philosophy when he was in his twenties. I do think he might have come to it earlier if he hadn't been in a standardized system, but introduced to ideas he could have actually found interesting, he also doesn't read much fiction. He says that high school was a total waste of his time. I will say that while I know some homeschooled adults who are no great shakes at math, I don't know of one who grew up to be a non-reader, even if they came to reading far later than most schools would be comfortable with (say age 13 before they got beyond the initial stages). I watched a young man totally unable to do the achievement test one year because he couldn't read the questions reading Tom Clancy two years later. The only people I know who are virtually illiterate as adults went through the public school system, including remedial reading classes. I still believe that phonics is a useful tool at some point for most kids, but what is most helpful is giving them a love of books and reading in the first place.Lizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05127202199834183627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17019672.post-79431227745176647062009-01-19T20:55:00.000-06:002009-01-19T20:55:00.000-06:00Thanks, Karen, This is the kind of nuts and bolts ...Thanks, Karen, This is the kind of nuts and bolts details of homeschooling post that I really like. I know I was an Anne. A very early reader, don't remember a time when I couldn't read. it's good to start preparing a toolbox of resources that I will be able to draw on when I have a child who doesn't just absorb it through her pores.Melanie Bettinellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12557248434888642114noreply@blogger.com