Phonics Activities: Teaching Phonics at Home

Posted on March 20, 2006 by Charisse Van Horn

Teaching Phonics Every homeschooling parent understands the importance of teaching your child how to read. Sometimes this task may seem overwhelming, frustrating, and may make you wonder if “homeschooling” is really all it is cracked up to be. Well, before you decide to take drastic measures, here are some tips that can help make teaching reading fun, easy, and take some of the stress off. Readiness First, it is important that you line up the skills you are teaching with your child’s readiness. Sometimes, the biggest source of frustration is from trying to teach something that your child isn’t ready … Continue reading →

Phonics, Whole Language, and Teaching Literacy

Posted on February 9, 2008 by Valorie Delp

Warning: if you’re looking for the definitive step by step instructions on how to teach a child to read, you won’t find it here. However, if you’re at the beginning of your schooling journey, and you’re at a loss as to what to teach for reading, this might be the place for you to start. Decades ago, phonics used to be all the rage. Phonics is the systematic instruction of the sounds of the alphabet. Kids who study phonics memorize blends and learn things like “Two vowels get together and they play a game, the first vowel speaks, it says … Continue reading →

Teaching Reading to Your Pre-K Child

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Richele McFarlin

Here are some ways to increase your child’s knowledge of phonics and encourage reading: Sight Word Cards: You will need word strips or index cards, book rings, markers, and a hole puncher. Select the sight words you will be working on with your child. Try not to overwhelm your child and list no more than ten words. Write one word per card. Punch a hole in the index cards and bind together with a book ring. Have your child draw a picture on each card to correspond with the word if possible. Label It: Using sticky notes label items in … Continue reading →

The Early Years: Teaching Reading

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Tricia Edgar

I vacillate between unschooling and a desire to bring formal school elements into my daughter’s life. This week, she has really taken to the school side of things, to phonics, much to my delight. At the end of last week we actually spent several hours on our phonics book at her request. During that time, she sounded out her first word. Granted, that word was only two letters, but she did it by herself instead of having me coach her. To me, that shows that she is beginning to understand the process of sounding out phonetic words. Although I know … Continue reading →

Teaching Vocabulary

Posted on May 21, 2008 by Lyn Newton

In several of my last articles I have focused on different aspects of reading. The topics have gone from phonics to comprehension to fluency and now to vocabulary. My latest article talked about the importance of increasing the vocabulary of your students. In this article I continue to discuss vocabulary. However I begin to examine the methods of teaching vocabulary to students. As most of you recall, the typical method of teaching vocabulary consisted of copying bold words and their definitions from a body of text or from the glossary of a book. These definitions were then to be memorized … Continue reading →

Teaching Reading Fluency

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Lyn Newton

My last article began discussing the importance of reading fluency. In this article I will address some ways in which teachers and parents can increase the reading fluency of children. Thus far research has uncovered two major approaches to reading fluency. The two are described below. Repeated and monitored oral reading approach increases reading fluency and overall reading success. In this approach students are guided in reading and rereading text. They are given discussion and feedback about their reading. The reading should be carried out orally. Students who use repeated oral reading have shown great gains in recognizing words, the … Continue reading →

Phonics Instruction

Posted on May 6, 2008 by Lyn Newton

Many beginning teachers and parents confuse phonemic awareness and phonics. They often feel that they are one in the same. However, while the two are closely connected, they are different. When teaching phonics there are many different programs and approaches that can be used. Several of the approaches overlap and intertwine with one another. During phonics instruction the teacher focuses more on the relationship between written letters and spoken sounds. Some different approaches include: Synthetic Phonics: In this approach the students are instructed how to change written terms into sounds to form words. Analytic Phonics: In this form of phonics … Continue reading →

The Comprehensive Phonics Handbook by Eagle’s Wings

Posted on March 1, 2008 by Valorie Delp

As the mom of five young children, I am often on the hunt for resources that will get used time and time again. I need resources that are flexible enough to meet the needs of all five kids–from my gifted child to my very hands-on learner who needs lots and lots of practice. This book definitely fits the bill and is a huge asset to any homeschooling mom who is teaching phonics and reading. How It’s Laid Out The book is organized into various charts that coincide with a particular sound and spelling rule. Most charts have exceptions called “every … Continue reading →

Teaching Foreign Languages in the Early Elementary

Posted on July 28, 2007 by Valorie Delp

Yesterday, I wrote about the fact that research says that the best time to start a foreign language is after the age of twelve. . .once the child reads and writes fluently in their own language. This is contrary to what most people and most curriculums have us believe–that is that we should start very, very early. However, some states actually require that you teach a foreign language as early as first grade or your child may simply have an interest. Focusing on speaking the language fluently in the early elementary will only serve to shoot yourself in the foot, … Continue reading →

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