Homeschooling Parents Ask...
How can I teach my child Reading and Spelling?
Where do I start?
What should my child learn first?
Begin with sounds.
Words are made of individual sounds. Before children can learn to use letters for reading and writing, they learn to hear individual words in sentences, syllables in words, and sounds in syllables. Then they can learn to associate specific sounds with specific letters. This is the basis for phonemic awareness.
When 20 Minute Phonemic Training methods are used, children learn
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To feel and hear individual words in sentences
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To feel and hear syllables in words.
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To feel, hear, and make individual sounds [phonemes] in words.
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To make sound and letter associations.
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To blend sounds together to make words.
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To separate sounds in words and attach those sounds to letters in the right order.
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To add, remove, and move sounds in and out of words to create new words.
Which curriculum should I use?
Should I choose phonics-based, literature-based, or a mixed approach?
Choose a curriculum that teaches children phonic rule letter patterns at the same time they are taught to listen to and identify sounds in words. Phonics will be introduced slowly with one pattern at a time and woven into word lists for specific sound patterns. [words ending with 'k' for example]
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The curriculum should first teach children to distinguish between sounds --- especially similar sounds like the short vowels and some consonants ['f' and 'th' | 's' and 'sh' | 'sh' and 'ch' | 'p' and 'b' | 'b' and 'd' | 'k' and 'g' | 't' and 'k' | to name a few.
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Blend sounds together to form words.
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Separate syllables and sounds in words.
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Manipulate sounds in and out of words to create new words.
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Play with the the order of sounds in words.
20 Minute Phonemic Training combines curriculum with phonemic awareness and phonics from the beginning.
Repeated reading of stories by the author of 20 Minute Phonemic Training are included as a part of each lesson to provide practice with decoding words representing the phonic rules introduced.
Classic literature is recommended for discussion and written language development. Several versions of classic stories are available. See list of books with nonfiction, classic stories, and new fiction recommendations. You will find this list in the free PDF downloads.
How do I teach reading?
Do I start with phonics, sight words, or both?
When beginning to teach reading, focus on short words with short vowel sounds and gradually add words with long vowel sounds. Choose material with the final e for the long vowel spelling pattern at first.
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After the child masters the ability to
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tell the difference between long and short vowel sounds, consonant sounds,
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and can identify the sounds in the beginning middle and end of words,
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then introduce early phonic spelling patterns and alternative ways to spell some of the vowel sounds.
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20 Minute Phonemic Training weaves the three steps above into word lists building phonic and phonemic awareness skills simultaneously. Reading and spelling practice are built into the lessons.
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Sight words are important for the words that appear commonly and deviate from sound to letter matching and phonic rules. The ‘Sound’ Reading and Spelling Workbook includes seven sight word games using words from the repeated reading stories in the lessons.
What level is my child reading?
How do I know if they’re behind, on grade level, or ahead?
See the post titled "Using Work Samples to Measure Student Skill Levels," for measurement examples of grade level reading skills.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) , and many commercial curriculum publishers have standardized ways to measure reading skill levels.
​Usually these measurements include:
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Selecting a passage based on the number of words In the sentences and the number of syllables in the words. The Frye Readability Calculator can help you to select passages by grade level reading.
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Listening to the child read orally and counting:
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How many words the child read in a minute.
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How many words the child correctly read in one minute.
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The percentage of questions the child correctly answered about what they read.
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Whether the child can tell you what the passage was about in their own words.
How much time should we
spend each day?
What’s a realistic reading/writing/spelling routine?
Younger children and struggling readers and spellers need shorter lessons because listening and attention spans are shorter.
Children often find it hard to see or image in the mind something that is not visible like sounds. Turning sounds into something tangible and visible [letters and words], can be challenging.
20 Minute Phonemic Training engages the child with an adult in short spans of time:
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five minutes for
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listening to sounds and blending them to make words
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ten minutes for
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​segmenting sounds and syllables in words
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visually counting sounds with colors and
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listening for sound changes between words
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How do I help with spelling?
Should spelling come from phonics, dictation,
or word lists?
Spelling lessons should be included in all three forms: phonic patterns, dictated words, and dictated sentences. When learning to map the sounds to letters, teach the children to feel the mouth movements for each of the sounds and associate those to letters.
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20 Minute Phonemic Training includes pictures for the mouth formations of the sounds. Ask the students to say the sounds as the write the words.
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Begin with simple words focused upon a few sounds, gradually add different and more sounds, then introduce one phonic rule at a time.
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For each set of words and phoneme/letter matches you introduce, include a dictation sentence or two. Be sure to give them feedback immediately so they know how successful they are and help them to see where mistakes are made. High five their accomplishments!
How do I teach writing?
When should I begin handwriting, sentence writing,
paragraphs, and creative writing?
Provide traceable letters as soon as you begin teaching phonemes. This helps them to make sound and letter associations and print form is usually done in kindergarten.
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Do not ignore cursive writing. The muscle movement and flow help children to sequence and connect phonemes when they say the sounds as they trace them. Introduce cursive by first grade.
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Sentence writing practice can be included with dictated sentences from the beginning.
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In kindergarten they can learn that sentences have a topic [subject] and an action [predicate that tells something about the topic]. Phrases that tell location can be introduced to make the sentences longer:
A dog saw a bone in the box.
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In first grade they can be taught to use words that describe nouns [adjectives] and actions [adverbs]. They can also learn to develop a 3 sentence paragraph with a topic sentence, something about the topic, and an ending sentence .
How do I know if it’s
working?
What signs show progress in literacy?
When you give feedback to the child’s word and sentence dictation, you will see their improvement from day to day and week to week.
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When the child reads the repeated reading stories, they will gradually read more words with fewer mistakes. This will increase within the same day, day after day and week after week.
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When the child writes dictated words and sentences, you will see the percentage of correctly spelled words increase in each sentence.
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Progress is visible and recorded in each lesson if you incorporate measurement activities into the lesson.
How do I handle resistance?
What if my child hates reading or writing?
Struggling readers and writers usually do resist.
Tell them the lesson will last for x number of minutes. Whatever you find their attention span may be and add 30 seconds. I generally begin with 3 to 5 minutes of writing.
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Read fun books to the child. Talk about the story, characters, and pictures in the books. Ask for the child’s opinions about character actions and share your own.
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Affirm the child's opinions. When they are far afield of what the story was about, revisit the pages and ask questions about the pages as you read the parts the child may have misunderstood.
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How do I correct mistakes without discouraging my child?
Repeat the error correctly. For example, when they misread a word in a one-minute oral reading sample, do not say anything at all. Mark the word on your page. After one minute go back and reread the word correctly. Have the child read passages 3 times and have the child color in a graph for their best score. This way they can see their own progress and make corrections on their own.
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When they misspell a word, write the word correctly and show the word to your child. Let them make corrections to their work.
Accentuate what is right, not what is wrong. Always record the number and percentage of correctly read, written, spelled, words and sentences.