Learning to read with phonics - Any teacher around?

[Pitchounette]

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[FlamingoDuBeke]

Get a copy of 'Read with me; an apprenticeship approach to reading' by Liz Waterland. It's out of print but you can get copies very cheaply on amazon. It's a very good book.

[CybilLiberty]

we use this system at my school with good results

[Pitchounette]

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[Seona1973]

I'm sure the ELC sells phonics products - jolly phonics

[Feenie]

kented

Phonics Play (V.good)

lcf clubs

Debbie Hepplewhite Also v. good.

Communication for all

Parents in touch

[Bucharest]

Someone on here last week recommended this website, and (I keep meaning to find the thread to thank them!) dd is hooked on it, loves it....
www.starfall.com

[wheelsonthebus]

bucharest - love that website. what a great find. thanks

[maverick]

Flamingo, Waterland's 'Read with me' is pure whole language, nothing to do with phonics.

Pitchounette, I suggest you read this page first for some background on the mess we're in re. the teaching of reading:
www.aowm73.dsl.pipex.com/dyslexics/teach_your_child.htm

and then go to the resources section of the website where there are links to games, websites, book suggestions etc.

www.aowm73.dsl.pipex.com/dyslexics/resources_and_further_5.htm

www.aowm73.dsl.pipex.com/dyslexics/resources_and_further_10.htm

www.aowm73.dsl.pipex.com/dyslexics/resources_and_further_4.htm

[Bucharest]

Great links here!
Ta muchly all! Dd will love these!

[moondog]

You will get nothing better than Headsprout.
It's American but it doesn't matter.

[littleducks]

The problems i have had is dd likes starfall but only really learnt the letter names from it, which her teacher wasnt keen on at all

with headsprout (admittedly only did trial lesson) she likes the sounds and games but doesnt immediately recognise the letters as 'a' is written just like that in computer font not as a written 'a' (like here third pic first row

[moondog]

Fair enough, although I find these tihngs generally resolve themselves.
What makes Headsprout superior to any other reading programme is that it has a very sophisticated error correction technique, so if child makes a mistake, it drops back to an easier task and ensures that is mastered, then it builds up again through hierarchy of complexity. Programme is calibrated not to allow a child to progress until they have reached a pre-determined percentage correct level on a given task.

Thus foundations are solid before additional demnads made.

[Bucharest]

I've just signed up for the trial Headsprout lessons....and had a look at the first one...looks pretty good to me and I'm sure dd will love the interactive-ness of it...

Has anyone bought the whole course? Moondog?

[littleducks]

i did notice that moondog i think that once dd knows hear letter sounds clearly and can write her alphabet it would be good for blending etc, perhaps its just too old for her

it definately has captivating graphics bith dd (3) and ds (1) think that the characters are so funny

[moondog]

Yes Bucha, I've done the lot with my dd.
Made an enormous differnece.
It's also the topic of my MSc which i am writing up right now. I know it back to front.

Aaaarghhh!!

[Pitchounette]

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[smee]

Pitchounette wh not leave him be? Sounds to me like he's not ready yet, and if he's only 4.4 that's normal, honestly. My son's in Yr1 (5.3) and still hasn't clicked into reading, but he loves books because nobody's rushing him. As you say in lots of the rest of the world nobody would even begin to be trying to teach him at 4 or even at 5, so just read books that he'll love. I think that's good advice. Have heard it lots on mumsnet.

[Pitchounette]

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[smee]

That's sad if school are pushing. Ours didn't at all until yr1. They put lots of stimulus in front of them, and did lots of stories and word play, but it wasn't targetted just fun. Am beginning to realise how lucky we were..

[Pitchounette]

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[smee]

Pitchounette, might (or might not!) interest you to know that at our school they work on the notion that that many children aren't ready to read until yr 1 or even yr2. They did do some phonics in reception, but mostly through rhymes, games, etc. They only do guided reading from start of yr1 (each day at school and at home from that point). In Year one they also work on individual plans with each child/ parent dependent on what's right for that child. I can see the logic of a school encouraging parents to read to your child every day in reception, but not them reading to you. Seems destined to put them off iyswim, but then I'd guess many on here would disagree.

[haggisaggis]

I bought the whole Headsprout program for my dd as she loved the trial ..now wish I hadn't!
She finds the AMerican accent really difficult to understand and gets frustrated when she can't work out what the voice is saying. The constant repetition really wears her down - and she gets extremely frustrated when in some tasks if she (for instance) is trying to get teh character to the top of the mountain ONE mistake sends her right to the bottom to start again!
We will continue to use it - but she can't use it without supervision as I need to ensure she doesn't get too frustrated - and at least I can translate what the guy is saying.

[Pitchounette]

Message withdrawn

[moondog]

Haggis, that is the whole point with Headsprout (although it isn't the case that one mistake only sends her back to the beginning)
If a child gets it wrong then it needs to be made explicit to them. What is the point of getting something wrong and then just progressing regardless.

The root of Headprout and the years of research that underpin it is that appropriate and consisten error correction helps you leanr faster and more effectively.

What episode are you one?

[mrz]

I have to say that the American accent on Starfall and Headsprout really annoyed me