Hi All! I am new and I have questions!

[hsmomof4]

Hello-

I am hs our four children, ages 9, 7, 5, 3 1/2. I am struggling with our 7 year old and her reading abilities. I have used A Beka and now we are trying Phonics Pathways. I had great success with A Beka phonics with our first child but not with our second. She is just now able to slightly read the 2nd book in the first grade series. She is in 2nd grade in all other subjects. But, as you know, if she can't read the other subjects are going to eventually become too much for her! What should I do? Do you any of you have suggestion (likes or dislikes) with Phonics Pathways or should I go back to A Beka?

2nd questions
My dd who is 9 has been using Christian Light Education for her reading curriculum. She has done very well with this program. I have just purchased DITHOR for her along with BHFHG (to be used with dd who is 7 also). Should I continue my 9 yr. old in the CLE reading program or would that be too much with DITHR?

Thanks for all you answers.

I am so excited about this curriculum. Just to recap here, I will be using the following with our children. Our new school year starts next week.

DD 9 & 7 BHFHG
DD 9 DITHOR
DS 5 & almost 4 LHFHG

I did use Little Hands last year and loved it!

hsmomof4
wife to dh for 15 years
mommy to two dd and two ds
military wife for 15 years!
1 PETER 1:13-21

[Melanie]

Just wanted to say welcome!

I have never used any of those programs except I recently bought Phonics Pathways. We're using it to help with reading and spelling and so far I like it. We just do one page a day and then practice writing the words. I'm using it along with LLATL-blue.

I have a ds who CAN read, but was just struggling with it. Well, turns out he needed glasses and things are going MUCH better. Have you had your dd's eyes examined?

There are some great ladies on this board with many years of hs'ing experience. I'm sure you'll get some good advice!

[hsmomof4]

Thanks so much Melanie. I should have mentioned that my dd has worn glasses since she was 2. She has poor muscle development in one of her eyes. She just went to a new prescription 2 weeks ago and I was really hoping to see some improvement. My dh thinks she has improved. I am just too close to the matter since I am the one who teaches her everyday. She is such a sweet little girl and wants to read like her older sibling and tends to be very tender hearted about all things. I am just trying to give her lots of encouragment and love but we are stills struggling.

Thanks for the welcome. I am glad to be using this curriculum and so glad to meet others who are using it as well.

[MamaMary]

Hi HSmom!

Is she ready for the "Emergent readers" yet? I am using that with my 11 year old this year who was "stuck". He was "de-coding" but not reading fluently. So far this has really been helpful. If she is still in the de-coding phase we are using http://www.headsprout.com for phonics in addition to our HOD.

I LOVE Headsprout because it really seems to connect with my boys.

I'm excited WITH you about your choices for next year and can't wait to walk the journey togehter. When does "next" year start for you?

Mary

[water2wine]

Just want to say welcome! I have very close to the same age span as you and we are using the same stuff. I have a couple more kids throw in there to the mix but pretty much the same. So just wanted to say welcome and thank you to your and your family for serving our country for the past 15 years!

[lmercon]

How about getting her a bunch of picture books with the read-along tapes? You can get them really cheap at consignment shops, yard sales, etc. because not many people use tape recorders anymore. She would be able to enjoy "reading" stories without all the struggle with decoding. She can try to read along silently as she listens. It's really important for children to hear fluent readers. Those story tapes are usually on a pretty easy reading level. My son loves them!
Just a suggestion,
Laura

[hsmomof4]

Thank you MamaMary, Water2wine and Imercon! All of your suggestions are so great. I am checking out the headsprout and I just dusted off some old books on tape we had not listened to in awhile and she has been listening to them for the past hour and half. She is such a determined little girl. I wish I had half of her spunk! Thanks for the warm welcome and the nice thoughts. I really look forward to getting to know all of you!

Side note: Mama Mary I saw your blog, so great! Had to tell ya.

[Carrie]

hsmomof4,

I just wanted to pop in and answer your question about CLE. Once you begin DITHR, continuing with CLE would really be a duplicate of what you're already covering (with DITHR and the language arts in the rest of Bigger). It is just done in a different style. So, there's no reason you would really need CLE for reading anymore.

As to your little struggling reader, I have heard that Phonics Pathways is a good program for the tracking and eye development needed for kiddos to strengthen their reading, so I think that is a good choice. You may also want to check out Diane Craft's website, for other options if neeed. It is www.dianecraft.org. One last helpful option is the AVKO website at http://www.readingandspelling.org/

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

I just wanted to say "hi" to you! I think you've already gotten good advice from these ladies. I agree with imercon that listening to audio books and following along in the accompanying book is an excellent way to increase reading comprehension as well as tracking ability. Blackstone audio has extremely discounted prices for homeschoolers on their audio tapes. Also, we've had grandparents read books on tape for birthday gifts, etc. for our children. They are their favorites!

One other thought I had about phonics... I think that if it seems over time like a certain phonics program is not working for a child, that we have to give ourselves permission to switch. So if you find that to be true over time, be sure to give one of the other many phonics choices a go!

We are doing exactly the same HOD programs as you and loving them all! I'm so glad you're here!

[hsmomof4]

Again, I justed wanted to say thank you for the warm welcome and thanks to Carrie for answering my question about CLE reading.

Love,
hsmomof4

[inHistiming]

Hi, hsmomof4. I just wanted to add my 2 cents for what it's worth. I have a second grade daughter who has really struggled with reading. It turns out that she has a development problem with one of her eyes. She and my son were in a private school to start with. He excelled with Abeka, but she did not do well. She was not reading by the end of K, which is what was expected of them. (to be reading) We found out she needed glasses, and that helped, but she needed a lot of remedial work. So, we began homeschooling in 1st grade, really focusing on reading skills, as well as the copywork. Have you looked into using Reading Made Easy? We started with that, and were finished by the beginning of the second semester. We went faster than recommended, but you can go slower or at the pace they recommend depending on your own child. This allowed her to start reading short stories by the middle of first grade which was a huge boost in her self esteem. She was convinced she couldn't read! Once we finished RME we bought a reading workbook from Barnes and Noble to help with her reading comprehension, and I had her read aloud a lot. She missed a bit of her history and science because we were focusing so hard on her reading, but it has totally paid off. Now in second grade, she is using the emergent reader's schedule from BLHFHG and loving it. The books are easy for her to read and she enjoys the stories so much. I have also spent a lot of time reading out loud to all of the kids, because that is supposed to help. One other thing I did was print out a copy of all the sight words from pre-k to 3rd and she has been practicing those several times a week. She had been stumbling over some of those words so I thought the extra practice would help; it has. Now she is more fluent and we are looking forward to adding personal reading time to her schedule. All that said to tell you this; things do get better. It's difficult when you find out your child is struggling. I know I felt guilty, although we had taken her in to the eye doctor and they had said things were fine. So, be encouraged. She will improve in her abilities. It sounds like she is determined to learn, and she's got you doing everything you can to help her. Please feel free to send me a message if you have questions, and of course ALL the ladies here on the board know a lot about teaching and different methods. I will keep you in my prayers. Good luck!

[Carrie]

hsmomof4,

You're very welcome! The ladies on the board are so wonderful about giving of their advice, encouragement, and time. I'm so glad that you found us. Keep us posted on how its going!

Blessings,
Carire