Reading is PAINFUL When My Child “Sounds Out” EVERY. SINGLE. WORD.
Does your child read painfully slow because EVERY. SINGLE. WORD is sounded out? It can be painful to listen to, especially for a tired parent!
I challenge you to take the approach of having your child read WORDS and SENTENCES before jumping into books right away.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way discouraging reading books. If your child is desiring to read, do not dampen that desire.
However, when talking about smoothy and steady reading, we often use the word FLUENCY. If your child is not fluent and every single word needs to be sounded out, then your child needs more practice simply reading words.
I’m not talking about memorizing sight words. I’m talking about comfortably blending sounds together in words.
HOW DID I AVOID THIS ISSUE WITH MY OWN CHILDREN?
Phonics and Fridge Magnets
There are lots of programs out there to learn phonics in a hands-on way. Many of them are quite successful!
However, for my own children I used refrigerator magnets and applied phonics with those. They were always there in the kitchen. I was able to work in just a few minutes a day of practice, and my children were able to use the letters to experiment on their own.
2. CVC Words
Once my children could read simple words I built on the fridge (such as CVC, or Consonant-Vowel-Consonant), I allowed them to build words with the magnets. Essentially, they were spelling the three letter words and sounding out things on their own. Spelling was not always perfect since they had not learned spelling rules yet (i.e. “cit” for “kit” or maybe “bel” for “bell”), but the principles of beginning, middle and ending sounds were there.
3. Manipulate Sounds (AKA “Word Surgery”)
I demonstrated to my children how one word changes into another word by switching one letter (i.e. “bit” into “bot”) I might start introducing only switching the beginning sound (that way the words still rhyme). Then, I moved on to switching out the ending sound or the middle sound. This constant manipulation and reading of the new words GREATLY helped my children to become fluent in the words they decoded (or sounded out) before they ever had to read a whole book.
Once my children understood the concept of switching out letters, I started adding consonants (first at the beginning of the word and then at the ending of the word and then both). So, they had practice with blends and digraphs. Words like:
STep FLag SLim STiCK GRaSP CRiSP CHin
Reading was presented as a fun challenge—”not a sit-down-and-do-a-worksheet” activity. I still continued to read aloud to my children or even attempt to let them read a very simple and short book. But overall, we waited to have that word fluency before attempting to read books. What I’m saying is that perhaps your child is sounding out each and every word because they lack the fluency with individual words themselves.
If you feel that your child is already fluent in simple words and sentences, then it could simply be the case that the book your child has chosen to read is too high of a level for them (essentially at his/her frustration level). The best advice is to choose easier books for a while and gradually work up to more difficult books. For more guidance on this scenario, watch my Good Fit Books video.
Need guidance, examples, and encouragement to help your child along this journey? Check out my course, “A Busy Mom’s Guide to Teaching Your Child to Read.” This is full-length course that shows you simple steps you can take without overwhelming your child with worksheets. You can even watch examples of a child working through the activities!
Leave a comment below with your thoughts and be sure to share with a friend!
Remember, YOU are your child’s most influential teacher.